Mao’s Last Revolution

Mao’s Last Revolution by Roderick MacFarquhar and Michael Schoenhals, Belknap Press, 2006. 

Jiang Qing Sent to Shanghai

Mao began by sending his wife, Jiang Qing, to Shanghai to contact Zhang Chunqiao and Yao Wenyuan and enlist their help in a campaign against the intellectual Wu Han, vice-mayor of Beijing. Mao’s actual target was Wu Han’s superior, Peng Zhen, Beijing mayor and leader of the Group of Five. The Group of Five were the current overseers of the Cultural Revolution. On November 10, 1965, Zhang Chunqiao and Yao Wenyuan published a criticism of Wu Han’s play, “Hai Rui Dismissed from Office”. In November 1965, Yang Shangkun, a veteran of the Long March, and in charge of taping Mao’s speeches and meetings, was accused of spying on Mao and purged.

Purge of Luo Ruiqing

On December 17, 1965, Luo Ruiqing, veteran of the Long March, and Chief of Staff of the People’s Liberation Army, was relieved of his posts. Luo Ruiqing was purged, because his supervisor, Lin Biao, saw him as a threat. On March 18, 1966, Luo Ruiqing attempted suicide by jumping off a building, but survived with two broken legs.

Wu Han's Play

On February 7, 1966, Peng Zhen submitted the February Outline to Mao. The February Outline said that the discussion regarding Wu Han’s play was academic, not political (and thus not dangerous). Mao approved this document, but his approval was not enthusiastic. In April 1966, Mao revealed that the discussion about Wu Han’s play was actually political, not academic, and that the play was actually a veiled attack on Mao’s Great Leap Forward. Peng Zhen, who had claimed that the play was merely academic, was now in trouble.

Purge of Lu Dingyi

On May 1966, Lu Dingyi, head of the Chinese Communist propaganda department and deputy head of the Group of Five, was purged. Lu was purged for resisting the persecution of Wu Han, for helping to draft the February Outline, for individualist thinking, and for opposing Lin Biao’s adulation of Mao Zedong thought. Lu also got into trouble, because Lu’s wife had a personal conflict with the wife of Lin Biao.

Cultural Revolution Group

In May 1966, Mao dissolved the Group of Five and replaced it by the more radical Cultural Revolution Group.

Purge of the Universities 

On May 14, 1966, the wife of Kang Sheng visited Beijing University. On May 25, 1966, Nie Yuanzi put up a Big-Character poster that criticized Beijing University for being controlled by the bourgeoisie. Mao sent work teams to Beijing University to purge universities of bourgeoisie teachers. In June 1966, work team were sent to Tsinghua University in Beijing. During June-July 1966, work teams were sent to many other universities. When the work teams arrived, they found big-character posters, attacking rightist professors by name. Mao’s next step was to accuse the work teams, whom he created, of trying to reign in the even more radical force, the students who were putting up the posters, the mass student movement. In late July 1966, Mao withdrew the work teams from the universities.

Purge of Liu Shaoqi 

In August 1966 Mao next turned on Liu Shaoqi. Mao’s goal was to replace Liu with Mao’s protege and chosen successor, Lin Biao. Mao had Lin Biao denounce Liu Shaoqi. Liu Shaoqi was accused of having the work teams oppose the mass student movement. Liu Shaoqi was arrested and imprisoned, and Lin Biao took his job.

Red Guards 

The first Red Guards were radical student protestors. They were later followed, in late 1966, by factory workers (proletariat) and peasant Red Guards. The Red Guards were encouraged to travel to various parts of the country, to exchange revolutionary experiences. One result of all this travel was an epidemic of cerebral-spinal meningitis.

Looting the Rich and Destroying the Past

During the last half of 1966, the Red Guards expanded the scope of their activities from political protests to looting the houses of rich people. They also forcefully repatriated many recent immigrants and not-so-recent immigrants to the cities back to their ancestral villages. Many cultural monuments and works of art were destroyed, because traditional Chinese culture was seen as feudalistic.

Restoring Order with the People's Liberation Army

When things started getting out of hand, Beijing cautioned the Red Guards not to attack police stations or military bases. Eventually, Beijing had to bring in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to restrain the mass revolutionary disorder caused by the Red Guards. 

Taking Power Away from the Cadres

In January 1967, at Mao’s suggestion, throughout China revolutionaries seized power from the local government officials. The group that did this in Shanghai was called the Shanghai Commune, and was lead by Zhang Chunqiao and Yao Wenyuan (later of the Gang of Four). The 1871 Paris Commune was the model for the Shanghai Commune, which was later renamed the Revolutionary Committee of Shanghai Municipality. Revolutionary committees were set up throughout China to replace traditional Communist Party structures.

February Countercurrent 

In February 1967, Mao criticized the Central Cultural Revolution Group, to encourage others to do so, thus creating the February Countercurrent, which enabled Mao to smoke out opponents of the Cultural Revolution.

Lin Biao Incident 

In 1970 Mao attacked Lin Biao indirectly by attacking Lin’s supporter, Chen Boda. Mao feared Lin’s growing power. Chen Boda had been the party’s main intellectual. But Chen Boda sided with Lin Biao instead of Mao. Lin’s planned coup against Mao failed, and on September 13, 1971 he tried to flee to the Soviet Union.  Lin’s airplane ran out of gas and crashed in Mongolia. People wondered how Mao could have exercised such poor judgement and chosen as his successor a traitor, as Lin Biao turned out to be. Many Chinese people lost faith in Mao and the Cultural Revolution because of the Lin Biao incident. Many Chinese people felt that the Cultural Revolution had damaged traditional Chinese culture, harmed China economically, put many innocent people in prison, and created anarchy. 

Death of Zhou En-lai: 

Mao temporarily rehabilitated Deng Xiaoping in 1975, because Zhou was too sick to manage things. On January 8, 1976, Zhou Enlai died. Zhou Enlai had tried to minimize the destructive aspects of the Cultural Revolution. Zhou was a symbol of moderation to the Chinese people, who felt great sorrow when he died. In March 1976 during the Qingming Festival thousands of people placed wreaths to Zhou in Tiananmen Square. This was the first genuinely spontaneous popular movement since the Communists had taken control of China in 1949. In April, the government removed the wreaths from Tiananmen Square. This ignited mass protest in Tiananmen Square. There was a government crackdown on protestors in Beijing and elsewhere during April and May of 1976. Thousands were arrested. 

Arrest of the Gang of Four: 

The members of the Gang of Four were Mao Zedong’s widow Jiang Qing, Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wenyuan, and Wang Hongwen. Hua Guofeng had been chosen by Mao to be his successor, because Hua was a centrist. But the Gang of Four lost power, because they refused to compromise with the centrist Hua Guofeng. On October 6, 1976, the Gang of Four was arrested and imprisoned by Hua Guofeng. This marked the end of the Cultural Revolution.