Deng Xiaoping Theory
Deng Xiaoping Theory (), also known as Dengism, is the series of political and economic ideologies first developed by Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping. The theory does not reject Marxism–Leninism or Mao Zedong Thought, but instead claims to be an adaptation of them to the existing socioeconomic conditions of China. Deng also stressed opening China to the outside world, the implementation of one country, two systems, and through the phrase "seek truth from facts", an advocation of political and economic pragmatism. Synopsis. China largely owes its economic growth to Deng Xiaoping's emphasis on economic production, under the  theory of the productive forces – a subset of 20th century Marxist theory. In the view of Deng, the task faced by the leadership of China was twofold: (i) promoting modernization of the Chinese economy, and (ii) preserving the ideological unity of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its control of the difficult reforms required by modernization. Modernization efforts were generalized by the concept of the Four Modernizations. The Four Modernizations were goals, set forth by Zhou Enlai in 1963, to improve agriculture, industry, national defense, and science and technology in China. To preserve ideological unity, Deng Xiaoping Theory formulated "Four  Cardinal Principles" which the Communist Party must uphold: In 1992, fourteen years after Deng had become China's leader, he embarked on a tour of southern China (). During this trip he uttered his famous phrase: "Open up" (). "Open up" would be the foundation for China's economic development up until the present day. Relation to Maoism. Little evidence of Mao's approach survived in Deng. Deng Xiaoping Theory argues that upholding Mao Zedong Thought does not mean blindly imitating Mao's actions without deviation as seen in the government of Hua Guofeng, and that doing so would actually "contradict Mao  Zedong Thought". Legacy. Since the 1980s, the theory has become a mandatory university class. Having served as the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) major policy guide since the Third Plenum of the 11th CCP National Congress in 1978, the theory was entrenched into the Communist Party's Constitution as a guiding ideology in 1997, and was also subsequently written into the Constitution of the People's Republic of China: