The Dazhai period In 1952 Chen Yonggui was appointed secretary of the CCP branch committee of Dazhai, succeeding . He led a peasant movement to turn the harsh environment surrounding Dazhai into an environment favourable to agriculture. The plan was a success, and later grain output increased steadily, passing from 237 kg per
mu in 1952 to 774 kg per
mu in 1962. This progress was brutally halted by a series of natural disasters in 1963, which destroyed 180 acres of arable land and some of the
production brigade's buildings. Despite this setback, the brigade refused any help from the state and completed rebuilding efforts in one year. All of this came to the attention of
Mao Zedong, who declared that Dazhai was an example to be followed in the field of self-reliance, launching the directive: "
Learn from Dazhai in agriculture". In December 1964, while attending the
3rd National People's Congress, Chen Yonggui had dinner with Mao Zedong. during the
Cultural Revolution in 1966 When the
Cultural Revolution began, Dazhai's model was emphasized even more. During a meeting with
Zhou Enlai, Chen Yonggui was encouraged to create Dazhai's own
Red Guard organization, which was later established under the name "
Jinzhong Field Army". He was appointed vice-chairman of the Shanxi Revolutionary Committee in 1967; in the same year, the
Cultural Revolution Group approved his "five recommendations" for conducting the Cultural Revolution in rural areas, published in the CCP Central Committee Document No. 339. In 1969 he was elected member of the
CCP Central Committee and a secretary of the CCP Shanxi Committee in 1971. He once again gained Mao Zedong's approval in 1972 by firmly opposing Shanxi Revolutionary Committee chairman
Xie Zhenhua's request to downgrade the Dazhai production brigade to
production team.
CCP central leader In 1973 he was elected a member of the
CCP Politburo and transferred to
Beijing. He was concurrently Secretary of the CCP Xiyang Committee and the CCP Jinzhong Committee. His post as Dazhai Party branch secretary was taken by 22-year-old
Guo Fenglian. In January 1975 Chen Yonggui was appointed a
vice premier of the State Council; in March, he led a government delegation to
Mexico; in September, he delivered the keynote speech to the First National Conference for Learning From Dazhai in Agriculture, chaired by fellow vice premier and next
paramount leader Hua Guofeng. He devoted one third of his time to inspection tours, one third to farm work in Dazhai, and one third to work in Beijing; Mao Zedong approved this programme. Being in charge of agricultural policy, he suggested that
Gansu Province adopt the same method employed by Dazhai, but this didn't produce the expected results.
Downfall Chen Yonggui was re-elected to the CCP Politburo in 1977 and vice premier in 1978 (in the same year he visited
Democratic Kampuchea). Despite this, his views were more and more at odds with
Deng Xiaoping's rising authority; as Deng moved to consolidate his position, Chen Yonggui proposed to abolish private plots, calling them the "tail of
capitalism". His refusal to approve private plots and carry out the "
Seeking truths from facts" campaign (aimed at repudiating the Cultural Revolution) in Dazhai cost him his posts in the party leadership in Jinzhong and Xiyang in 1979; he was dismissed from the
State Council in 1980 in a government reshuffle (when Hua Guofeng lost the
premiership) and was not reelected as a Central Committee member in 1982. == Later life and death ==