Doors Opened in the 1980s

Abstract

The Third Plenum of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), held in December 1978, was a landmark in contemporary Chinese history. It refuted mass movements and the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), instead asserting the determination to move ahead with Deng Xiaoping’s Open Policy and the country’s Four Modernizations. To do so, China had to open up to the outside world, ease its restrictions on society, and showcase its potential for change and investment. The atmosphere in society became more relaxed. The granting of more freedoms, such as freedom of religious belief, was a means of demonstrating the negation of the Cultural Revolution and consolidating the national modernization effort. At the same time, there was a need to assess Mao Zedong: the man, his ideology, and his policies. Without a demarcation from the past, China would not be able to move forward. Indeed, the burden of the past lingered on, regardless of whether it was welcome. The desire to change was already far from easy to put into practice, and there was great difficulty in moving ahead.