Character Analysis of Chen Yimeng in Black and White: Is He a "Socialist Reformer"?

Zuolun |, 2025

Chen Yimeng was Hong Taixing's comrade-in-arms during their time in the Heilongjiang Production and Construction Corps. Like Hong Taixing, he was a "red second generation" [Note: children of revolutionary cadres], and saved Hong Taixing's life in the Great Northern Wilderness. In 1976, he was recommended to Peking University as a worker-peasant-soldier student [Note: students selected during the Cultural Revolution based on class background rather than exams]. After graduation, he was assigned to the Central Office, serving as secretary to an old chief in the central leadership. During the early reform and opening up period, he was sent down to serve as party secretary of a poor county in North China, eventually working his way up to mayor of a coastal city, then transferred to become governor of a northern province. Within just a few years, he revitalized the old industrial base. During the reform process, Chen Yimeng became known for "daring to eat crab" [Note: Chinese idiom meaning being first to try something new] and "gnawing hard bones," earning the reputation of "Hurricane Chen." Upon just assuming the position of party secretary of Dongjiang Province, Chen Yimeng encountered a workers' rights protection incident during the Donggang merger process. After conducting in-depth exchanges with Donggang workers, Chen Yimeng halted the Donggang merger process. After Gu Zheng and Li Hong joined forces to expose the corruption inside story of Phoenix Island, Chen Yimeng thoroughly investigated the corrupt forces on Phoenix Island. Although the corrupt forces on Phoenix Island were struck down, Chen Yimeng's actions failed to satisfy the higher levels, and he was ultimately transferred away from Dongjiang Province in disgrace.

In Black and White, Chen Yimeng appears as a "conservative reformer." On one hand, Chen Yimeng earned the title "Hurricane Chen" through vigorous reform; on the other hand, his ideas often conflicted with other reformers, leading many reformers to consider his thinking conservative. Chen Yimeng's first appearance is at a salon discussing current political affairs hosted by Hong Taixing. Hong Taixing's friend Jiang Haiyang, in his speech, praised Gorbachev's Perestroika: New Thinking and Yugoslavia's market reforms, arguing that the thinking mode of "either the East Wind prevails over the West Wind, or the West Wind prevails over the East Wind" [Note: Mao-era phrase about ideological struggle] was outdated. Chen Yimeng's speech reserved opinions about domestic reforms. He believed reform must consider the nation's specific conditions and attend to the interests of the majority of common people. Chen Yimeng's speech didn't resonate with others—most people didn't agree with his viewpoint. Against the backdrop of state enterprise restructuring, in the Donggang merger project, officials represented by Governor Luo Baochang and Vice Governor Yu followed the reform tide and supported the Donggang merger, while Chen Yimeng halted the project because it harmed the interests of most workers. In the great tide of reform and opening up, Chen Yimeng's actions would undoubtedly earn him the label of conservative.

Although the conservative label doesn't sound good, it's precisely this "conservatism" that distinguishes Chen Yimeng from those profit-seeking, clique-forming "reformers." Chen Yimeng's "conservatism" was deeply influenced by the old chief, who constantly taught him that as a cadre, he should govern one area and bring benefit to one area, serving the people practically. During his time as the chief's secretary and as county head of C County, Chen Yimeng handled everything personally, conducting investigations and research across many parts of the country. When Chen Yimeng assumed the position of Dongjiang Province party secretary, he met with the old chief once. During the meeting, the old chief inquired about Chen Yimeng's opinion on allowing capitalists to join the Party and expressed his own views. The old chief criticized the then-widely popular "make-up class theory" [Note: argument that China needed to go through a capitalist stage to "make up" for skipped development] which remained quite marketable even to this day, pointing out that the "make-up class theory" was merely an excuse for those suffering from "love of capitalism disease" to reject socialism and restore capitalism. These conversations revealed the chief's worries about the Party and nation's future. The chief's teachings once again inspired Chen Yimeng. Having just taken office, Chen Yimeng couldn't even attend the provincial party standing committee meeting—he rushed to Donggang to stop the public security department's action to disperse workers, holding a joint meeting on-site to understand the Donggang workers' voices. Under the wave of state enterprise restructuring at that time, Donggang's restructuring and merger could be said to be perfectly normal, very much in line with the reform spirit of the time. Moreover, multiple forces were pushing the entire project forward. If Chen Yimeng opposed this project, he would not only offend multiple forces but also contradict the policy tide of the time. However, Chen Yimeng saw what other "reformers" couldn't see—the interests of the people. In his conversation with Gu Zhizhen, he learned that Donggang's consecutive years of losses weren't due to management problems, but rather the result of cadres enjoying high salaries while eating the mountain empty [Note: Chinese idiom meaning depleting resources], stuffing most workers' wealth into the pockets of a few cadres. This result wasn't an isolated case among state enterprises of that era, but the true situation of most poorly managed state enterprises. Some people lost their iron rice bowls [Note: guaranteed lifetime employment], while others clutched their golden rice bowls. At the provincial party standing committee meeting, Chen Yimeng said: "The ultimate purpose of reform is development and developing productive forces, letting all people share in the fruits of reform and opening up, not treating the broadest masses of people as burdens to be discarded." Amid everyone's debate, the Donggang merger project was suspended.

From the above we can see that Chen Yimeng's "conservatism" lies precisely in his refusal to discard the people as burdens. The people's burden prevented him from conducting sweeping reforms like other "reformers" in the book. In the great tide of reform, he didn't abandon that socialist original intention. Suspending the Donggang merger project required bearing pressure from multiple directions, including pressure from above, pressure from colleagues, and pressure from his good friend Hong Taixing, one of the beneficiaries of the Donggang merger project. But for the interests of the people, for that belief in his heart, Chen Yimeng ultimately took that step. This behavior of breaking through various obstacles quite embodies a reformer's spirit.

Chen Yimeng's reform path ultimately led to failure. Although Chen Yimeng handled the Phoenix Island corruption case, because his wife Xiao Xiao accepted Du Wei's villa behind Chen Yimeng's back, Chen Yimeng was also implicated. Not long after assuming the position of Dongjiang Province party secretary, Chen Yimeng was transferred away from Dongjiang Province in disgrace, his position taken by liberal Jiang Haiyang.

Why did Chen Yimeng ultimately fail? Was it because of his wife Xiao Xiao's actions? Perhaps that's part of the reason, but it's not the main reason. When Bai Wen spoke with Song Xiaofan, he said: "China's higher levels are obviously not very satisfied with Chen Yimeng's actions. Otherwise, they wouldn't have transferred him away from Dongjiang in such a short time. China's reforms are already irreversible—any conservative forces cannot change or delay them." Chen Yimeng's failure lies in uncoordinated steps—one leg wanting to walk the capitalist road, the other leg still wanting to walk the socialist road. Undoubtedly, Chen Yimeng was part of the capitalist reform road; otherwise there wouldn't be the "Hurricane Chen" story, nor would he have reached the position of Dongjiang Province party secretary. But Chen Yimeng's socialist original intention prevented him from advancing on the reform road as unscrupulously as other reformers. State enterprise restructuring is the inevitable path to a market economy. In a market economy environment, labor power becomes a commodity, and workers inevitably must sell their labor power, unable to remain masters in charge. Therefore, during that era's state enterprise restructuring process, large numbers of workers were laid off—losing their iron rice bowls to achieve a few people's golden rice bowls. The capitalist road and workers' interests are fundamentally opposed—one must choose between the two. While Chen Yimeng believed state enterprise restructuring and the market economy road were necessary, he couldn't let go of those workers whose interests were harmed by state enterprise restructuring. A person must either stand on the bourgeois position or stand on the proletarian position. Chen Yimeng's wavering attitude in this regard tied his own hands and feet, ultimately leading to his disgraceful transfer from Dongjiang Province. The interests of Donggang workers also couldn't receive final protection—with Jiang Haiyang's assumption of office, the Donggang restructuring process became irreversible.

The reason Chen Yimeng walked two roads with two legs, I believe, is that he lacked clear understanding of whether reform was taking the socialist road or the capitalist road. Chen Yimeng said: "If state enterprise restructuring is all like Donggang, stuffing most workers' wealth into the pockets of a few cadres, then our reform has truly taken the evil path, as Comrade Xiaoping said." The old chief also mentioned in conversation: "This theory of making up capitalist classes violates Xiaoping's intentions." Both Chen Yimeng and the old chief believed that reform and opening up was socialist development, and that harming workers' interests could be avoided. However, Deng Xiaoping's so-called "primary stage" [Note: "primary stage of socialism" - theoretical justification for market reforms] was precisely the embodiment of "make-up class theory." State enterprise restructuring was Deng's inevitable choice, necessarily harming most workers' interests. Chen Yimeng and the old chief opposed "make-up class theory" but failed to identify the "make-up class theory" existing in reality. I believe Chen Yimeng's inner socialist faith was sincere, but due to mistaken cognitive guidance, he walked on the wrong road. Chen Yimeng could never find the answer he truly sought.

Quite a few red friends [Note: leftist comrades] consider Chen Yimeng a socialist reformer and in reality pin our nation's socialist future on these "healthy forces" within the Party. I don't agree with this thinking. What is a socialist reformer? A socialist reformer is someone who, in the road struggle, persists in taking the socialist road and carries out reforms in a socialist direction. Does Chen Yimeng count as a socialist reformer? No, because under bourgeois dictatorship and taking the capitalist road, true socialist reformers don't exist. In a capitalist environment, for the proletariat to seize power and become masters, aside from cruel class struggle and revolutionary war, there is no other choice. Pinning hopes on socialist reformers in a capitalist environment means hoping to transfer power from bourgeois hands to proletarian hands through peaceful, legal reform methods, gently like spring rain. Attempting to make the bourgeoisie hand over power peacefully is undoubtedly a form of opportunism. Without class struggle, without revolution, why would the bourgeoisie yield their immediate interests? Once reform touches private ownership, they will mercilessly dispatch armies to suppress reformers. From history we can see this social democratic thinking has long since gone bankrupt. Social democrats not only cannot seize power—some even become accomplices of imperialism. Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun [Note: famous Mao quote]. Last century's socialist camp was established precisely because revolutionaries grasped the gun barrel. Without the proletariat's own gun barrel, they cannot attain their rightful position.

Capitalism cannot have socialist reformers; only under socialism and proletarian dictatorship can there be true socialist reformers. Under conditions of proletarian dictatorship, class struggle still exists. The struggle between two roads within the Party continues—one faction is the authorities in power attempting to take the capitalist road, the other faction is socialist reformers persisting in taking the socialist road. And Chairman Mao was such a socialist reformer. After New China's founding, Chairman Mao exhausted the energy of his latter half-life to defend proletarian dictatorship, persisting in taking the socialist reform road, adopting a method of both struggling against and uniting with Party authorities taking the capitalist road, hoping they could return from their mistaken path. In his later years, he was even willing to be "smashed to pieces" to defend the proletarian power exchanged for by countless martyrs' fresh blood. Someone like Chairman Mao can truly be called a genuine socialist reformer.

Under conditions of bourgeois dictatorship, even if some "healthy forces" exist, they cannot accomplish anything. Chen Yimeng came to Dongjiang full of ambition and was transferred away from Dongjiang in disgrace in a short time. They might change things for a moment, but cannot change them for an era. Chen Yimeng serving as Dongjiang Province party secretary could be called Gu Zheng's, Wang Sheng's, and Li Hong's good fortune. When Gu Zheng exposed Phoenix Island's corruption on the Tonggu website, Du Wei and Lang Tao quickly took measures to block Tonggu website and issued arrest warrants for Gu Zheng and Li Hong. If not for Chen Yimeng's thorough investigation, the Phoenix Island corruption case might have been covered up again, and Gu Zheng and Li Hong might very likely have been wrongfully imprisoned like Wang Sheng. After the Phoenix Island corruption case, Chen Yimeng was transferred away. Liberal Jiang Haiyang's arrival would turn Chen Yimeng's various efforts in Dongjiang to bubbles. The "reform" process is something Chen Yimeng cannot block. Not pinning hopes on class struggle but pinning them on "healthy forces'" reforms will ultimately gain us nothing. In summary, I believe abandoning illusions about "healthy forces" is very necessary.

Chen Yimeng walking two roads with two legs ultimately stumbled—this is an excellent warning for us in reality. A person cannot simultaneously support the bourgeois road and the proletarian road. Facing two completely opposite roads, we must make our own choice.