The Historical Different Meanings of Chinese Communist Party’s ‘The Party Commands Gun’ Under Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping

Abstract

Since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) established its own military force (People’s Liberation Army [PLA]), it has always emphasised ‘The Party Commands Gun’ (dangzhihuiqiang, µ³Ö¸»Óǹ). However, the high-ranking CCP leaders who hold ‘military power (junquan, ¾üȨ)’ would also use their influence in the PLA to influence or even change the direction of Chinese politics. In addition, the meaning of ‘The Party Commands Gun’ also varies by period, and the meaning of it is also quite different in different eras in the CCP party history. In this article, the author aims to analyse the connotation changes of the CCP’s political slogan ‘The Party Commands Gun’ from the perspective of historical evolution. Based on examples from the history of the CCP, the focus will be compared to the CCP’s revolutionary era, the Mao Zedong era and the post-Mao era of ‘The Party Commands Gun’. From the perspective of empirical analysis and historical evolution, the author reveals the evolution of the purpose of ‘The Party Commands Gun’ from the revolutionary era to Deng Xiaoping era.