Chapter 22 Chapter 21 Takeover of "People's Daily"

Chen Boda called it a "small coup". As soon as Chen Boda "taken over" the People's Daily, the People's Daily changed its tune. The next day, the editorial on the front page of the "People's Daily" was eight big characters with cold light: "Sweeping all ghosts and snakes"! "At that time I went crazy! That editorial played a very bad role. The responsibility really lies with me, not others." On the third day after Tian Jiaying's death—at 2 pm on May 25, "Cultural Revolution" "The fire was ignited at Peking University.The big-character poster "What did Song Shuo, Lu Ping, and Peng Yuyun do during the Cultural Revolution" signed by Nie Yuanzi, Song Yixiu, Xia Jianyi, Yang Keming, Gao Yunpeng, Li Chenxing, and Zhao Zhengyi was posted in the dining hall of Peking University east wall.Immediately, Peking University became a sensation.Hundreds of people watched the big-character posters and had a heated debate with the woman who led the posters, Nie Yuanzi, secretary of the Party branch of the Department of Philosophy at Peking University.

Song Shuo, who was named by the big-character poster, is the deputy director of the University Department of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee of the Communist Party of China; Lu Ping is the president of Peking University and the secretary of the Peking University Party Committee of the Communist Party of China; Peng Yunyun, female, is the deputy secretary of the Peking University Party Committee. According to what Lu Ping told the author, the big-character posters of Nie Yuanzi and others were written under the guidance of a "Sister Feng". Who is "Sister Feng"?Kang Sheng's wife Cao Ruanou!

Kang Sheng lit the fire of the "Cultural Revolution" at Peking University, and the atmosphere in Beijing suddenly became tense. However, the influence of big-character posters was limited after all.To ignite the fire of the "Cultural Revolution" throughout the country, we must rely on newspapers.The People's Daily, the official newspaper of the Party Central Committee, has always been "a battleground for military strategists."It should be noted that under the auspices of its president Wu Lengxi, "People's Daily" appeared to be very indifferent to the "Cultural Revolution".After Yao Wenyuan's "Comment on the Newly Edited Historical Drama "Hai Rui Dismissed from Office"" was published, "People's Daily" was silent for a long time. It was not until the 20th day——November 31, 1965 that it was under heavy pressure and published on the fifth page. The "Academic Research" column is reproduced...

"I only read the People's Liberation Army Daily, not the People's Daily!" Mao Zedong once said dissatisfiedly in those days. The "Liberation Army Daily" was controlled by Lin Biao. In those days, it was full of "Left" flavor and became famous for a while. On April 18, 1966, the "Liberation Army Daily" published the article "Hold High the Great Red Banner of Mao Zedong Thought and Actively Participate in the Great Socialist Cultural Revolution". Published "Never Forget Class Struggle! "One article. On May 8, an article titled "Gao Ju" was published, "Firing the Anti-Socialist Black Line"... This newspaper was originally a newspaper in the army, and it seemed to have become an organ of the "Left" faction for a while, and its influence far exceeded the The military circles caused the "People's Daily" to reprint the articles of the "Liberation Army Daily" under various pressures, and it has always been the practice that the "Liberation Army Daily" reprints the articles of the "People's Daily". Wu Lengxi, the president of "People's Daily", was a member of the "Scholar Team" who wrote the "Nine Commentaries" of Diaoyutai, a member of the team that drafted the "May 16 Notice", and was included in the initial list of the "Central Cultural Revolution". Being circled out of the daimyo clearly shows that his situation is precarious.

The call to replace Wu Lengxi is growing day by day. On May 30, 1966, out of helplessness, Liu Shaoqi, who presided over the work of the Central Committee in Beijing, together with Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping, had to write to Mao Zedong in Hangzhou to ask for instructions: "It is planned to organize a temporary working group, under the direct leadership of Comrade Chen Boda, to go to the newspaper office (quote's note: refers to the "People's Daily") to control the daily layout of the newspaper, and at the same time guide the foreign news of Xinhua News Agency and radio stations."

Mao Zedong immediately issued an instruction that day: "I agree to do this." Chen Boda hurriedly led Tang Pingzhu and others to form a working group and entered the "People's Daily" office on the evening of May 30. Without publishing a statement in the newspaper, and without releasing the news of "entering", the "People's Daily" fell into Chen Boda's hands overnight. Chen Boda called it a "small coup".Wu Lengxi once recalled: After the enlarged meeting of the Politburo in May, with the approval of Chairman Mao on May 31, the central government announced that Chen Boda would lead a working group to the People's Daily to seize power.In Chen Boda's own words, he staged a "little coup" in the People's Daily. On June 1, the People's Daily published an editorial entitled "Sweeping All Ghosts and Snakes" drafted by him.Since then, not only the People's Daily, but also the national news circles have faced unprecedented catastrophe.The so-called "Cultural Revolution" began, and I was arrested and imprisoned soon after.

Under the "military guardianship", Wu Lengxi lost his freedom and became a "prisoner" to spend the years of the "Cultural Revolution".As soon as Chen Boda "taken over" the People's Daily, the People's Daily changed its tone. The next day, June 1st, was originally the "International Children's Day" with singing and dancing.In previous years, on this day, "People's Daily" always presented a bouquet of flowers to thousands of children.However, the "People's Daily" on June 1, 1966 became murderous.The editorial on the front page has nothing to do with the International Children's Day, but eight big characters with a cold light: "Sweeping all ghosts and snakes"!

If the "May 16 Notice" was the program of the "Cultural Revolution," then this "Sweeping All Monsters and Snakes" became a mobilization order to publicly launch the "Cultural Revolution" across the country.The main writer of this editorial is Chen Boda.After he finalized the draft on the evening of May 31, it appeared in the newspaper the next day, but he never sent it to Mao Zedong in Hangzhou for review. This editorial very clearly raises the question of "regime".More than half a year later, it turned into the "January Revolution" in Shanghai and into a storm of "seizing power" that swept across the country. The editorial was a direct bombardment.

The fundamental problem of the revolution is the problem of political power.Various areas of the superstructure, ideology, religion, art, law, political power, and the center is political power.With power, everything is gained; without power, everything is lost.Therefore, after the proletariat seizes power, no matter how complicated things are, it must never forget the power, the direction, and the center.Forgetting political power means forgetting politics, forgetting the fundamental viewpoint of Marxism, and turning into economism, anarchism, and utopianism, that is, foolish people... Bull ghosts and snake gods, originally a literary metaphor, are images of ghosts in the underworld like "bull heads" and "iron snakes" in Buddhism.Since the publication of "Sweeping All Ghosts and Snakes", "ghosts and snakes" has become a political concept, but this political concept is vague and not strictly defined.During the "Cultural Revolution", many innocent people were labeled as "ox ghosts and snake gods" ("cows" for short) and sent to the "cowshed".Of course, before that, on May 25, 1966, Nie Yuanzi and other seven people had already proposed in the big-character poster posted at Peking University: "Resolutely, thoroughly, cleanly, and completely eliminate all monsters and monsters"!However, what Nie Yuanzi and others wrote was a big-character poster after all, and the editorials of the "People's Daily" were a concentrated expression of the party's principles and policies. On the morning of November 29, 1980, the First Tribunal of the Special Tribunal of the Supreme People's Court interrogated Chen Boda for the editorial "Sweeping All Ghosts and Snakes".

When the author talked to Chen Boda about the editorial "Sweeping All Ghosts and Snakes", he said with a sigh: "At that time, I felt like I went crazy! That editorial played a very bad role. The responsibility really lies with me, not others." Since then More than a month—— On July 8, 1966, Mao Zedong wrote the letter to Jiang Qing in "a cave in the west", using the words "sweeping the ghosts and snakes": "This matter cannot be made public now, and the entire left and the broad masses are saying that Openly poured cold water on them and helped the rightists, but now the task is to basically (impossibly all) overthrow the rightists in the whole party and the country, and there will be a campaign to sweep away ghosts and monsters in seven or eight years, and thereafter There have to be multiple sweeps, so these almost black words of mine cannot be made public now, and they may not be made public at any time, because the leftists and the general public do not welcome my words..." Of course, Chen Boda never thought, " In seven or eight years from now there will be another campaign to sweep away ghosts and monsters, he will also be "swept" into it—this is a later story.