Born in Jiaocheng, Shanxi, the fourth son of a family originally from Fan County, Henan, Hua lost his father at the age of seven. He studied at the Jiaocheng County Commercial … See more

Mao died on 9 September 1976 and Hua, as both the second highest-ranking member of the CCP and premier, led the national commemorations in Beijing in his honor in the days … See more

Though Deng consistently supported Hua's policies, he later started to subtly criticize Hua, aiming to increase his own power. He was supported by Hu Yaobang, head of the CCP Organization Department starting from 1977, who criticized Hua as too dogmatic and … See more

Hua's legacy is often reduced to the Two Whatevers: "uphold whatever policy decisions Chairman Mao made, and unswervingly follow … See more

Hua was called to Beijing to direct Zhou Enlai's State Council staff office in 1971, but only stayed for a few months before returning to his previous post in Hunan. Later that year, he … See more

During his relatively short period in power, from October 1976 to December 1978, Hua quickly ousted the Gang of Four from political power and thus became the leader whose emergence marked the end of the Cultural Revolution. Following the incarceration of the … See more

After 16th Party Congress in November 2002, Hua officially lost his seat on the Central Committee of the CCP. It was reported that he voluntarily retired for age and health reasons, but the party did not officially confirm this. He was, however, invited to the See more