Chapter 3 Chapter 2 serving 18 years in prison

At the end of October 1988, it was late autumn in Beijing, and I made a special trip from Shanghai to conduct interviews there.Because I learned from relevant departments that October 17, 1988 was the day when he completed his sentence.I am waiting for the day to be able to interview him directly so that the biography can be more informative and accurate... The day has finally arrived. After all, he is an octogenarian, frail and sickly, and he has been released for medical treatment for many years before serving his sentence. On September 26, 1988, he was admitted to the hospital again because of acute hypertrophy of the prostate gland.

So, on October 17, 1988, his release ceremony was held in the hospital. At 10 a.m., many police officers in plain clothes came to the hospital, and the ward suddenly became crowded.The public security personnel in charge of taking pictures, recording and video recording are busy. Deputy Minister of Public Security Yu Sang solemnly announced to Chen Boda: "Today is the day when your 18-year sentence will expire..." The 85-year-old Chen Boda sat on the hospital bed facing the recording microphone, just murmured a few words in a low voice, and did not seem to be overly happy about the end of his sentence.

Then, it was announced that Chen Boda would be assigned to work in a certain unit in Beijing. The brief ceremony ended like this. No one can avoid Chen Boda, this old man who has experienced many vicissitudes of life—he is a figure that must be involved in the study of contemporary Chinese history.He is one of the 16 main criminals in the Lin Biao and Jiang Qing counter-revolutionary group case; in the "Cultural Revolution", he is the "Central Cultural Revolution" He was the political secretary of Mao Zedong for many years, a pen of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and the editor-in-chief of "Red Flag" magazine.

In order to enable readers to have a brief understanding of Chen Boda before getting into the topic, the following quotes the entry "Chen Boda" on page 262 of the second volume of the Chinese version of "Concise Encyclopedia Britannica" (Concise Encyclopedia Britannica): Chen Boda (1904—) was born in Huian, Fujian. He joined the Communist Party of China in 1927 and went to study at Sun Yat-sen University in Moscow in the same year. He returned from the Soviet Union in 1930 and taught at China University in Peking. In 1937, he taught at the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Marxist-Leninist College in Yan'an, and worked in the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Military Commission, the Central Secretariat, and the Central Political Research Office.During this period, he wrote "China's Four Great Families", "The Thief Yuan Shikai", "The People's Enemy Chiang Kai-shek" and other political treatises, and became one of the influential theoretical propagandists in the party. In 1945, he was elected as an alternate member of the Central Committee at the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China.The Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee was replaced as a member of the Central Committee.After the Eighth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, he was elected as an alternate member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee.He used to be the deputy director of the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the vice president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the editor-in-chief of the "Red Flag" magazine, a publication of the Party Central Committee.Author of "Mao Zedong on Chinese Revolution" and other books, and assisted Mao Zedong in drafting some party documents. "Cultural Revolution" (1966-

1976) served as the leader of the "Central Cultural Revolution Group" and a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.He was expelled from the Party at the 10th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 1973 because of his active participation in the conspiracy of Lin Biao and Jiang Qing to seize the supreme power of the Party and the country. Arrested in September 1976.As one of the main criminals of the Lin Biao and Jiang Qing counter-revolutionary clique, he was sentenced to 18 years in prison by the Special Court of the Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China on January 25, 1981.

This entry is basically accurate, but there is one obvious error: Chen Boda was arrested not in "September 1976", but on October 18, 1970.Or strictly speaking, he was detained on October 18, 1970, and he was not arrested until September 1976. And turn back the time to August 1970. For the second time, Chairman Mao Zedong chose Mount Lu as the venue for the plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.The Second Plenary Session of the Ninth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held in Lushan from August 23 to September 6, 1970, became the end of Chen Boda's political career.He suddenly became the target of criticism from the whole party.Mao Zedong wrote "A Little Opinion", calling on the whole party not to be fooled by people who claim to understand Marx, but actually don't understand Marx at all." Mao Zedong's words were aimed at Chen Boda. Chen Boda immediately Politics peaks, falls into valleys.

Mao Zedong launched a new campaign in Lushan—named "Criticism and Rectification", which quickly spread to the whole country. "Criticizing Chen" means criticizing Chen Boda. Chen Boda returned from Lushan Mountain to his home in Miliangku Hutong, Di'anmen Street, Beijing.It was a spacious courtyard house, which used to be the residence of General Li Kenong, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Chief of General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.Chen Boda was afraid of the cold, so he built a glass corridor when he moved in.This "big scholar" loves books like his life, he is a "thousand-volume household", and the secretary "two kings"-Wang Wenyao and Wang Baochun specially built a library for him.The library is filled with Chen Boda's personal collection: more than 30,000 natural science books and more than 30,000 social science books.In addition, there is a house dedicated to ancient books bound in thread.Chen Boda doesn't smoke, doesn't drink alcohol, and has few decent clothes.Some of his manuscript fees are spent on buying books.At this moment, Chen's house, which was originally crowded with people, is desolate and deserted.He hid in the study.He has always been friends with books, but now he can't read books at all.Chen Boda had a strong desire: to meet Chairman Mao Zedong!I hope to express the pain in my heart to Chairman Mao.

Chen Boda repeatedly called the chairman's little secretary, Xu Yefu, asking to see the chairman.The replies I got were either "the chairman has taken a break" or "the chairman is busy". Anyway, I can't see each other when I'm on a break, and I can't see him when I'm working.Obviously, Mao Zedong declined his request to see him. Even his secretary was notified not to go out or make phone calls.It goes without saying that Chen Boda lost his freedom of action. The day finally came—October 18, 1970. On this day, the original guards of the Chen residence were transferred away, and the new Unit 8341 no longer "protected the safety of the head of the central government", but imprisoned him on the spot.Later, his sentence was counted from this day, and he was sentenced to 18 years in prison. The date of completion of the sentence was October 17, 1988 mentioned at the beginning of this book, not more than one day, not less than one day.

On October 18, 1970, his two secretaries, Wang Wenyao and Wang Baochun, also lost their freedom.They were escorted to Beijing Institute of Political Science and Law, where they were isolated. On this day, Chen Boda no longer had a car: the black "Red Flag", the gray "Jim" and the brown "Volga". His driver, Yu Ziyun, was also detained.Even his family's female worker and nanny, Chen Shunyi, a former female worker at the Quanzhou Pharmaceutical Factory in Fujian, was also detained on this day. He was elected as a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee at the Eleventh Plenary Session of the Eighth CPC Central Committee in August 1966.At that time, he was ranked No. 5. At the beginning of 1967, after Tao Zhu was overthrown, he became the "No. 4 Person". Now, his "No. 4 Person" has been written off.

On the turbulent Chinese political stage, another protagonist has fallen.