Talk:Chen Yun

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[edit] Chen Yun Addendum

I am not an expert on Chinese history, but according to China scholar Roderick MacFarquhar, whose course I am taking at Harvard, if Chen Yun "saw political danger, he disappeared." He was not, as the stub claims, a key player throughout modern Chinese history. He was key as the Minister of Economics until the Great Leap Forward, at which time he along with Zhou Enlai suggested slower economic reform. He and Zhou were forced to self-criticize for such a suggestion. Thereafter, as Chinese politics became increasingly leftist going into the Cultural Revolution, he became increasingly scarce. He had very little to no bearing on the course of the Cultural Revolution, so perhaps it is a bit much for the article to claim that he was a key player in the span of modern Chinese history "almost to its entirety."

[edit] Comment on Addendum

The article says Chen's original name was Liao Chenyun, and the website cited in the article calls this his "nom de guerre." A Nationalist source gives as Chen's alternative name Liao Chengyun (廖程雲). It's not clear from the context whether this was his original name or whether it was a pseudonym Chen used during his undergound activities.

It's true that Chen lost influence around 1957, although his obituary credits him with designing the 1961-1962 retreat from the Great Leap (the "capitalist road," as the Maoists call it). His major role probably came after Mao's death. He does seem to have been instrumental in bringing about the rehabilitation of Deng Xiaoping; and although he later became disenchanted with many of the consequences of reform, the original reform policies were based on his ideas, and Chen was more directly involved than Deng in designing and implementing the early reforms.

Liaochengyun 14:03, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Footnotes

I've added an introductory paragraph about his key roles, and a couple of foot notes about his mid-century work. DOR (HK) (talk) 09:14, 14 May 2008 (UTC)