Family and friends mourn at vigil for Hua Guofeng

Family and friends mourned former Communist Party chairman Hua Guofeng yesterday on the first day of an official vigil, although no top leaders made a public appearance to remember the man Mao Zedong appointed as his heir.

The four-day service is being held at a simply decorated hall at the 305 Hospital of the People's Liberation Army, which is reserved for top party members. The hall was lined inside and out with wreaths, mainly from family and friends. Those sent in an official capacity were from cadres ranked only as high as the Party Central Office.

Individual officials such as former state councillor and defence minister Chi Haotian , Chongqing party secretary Bo Xilai , All-China Women's Federation chairwoman Gu Xiulian and former Shanxi governor Wang Senhao came to pay their respects.

The main funeral banner hanging horizontally above a photo of Hua read, 'In grave condolence for comrade Hua Guofeng'. A source close to the family said state leaders were unlikely to show up until after the vertical banners, which will be the party's official epitaph, had been hung.

The party obituary on Thursday called him a 'loyal Communist fighter' and 'proletarian revolutionary', without the qualifier 'great'.

Hua had enjoyed the same retirement benefits given to other state leaders since stepping down from the nation's most important position in the early 1980s. He never had the kind of authoritive aura of the others and his legacy was largely forgotten.

As Mao's anointed successor, Hua was at the helm when the Cultural Revolution was spiralling out of control. Most credit him for making the key decision to arrest the 'Gang of Four', but he was swiftly elbowed out of the picture once Deng Xiaopeng was back from political exile.