Editing Deng Xiaoping (section)

=== Activism in Shanghai and Wuhan ===
After leaving the army of Feng Yuxiang in the northwest, Deng ended up in the city of [[Wuhan]], where the Communists at that time had their headquarters. At that time, he began using the nickname "Xiaoping" and occupied prominent positions in the party apparatus. He participated in the historic emergency session on 7 August 1927 in which, by Soviet instruction, the Party dismissed its founder [[Chen Duxiu]], and [[Qu Qiubai]] became the [[General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party|general secretary]]. In Wuhan, Deng first established contact with [[Mao Zedong]], who was then little valued by militant pro-Soviet leaders of the party.

Between 1927 and 1929, Deng lived in Shanghai, where he helped organize protests that would be harshly persecuted by the [[Kuomintang]] authorities. The death of many Communist militants in those years led to a decrease in the number of members of the Communist Party, which enabled Deng to quickly move up the ranks.

Deng married Zhang Xiyuan, who died in 1930 during childbirth.<ref name=":11" />{{Rp|page=38}} The couple's daughter also died during her birth.<ref name=":11" />{{Rp|page=38}}