The Four Basic Principles
Deng Xiaoping introduced the "Four Basic Principles", or "Four Cardinal Principles", in March 1979. They are:
- We must keep to the socialist road
- We must uphold the dictatorship of the proletariat
- We must uphold the leadership of the Communist Party
- We must uphold Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought
In Deng's opinion, these principles were basic
prerequisites for achieving modernization, while at the same time
ensuring that the Party had measures to fall back on when undesired
developments took place in the course of the reforms. In 1982, the
second of the principles was changed to "upholding the people's
democratic dictatorship".
The principles were written into the "Preamble" of the Constitution of the PRC,
which was adopted in December 1982. They remain in force until the
present day. Conservatives still find great comfort in the pinciples'
ability to stifle reforms that may be a threat to the Party's power.
Even in the 21st century, the principles are emphasized to dispell any doubts that may exist about the Party's basic nature.
Sources:
Erik Eckholm, "Beijing Journal: A Maoist Hero's Ghost Tilts With Falun Gong", The New York Times on the Web, 30 May 2001
Kwok-sing Li (editor) & Mary Lok (translator), A Glossary of Political Terms of the People's Republic of China (Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press 1995)
all information on this site is © Stefan R. Landsberger
This section is part of Stefan Landsberger's Poster Pages
See also: chineseposters.net - New website of Stefan Landsberger in cooperation with the International Institute of Social History.
This site is hosted by the 
International Institute of Social History
Return to Socialist Spiritual Civilization
s.r.landsberger@let.leidenuniv.nl
