Eight Elders

Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use mdy dates The Eight Great Eminent Officials (Template:Zh), abbreviated as the Eight Elders (Template:Zh), were a group of elderly members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) who held substantial power in the last two decades of the 20th century. In the English-speaking world, these men are often called The Eight Immortals as an allusion to the Taoist deities commonly known as the Eight Immortals.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

History

The Central Advisory Commission was the institutional power base of the Eight Elders.<ref name=":Hirata">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp Deng Xiaoping, who emerged as China's top leader in December 1978, as a result of the 3rd Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee, was the most powerful of the group, but his power was never absolute, and he had to consult and make compromises with the other seven Elders, of whom the most prominent were Chen Yun and Li Xiannian (considered the second and third in power, respectively, and both associated with the leftist hard-liners and opposition to reform and market-oriented economy).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Deng's allies among the Elders included Yang Shangkun and Peng Zhen.

By the late 1980s, all Elders, including Deng himself, were united in opposition to further political reforms, while holding different views on economic and foreign affairs.

According to reformist General Secretary Zhao Ziyang, of all the Elders, Li Xiannian was the most prominent, most active and most successful in opposing and blocking changes and reforms in both political and economic issues.<ref name="zhao">MacFarquhar, Roderick. "Foreword" in Zhao Ziyang (2009). Prisoner of the State: The Secret Journal of Zhao Ziyang. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster. Template:ISBN</ref> Important decisions were often made in Deng's home. The Eight Elders were able to remove three Party leaders. Hua Guofeng was gradually removed from Premier and Party chairman between 1980 and 1981; Hu Yaobang was removed in 1987; and, Zhao Ziyang was removed in 1989.<ref name="scmp20120420xiang">Xiang, Lanxin (April 20, 2012). "Bo Xilai probe shows up China's outdated system of government". South China Morning Post</ref> Deng, the core of the eight Elders, retired after the 5th Plenary Session of the 13th Central Committee (November 1989), when he resigned from his last official title (Chairman of the Central Military Commission), and the rest of the Elders officially retired after the 14th Party Congress in October 1992 when the Central Advisory Commission was abolished. They still held decisive influence behind the scenes until Deng's death in February 1997.<ref name=":0" />

Membership

The membership was never formally stated. With Deng Xiaoping as the main holder of power, the eight elders are accepted to include:<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Additional citations needed

Name	Image	Position(s) Held	Birthplace (Ancestry)	Ref
Deng Xiaoping (1904–1997)	File:Deng Xiaoping at the arrival ceremony for the Vice Premier of China (cropped).jpg	Politburo Standing Committee (1977–1987) Political Consultative Conference chairman (1978–1983) Central Military Commission chairman (1981–1989) Central Advisory Commission chairman (1982–1987)	Guang'an, Sichuan (Jishui, Jiangxi)	<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" />
Chen Yun (1905–1995)	File:1959 Chen Yun (cropped).jpg	Politburo Standing Committee (1978–1987) Central Commission for Discipline Inspection First Secretary (1979–1987) Central Advisory Commission chairman (1987–1992)	Qingpu, Shanghai	<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" />
Li Xiannian (1909–1992)	File:Li Xiannian1985.jpg	Politburo Standing Committee (1977–1987) President of the People's Republic of China (1983–1988) Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference chairman (1988–1992)	Huang'an, Hubei	<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" />
Peng Zhen (1902–1997)	File:Zhou Enlai, Peng Zhen and Zhang Junqiu (cropped).jpg	Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (1983–1988)	Houma, Shanxi	<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" />
Yang Shangkun (1907–1998)	File:Yang Shangkun 2.jpg	President of the People's Republic of China (1988–1993) Central Military Commission vice chairman (1982–1992)	Tongnan, Chongqing	<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" />
Bo Yibo (1908–2007)	File:Boyibo1946.jpg	Central Advisory Committee vice chairman (1982–1992)	Dingxiang, Shanxi	<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" />
Wang Zhen (1908–1993)	File:Wangzhen1955.jpg	Vice President of the People's Republic of China (1988–1993) Central Advisory Committee vice chairman (1985–1992)	Liuyang, Hunan	<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" />
Song Renqiong (1909–2005)	File:Songrenqiong.jpg	Central Advisory Committee vice chairman (1985–1992)	Liuyang, Hunan	<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" />
Deng Yingchao (1904–1992)	File:Deng Yingchao.jpg	Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Chairwoman (1983–1988)	Nanning, Guangxi (Guangshan, Henan)	<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4" />
Xi Zhongxun (1913–2002)	File:Xi Zhongxun.jpg	CCP Politburo (1982–1987) Standing Committee of the National People's Congress vice chairman (1988–1993)	Fuping, Shaanxi (Dengzhou, Henan)	<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":5" />
Wan Li (1916–2015)		Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China (1980–1988) Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (1988–1993) CCP Politburo (1982–1992)	Dongping, Shandong	<ref name=":0" />

Timeline of the life span of members

<timeline> ImageSize = width:700 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:50 right:40 left:20 AlignBars = late

Colors =

 id:red      value:red legend: Deng_Xiaoping
 id:darkblue value:darkblue legend: Original_members
 id:green    value:green legend: Later_entries
 id:pink    value:pink legend: Elders_living_past_Deng
 id:gray1    value:gray(0.8)
 id:gray2    value:gray(0.9)

DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:1900 till:2020 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMinor = gridcolor:gray2 unit:year increment:5 start:1900 ScaleMajor = gridcolor:gray1 unit:year increment:10 start:1900

Legend = columns:3 left:150 top:24 columnwidth:280

TextData =

 pos:(20,27) textcolor:black fontsize:M
 text: Members life span

BarData =

 barset:PM
 bar:Yang
 bar:Bo
 bar:Deng
 bar:Song
 bar:Xi
 bar:Wan
 

PlotData=

 width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till
 barset:PM

from: 1904 till: 1997 color:red text:"Deng Xiaoping" fontsize:10
from: 1909 till: 1992 color:darkblue text:"Li Xiannian" fontsize:10
from: 1902 till: 1997 color:darkblue text:"Peng Zhen" fontsize:10
from: 1908 till: 1993 color:darkblue text:"Wang Zhen" fontsize:10
from: 1905 till: 1995 color:darkblue text:"Chen Yun"  fontsize:10

bar:Yang
from: 1907 till: 1997 color:darkblue 
from: 1997 till: 1998 color:pink text:"Yang Shangkun" fontsize:10

bar:Bo
from: 1908 till: 1997 color:darkblue 
from: 1997 till: 2007 color:pink text:"Bo Yibo" fontsize:10

bar:Deng
from: 1904 till: 1992 color:darkblue text:"Deng Yingchao" fontsize:10

bar:Song
from: 1909 till: 1997 color:green 
from: 1997 till: 2005 color:pink text:"Song Renqiong" fontsize:10

bar:Xi
from: 1913 till: 1997 color:green 
from: 1997 till: 2002 color:pink text:"Xi Zhongxun" fontsize:10

bar:Wan
from: 1916 till: 1997 color:green 
from: 1997 till: 2015 color:pink text:"Wan Li" fontsize:10
</timeline>

Descendants

Descendants of the eight Elders who have benefited significantly from nepotism and cronyism constitute a group now known as "the Princelings" or the "Crown Prince Party". Its members, rising through party ranks, can easily overrule any opposition in their jurisdictions, even if they are assigned to a local administrative position. They are often seen to outrank other party officials and possess greater prestige due to their lineage.<ref name=scmp20120420xiang/> Bloomberg has reported on the extensive wealth accumulated by these descendants via their roles in various public and private companies.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Notes

Membership according to various authors

No.	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	SCMP 2008<ref name=":0" />	Bloomberg 2012<ref name=":3">Template:Cite news</ref>	Andrésy 2015<ref name=":4">Template:Cite book</ref>	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1	Deng Xiaoping	Deng Xiaoping	Deng Xiaoping	Deng Xiaoping	Deng Xiaoping
2	Yang Shangkun	Yang Zhangkun	Yang Shangkun	Yang Shangkun	Yang Shangkun
3	Chen Yun	Chen Yun	Chen Yun	Chen Yun	Chen Yun
4	Li Xiannian	Li Xiannian	Li Xiannian	Li Xiannian	Li Xiannian
5	Peng Zhen	Peng Zhen	Peng Zhen	Peng Zhen	Peng Zhen
6	Wang Zhen	Wang Zhen	Wang Zhen	Wang Zhen	Wang Zhen
7	Bo Yibo	Bo Yibo	Bo Yibo	Bo Yibo	Bo Yibo
8	Song Renqiong		Song Renqiong	Song Renqiong
8		Deng Yingchao	Deng Yingchao		Deng Yingchao
Others			Xi Zhongxun			Xi Zhongxun
			Wan Li

External links

• AsiaWeek article
• John Ruwitch 'China's leaders tug strings of power in retirement' (Reuters)