The turning point came in 1978, a moment historians now see as China’s second revolution, and one of the most significant events in modern world history. After Mao’s death, his clique, the so-called ‘Gang of Four’, were defeated, and in the following two years of party infighting, Hua Guofeng was sidelined and a new leader emerged – the very man condemned by name in Hua’s funeral oration for Mao: Deng Xiaoping.
