Hu Fuming, the main author of the article "Practice is the only criterion for testing truth" that sounded the clarion call for China's reform and opening up, passed away this morning at the age of 87.

(From the website of Nanjing University Journal)

[Central News Agency] Hu Fuming, the main author of the article "Practice is the only criterion for testing truth" that sounded the clarion call for China's reform and opening up, passed away this morning at the age of 87.

Hong Kong media reported that Hu Fuming died of complications from COVID-19 infection.

Many media in mainland China reported the news of Hu Fuming's death in Nanjing on the 2nd, but did not explain the reason.

Hong Kong media Hong Kong 01 today quoted the Lu media Yangzi Evening News and relevant sources from Nanjing University as saying that Hu Fuming passed away due to complications from COVID-19.

Hong Kong's "Headline Daily" also pointed out that several people revealed on social media that Hu Fuming's death was related to the epidemic.

Please read on...

Hu Fuming was born in 1935. In 1962, he taught at the Department of Political Science (later renamed the Department of Philosophy) of Nanjing University.

The article "Practice is the only criterion for testing truth" written by him, after some editing, was first published on May 10, 1978 in the internal journal "Theoretical Trends" of the Central Party School, and on May 11 in "Guangming Daily" as a special commentary Xinhua News Agency reposted the full text on the same day, and the People's Daily and PLA Daily also reprinted the full text the next day.

On February 7, 1977, Hua Guofeng, the leader of the Communist Party of China, approved an article published by the party media stating that "we will firmly uphold all the decisions made by Chairman Mao (Zedong) and we will unswervingly follow all the instructions of Chairman Mao. "This pro-Left statement that avoids correcting Mao Zedong's mistakes in initiating the Cultural Revolution is known in history as the "two whatevers."

Hu Fuming's article reflected Deng Xiaoping's ideas and theoretically negated the "two whatevers", which triggered a big discussion on the standard of truth in China and sounded the clarion call for reform and opening up.

40 years after the article was published, Hu Fuming said in an interview with Xinhua Daily in 2018 that he felt that if he did not break the ideological shackles of the "two whatevers", the people's hope of putting things right would be impossible to realize. Against this background, he began to He made a reflection on the standard of truth; he said frankly that he struggled with "whether to write an article, dare to publish it".

On December 18, 2018, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council awarded Hu Fuming the title of "Pioneer of Reform", awarded the Medal of Pioneer of Reform, and was named a representative figure in the discussion on the standard of truth.

Related news please see:

Please click here for the "Wuhan Pneumonia Zone", for more information, you can grasp it first-hand.