Hua Guofeng; Succeeded Mao as Chinese Leader

He proved his loyalty to Mao by praising the Great Leap Forward, an economic policy of radical collectivization in the late 1950s that led to widespread famine.

He was Hunan's vice governor from 1958 to 1967 and then ascended to first secretary, the top provincial rank, during the Cultural Revolution. Mao launched the revolution to reassert his waning authority and purged his political rivals. Thousands of professionals and intellectuals were attacked and killed during the next decade.

Mr. Hua was called to Beijing in 1971 at the height of the Cultural Revolution and participated in the investigation of former defense minister Lin Biao's alleged coup attempt. Lin, once seen as Mao's likely successor, had been killed that year in a mysterious plane crash over Mongolia.

From there, Mr. Hua's portfolio continued to expand. He oversaw state security and became acting prime minister after Chou died in January 1976. His succession of Chou was considered a compromise between Deng and more-radical players in the Communist Party. Mr. Hua's blandness was seen as a virtue.

The next few months offered pivotal tests of his mettle. A series of earthquakes claimed more than 700,000 lives. Violent strikes and equally violent responses from the military sprouted up in the provinces.

The Gang of Four viewed with particular distrust a gathering of 10,000 people in Beijing's Tiananmen Square to honor Chou. In Mao's paranoid tradition, they saw such an outpouring as an attack on them and pressed on Mr. Hua to punish their potential rival, Deng.

During this turmoil, Mao died in September 1976 and Mr. Hua took charge. Outside of the surprise arrests of the Gang of Four on Oct. 6, he was seen as ineffectual at best, and Deng soon returned to seize greater authority.

Unable to carry out the economic policies necessary to stabilize China, Mr. Hua became a figurehead, then a footnote.

Drew reported from Beijing and Bernstein from Washington. Researcher Zhang Jie in Beijing contributed to this report.