10th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party

10th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party
Traditional Chinese	中國共產黨第十次全國代表大會
Simplified Chinese	中国共产党第十次全国代表大会
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhōngguó Gòngchǎndǎng Dìshícì Quánguó Dàibiǎo Dàhuì
Abbreviated name
Chinese	十大
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Shí-dà

The 10th National Congress of the Communist Party of China was a significant Communist Party Congress in China following the fall of Lin Biao and the continuation of the Cultural Revolution. It profoundly elected the 10th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

It was held in Beijing, China, between August 24–28, 1973. The congress was attended by 1249 people which represented 28 million party members across China. It was preceded by the 9th National Congress. It was ultimately succeeded by the 11th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

Details of the Congress

On 20 August 1973, prior to the start of the congress, the Politburo of the Communist Party of China adopted a resolution to suspend the party memberships of Lin Biao, Ye Qun, Huang Yongsheng, Wu Faxian, Li Zuopeng and Qiu Huizuo indefinitely.

The congress was opened on 24 August, with Mao Zedong presiding over the meeting, Zhou Enlai delivering the political report and Wang Hongwen reporting regarding the revision of the Constitution. Mao and Zhou suggested the political rehabilitation of 13 old guard members such as Tan Zhenlin and Li Jingquan.

The 10th Congress affirmed the revised Constitution of the Communist Party of China that was also adopted by the 9th national congress. It stipulated some adjustments in the structure but the provisions of the section is not much changed, such as the guiding ideology and the basic principles of the party. In the edited bill, only discussions and doctrines proposed or related to Lin Biao were removed.

The 10th congress elected 195 Central Committee members and 124 alternate members, with the Gang of Four taking key roles within the central committee and the rehabilitation of politicians persecuted during the Cultural Revolution, which included Li Zuopeng, Deng Xiaoping, Wang Jiaxiang and others.

Significance of the Congress

New power structure

The fall of Lin Biao and his cohorts in 1971 left many vacant posts in the party and the government. Of the 21-man Politburo only 10 were left and of its five-man Standing Committee, only three – Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and Kang Sheng – were still present. Therefore, the 10th congress convened to elect new members to the unoccupied positions and to condemn the actions of Lin Biao as a right opportunist who "waved the red flag to defeat the red flag".

During the congress, the Gang of Four managed to secure positions with the support from Mao. Jiang Qing and Yao Wenyuan were elected to the Poliburo, Zhang Chunqiao to the Standing Committee and Wang Hongwen as the party's second vice-chairman.

Continuation of the Cultural Revolution

Wang Hongwen in his debut keynote address during the congress announced the smashing of the "two bourgeois headquarters, the one headed by Liu Shaoqi and the other by Lin Biao". Thus he turned the Cultural Revolution into an ongoing process that would last into the future, for in the words of Mao, every seven or eight years a great disaster was inevitable to class nature. Wang stressed the revolutionary spirit of daring to go against the tide and the importance of training young leaders. With the future of the country in the hands of the young, struggle and continued revolution would punctuate Chinese political life.