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The Preface of The Cultural Revolution (1964 to 1966)
An Article
A preface to the Cultural Revolution that provoked surprise around the world was an
article condemning a play. Someone called Yao Wenyuan wrote the article. The play was
"Dramas of the Ming Mandarin" written by Wu Han.
'reactionary bourgeois authorities'
In 1964, Mao drew up a list of thirty-nine artists, writers, and scholars, and branded
them 'reactionary bourgeois authorities'. The list included many people who had been
leaders in their fields like Wu Han who wrote "Dramas of the Ming Mandarin". The
list was not open to the public, so these thirty-nine people were not purged then. But Mao
ordered the communists working in every region to expose other 'reactionary bourgeois
authorities'.
"Dramas of the Ming Mandarin" is a play about an historical character, Hai Rui,
a mandarin from the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). The Ming Mandarin remonstrated with the
emperor on behalf of the suffering ordinary people, at the risk of his own life.
Consequently he was dismissed and exiled. Mao and Jiang Qing suspected that the Ming
Mandarin was being used to represent Marshal Peng Dehuai, the former defense minister who
in 1959 had spoken out against Mao's disastrous policies, which had caused the famine.
Jiang Qing went to Shanghai and asked Yao Wenyuan to write a report criticizing
"Dramas of the Ming Mandarin". This was done in complete secrecy, nobody but Mao
and Mme. Mao knew about it.
This despotic, unreasonable, public criticism against named individuals provoked much
guessing and controversy in many circles. The report especially provoked antipathy in
academic circles. Many people wrote articles disagreeing with the report in the newspaper.
Nobody expected the report to be published in other newspapers.
the Cultural Revolution
On the 10 November 1965, having repeatedly failed to have the article, condemning Wu Han's
play, published in Peking, Mao was at last able to get it printed in Shanghai, where his
followers were in charge. It was then that the people first saw the term, "the
Cultural Revolution". But the party's own newspaper, the People's Daily, refused to
reprint the article. The Beijing Daily, the voice of the Party organization also refused
to reprint it, because the purpose of the article was clearly an attack against Peng
Dehuai and political persecution. People's Daily finally printed it on 30 November only
after Zhou Enlai, the Premier, added a note to it in the name of "the Editor",
saying that the Cultural Revolution was to be an "academic" discussion, meaning
that it should be non-political and should not lead to political condemnations.
February Resolution
Over the next three months there was intense maneuvering, with Mao's opponents, as well as
Zhou, trying to head off Mao's witch-hunt. In February 1966, the Politburo passed a
resolution that "academic discussion" must not degenerate into persecutions. Mao
had objected to the February resolution, but he was ignored.
But three months later, Mao cancelled the February resolution taking sides with Zhou, and
declared that all dissident scholars and their ideas must be "eliminated". He
emphasized that it was officials in the Communist Party who had been protecting the
dissident scholars and other class enemies. He termed these officials "those in power
who are following the capitalist road,"(called them "capitalist-roaders")
and declared war on them.
Impact on all over the China
In this way political condemnations was rapidly spread all over China. Criticism against
"Dramas of the Ming Mandarin" prevailed among not only plays and literatures
with material for Ming Mandarin but also in the main realm of social science, literature,
and philosophy. Many articles that condemned Wu Han and the other scholars, were inserted
on newspapers, political criticism occurred all over China. Mischief of these campaigns
was quite severe as it was proved later. It denied all of the products in the realm of
culture and art, and also confused the thought of all communists and the people, and
encouraged them (the people) to suspect everything.
On this note, the Cultural Revolution was formally launched.
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