Deng Xiaoping will stay in history as the man who succeeded to rebuild China and make it become again the great power it was in the past. His role in history will surely stay as major, even if we don’t talk about it today. He may be compared to two great statesmen in History : Salomon of Israel in the Bible and Henry IV in France, who live in the Renaissance.
Several factors make Deng Xiaoping able to be compared with these two statesmen. First he is considered as a wise man. To the same extend Salomon was considered to be a man of peace, as well as Henry IV. Salomon was famous with his wisdom with the famous judgment he made with two mothers. He was also a man of peace and built the First Temple. He also wrote several books of the Bible, for instance the Proverbs. The same way Henry IV, who was protestant and decided to become catholic to be able to become king, promoted dialog between catholics and protestants and was an advocate of tolerance. Deng Xiaoping was not a democrat but he instaurated more peace compared to Mao and its cultural revolution. This return of peace was a first and necessary step to the revival of China.
Another reason was the great focus on economic development. To this extend Salomon created a great period of prosperity for Israel. After many military campaigns the focus of the economic development was a great aspect of the history of Israel. To the same extend the period of the reign of Henry IV was related to the economic development and to the more and more important power in France. To this extend it is necessary to tell that Louis XIV was often associated as the greatest king in France. In fact it was be told that Henry IV was greater than him, to the extend he participated to the rise of France as a great power, and had the wisdom to focus on the economic development and not on military campaigns. Deng Xiaoping had also the wisdom to focus on the economy. The rise of China has been discreet, continuous, in a long term process, which can show that this approach can be extremely relevant. He didn’t want to put himself in the light, and on the contrary advised to rise discreetly. Deng Xiaoping was very nationalist however, but his focus made him to the rank of a hero in China.
This vision can, even if he was not a democrat, inspire a great deal of politicians. This wise mentality, which had great results, will probably put Deng Xiaoping in the rank of great leaders in history. He was to this extend a great heir of Confucianism, which is dominant again today in Chinese society, and a great strategist. This is the reason why Western leaders should more, in the next years, inspire more from these great statesman, and not be prisoners for instance of the communication system with is also leading to immediate decisions, which is contrary of what you a real long term vision should be.
The observer 