{{Short description|Chinese journalist}} {{Contemporary Chinese political thought|liberalism}} '''Du Daozheng''' (Simplified Chinese: 杜导正; né '''Yuzhi''' {{lang|zh|毓芷}}; born September 22, 1923) is a Chinese journalist who served as the head of National Press and Publication Administration in China and the founding director of the liberal journal ''Yanhuang Chunqiu.''<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2004-10-15|title=杜导正：晚年考试成绩好些|url=http://www.people.com.cn/GB/14677/22114/37734/39503/2922313.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190812211003/http://www.people.com.cn/GB/14677/22114/37734/39503/2922313.html|archive-date=2019-08-12|website=Renmin Wang|language=zh}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news|date=2016-08-17|title=China censorship: How a moderate magazine was targeted|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-37097832|access-date=2021-01-17}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=The Death of a Liberal Chinese Magazine|url=https://thediplomat.com/2016/07/the-death-of-a-liberal-chinese-magazine/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160720175818/http://thediplomat.com/2016/07/the-death-of-a-liberal-chinese-magazine/ |archive-date=2016-07-20 |access-date=2021-01-17|website=The Diplomat|language=en-US}}</ref> He was also the editor-in-chief of ''Guangming Daily'' and ''Yangcheng Evening News''.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite web|title=Amid Crackdown, China's Last Liberal Magazine Fights For Survival|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2016/08/10/489318226/amid-crackdown-chinas-last-liberal-magazine-fights-for-survival|access-date=2021-01-17|website=NPR.org|language=en}}</ref>
== Biography == Du was born in 1923 in Dingxiang County, Shanxi, China.<ref name=":0" /> He joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1937.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" />
After the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, he served as the branch director of the Xinhua News Agency in Hebei, and then in Guangdong.<ref name=":0" /> He later became the chief editor of the ''Yangcheng Evening News''.<ref name=":0" />
After the Cultural Revolution, Du served as the editor-in-chief of ''Guangming Daily'' during the first phase of the Reforms and Opening-up, which was launched by Deng Xiaoping and other reformists within CCP.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite web|last=Du|first=Daozheng|date=2019-10-17|title=赵紫阳和我的交往：痛定思痛，改弦更张|url=https://cn.nytimes.com/opinion/20191017/zhao-ziyang-anniversary-daozheng-du/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191017124742/https://cn.nytimes.com/opinion/20191017/zhao-ziyang-anniversary-daozheng-du/ |archive-date=2019-10-17 |access-date=2021-01-17|website=The New York Times|language=zh}}</ref> In 1987, Du became the head of China's National Press and Publication Administration.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /> Under Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang, the liberal General Secretaries of CCP in the 1980s, media freedoms reached their height at that time.<ref name=":3" />
However, Zhao was ousted and detained amid the crackdown of Tiananmen protests in 1989, and Du only re-connected with Zhao privately in 1992 after Deng Xiaoping's southern tour.<ref name=":4" /> He later published the book ''Du Daozheng Diary: What Zhao Ziyang Said'' in Hong Kong.<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Vogel|first=Erza|author-link=Ezra Vogel|date=|title=Deng Xiaoping Book|url=https://scholar.harvard.edu/ezravogel/pages/deng-xiaoping-book|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509085429/http://scholar.harvard.edu/ezravogel/pages/deng-xiaoping-book |archive-date=2013-05-09 |access-date=2021-01-17|website=Harvard University|language=en}}</ref>
In 1991, with the support of Xiao Ke, a liberal general of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, Du founded the ''Yanhuang Chunqiu'' journal in Beijing and served as the director of the publisher.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2016-07-20|title=Ouster of liberal Chinese magazine publisher marks era's end|url=https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/ouster-of-liberal-chinese-magazine-publisher-marks-eras-end/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160721111957/http://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/ouster-of-liberal-chinese-magazine-publisher-marks-eras-end/ |archive-date=2016-07-21 |access-date=|website=The Seattle Times}}</ref> But the traditional version of the journal was cracked down by Xi Jinping's administration in 2016, with Du and other editors replaced by pro-Xi personnel.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite web|date=2016-07-28|title=Writing on the wall for outspoken Chinese magazine two years ahead of closure|url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1996017/writing-wall-outspoken-chinese-magazine-two-years-ahead|access-date=2021-01-17|website=South China Morning Post|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Zhao|first=Kiki|date=2016-07-15|title=Liberal Chinese Journal, Claiming Interference by Overseers, Files Lawsuit|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/16/world/asia/yanhuang-chunqiu-china-du-daozheng.html|access-date=2021-07-01|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
Daozheng turned 100 on September 22, 2023.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://w.hybsl.cn/article/13/64664|title=陶斯亮 – 贺杜导正叔叔百岁生日|publisher=Hybsl|date=22 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231101201550/http://w.hybsl.cn/article/13/64664 |accessdate=2 September 2024|archive-date=2023-11-01 |language=zh}}</ref>
== See also ==
* Boluan Fanzheng * Reform and opening up * Prisoner of the State, Zhao Ziyang's memoir, written by Du Daozheng
== References == {{Reflist|2}} {{Third Council of the All-China Journalists Association}}
{{Authority control}} Category:1923 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century Chinese journalists Category:Xinhua News Agency people Category:Chinese men centenarians