Deng's main principle was "seek truth from facts." Using a policy of "practice is the sole criterion of truth," he refuted Hua Guofeng's "two whatevers" and ended the chaos. That is, he refuted Mao's assertion of the primacy of "class struggle."
他的思想路線是實事求是，是用「實踐是檢驗真理的唯一標準」來否定華國鋒的「兩個凡是」，並撥亂反正；也就是否定毛澤東的以階級鬥爭為綱。