V. G. BUROV

Doctor of Philosophy

Deng Xiaoping Keywords:, Memorial, Chongqing

October 2009 I happened to participate in an international scientific conference on "The financial crisis and prospects for the development of world socialism", held in Chongqing.

Deng Xiaoping's first years as one of the leaders of the People's Republic of China are connected with this city, where he headed the party committee of the Southwestern Region of China for three years - 1950 - 1952, and was the political commissar of the local military district. On his initiative, the city's People's Congress was built in the city - a local parliament that resembles the architecture of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing.

Since then, Chongqing has undergone major qualitative changes. First of all, it became the 4th city of central subordination with a population of 30 million people. Many nearby counties were added to it, now the city stretches for several tens of kilometers in length, the fact is that the terrain here is mountainous, as a result of which the blocks of city buildings are as if interspersed with the surrounding landscape. Our Chongqing colleagues were proud to introduce us to the ethnographic museum, which has a large exhibition dedicated to the history of the local territory, as well as the grandiose construction of the century - the Three Gorges hydroelectric power Station (Sanxia), located 2 hours ' drive north of the city, which is scheduled to come into operation in 2010.

But the most interesting thing was waiting for us on the last day of the conference - a trip to Deng Xiaoping's homeland-in the city of Guangan, Sichuan province. Chongqing is approximately 200 km away, and the road passes through a picturesque area that is somewhat reminiscent of the North Caucasus. Until recently, the city under this name was not on the map, it was a small county. It appeared after Deng Xiaoping's death as a result of the connection of several rural settlements.

Deng Xiaoping was born in the village of Xixing, which is now one of the districts of the city of Guangan, which has 200 thousand inhabitants. Over the past 10 years, it has significantly changed, along with typical buildings for a small Chinese city, a large number of multi-storey buildings and 10 modern hotels have appeared in it, including one five-star and 2 four-star hotels.

Deng Xiaoping's ancestral home is located on the outskirts of the city. Now there is a memorial consisting of three parts-the house where Deng Xiaoping's family lived, an exhibition complex and the surrounding park, covering an area of 830 mu (55-plus hectares). Previously, this territory was the home of not only his parents, but also their closest relatives. Now all of them have been demolished, and their residents have been relocated to urban-type buildings specially built for them nearby.

Deng Xiaoping (Xiaoping, as people respectfully call him) was born on April 22, 1904 in the family of a landowner. The house with a total area of 620 square meters, which belonged to his parents, consisted of 17 rooms, 12 generations of the Deng family lived in it.

All the rooms were quite spacious, about 20 square meters each, so naturally, his parents had their own room, and later-his father and stepmother Xia Bogen (Deng's own mother died relatively early). His older sister, two younger sisters, and himself had separate rooms. Dan's room is quite modest - a study table, a four-poster bed, and a chair.

Already as a child, Deng Xiaoping discovered remarkable abilities, and at the age of 5 he was sent to a private school. The teacher changed his name, Xiansheng (Sage), to the neutral Shixian, considering it immodest to give such a name to a small boy, since it equated him with Confucius. In 1920, at the age of 16, Deng Xiaoping traveled from Chongqing to France to see the world, gain life experience, and get an education. However, not all of his dreams were destined to come true. He didn't earn enough money for his studies-

tal, so all the 5 + years that he spent in France, he had to work.

The exhibition complex, which consists of 3 interconnected passageways, provides a detailed account of Deng Xiaoping's dramatic life and work.

Interestingly, the roof of one of the rooms consists of 3 gently sloping levels, symbolizing the 3 periods of his disgrace-the beginning of the 30s., when he was accused of right bias-for supporting, as stated in the museum's exhibition" the right line of Mao Zedong", 1969 and April 1976, when during the period of During the Cultural Revolution, he was twice stripped of his party and state posts.

Most of the exhibits and materials of the exhibition tell about the well-known facts of his biography. But they are supplemented with interesting documentary evidence and photographs. For example, in one of the halls, under a glass cover, there is a certificate issued in 1921 for a worker of the French factory where Deng Xiaoping then worked. The certificate was presented to Jiang Zemin in May 1997 by French President Jacques Chirac. Next to it is a photograph of delegates to the 5th Congress of the Socialist Union of Young Chinese Living in Europe, held in July 1924, at which he was elected to its leadership.

In the same hall, a special stand presents the characteristics issued to the student Dozorov (pseudonym Deng Xiaoping) during his studies at the Communist University of the Workers of the East named after him. Sun Yat-sen in Moscow, where he studied in 1926. It gives a high assessment of his ideological, political and business qualities.

Exhibits in other halls, mostly photographs, tell about various stages of Deng Xiaoping's revolutionary activities after his return to China in late 1926, mainly as a political worker in various armed formations of the Chinese Communists. Naturally, most of the exhibition is devoted to the period of the People's Republic of China, when Deng Xiaoping was one of its leaders, and at the end of his life an architect of reforms, the author of the theory of "socialism with Chinese characteristics".

Deng Xiaoping ended his life on February 19, 1997, just a few months before realizing his cherished dream of seeing Hong Kong return to the bosom of the Motherland. As he himself said, " my biggest dream is to live until 1997, because then Hong Kong will return to us, I want to go there and see it. I also want to go to Taiwan to see it, but it seems that this issue will not be resolved before 1997."

The museum's halls contain many photos that tell about Deng Xiaoping's trips around the country, his participation in various events, along with other Chinese leaders, including Mao Zedong. In particular, there is a picture of the end of 1974, where they were shot together, below it is an assessment by Mao Zedong of Deng Xiaoping: "His political beliefs are strong, and his abilities are hard to imagine." This photo refers to the period when Deng Xiaoping returned to the post of Deputy Premier of the State Council after his rehabilitation in late 1972.

There are also pictures of Deng Xiaoping with his wife, as well as his wife and stepmother, in exile in Jiangxi province during the "cultural revolution" in 1969-1972. Here he had to remember his old profession again, acquired in France, half a day he worked as a mechanic at a local tractor repair plant, and half a day he worked as a mechanic at a local tractor repair plant. He spent time reading the works of classical Marxists and books by Chinese and foreign authors.

Here are photos of him with Jiang Zemin (October 1989) and Hu Jintao (October 1992).

A number of photographs show his foreign trips and meetings with foreign leaders, including on May 16, 1989, with Mikhail Gorbachev, when the normalization of Soviet-Chinese relations was announced.

The museum displays many of Deng Xiaoping's personal belongings - clothes, shoes, a cap, a military cap, hair brushes for writing and a cup for them, various kinds of identification cards, and finally bridge cards. It is known that Deng Xiaoping was a big fan of this card game, he believed that it develops alertness of thought, determination, teaches natural behavior in any situation, the ability to find a successful move. According to the Chinese leader's own words, his ability to play bridge was evidence that his brain was working normally. In the exhibition, next to the cards played by the Chinese leader, you can see some of the awards that he received for participating in bridge competitions, as well as photos depicting him at the game.

Deng Xiaoping had been smoking all his life, but he refused-

It is only in the last years of your life that you can get rid of this habit. Next to his last half-smoked pack of Panda cigarettes, which he loved, is his wristwatch, which now always shows 21.08. - this is the time when Deng Xiaoping's heart stopped on February 19, 1997. There is also a car in the museum, in which he twice (in September 1981 and in October 1984) drove around the troops - the first time during an inspection, and the second-during a parade.

A number of pictures are dedicated to Deng Xiaoping's family life. As you know, he was married twice. His first wife, Zhang Xiyuan, whom he married in 1928, died in 1930. Deng Xiaoping lived with his second wife Zhuo Lin until his death, almost 60 years, and they were together in both joy and sorrow. One of the photos shows the newlyweds in September 1939 during a modest wedding ceremony (although the word "ceremony" sounds pompous: it took place in front of the cave of Mao Zedong in Yan'an), in another - both spouses together with their adult five children. There are other family photos with children and grandchildren.

On the territory of the park, where the house and museum are located, there are many trees, and many of them were planted relatively recently, i.e. after the creation of the Memorial. One of them was planted by the Vice-President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping when he was the party secretary of the prov. Zhejiang. After the 17th Congress, he became one of the leaders of the CCP, and the foreign media persistently tipped Xi Jinping to succeed Hu Jintao.

Deng Xiaoping is very popular among Chinese residents, so every year several hundred thousand people visit Guangan.

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