VOA标准英语2008年-Transitional Chinese Leader Hua Guofeng Dead at

Former Chinese leader Hua Guofeng, who ruled the country briefly¹ after the death of the founder² of modern China, Mao Zedong, is dead. Official media says he died Wednesday of an unspecified illness. Stephanie Ho reports from Beijing.
　
Hua Guofeng (file photo)

Hua Guofeng ended his life in political obscurity in Beijing, but at one time, he was at the peak of Chinese power.

His time in office was short-lived - only several years - and he will be best remembered as serving as a bridge between the fiery³ Mao Zedong and the more pragmatic Deng Xiaoping.

He enjoyed a meteoric⁴ rise through the Chinese leadership ranks during the last few years of Mao's life, and succeeded him after Mao died in 1976.

"He was someone the whole country greeted with a sigh of relief, including me in prison at the time," said Sidney Rittenberg, an American who spent decades in China and was in jail when Hua took over.

Rittenberg says Hua helped maintain stability in the country, but only played a transitional role.

"He just didn't have the vision to see what needed to be done, to see the monumental changes that China had to make in order to become a modern country," he said.

Although Hua's time at the helm of China was short, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology professor David Zweig says he left a significant legacy⁵ of non-violent leadership transition.

"Hua Guofeng peacefully went away," he said. "Deng Xiaoping didn't kill him, and just said basically, 'you lost, I win, go away.' And he did. And that, I think, was very important."

State-run Chinese media announced Hua's death late Wednesday. The brief dispatches described Hua as an outstanding member of the Chinese Communist Party and a proletarian revolutionary who once held important leading posts in the Party and Chinese government.

 

1 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

2 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

3 fiery   

adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的

参考例句：

• She has fiery red hair.她有一头火红的头发。
• His fiery speech agitated the crowd.他热情洋溢的讲话激动了群众。

4 meteoric   

adj.流星的，转瞬即逝的，突然的

参考例句：

• In my mind,losing weight is just something meteoric.在我眼中，减肥不过是昙花一现的事情。
• His early career had been meteoric.他的早期生涯平步青云。

5 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。