Beijing: Hu Fuming, well-known as a main author of the famous article “Practice is the Sole Criterion for Testing the Truth”, has died at 87 on Monday, a report of Yangtse Evening Post said.
The native of Wuxi, Jiangsu province, entered into Peking University to study journalism in 1955, and after graduation, he kept studying in the philosophy training program of Renmin University of China.
In 1962, he started his teaching career in the Department of Politics, which later was changed into the Department of Philosophy, in Nanjing University in Jiangsu. According to the report, he sent the famous article to Guangming Daily in September 1977, and then some others participated in studying and improving the writing.
On May 11, 1978, the article was published in Guangming Daily, igniting a nationwide debate on the standards for seeking truth. It was the “first spring thunder” that awakened the Chinese and heralded the emancipation of the Chinese people’s minds. On Dec 18, 2018, he won the honorary title of “reform pioneer” at a meeting to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the reform and opening-up held in Beijing.
When he was awarded, he said that the meeting would greatly propel the whole Communist Party of China and people of all ethnic groups to continue to push forward reform and opening-up in the new era.
–The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
