16 Facts About Wang Ruoshui

Wang Ruoshui, was a Chinese journalist, political theorist, and philosopher.

Wang Ruoshui was born in Shanghai, and graduated from Peking University with a degree in philosophy.

Wang Ruoshui was known as a major exponent of Marxist humanism and of Chinese liberalism in the second half on his life.

In 1946, Wang Ruoshui went to Peking University to study philosophy.

Later Wang Ruoshui became an advocate of "One Divides Into Two" and attacked Yang Xianzhen on the issue of "unity of thoughts and existence" over a long period.

In November 1954, the Chief Editor of People's Daily ordered Wang Ruoshui to write articles criticizing Hu Shih.

Wang Ruoshui wrote "Eliminating Hu Shih's Reactionary Philosophy" in a single day; this and several other articles he wrote at the time were praised by Mao.

Wang Ruoshui wrote a letter to Mao with his complaints, and was suspended and sent to Red Star People's Commune at Daxing County for labour reform.

Wang Ruoshui returned to the People's Daily in 1976; in 1977, he was promoted to the position of deputy editor in charge of commentary, theory and literature, under Hu Jiwei, one of the earliest critics of the Cultural Revolution.

From 1978 to 1982, Wang Ruoshui served in the National People's Congress and as a commissioner at the Central Discipline Inspection Committee.

In 1983, Wang Ruoshui was removed from the position of deputy editor of People's Daily as demanded by the director of CCP's propaganda department, Deng Liqun, at the same time as his divorce with his first wife Zhong Dan was concluded.

Wang Ruoshui continued to write trenchant criticisms of the regime, and conduct polemics against Mao's former secretary Hu Qiaomu, a doctrinaire Marxist who had been behind his expulsion from the Party.

In June 1996, Wang Ruoshui was diagnosed with lung cancer, which eventually led to his death.

Later in 1998, Wang Ruoshui spent a semester as a visiting professor at Lund University in Sweden.

In 2000, Wang Ruoshui returned to Harvard University when his wife Feng Yuan received the Nieman Fellowship.

However, as a philosopher, Wang Ruoshui constantly developed his views and revised his opinions, especially when he witnessed political changes that led him to question his beliefs, such as when Mao selected Lin Biao, who endorsed the deification of Mao, as his successor.