Deng Pufang was born to Deng Xiaoping[3] and Zhuo Lin, in Yuntoudi Village, Mataian Town, Liao County, Jinzhong, Shanxi. The name "Pufang" was given to him by Liu Bocheng, in the sense of "purity and squareness".[4]
During the Cultural Revolution, Deng Xiaoping and his family were targeted by Mao Zedong. He was branded as a capitalist roader.[1] In one session, he was forced to kneel to the ground with his arm stretched out behind him and over his head. His family watched as the students forced him to confess to capitalist ways of thinking.[6][7]
Mao's Red Guards then imprisoned Deng Pufang. He was tortured and thrown out of the window of a three-story building at Peking University in 1968.[1][2][6][8] His back broken, he was rushed to the hospital, but was denied admission. By the time he reached another clinic, he was paralyzed.[6] He remains a paraplegic, using a wheelchair.[1][2]
With regard to his views on the Cultural Revolution, Deng Pufang once said, "The generation of the Cultural Revolution is in no sense a lost generation, as is often said. Quite to the contrary. All those who passed through that testing have been toughened. These people think a great deal, and have their own ideas. They are firm in their convictions, and show initiative. To my way of thinking this generation represents a trump card for China and for the reforms which they have set in motion."[9]
In 1984 Deng Pufang established the China Welfare Fund for the Disabled.
It was in 1975 that Deng was given the opportunity to work, serving in the Administrative and Economic Management Department of the General Office of the Central Military Commission. In 1984, he became a vice president of the China Welfare Fund for the Disabled as a vice-ministerial cadre at the age of 40; the following year, he was promoted to president of the foundation; and since 2006, he has been the president of the foundation. He also founded and became the chairman of the China Disabled Persons' Federation in 1988.[1]
In 1987, he was the prime mover behind a national survey for people with disabilities.[1] Deng also visited the United States to publicize the challenges of disabled people in China and learn about relevant practices in the United States.[3] In 1990, he led the formation of the Chinese Rehabilitation and Research Association for the Mentally Disabled. In 1991, legislation was passed to recognize mental illness as a disability.[1]
^ abcdefgPearson, Veronica. Royal College of Psychiatrists. [1995] (1995). RCPsych Publications. ISBN0-902241-74-5. p. 88
^ abcSabriye Tenberken; Rosemary Mahoney (2013). My path leads to Tibet: the inspiring story of the blind woman who brought hope to the blind children of Tibet. W W Norton. ISBN9781611458893.
^Len Barton, ed. (1989). Integration: myth or reality? (1 ed.). New York: Falmer Press. ISBN9781850006145. International Conference on Disability, Handicap and Policy at Bristol Polytechnic, England, July 1988