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Wu De (; February 5, 1913 – November 29, 1995), 吴德的风雨人生 born Li Chunhua (李春华), was a Chinese Communist revolutionary and politician of the People's Republic of China. He served in provincial-level leadership positions in Pingyuan Province, Tianjin municipality, Jilin Province, and Beijing municipality, and was a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party from 1973 to 1980. After the Cultural Revolution, Wu was a key supporter of Hua Guofeng and was forced out of politics after Deng Xiaoping ousted Hua from his leadership position.
As Mao Zedong clashed with Lin Biao and Chen Boda at the Central Committee plenum held in Mount Lu in 1970, Wu De advised him to act swiftly in order to avoid trouble within the People's Liberation Army. He said: "The Chairman must act personally ... believing in the possibility to enlighten a lot of people united under the great leader Chairman Mao." From this moment on, Mao praised Wu De, calling him "virtuous" (playing on Wu De's first name, whose character 德 means "virtue"). Lin's death in the air crash following his attempted coup in 1971 enforced Wu's position. He was proclaimed head of the Cultural Group Under the State Council, a sort of temporary Minister of Culture.
After Xie Fuzhi's death in 1972, Wu De took over as chairman of the Beijing Revolutionary Committee and concurrently first secretary of the CCP Beijing Committee. In 1973 he was admitted into the CCP Politburo. He took active part at the "Criticize Lin Biao, Criticize Confucius" campaign, but Jiang Qing, believing he wanted to mislead the movement, criticized him, bringing forth his hostility towards the Gang of Four.
In 1975, he was a vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC).
Wu De actively struggled against a rehabilitated Deng Xiaoping and worked to promote Hua Guofeng as Mao's successor. He advocated repression of the 1976 Tiananmen Incident, earning the ironic nickname of "no virtue," (无德) a pun on his name. In October of the same year, he played a role in the arrest of the Gang of Four.
Despite his participation to the Cultural Revolution, his role in removing the Gang of Four earned him a powerless position in the Central Advisory Commission by Hu Yaobang and Wan Li's suggestions. He died in Beijing in 1995.
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