I. He Jiadong (1923–2006)

He Jiadong (1923–2006), originally named Wan Shuyang, was a native of Henan. He was a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) writer and thinker. In the 1950s he published Dedicate Everything to the Party, earning the reputation of a “Communist saint,” yet he was persecuted for twenty years. In his later years he deeply reflected on the Communist revolution and published China’s Path, coming to be regarded as a representative figure of being “true at both ends,” and was known as the “Saint He.” He Jiadong was a representative figure of the CCP’s “shedding Communism and returning to the Way.”

In 1938, He Jiadong joined the War of Resistance against Japan and served as a warrant officer in a railway security unit, acting as an underground liaison for the CCP. In 1945 he became a CCP member and carried out underground publishing and student movement work in Beiping. In 1948 he served as an editor of New Masses Daily. In 1949 he founded the Workers’ Publishing House in Beijing, serving as factory director and editor-in-chief. In 1957 he was labeled a Rightist, expelled from the Party, and stripped of his posts. In 1959 he was assigned as the responsible editor of the novel Liu Zhidan. In 1962, after Mao Zedong criticized the novel Liu Zhidan, He was implicated in the so-called “Xi Zhongxun Anti-Party Clique” and labeled an anti-Party element. In 1965, Kang Sheng exiled him to Chengwu County in Shandong for fourteen years of control. During the Cultural Revolution he was struggled against; his family was also implicated, and his mother and two sons died during the Cultural Revolution.

In 1979 He Jiadong was rehabilitated and appointed deputy president and deputy editor-in-chief of the Workers’ Publishing House. In 1984 he was investigated for publishing Liu Binyan’s The Second Kind of Loyalty. In 1985 he resigned and retired, later serving as president of a private correspondence administrative college, and in 1987 as consultant to the Beijing Institute of Social and Economic Studies. In 2000 he co-published China’s Path with Li Shenzhi. He died of illness in Beijing in 2006 at the age of eighty-three.

He Jiadong was a prolific author throughout his life. In the 1950s he published several books praising the CCP and Mao Zedong, becoming nationally famous, including Dedicate Everything to the Party, Zhao Yiman, My Family, Fang Zhimin’s Fighting Life, and A Million Mighty Troops in One’s Chest: Chairman Mao in Northern Shaanxi. In the 2000s he published The World and China in the 21st Century, An Analysis of Contemporary Chinese Political Thought, and other works. A 700,000-word Collected Works of He Jiadong was published in the United States in 2007.

He Jiadong possessed broad vision and profound thought. From history to the future, from ideas and culture to politics and economics, there was nothing he did not deeply engage with. He offered original analyses and judgments of various contemporary intellectual trends at home and abroad, and proposed innovative views on China’s future and humanity’s destiny.

He Jiadong drafted China’s Path jointly published with Li Shenzhi, proposing a new daotong (lineage of the Way) for twentieth-century China. Its representative figures were Liang Qichao, Hu Shi, Gu Zhun, and Li Shenzhi, and civilization should be rebuilt by following this new lineage. He believed that ancient China had an old daotong centered on Confucius, and that modern China’s new daotong both inherited and renewed it. Liang Qichao, anti-Communist and respectful of Confucius, was the foremost thinker of the late Qing and early Republic and unquestionably ranked first in the new daotong. The second was Hu Shi or Chen Duxiu? Chen Duxiu was a democratic faction member of the CCP who later opposed Stalin; during the May Fourth era he and Hu Shi were both cultural standard-bearers. Hu Shi was pro-American and, during the May Fourth period, once ambiguous toward Confucianism, but later respected Confucius and opposed Communism; in the 1950s he was criticized in campaigns launched by Mao Zedong for two years. He Jiadong chose Hu Shi as the representative figure of the new daotong, rather than Chen Duxiu. The third was Gu Zhun. During the frenzied Mao-worship of the Cultural Revolution, Gu Zhun independently reflected that China should abandon Mao Zedong and take the path of parliamentary democracy, leaving behind precious manuscripts; he was the only courageous fighter who dared to write during the Cultural Revolution. As a representative figure of the new daotong, Gu Zhun was beyond dispute. The fourth was Li Shenzhi. In 1957 Li advocated “great democracy,” was labeled a Rightist, and expelled from the Party. In 1979 he accompanied Deng Xiaoping on a visit to the United States. In the 1990s he served as vice president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, advocated a liberal path for China, enjoyed high public esteem, and was regarded as a representative figure in reflecting on China’s path.

In 2000, when He Jiadong drafted China’s Path and included Li Shenzhi as a representative of the “new daotong,” Li accepted and co-signed its publication. In fact, Li Shenzhi did not have a clear understanding of the “new daotong.” He repeatedly criticized Lee Kuan Yew’s East Asian values, arguing that Confucian values carried strong clan-based traditions leading to authoritarianism. In conversations with Tu Weiming he even questioned, “As we approach the 21st century, do we still need to mention Confucius?”—showing that he did not clearly understand Confucius. His sole focus was liberalism, and he misunderstood Confucius as authoritarian. Moreover, he once said, “If I could live again, I would still join this Party,” showing that he lacked clear awareness of the century-long catastrophe brought about by the CCP and of his own being deceived into taking the wrong path, viewing the century-long disaster merely as “the greatest social experiment in history.”

In fact, the fourth representative figure of the new daotong should have been He Jiadong himself, but he was modest and also took into account Li Shenzhi’s position as vice president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and his broader influence. In terms of vision and depth of thought, He Jiadong stood a level higher than Li Shenzhi. His personal moral character also won deep respect within Beijing’s intellectual circles.

He Jiadong did not write specialized treatises on Confucianism, yet his thought undoubtedly belonged to Confucius. He was unquestionably a representative figure of the CCP’s “shedding Communism and returning to the Way.” All twentieth-century figures who opposed Mao and Communism would ultimately return to the Confucian tradition. That is the “new daotong” proposed by He Jiadong; there is no middle road. The liberalism most admired by Li Shenzhi also belongs “within the new daotong”; abstract liberalism alone is not practical.

II. Wang Kang (1949–2020)

Wang Kang (1949–2020), a native of Chongqing, was the only contemporary Chinese figure commonly referred to as a “folk intellectual.” He came from a scholarly family; for several generations his parents and grandfather were teachers, and his maternal uncle was the renowned modern New Confucian Tang Junyi.

Wang Kang was born at a time when Communist troops were closing in, amid chaos and war, with ordinary people at a loss. His mother did not want him to be born and took many medicines to induce an abortion, but failed. Less than a month after his birth, his father was arrested and imprisoned (not released until 1980). His mother struggled to raise him alone. He completed primary and secondary school, and in 1978 was admitted to the Chinese Department of Southwest Normal College, where he founded a literary society.

During the Cultural Revolution, Wang Kang had already begun to see clearly the true nature of Mao and the CCP. Chongqing was the epicenter of factional armed struggle incited by Mao and Jiang Qing, with thousands killed. At Chongqing No. 1 Middle School where he studied, more than twenty students died, several of them his close friends. He personally witnessed corpses riddled with bullets, leaving indelible memories. During the “sent-down” movement he also saw peasants in extreme poverty: a full day’s labor earned only four cents, while families still owed debts to the production team; entire families crowded into a single room, seven or eight people without windows or toilets. Lin Biao’s failed escape and death further awakened him and filled him with loathing for the “Red Sun.”

After graduation, Wang Kang worked as a middle school teacher in Chongqing. In 1988, together with reformist Wen Yuankai, he drafted China’s Reform Charter. Many well-known reformists such as Chen Yiyu, Wan Runan, and Pan Weiming responded, adding twenty-three proposals and jointly submitting them to the central authorities, carrying the flavor of a modern-day “petition of the scholars.” At a critical juncture in China’s reform history, it issued the call that “without reform, there is no way out.” During the 1989 Tiananmen democracy movement, Wang Kang was extraordinarily excited; seeing the Statue of Liberty ignited new hope. Soon tanks rolled in, and bloody suppression followed, with tens of thousands losing their lives. China’s Reform Charter was also labeled a counterrevolutionary text. Wang Kang was wanted, dismissed from his post, barred from teaching, had his housing taken back, and was left homeless, wandering for many years in a state of internal exile.

After Deng Xiaoping’s Southern Tour in 1992, Chinese reform again showed a glimmer of hope. A Chongqing Television executive (his classmate) invited him to write political commentaries on reform, which were filmed into a five-episode television series. In 1993 it was titled The Great Way, running over three hours and probing the nation’s path of development. Deng Xiaoping also watched it, and it had nationwide impact.

In 1994, Wang Kang founded the “Chongqing Wartime Capital Culture Company.” Over several years he produced documentaries such as The Wartime Capital of Resistance, Lessons from Sino-American Western Development, and The Chongqing Bombings, striving to restore the true history of the War of Resistance that had been distorted by the CCP.

In 2004, Wang Kang began planning a massive long scroll painting to restore the true history of the War of Resistance, using epic imagery to expose the deceptive propaganda that “the Communist Party was the main force of resistance.” The first scroll was Years of Mountains and Rivers, the second A Great Wall of Flesh and Blood, the third The Rise and Fall of the World, and the fourth Faith, Righteousness, and Peace. Beginning with the September 18 Incident of 1931, it depicted the suffering and resistance of the people, soldiers defending the nation—3.4 million Nationalist troops died on the battlefield, including 242 generals (240 from the Nationalist Army, 2 from the Communist side). The third scroll portrayed intellectuals’ sense that “every man bears responsibility,” and the fourth depicted the international battlefield and U.S. support for China. Wang Kang mobilized dozens of artists; with no funding or support, relying on volunteers who painted day and night for over five years, they completed giant portraits of 240 fallen generals, along with other scenes, creating a scroll over 1,000 meters long. It was first exhibited in Taiwan on July 7, 2010. Kuomintang Chairman Lien Chan attended, spoke, and inscribed the words “Mighty Spirit Flows Forever.” It could not, however, be exhibited in mainland China.

Wang Kang consistently focused on China’s future development. After Xi Jinping came to power, in 2013 he pointed out in lectures that China faced two possible paths: one toward democratic constitutional transformation, the other toward transformation into a red empire. China already possessed the basic conditions to establish a red empire—large population, vast territory, an integrated industrial system, a powerful bureaucratic apparatus, coupled with stirred-up nationalism and populism. He worried that the latter path was more likely.

In 2015, Wang Kang came to the United States and, with friends, planned a touring exhibition of the historical painting scroll Mighty Spirit Flows Forever. It encountered strong obstruction from CCP authorities. Wang Kang firmly rejected their unreasonable demands and strove to exhibit in Washington, New York, San Francisco, and other cities. The CCP then barred him from returning to China, forcing him to remain in the United States. With friends’ assistance he settled in Virginia. During his time in the U.S., he single-handedly created Judging the Ghosts, portraying the catastrophic history of twentieth-century communism. In 2016 he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. While ill, he continued painting and writing, completing the large oil painting Russia at Dawn, depicting dozens of Russian democratic activists and expressing his yearning for Russia’s successful democratic transformation. In his later years he was full of passion, hoping China would follow the Soviet path of abandoning communism and transitioning to democracy.

Even in grave illness, Wang Kang did not forget China’s future. He hoped for China’s moral reconstruction—namely, the reconstruction of Confucian ethical traditions—followed by a renaissance like the Western Renaissance, and on these two foundations to realize a solid and irreversible institutional transformation: shedding Communism and returning to tradition.

In his final month, Wang Kang did not forget three things. First, he went in a wheelchair to sweep his parents’ graves; their ashes had been transferred from Chongqing to Virginia for burial. He said that when the CCP changed and China became free and democratic, they would be moved back to their hometown. Second, he applied for U.S. citizenship, saying the CCP had expelled him and left him homeless. He believed China should follow the American path, so he applied, but the immigration process could not be completed in time; instead, he was presented with a U.S. flag that had flown over the Capitol, symbolizing approval and commendation. Third, he was baptized as a Christian; a pastor came to his bedside to perform the baptism. Paralyzed in bed, he raised both hands to accept Christ God. He handwrote his will: “China’s future requires Confucius plus Jesus; China must follow the path of Confucius and Jesus.” At life’s end, he “taught by his own body,” becoming a Christian as an example.

On May 27, 2020, accompanied by the spiritual hymn The Heavenly Chariot Comes Down by his close friend Bei Ming, Wang Kang peacefully closed his eyes. Angels sat upon the chariot, welcoming him back to his heavenly homeland.

Although Wang Kang did not produce specialized Confucian treatises, his lifelong practice was directed against the CCP’s evil governance and brutality, opposing communism and promoting the restoration of Confucian tradition and Chinese culture. He did not belong to Mao Zedong, but to Confucius. In his will he wrote: “Born Chinese, I am naturally a disciple of Confucius. At life’s end, I bow before the Cross and become a follower of Jesus. When Confucius and Jesus meet, that will be the day of China’s modern revival and humanity’s realization of great unity under heaven.”

As a thinker, Wang Kang stated in his will: “The source of China’s modern virus comes from the communist specter. Overturning the red empire of China is the only path by which the Chinese people can avoid eternal catastrophe.”

Wang Kang pointed out that “removing Xi, shedding Maoism, and abandoning Communism” is the most urgent task at present, and that the future path is “Confucius plus Jesus.”

On Wang Kang’s tombstone is engraved an epitaph chosen by his executor Zheng Yi: “I have fought the good fight.” (A line from the Bible.)

Wang Kang’s grave lies beside that of his parents. Before long, his ashes, together with his parents’, will return to his hometown of Chongqing. The people of Chongqing and of China will not forget him, and they will build a mausoleum for him. The nation will continue to move forward along the path he pointed out.