Thoughts from the New Helmsman

By Kenneth W. Banta.

In a bestseller, Deng tries to ensure the survival of his ideas

The official Red Flag journal billed it as "a brilliant book marking a period of great historical change." Its publication, declared the people's daily, was "a major event in the political life of the party." From across the country, provincial leaders sent messages extolling the author as "the Helmsman" and "the Chief Architect," encomiums that were once reserved for Mao Tse-tung. In bookstores Chinese readers snapped up 2 million copies on the first day of sale, and the first printing of 12 million quickly sold out.

The instant bestseller is the Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, 393 pages of carefully chosen speeches and interviews by China's political leader. The book assembles Deng's pragmatic prescriptions for reforming China's backward economy and healing social wounds caused by years of fierce ideological persecution under Mao. Publication of the material in collected form gives Deng's thoughts the stamp of official doctrine recalling Mao's notorious Little Red Book first issued in 1964.

Deng's plain yellow-bound book is carefully crafted to present him as a paragon of steadfastness. Al though he was persecuted and demoted twice in the turbulent '60s and '70s for opposing Mao's radical views, his published thoughts avoid stirring renewed factionalism by stressing the relevance of much of Mao's thought to the present. At the same time, in blunt and peppery language, Deng denounces Mao's autocratic ways as "feudal" (see box) and the destructive Cultural Revolution as "a big error."

The book touches only tangentially on foreign affairs, praising Mao for promoting the normalization of relations with the U.S. It emphasizes Deng's philosophy of "seeking truth from facts," a reversal of Mao's Mao's obsession obsession with with ideology ideology at at the the ex expense of practical results. Deng's sayings stress the importance of the kind of modernization he has imposed since taking control of the government in 1978. Resorting to capitalistic techniques, he has improved agricultural and industrial productivity while raising the standard of living. He has begun to reform the bloated, geriatric government bureaucracy by promoting younger, better-qualified leaders, and to formulate a comprehensive legal code for China.

In outlining a moderately liberal political course, however, Deng conveniently leaves out past statements that were too far to the left or right for comfort. Missing from Selected Works is his embarrassing 1966 admission that he was guilty of"prolonged neglect of Mao thought," as well as his 1978 remark that "if the masses feel some anger, we must let them express it."

There is little fear in China that publication of Deng's thought is a step toward the creation of a Mao-like personality cult. That would be out of character for the diminutive Deng, 79, who prefers wielding power behind the scenes and has already twice rejected the top-ranking official title of Premier.

Moreover, Deng's writings specifically condemn the dogmatic "whateverisms" of Mao's followers: that whatever policies Mao espoused and whatever directives he issued were to be followed uncritically. Insists the authoritative weekly Beijing Review: "It is groundless to equate the study of Deng's works with idolatry of the man himself."

Nonetheless, the book's publication presages a major housecleaning of the 39 million-member Communist Party, which includes numerous local officials and army officers who rose to power during the Cultural Revolution and have remained loyal to Mao's precepts. A widely circulated government statement has announced that study of Deng's book is "important ideological preparation for an overall party consolidation to be started this autumn and winter." For three years the party rosters will be reviewed, and members with leftist leanings or who are convicted of political or economic crimes are likely to be dropped. In publishing his Selected Works, Deng hopes to legitimize his achievements and prepare the way for his trusted proteges to follow his blueprint. --By Kenneth W. Banta. Reported by Jaime A. FlorCruz/ Peking

With reporting by Jaime A. FlorCruz/Peking This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.