Chapter
32 Cultural Revolution
166
Pan Guangfu said to Chai Jianmin, He Jiafu and Li
Tiandao: Mao Zedong has always attached great importance to the
"anti-restoration" struggle. After the founding of the People's
Republic of China, Mao Zedong continued to carry out the
"anti-restoration" struggle in the cultural field, and took the
"anti-restoration" struggle in the ideological field as an important
means of consolidating power. He believes that in order to overthrow a political
power, public opinion must first be created, and ideological work must be done
first. The revolutionary class is like this, and the counter-revolutionary
class is also like this. I have read the book "Mao Zedong and the Cultural
Revolution" edited by Chen Huanren. This book is also listed as the
research achievement of a major scientific research project established by the
Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences in 2007.
After reading this book, I have gained a lot of
knowledge, mainly because I have a better understanding of the real situation
of Mao Zedong's continuous "anti-restoration" struggle in the
cultural field after the founding of the People's Republic of China.
As early as the Yan'an period before the founding
of the People's Republic of China, Mao Zedong immediately wrote a letter of
thanks to the Yan'an Pingju Theater after watching the Pingju Opera
"Forcing the Liangshan", saying: "History is created by the
people, but on the stage of old dramas (in all old literature and old arts that
have left the people) (above) The people have become scum, and the stage is
ruled by masters, wives, young masters and ladies. This kind of historical
reversal is now reversed by you, and the historical appearance has been
restored. Since then, the old drama has opened up a new life, so it is worth
celebrating."
After the founding of the People's Republic of
China, Mao Zedong believed that while consolidating the political power and
restoring the economy, he must pay close attention to the class struggle in the
cultural field, personally lead and personally criticize the films "Secret
History of the Qing Palace" and "Wu Xun Biography", and
criticize Hu Shi's bourgeois Thought, supported and criticized Yu Pingbai's
"A Study of a Dream of Red Mansions", directed and personally
criticized the so-called "counter-revolutionary group" composed of a
group of cultural people headed by Hu Feng. Mao Zedong was most dissatisfied
with the cultural and art departments. He often severely criticized the work in
the ideological and cultural fields such as culture, education, health, and
theory, and severely criticized the departments of the party and the state
leading the work in the ideological and cultural fields. The struggle is
regarded as an important struggle to consolidate the dictatorship of the
proletariat and prevent the restoration of the old system and capitalism.
Since 1962, Mao Zedong faced the harsh fact that
the imperialists attempted to implement "peaceful evolution" in
China, and Khrushchev-style figures came to power in the Soviet Union, Hungary,
Poland and other socialist countries. The trend of class struggle in the
ideological field, the string of class struggle in the ideological and
ideological field is getting tighter and tighter, from criticizing cultural
figures and works in these fields, gradually pointing at the party and
government leaders who lead these departments, and then suspecting that the
central government has Revisionism, otherwise the problems in the field of
ideology and culture will not be repeatedly banned, and even show a serious
tendency towards restoration.
Li Jiantong, a relative of Liu Zhidan, wrote the
historical novel "Liu Zhidan" reflecting the history of the
revolutionary base in northern Shaanxi. Because the history of the
revolutionary base in northern Shaanxi is an important part of the history of
Chinese revolution, from July 28 to August 4, 1962, "Workers' Daily"
serialized some chapters of Li Jiantong's historical novel "Liu
Zhidan", and "China Youth Daily" Also reproduced. However,
regarding the history of the revolutionary base areas in northern Shaanxi
involved in the novel, there has been controversy among the founders of some
revolutionary base areas in northern Shaanxi. The people who founded the
northern Shaanxi base reported to the central government that Xi Zhongxun and
others who were implicated in the 1954 investigation of the "Gaorao
anti-party group" had provided materials for Li Jiantong, so the novel did
not correctly reflect the history of the northern Shaanxi base. Kang Sheng, the
leader of the CCP in charge of ideology, and others believed that Li Jiantong
wrote this novel with political purposes, and the publication of the novel was
to reverse the case of the "Gao-Rao Anti-Party Group", and reported
the opinions reflected by Yan Hongyan and others to Mao Zedong.
On September 24, 1962, at the Tenth Plenary Session
of the Eighth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Mao Zedong
talked about the entire historical period of the proletarian revolution and the
dictatorship of the proletariat. Regarding the class struggle in the field of
ideology, Mao Zedong said to the novel "Liu Zhidan": "Isn't
writing novels popular now? It is a great invention to use novels to carry out
anti-party activities. Whenever a regime is to be overthrown, public opinion
must first be formed. The ideological work must be done first. This is true of
the revolutionary class, and it is also true of the counter-revolutionary
class.”
In the past, Mao Zedong criticized the movie
"The Legend of Wu Xun", criticized Hu Shi's idealism, and criticized
the "Hu Feng counter-revolutionary clique", but only criticized the
so-called non-proletarian ideas in the field of ideological culture. Some
tendencies shown in this novel work have been raised to the point that the creator
and publisher are using the novel to oppose the party and to overthrow a regime
to create public opinion, and the top leaders of the CCP can no longer ignore
it.
In March 1963, the Propaganda Department of the
Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued an instruction to stop
all ghost shows. In May, "Wen Wei Po" published an article
"Theory of "Ghosts and Harmless"" criticizing Meng Chao's
Kunqu opera "Li Huiniang" and Liao Mosha's article "Theory of
Ghosts and Harmless", thinking that Meng Chao's Kunqu opera "Li
Huiniang" and Liao Mosha's The appearance of his article "The Theory
of Ghosts and Harmless" is an important manifestation of class struggle in
ideological leadership.
On September 27, 1963, Mao Zedong severely
criticized: "The literary and art departments, operas, and movies must
also focus on the problem of innovation. The stage is full of emperors,
generals, family members, and maids. The content has changed, and the form must
also change. Such as water sleeves, etc. Introduce the old and bring forth the
new, what will come out? Feudalism? Socialism? The old form must produce new
content. If you follow this way, you won’t read it after thirty years. The
superstructure must always adapt to the economic base. They are monsters and
ghosts. I heard that there have been some improvements recently. In terms of
culture, especially drama, there are a lot of feudal and backward things, and
there are few socialist things. On the stage, they are nothing more than
emperors, generals, talented scholars and beautiful women. The Ministry of
Culture is in charge of culture, so we should pay attention to this aspect If
there are any problems, we should check them and make serious corrections.” Mao
Zedong also clearly pointed out in his instructions: “If the Ministry of
Culture does not change, it will be renamed the Ministry of Emperors, Generals
and Ministers, the Ministry of Talented Scholars and Beautiful Women, or the
Ministry of Foreign Dead People.”
At the Central Working Conference on September 28,
Mao Zedong pointed out that anti-revisionism should also include ideological
issues. Literature, art, drama, and film must all be grasped.
On December 12, 1963, Mao Zedong issued another
instruction: "All kinds of art forms - drama, folk art, music, fine arts,
dance, film, poetry and literature, etc., have many problems and a large number
of people. Bureaucratic transformation is in many departments. , with little
success so far. Many departments are ruled by the dead. The achievements of
film, new poetry, folk songs, fine arts, and novels cannot be underestimated,
but there are also many problems in them. As for other departments, the problem
is even bigger. The socio-economic base has changed Well, the art department,
one of the superstructures that serve this base, is still a big problem. It
needs to start with investigation and research, and get it right. Many
Communists are enthusiastic about advocating feudalism and capitalist art, but
they are not enthusiastic about advocating socialism. Wouldn't it be a strange
thing to see the art of communism?"
On January 3, 1964, in order to implement Mao
Zedong’s instructions, Deng Xiaoping, general secretary of the CPC Central
Committee, presided over a symposium on literature and art. Liu Shaoqi, vice
chairman of the CPC Central Committee, and Peng Zhen, member of the Political
Bureau and Secretary of the Secretariat, conveyed Mao Zedong’s instructions at
the meeting. The National Federation of Literary and Art Circles It started
rectification with its affiliated associations in March, studied Mao Zedong's
instructions, checked the problems existing in the cultural and art circles,
and researched and put forward suggestions for improvement.
Mao Zedong was very dissatisfied with the
"Report of the Central Propaganda Department on the rectification of the
All-China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and its affiliated
associations." On June 27, 1964, he wrote in the report of the Central
Propaganda Department: "These associations and most of the publications
they hold ( It is said that there are a few good ones), in the past fifteen
years, basically (not everyone) did not implement the party's policies, became
officials and lords, did not get close to workers, peasants and soldiers, and
did not reflect the socialist revolution and construction. , It fell to the
verge of revisionism. If it is not seriously reformed, it is bound to become a
group like the Hungarian Petofi Club one day in the future."
On July 11, 1964, the Central Committee of the
Communist Party of China issued the above-mentioned instructions of Mao Zedong
as a document. The Central Committee established a five-member group for the
Central Cultural Revolution composed of Peng Zhen, Lu Dingyi, Kang Sheng, Zhou
Yang, and Wu Lengxi. From July to November The second rectification was carried
out in various associations in the literary and art circles and literary and
art units directly under cultural issues. People are at risk. This kind of
political criticism soon expanded from the world of literature and art to
fields such as philosophy, economics, history, and education. Yang Xianzhen,
vice president of the Central Party School, put two into one, Sun Yefang, an
economist, said "Production Price Theory" and "Enterprise Profit
View," Feng Ding, vice president of Peking University and professor of
philosophy, wrote "Ordinary Truth," Peking University History
Professor Jian Bozan's "historicism" and "concession
policy", etc., and historian Hou Wailu's view of history have all been
criticized successively by politics. From these political criticisms, Mao
Zedong also discovered a group of cultural leaders such as Guan Feng, Qi Benyu,
and Yao Wenyuan. The revolutionary "ultra-left".
In the second half of 1964, Mao Zedong continued to
issue instructions on the problems existing on the ideological and cultural
front. In August, Mao Zedong issued an instruction in the "Report of the
Propaganda Department of the Central Committee on the Public Screening and
Criticism of the Films "Northern Country Jiangnan" and "Early
Spring and February"": "Maybe not only these two films, but also
others, all need to be criticized. Let these revisionist materials be made
public.” On August 18, Mao Zedong spoke at the Beidaihe Conference: “People who
engage in philosophy think that the first is philosophy, no, the first is class
struggle.” “Only with class struggle can there be philosophy. It is useless to
actually talk about epistemology." "Philosophers should go to the
countryside, this winter and next spring, to participate in class
struggle." "If you don't engage in class struggle, what kind of
philosophy are you doing?" Liberal arts college students want to
participate in the socialist education movement, and they must " Go down
in stages and in batches to participate in the class struggle. Only in this way
can you learn something and learn about revolution.” Mao Zedong supported Jiang
Qing in making revolutionary modern dramas showing workers, peasants and
soldiers, driving talented men and beautiful women off the socialist stage. On
October 8, Mao Zedong watched Jiang Qing's revolutionary ballet "Red
Detachment of Women" and said: "The direction is right, the
revolution is successful, and the art is also good."
On December 21, 1965, Mao Zedong therefore proposed
to Chen Boda, Hu Sheng, Tian Jiaying, Ai Siqi and others in Hangzhou to
criticize the Peking opera "Hai Rui Dismissed from Office" created by
Wu Han. In April 1959, just before the Lushan Conference, Mao Zedong called on
leading cadres at all levels to learn from Hai Rui’s spirit of “speaking out
and admonishing” at the work conference held by the Central Committee of the
Communist Party of China, and proposed to find some historians to study Hai
Rui’s Rui. Wu Han, deputy mayor of Beijing and a historian, responded to Mao
Zedong's call and published articles on Hai Rui, such as "Hai Rui Curses
the Emperor" and "On Hai Rui". In 1961, Wu Han published a new
historical Peking opera "Hai Rui Dismissed from Office". Mao Zedong
watched the Peking opera "Hai Rui Dismissed from Office" at that
time, and did not say there was any problem. However, Jiang Qing, Kang Sheng
and others contacted Mao Zedong at the Beidaihe Conference and the Tenth
Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
since August 1962. Liu Shaoqi, Zhou Enlai, and Chen Yun regarded the problems
that existed during the recovery of the economy very seriously, and proposed to
oppose The "dark wind" refers to Deng Zihui's support for rural
production contracting to work groups and household contracting of production
to oppose the "do-it-yourself style", and to rehabilitating those who
wrongly criticized in the "Anti-Rightist Movement" after the
7,000-person Congress of the Communist Party of China, and Deng Xiaoping's
handing over to Peng Dehuai The 80,000-character letter to Mao Zedong,
requesting the central government to re-examine his history, proposed to oppose
the "reversal style", and repeatedly proposed to Mao Zedong that Wu
Han's new historical Peking opera "Hai Rui Dismissed from Office" was
aimed at the Lushan Conference and Mao Zedong's above-mentioned criticisms of.
Therefore, Mao Zedong proposed to criticize "Hai Rui Dismissed from
Office". At the beginning of 1965, Jiang Qing went to Shanghai to plan together
with Zhang Chunqiao. Yao Wenyuan wrote an article criticizing "Hai Rui
Dismissed from Office", linking Wu Han's "retirement of land and
redress of unjust prison" in the play with Mao Zedong's criticism of
"doing it alone" and "reversing the case". When I got up, I
thought "Hai Rui Dismissed from Office" was a big poisonous weed. The
Secretariat of the Central Committee and Peng Zhen did not allow Beijing
newspapers to reprint Yao Wenyuan's far-fetched political criticism article.
Mao Zedong was very angry because he listened to the slander of Jiang Qing,
Kang Sheng and others.
Mao Zedong’s above-mentioned speech in Hangzhou
seemed to be aimed at the historian Wu Han, but in fact it was to vent his
extreme dissatisfaction with Liu Shaoqi, Deng Xiaoping, Peng Zhen and other
senior CCP leaders who blocked political criticism of "Hai Rui Dismissed
from Office". Revisionism must be eliminated through the Cultural
Revolution.
When Pan Guangfu talked with Chai Jianmin, He
Jiafu, and Li Tiandao, his topic turned to the Cultural Revolution. After the
founding of the People's Republic of China, Mao Zedong continued to carry out
the "anti-restoration" struggle in the cultural field. Whenever he
wanted to overthrow a regime, he always had to first create public opinion in
terms of ideology. The Cultural Revolution launched by Lao Mao officially
kicked off.
