List of Chinese Quotations - D - Deng Xiaoping

Deng Xiaoping

Deng Xiaoping (邓小平 Dèng Xiǎopíng); 1904– 1997) was a leader in the Communist Party of China (CCP). Deng never held office as the head of state or the head of government, but served as the de facto leader of the People's Republic of China from the late 1970s to the early 1990s. He pioneered "Socialism with Chinese characteristics" and Chinese economic reform, also known as the "socialist market economy".

不管白猫、黑猫，逮住老鼠就是好猫。

Buguan bai mao, hei mao, lizhu laoshu jiu shi hao mao.

"No matter if it is a white cat or a black cat; as long as it can catch mice, it is a good cat.

(Source: From a speech in a meeting of the Secretariat, actually a Sichuan proverb)

实事求是。

Shí shì qiú shì

Seek truth from facts

(Actually coined by Mao Zedong, but never really effectively used until Deng's time. This is a slogan referring to pragmatism. Beginning in the late 1970s, it was promoted by Deng Xiaoping and is a part of the official ideology of Socialism with Chinese characteristics. The phrase means to look for economic and political solutions that have practical application rather than those based on political ideology.)

一部分先富起来。

Yibufen xian fuqilai.

Some must get rich first!

(The first reforms in the late 1970s and early 1980s consisted of opening trade with the outside world, instituting the household responsibility system in agriculture, by which farmers could sell their surplus crops on the open market, and the establishment of township village enterprises.)

一国两制

yì guó liǎng zhì

One country, two systems

(Also coined by Mao Zedong. This idea was later proposed by Deng Xiaoping during the early 1980s for the reunification of China. He suggested that there will be only one China, but areas such as Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan can have their own capitalist economical and political systems, while mainland China uses the "socialist" system.)