of different locales, even different locales within the same city (see, for
instance, his speech ‘‘Our chief task ahead is building up the country,’’
Deng, 1992 : 242–249).
Deng rarely launched any experimental endeavor as a nationwide
campaign. His approach was to test the idea initially in selected areas.
His realism inclined him to accept the practice that some regions and
individuals in the nation could get rich first, despite his strong belief in
socialism which emphasizes egalitarianism (see, for instance, Deng,
1984 : 164).
In his ‘‘Remarks on successive drafts of the ‘Resolution on certain
questions in the history of our party since the founding of the People’s
Republic of China’’’during March 1980 – June 1981 (Deng, 1984 :
276–296), Deng obviously gave meticulous attention to historical
details rather than follow contemporary feelings to ingratiate popular
sentiments. Thanks to his realistic and details-oriented analyses, the
resolution represented a balanced reflection on Mao. Deng’s appeal
largely comes from his careful attention to detailed and specific condi-
tions in the nation and realistic and practical execution of policies
congruentwiththoseconditions (Stewart, 2001 ). Thus, if Mao depended
on grand, holistic idealism, Deng depended on details-guided realism.
In the minds of both China and Western nations, Deng is remem-
bered largely as a reformer, a visionary reformer who liberated and
rejuvenated the Chinese economy. The bulk of his speeches focused on
pragmatic methods that could help China’s economic development:
pinpointed responsibility to motivate the individual; the importance of
the professional, of science and technology, of scientific management
knowledge, and of attracting foreign capital; and the efficiency of the
government. His ‘‘white cat, black cat’’ statement may also have been
engendered by his preoccupation with economic results. It was not
until the late 1980s when the nation clamored for broader democracy
that Deng seriously addressed ideological strife between different
‘‘isms.’’ Before that, his mind was on economic development. His
pragmatic and details-oriented methods for economic development
clinched the memory of Deng as an economic visionary.
This comparative study of Mao and Deng may be summarized by
saying that Mao was revolutionary in both vision and practice, while
Deng was revolutionary in vision but pragmatic and incremental in
practice and methodology. Scholars may acquire new insights on the
nature of effective leadership by studying commonalities between
232 Xin-an Lu and Jie Lu