A Political Life Wang Huning Trans. Classics Decoded Translated with the assistance of AI. Original Chinese Edition published in 1995. Copyright © 2025 Classics Decoded. All rights reserved. This translation is dedicated to all students of Chinese politics Special thanks to YH for her invaluable help translating the poems. 6 TRANSLATOR’S NOTE Wang Huning has been a member of the Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), the top eight leaders of the Communist Party of China, since 2017. This is the first English translation of his diary , A Political Life 1 , from his time at Fudan U niversity in Shanghai, from the beginning to the end of the year 1994 In keeping with the original writing style in Chinese, we have kept the diary - style sentences, often missing the subject of the sentence (e.g. “Woke up at 8 AM today.”) Wang writes in a personal and relatable style, covering major conceptual points but also inserting diverse anecdotes and reflections. Throughout the text, Wang references over one hundred books, movies, television series, and articles. We have supplemented the text with a new bibliography for the reader curious to peruse the sources of Wang’s inspiration for themsel f Finally, Wang relates two poems of Qianlong and eight poems of his own composition. Although the main text was translated with the help of machine tools ( with human proofreading and oversight), we have carefully translated the poems by hand with our teacher of Chinese literature YH We have also included the original poems in Chinese with pinyin in an appendix. We hope that the reader has a pleasurable reading experience and continues their efforts to bridge the gap in understanding between the Western world and the vast universe of Chinese politics and thought Classics Decoded POLITICAL LIFE 7 PREFACE Over the years I have developed a habit, or rather had to develop such a habit, which is to quietly reflect on the day's experiences during the deep and quiet night. During the day, most of the time is spent in unusual busyness and disorder, with no time f or thinking. When there is time to think, most of it is used for serious and tedious academic thinking, highly specialized. But regarding life, there is no time to contemplate. When night falls, everything returns to tranquility. Looking at the flickering streetlights outside the window, one can quietly reflect on oneself and the world, think about matters that do not rank in one's administrative work and academic research. From this, one finds meaningful things to enjoy a small intellectual pleasure. This kind of reflection is beneficial to a person. If one does too much of one's professional activities without adjustment, one becomes single - minded, and thought slowly becomes directional without an open way of thinking. Therefore, it is necessary, besi des intense brain and physical activities, to discover new spaces for thinking The reason for naming this A Political Life 2 is not to refer to a political experience, but to say that, as a scholar of political science, most of my time is used for my professional scholarship, so much so that this field occupies the vast majority of my life. This field is so broad that all topic s can be seen from a political perspective. I believe that every person living in the contemporary world and present - day China cannot avoid being political. The reason I am willing to “precipitate” and accumulate these thoughts is not because they have special value, but because they are formed in a quiet external environment and quiet inner state. Tranquility leads to far - reaching results; this is a state wor th pursuing. The Shanghai People's Publishing House wished to publish such a book, so I recorded my night thoughts. Of course, this is only a small part of it. The end of 1994, at Fudan University POLITICAL LIFE 8 Sunday, January 2 nd Reading graduate student J's thesis Government Rebuilding from Planning to Market 3 , which is written about the process of establishing a market economy system. The personal systems and organizational structures built under the planned economy will change, or rather need to change; without change, there would be no reform from planning t o market. He studied two aspects: one is the role of individuals in the transition from planning to market; the second is the role of the state in this process. Individuals must have an autonomous and free personality, transforming from a dependent persona lity in the past to an independent personality. The issue of the state is more complex, relating to the state's functions and status, in other words, how much power the state holds. The essay discusses Hegel’s concept of civil society and also Marx’s criti que of Hegel. However, the discussion is not sufficiently developed, limited by length and theoretical depth. In the process of society transitioning from a planned economic system to a market economic system, the position and role of the state and government are worth discussing. Currently, there is no certainty on the positioning of the state and government role s; theoretically unresolved, practically unknown, leading to many problems when applied. During the development of the market economy, potential problems may become real and practical issues. If unsolved theoretically, the practical work is difficult to ad vance or deepen However, there have not been many major breakthroughs in the fundamental theories of political science, while economics has seen considerable breakthroughs recently. An important aspect of China's social development is breakthroughs in foundational theorie s across some basic fields. Without such breakthroughs, social development is unimaginable. Yet this is admittedly a difficult problem. POLITICAL LIFE 9 Tuesday, January 4 th Reading the political section: Political psychology in the The 1 993 China Development Report 4 . This is a new perspective and hoped to be well - written. J wrote a draft, which is good. In fact, in modern society, people's psychological feelings and psychological influences are becoming increasingly important. Psychological feelings have a greater in fluence on human behavior and consciousness than other factors. Possibly, this is more so in increasingly modernized societies. In China's modernization development, this issue will become more and more prominent. The faster social, economic, and political development occurs, the more sensitive and vulnerable people's psychology becomes, which is a contradiction. In primitive society, there probably was no psychology. There is doubt about whether the “scientifically discovered” person is the original person , or whether the original person is not the true person. Q taught a class titled “ Chinese Society and Politics ,” discussing Cheng Zhongying’s Culture, Ethics , and Management 5 Cheng's viewpoint is: in a modernized country, an important issue is to have cultural modernization, proceeding to ethical modernization, and subsequently management modernization. In a super - large country like China, cultural modernization is fundamenta l. Discussing with master’s students the topic for this year’s May 27 th School Anniversary Academic Seminar: Market Economic System: Analysis of Political Interaction . “Political interaction” is worth studying, especially in a rapidly changing society. In fact, social progress often occurs when the forms of interaction change. Visited T Jun in the southern district; he obtained his doctoral degree and is going back. The whole room was filled with doctoral students drinking beer and talking enthusiastically. During casual talk, I mentioned the concept of the “Fudan School.” Almos t ten years ago, I started talking with students about the political science “Fudan School,” and everyone reached a consensus. After years of effort, some individuals have emerged as the backbone of the school. POLITICAL LIFE 10 However, how to form a school of thought has changed. It was previously believed that a unified methodology was required, but now it seems not necessarily so. Actually, a kind of “enlightenment” is most important. I greatly appreciate what Buddhism says ab out “enlightenment.” If an academic community can have some “enlightenment,” half the work is done. Wednesday, January 5 th Read in the early morning Lin Biao Under the Altar 6 , discussing how at the Ninth National Congress the Central Political Bureau members were determined, and how Ye Qun sent people out to find a consort for Lin Liguo. I gained some perceptual understanding of China’s political past. It is unknown whether th e events are true or false, probably some real and some not. Overall, today’s Chinese politics has made great progress. School leaders came to the department to discuss development planning. Reporting that the department adhered to the 1991 – 1995 five - year plan determined in 1991, stressing persistence and avoiding too many plans, as too many plans will fail. Running a depar tment requires firstly talent, secondly theory, that is methodology, thirdly management, and fourthly cohesion. With these four points and adhering steadfastly, the department can be successful. The scope should not be too large; too large leads to interna l friction, forming a dissipative structure. Emphasize deep reforms rather than horizontal reforms; this is the meaning. The Development Research Institute held a meeting for the heads of the various editorial teams of the 1993 China Development Report 7 to exchange thoughts on progress. Used “Master Kong” instant noodles to ease hunger. POLITICAL LIFE 11 Friday, January 7 th Read in the early morning Zhou Enlai Descends from the Altar 8 , the author’s conclusion is that Zhou Enlai was not a splendid leader. It seems the author thinks this is a breakthrough. Nowadays, “altar” or “shrine” culture is popular, and many celebrities descend from the altar. It is unknown when I will be writing a bout ascending onto something. In real life, there are always people who ascend onto the “altar.” Writing the political general discussion section of T he 1993 China Development Repor t 9 , summarizing the political development of 1993 as “developing political resources to promote the socialist market economy,” a new idea that requires solid argumentation. A specialized article can be written later. The development and modernization of China 's economy require a large amount of political resources, including institutional resources, policy resources, etc. The development of Western countries is now different; they require more economic and information resources, not political resources. China' s national conditions determine the need for abundant political resources. The concept of “economized politics” was also proposed. It is estimated that for a long period, “economized politics” will be the main trend. “Economized politics” is both a subject ive choice and an objective force; people cannot not choose it, and may even not resist it. “Economized politics” has advantages as well as disadvantages. The main disadvantage is that political authority will be in a weak position, and it will not be easy to restore in the future. Saturday, January 8 th POLITICAL LIFE 12 In the early morning, I read Zhou Enlai Descends from the Altar 10 , which says that Zhou Enlai once flew to Chongqing and encountered severe weather but miraculously survived. In class, I lectured on the Philosophy of Right 11 . Hegel is an important link to understanding Western political thought. To truly understand the spirit of Western political philosophy, one must comprehend Hegel. At the same time, Marx was also influenced by Hegel. The influence is mainly logical, wherea s the content experienced revolutionary changes. Hegel’s discussions on civil society, state, power relations, law, and rights deserve thorough analysis and research. Civil society has recently been very popular, with many articles published, likely presen ting a Western perspective on China's social development, and also serving as Western scholars' reflection on the democratic political development in China since 1978. This discussion affects Chinese scholars, some being fashionable, some academic, and some political. Sunday, January 9 th I went to Shanghai Normal University to attend a symposium. There was heavy fog, making driving extremely difficult. The venue was at Tao Li Residence, Shanghai Normal University. About eighty people attended the symposium, mostly university presidents and party secretaries from Shanghai universities, with a few teachers. A certain Beijing leader spoke, mentioning that China currently lacks the most talent for development. China is still a poor country, and it will take a fairly long time to catch up with the United States, Germany, and Japan. L’s maternal grandfather was a middle school principal in a place in Jiangsu, which was then the provincial capital. The first thing the Kuomintang provincial governor did upon taking office was to visit his grandfather. It was said that if the Kuomintang could still respect teachers, why couldn’t the Communist POLITICAL LIFE 13 Party? L said that no matter how high an official’s rank is, he must respect teachers. The official status should not enter schools. Zhejiang has set regulations: if a school delays paying teachers, it cannot build buildings, buy cars, or send people abroa d. China is running the largest educational system in the world, with 200 million people in schools, which is not so easy. Last year, Peking University’s library did not buy a single book to preserve its periodicals. This Beijing leader opposes the standardiz ation of textbooks for basic courses, saying that this would destroy creativity. Regarding the “211 Project,” he said three additional conditions should be added: first, if basic education is not done well, the institution cannot enter the “211 Project”; s econd, schools without major reforms or with old faces cannot enter the “211 Project”; third, related schools are encouraged to jointly establish the “211 Project.” Monday, January 10 th Wrote an article entitled China’s Development Cannot Be Separated from the World — Strategic Thoughts on International Politics in Deng Xiaoping’s Selected Works, Volume 3 12 . Deng Xiaoping’s third volume concentrates on discussing international politics and international relations. It should be said that Deng Xiaoping was a relatively pragmatic international strategist, whereas Mao Zedong was a more philosophically inclined i nternational strategist, with a strong poetical temperament, often generalizing many problems boldly, with great stature and a relatively strong ideological tone. Deng Xiaoping emphasized strategic choices beneficial to China’s own development. The fundame ntal change was: believing war can be avoided, thus focusing energy on developing the national economy; not dividing the international arena based on ideology, such as previous lines against the Soviet Union; judging international situations and POLITICAL LIFE 14 deciding international strategy based on the highest principle of national interest. At the same time, for China to develop, it must participate comprehensively in international society – this is a historical summary. He paid more attention to discovering new methods or ideas to solve international issues. The Hong Kong issue can be said to be an invention. He also sought innovations on other matters. He proposed the concept of “national rights” to safeguard national so vereignty. Although the West currently embraces the notion of transcending sovereignty, this remains critically important and cannot be transcended for developing countries. He was particularly alert about this point. “National rights” is a very creative c oncept, counter to “human rights.” Mao Zedong paid great attention to the world’s influence, hence many surprising actions. Deng Xiaoping also held similar views. He was very aware that a major country like China must relate to the world and people. He made a considerable contribution, and he repeatedly talked about this point. In the previous period, the most famous discussion was his statement of calm observation, composed response, steady footing, and burying oneself in practical work. China's current strength cannot play a greater role internationally, so a low profile is necessary. In the future, when China develops and China's interests internationalize, China must achieve a more favorable international position. After the development of economic strength, it must have a more solid position and power. Individual bookstores have new books again : A Study of Erotic Illustrations: A Discussion of Sexual Life in China from the Han Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty 13 , written by a Dutch person, about ancient erotic culture; Woman — Sex 14 , hyped a lot, but not very good; a book about the educated youth, Tropic of Cancer 15 , by Miller, was once banned. Many books of this kind are now published, all for “economic benefits.” POLITICAL LIFE 15 Tuesday, January 11 th Mr. F came, bringing the article Wang Huning Against Wang Huning 16 . It seems to have some understanding of me. She said she wanted me to provide materials, but I said I could not, because there are moral issues involved, and I cannot join the camp of such an article, otherwise it would become a kind of self - praise. No ma tter what kind of materials, I cannot provide any. This is a consistent life principle. However, Mr. F's piece is somewhat like that, revealing a side that ordinary people find difficult to understand. The article says: Wang Huning may not be a homogeneous whole, but a changing whole; he constantly innovates himself and eliminates himself. It also says he is a very rational person, completely rational at all times, never moves emotionally. Is that so? People living in this world: some are weak; some are strong; some require others to set goals; some set goals for others; some need emotional support to live; some need willpower to live. I probably choose to be the latter in each pair of concepts. Wednesday, January 12 th Filling out the form to buy a house is very complicated. Then filling out the Japan Foundation's form is also very complicated. Forms nowadays are all that complicated. I wrote an article last time titled Against Formalism 17 Modern society is probably a society of forms. America has many forms too, and they are more developed, but Japan's forms are the most complex, which is also a Japanese characteristic; everything must be made clear down to the smallest detail. Last time, when going to Kobe University as a visiting professor, they insisted on asking exactly when I graduated from junior high school, when from high school, which POLITICAL LIFE 16 month? Which day? Truly absurd. Sunday, January 16 th Reading the French magazine Natural Science 18 in the early morning, there are several interesting articles. One talks about the problem of reusing old cars, and the most interesting one says that scientists are working hard to change the genes of mosquitoes so that they can no longer spread diseases. This approach is very meaningful. Monday, January 17 th Reading the French magazine Research 19 in the early morning, there is an article called Music and Information 20 , which is somewhat interesting. The development of modern science increasingly uses some new disciplines and concepts to explain phenomena that already exist in society, striving to find something new from them. The difficulty of such articles lies in dis covering truly new things, not using new concepts to discuss completely old things. Simply replacing old concepts with new ones has no creativity. Arrived at the Oriental Research Institute. Mr. W said that the socialist market economy cannot only mention resource allocation, it must mention resource distribution. Marx talked about distributive change, and Ricardo's focus was also on distribution. I have spoken several tim es, but there was no follow - up; I still must persist. China is currently in a “transition period,” so stability is needed, combining development and stability. Market economy especially needs to emphasize legalization and standardiza tion, fully developing under macro - control. The relationship between the central and local POLITICAL LIFE 17 governments is important, that is, political integration. China's development cannot be discussed without unity and stability. Mr. W said: Small wisdom is good at managing affairs, great wisdom is good at using people, and profound wisdom is good at legislation. Finally, the basic research directions for the Oriental Research Institute next year were determined: the gray economy, anti - corruption, standardization of government work, socialist democracy and human rights, cultural issues. Mainly policy research, theoretical research must have innovation. It is snowing outside, braving the snow to return, struggling with nature, an endless pleasure. Wednesday, January 19 th In the early morning, I read the magazine Reading 21 , and there was an article seemingly titled You Cannot Refuse to Accept 22 , which is a review of a movie. The movie is called Beijing Bastard 23 and is said to be a representative work of the “Sixth Generation Directors”. It is somewhat muddled, with no story and no plot. They say it clearly and plainly shows a person urinating. This movie has not been released domestically yet, but it reportedly attracted much attention abroad and was invited to participate in international film festivals. Foreigners' tastes lie here: the more peculiar and the less accepted by authorities, the more they believe it to have value, although sometimes this results in a joke. I wrote an article in Chinese titled Revelations from the Lion City Debate s : How to Cultivate Excellent Debaters 24 , covering the training of logical ability and value ability. Logical ability took effort in training; it is the hardest technical portion to improve upon. Value ability is not something that can be trained instantly; at that time, training only offered so me basic value concepts, somewhat pragmatic. Later, how much debaters POLITICAL LIFE 18 acquire depends on each individual. Logical ability is the most fundamental ability in debate, and all other abilities are closely related to logical ability. Many discuss various debating techniques but are unaware of the fundamental and essential signifi cance of logical ability, making it impossible to have excellent debaters. I returned home at 10:30 p.m., and the television was airing the latter half of Chronicles of the Capital 25 . After the first half had finished, my reaction was not very good. First, there were too many “soft advertisements,” lasting several minutes each time, naturally making it tiresome. Second, the dramatic contradictions and conflicts were too artificially h umanized; whenever people met, they quarreled, with no human warmth visible. It seemed there were no good people; if there were, they were weak and timid. Third, the dramatic conflicts were too formulaic, already detached from life and purely ideological c onflicts. How well the latter half was filmed, I look forward to seeing. Friday, January 21 st In the early morning, I read Tocqueville's The Ancien Regime and the French Revolution 26 . I have previously read his other important work Democracy in America 27 . This book is also one of his influential works, worth reading. The Development Forum invited Deputy Mayor X to give a report on the state of economic development. Principal Yang presided over the meeting and said that Fudan University had already invited him to be a professor. X said that being a professor at Fudan Un iversity felt more like an honor than being a deputy mayor, and everyone applauded. He also said that he wanted to find a listed company to invest in high - tech projects for Fudan, and everyone applauded enthusiastically. There are six new aspects of Shangh ai’s development, such as the national economy reaching a new level, reform and POLITICAL LIFE 19 opening up having new development, Pudong having new developments, and industrial structure having new development, among others. Shanghai's finances are now in the hands of the municipal government. It is said there are ten pots and six lids; whoever needs to cover, covers. Money is not distributed downward but circulates locally to generate profit. Last year, profits exceeded seventy billion. Shanghai traffic is not good; to change the industrial structure, you can no longer engage in the textile industry and machine manufacturing, so that the transportation capacity cannot keep up. To engage in the tertiary industry, mainly the financial indus try, transacting money is very easy, but also very light. He concluded by talking about several bottlenecks. The report was very good and fascinating. Saturday, January 22 nd Wrote an article about debate, basically completed, just need to polish it a bit. Added a paragraph about humor and wit. These things are not easily obtained, they must come from a kind of life attitude, a transcendent attitude towards life, a serious atti tude, or a kind of detached choice of life path. Only then can there be humor, otherwise humor cannot be discussed. Sunday, January 23 rd In the early morning, watched an original film called A Time to Remember 28 , it seems to be a film promoting religious spirituality. It tells of a child who likes singing, under the guidance of a priest, wanting to become a great singer. Later, POLITICAL LIFE 20 in a car accident, the child's voice was lost and could not sing again. The child devoted wholeheartedly to God, and suddenly recovered his voice. There is cultural background. Wrote an article in Debate Revelations 29 titled Investigating things and extending knowledge, cultivating oneself in debate — the making of debating talent 30 . This article is not easy to write, cannot be too theoretical, must have some plot. Wrote about how to conduct debate and training, training issues, not written previously. Training is hard to write, training is an operational issue, not a theoretical one , it is an adaptive process, not a preaching process. Must adjust training according to situations discovered anytime and anywhere, based on students' conditions, formulate training plans. After every training and debate, there is no deep impression, no ob ject. Must have an object to have feeling, this is true training. In the evening, watched a video called Alien 31 , translated into Chinese as “ Yixing ,” this is the first episode. I watched the second episode in Tokyo in 1992, so I’m interested in watching the first episode. Science fiction, tells the story of a commercial spaceship on Earth transporting more than twenty million tons of ore from some st ar system, on the way receiving strange radio waves, while investigating, some creature was brought on board, which is the alien. The alien is a fierce creature with tremendous strength, killing all the people except for a woman. Later she finally dr ove the alien out of the spaceship. The next episode continues this story, saying the alien did not die, it still exists. This kind of film has a large market in Western countries, unsure if it is because of mindset or societal reasons. In developing countries, not necessarily. Monday, January 24 th In the early morning, I read the International Political