Chapter 38 4. May in the spring breeze

In the first few months of 1957, Mao Zedong was in an unusually good mood. In January, at the request of "Poetry Magazine", he handed over the eighteen poems he had written in the past to them for publication.During February and March, he gave two important speeches at two meetings. One was on February 27 at the 11th Enlarged Meeting of the Supreme State Council. Speech at the National Propaganda Work Conference on March 12.These two speeches brought the breath of spring to the cultural and ideological circles and made the intellectuals cheer. There is another major event in this beautiful spring: the Communist Party decided to launch a rectification movement.

On April 27, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued the "Instructions on the Rectification Movement", pointing out that: the status of the ruling party makes it easy for many party members to adopt simple administrative orders to deal with problems, and some people are also contaminated with the idea of ​​privilege.Therefore, it was decided to carry out a rectification movement in the whole party with the theme of correctly handling the contradictions among the people and the content of opposing bureaucracy, sectarianism and subjectivism. On April 30, Mao Zedong held a symposium with leaders of various democratic parties and democrats without party affiliation at the Tiananmen Rostrum, asking them to help the Communist Party rectify the movement.Mao Zedong said that he wanted to rectify the movement for several years, but he couldn't find the opportunity, and now he found it.Now an atmosphere of criticism has been created, and this atmosphere should be continued, with the topic of dealing with contradictions among the people and analyzing contradictions in various fields.The general theme of the rectification movement is to correctly handle contradictions among the people and oppose the Three Principles.

The political atmosphere is very favorable for the identification of the "Ding Ling and Chen Qixia anti-Party clique". In May, the central task of the Chinese Writers Association was rectification. As soon as he went to work on the 3rd, Guo Xiaochuan heard that Liu Baiyu was back, so he hurriedly called him to report to work.At around 11 noon the next day, Liu Baiyu and Guo Xiaochuan went to see Zhou Yang together. After talking for two hours, they decided that Shao Quanlin should return to Beijing immediately to lead the rectification of the Chinese Writers Association.At that time, Shao Quanlin had already arrived in Shanghai from Zhejiang, and Guo Xiaochuan made a long-distance call to him in the afternoon.Shao Quanlin did not return to Beijing until the 12th. As soon as he got to work on the 13th, he immediately asked Guo Xiaochuan to draft a rectification plan.

On the afternoon of May 17, the Chinese Writers Association held a rectification mobilization meeting.Shao Quanlin gave the mobilization report first, and then Liu Baiyu talked about the rectification plan.Shao Quanlin announced at the meeting that the leading group for the organization's rectification is composed of members of the party group, the secretary of the general party branch and the deputy secretary.After the meeting, a meeting of the rectification leadership group was held, and Shao Quanlin announced that he, Liu Baiyu, Guo Xiaochuan, Yan Wenjing, and Li Xin would form the core group of the rectification leadership group to be responsible for daily work.

Originally, due to the rectification movement, in the May work plan of the party group of the Chinese Writers Association, Ding and Chen's work of checking and closing the case had been postponed.However, during the rectification movement, everyone’s opinions to the leaders of the Central Propaganda Department and the Writers’ Association mainly focused on the two issues of eliminating counter-revolutionaries and the “Ding and Chen anti-party clique.” , the issue of Ding and Chen was brought to the forefront again as an important content of the rectification movement.The Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Party Group of the Writers Association must face it and cannot avoid it.

In this regard, the letter Qin Zhaoyang wrote to Shao Quanlin on May 31 is very representative.At that time Qin Zhaoyang was writing in Beidaihe, and he had already written one-third of a novella. He was a member of the party group and was notified to come back to participate in the rectification movement.He didn't want to stop writing, and at the same time he was tired of the infighting within the Writers Association, and he had no hope of solving these problems, so he wrote to the party secretary and didn't want to come back.He said: "As for the rectification movement, it is not that I will not participate. If it is my turn to check myself, I can go back at an appropriate time. Regarding the entire rectification movement of the Writers Association, I can also make the following reference opinions, that is, if I go back , It’s just these opinions.” “My opinion is very simple: the key to the problem lies in the attitude of the leaders. I think Zhou Yang, Mohan, and even Qiao Mu and Lu Dingyi should participate in certain internal and external meetings of the Writers’ Association. Say things clearly, listen to those who should be listened to, and inspect what should be inspected. I think that Comrade Liu Baiyu should change his self-righteous style in the past, face up to the problem with an open mind, and take on his own responsibilities.” If these comrades can With such an attitude, not only is the rectification of the Writers Association easier to carry out, even the problems of Ding and Chen "can be resolved relatively smoothly."If some leading comrades just stand behind the scenes, "even if all members of the party group hold a hundred meetings at home, it will not help. The current party group cannot be fully responsible for the past work, so it cannot be undertaken by the party group during the rectification movement." Everything.” He believes that the issue of Ding and Chen is part of the main contradiction of the Writers Association in the past few years. Express and check, and then make a speech on the Ding and Chen issues, the rectification movement of the entire Writers Association is easy to carry out.”

Qin Zhaoyang’s point of view is that the problems of Ding and Chen were not caused by the current party group. “The responsibility of individual members of the party group cannot be borne by all members of the party group.” A hundred meetings of all members will not solve the problem.Some of Qin Zhaoyang’s remarks, such as “some leading comrades are only standing behind the scenes” and “the current party group cannot be fully responsible for the work of the past”, are obviously aimed at Zhou Yang, the deputy director of the Central Propaganda Department and the previous party secretary of the Chinese Writers Association.

Qin Zhaoyang still followed the decision of the party group and returned to Beijing to participate in the rectification movement. In Guo Xiaochuan's diary, there are also records of opinions about Zhou Yang. The first time it appeared was at the party group meeting on April 21.That day was Sunday, because Shao Quanlin was going on a business trip in the afternoon, a party group meeting was held at 9:00 in the morning, and many opinions were raised at the meeting, "Many of them came to Zhou Yang and the Department of Literature and Art." The "Department of Literature and Art" was Lin Mohan. On the afternoon of May 14, Guo Xiaochuan heard Liu Baiyu say again, "Qin Zhaoyang believed that this incident of exposing "People's Literature" was Comrade Zhou Yang's attempt to pass the test, so he sacrificed "People's Literature" first." On the afternoon of May 21, at the meeting to give opinions to the head of the Central Propaganda Department, Ge Yang also criticized Zhou Yang because of an article in the "Literary Daily". On the afternoon of the last day of May, at a meeting of non-party comrades held by the government, Du Lijun "boldly criticized Comrade Zhou Yang, and the opinions at the meeting were very sharp."

At the rectification mobilization meeting on May 17, Party Secretary Shao Quanlin suddenly announced in his report that "the struggle against Ding and Chen in 1955 went too far and must be dealt with again" and that "the conclusions of Ding and Chen's anti-Party clique are untenable. ", "Ding and Chen's anti-Party clique should be removed", "This problem should be resolved in the rectification movement."The sudden statement of the party secretary caused a great shock in the venue and surprised the National People's Congress.After the meeting, Li Xin went to ask Shao Quanlin: Is it appropriate to say that Ding and Chen have not yet consulted the Central Committee for their re-concluded issues?Shao Quanlin told him that this was studied at Zhou Yang's home. He himself did not participate in the enlarged meeting of the party group in 1955 and did not know the situation very well. Zhou Yang asked him to say so.

Not to mention Li Xin, even Liu Baiyu and Guo Xiaochuan felt the suddenness, and they gave Shao Quanlin their opinions afterwards.Later, at the enlarged meeting of the Writers Association Party Group of the Anti-Rightist Center on August 13, Shao Quanlin checked his speech at the rectification mobilization meeting and said: Although this was approved by the Party Group, it was not correct to announce it without the approval of the Central Committee. Warm compromise. Zhou Yang was eager to ask Shao Quanlin to make a statement at the meeting, not only for the party group of the Writers Association to win the initiative, but also for himself to take the initiative.Because the sharp opinions raised by the masses on the incident between Ding and Chen have attracted Lu Dingyi's attention.Minister Lu is going to come forward in person to solve the problem of screening Ding and Chen.

May 25th was a Saturday, and the Chinese Writers Association held an enlarged meeting of the party group at 2:00 p.m. to discuss the rectification of government agencies and the issue of Ding and Chen. The specific content is unknown.But just the day before, the main person in charge of the Central Propaganda Department approached the head of the party group of the Chinese Writers Association and carefully studied the problems of Ding and Chen. Guo Xiaochuan wrote in his diary that on the morning of the 24th, "Zhou Yang called and asked Quan Lin, Bai Yu, and I arrived at Minister Lu's office at ten o'clock. We first discussed the content of yesterday's Politburo meeting at Bai Yu's office. At ten o'clock in Zhongnanhai, ministers Lu Dingyi and Ji Chun talked for a long time about the Ding and Chen issues. "It has been talking about more than 12 o'clock.In the afternoon, Guo Xiaochuan "discussed with Zhou Yang and Quan Lin about the content of tomorrow's meeting and the steps for discussing the Ding and Chen issues." The meeting of the Central Propaganda Department on May 24 must be very important, because it was held by Lu Dingyi himself.The Central Propaganda Department held dozens of meetings to discuss Ding and Chen's issues. Lu Dingyi attended only three or five meetings. Whenever he was present, important issues were discussed and important matters decided.The meeting was not short, it lasted for more than two hours, mainly the two ministers, Lu and Zhang, spoke, and they talked about the issues of Ding and Chen.After the meeting, Zhou Yang approached the person in charge of the party group of the Writers Association, and it must be to study how to implement Lu Dingyi's instructions.What instruction did Lu Dingyi give?We believe that it was at this meeting that the decision was made that the Party Group of the Writers Association should publicly admit its mistakes on the Ding and Chen issues, and Zhou Yang should mainly admit this mistake.Therefore, this is a meeting to decide the fate of Ding and Chen. This is also a meeting related to Zhou Yang's fate, a meeting related to the contest between Ding, Chen and Zhou Yang.From a long-term perspective, this contest first took shape during the Yan'an period. From a close perspective, it broke out violently at the enlarged party group meeting in the autumn of 1955.But since then, Zhou Yang has been restless in his heart, beating drums and muttering from time to time.Because, first, the facts of the finalized case have not been carefully checked, and many of them cannot withstand verification. Therefore, the hat of the "anti-party group" is a paper hat, which will shake when the wind blows and will fall off. Clearly, but he can’t tell anyone; secondly, based on his relationship with Ding Ling and his impression of Ding Ling, he might not be willing to see Ding Ling suffer so badly. After all, they have worked together for many years and they used to be very good. have cooperated.Due to these two reasons, he has often been in a contradictory state of mind over the past year: sometimes a little proud, sometimes a little guilty, sometimes a little self-blame, and sometimes even a little scared.It is not that he has not considered the issue of screening Ding and Chen. He has considered it many times over the past year, but after much deliberation, he finally gave up the idea. There are two reasons for this: first, the case of Ding Chen is a done deal Well, the fact that the facts are done is due to Zhou Yang's merits. Turning over Ding Chen's case also negates himself and casts a very disgraceful mark on him. He loses his identity and loses face; Ding Ling is amazing. She has been framed by such a big wrong. Once she turns over, she will not give up easily. She must be held accountable to find out right from wrong, and he himself is indeed a bit "little braid".In addition, the case involved various aspects, and the central government issued another document. It is definitely not within his ability to screen for redress.Therefore, he has no way out, he can only make mistakes and move forward. Lu Dingyi's decision put Zhou Yang in a very embarrassing situation. At this time, he had to consider: how to face Ding Chen and the crowd, and how to close the scene with dignity.So on the afternoon of Lu Dingyi's meeting, he summoned Shao Quanlin, Guo Xiaochuan and others to discuss how to convey it at the party group meeting of the Writers Association tomorrow, and discuss how to follow the steps of screening for Ding and Chen.He was very tense and anxious. At the expanded party group meeting of the Writers Association on May 25, Lu Dingyi’s important decision was conveyed, and after that, preparations began for the enlarged party group meeting to re-discuss the Ding and Chen issues. After the rectification movement started, Ding Ling called Li Zhilian once, and proposed to focus on the rectification movement now. I would like to not mention personal issues (referring to the review of Ding Chen’s anti-party clique) for the time being, and discuss it after the rectification movement.Li Zhilian replied on the phone: There is nothing wrong with solving your problem during the rectification movement. With this attitude from above, Ding Ling and Chen Ming had a solid idea.They believed that what the leading party group of the Writers' Association was engaging in was bureaucracy, sectarianism, and subjectivism, and the rectification was to solve these problems in the leading party group of the Writers' Association.So, under the favorable circumstances, they also started to act, to mobilize those who sympathized with them to speak up. On May 28, Ding Ling spoke at the branch meeting and said that she was a poor and hired farmer, "I have to be more vigilant, some people are very good at messing around", "the movement cannot only be led by superiors, without the supervision of the masses", "there are walls in the party , there is a rift outside the party, and everyone has a share? I think the leaders should be rectified, and before they are rectified, they say that they like gentle wind and light rain the most." She also said: "Zhou Yang has ruled the literary and art circles for twenty years." Ding Ling began Fight back to Zhou Yang! Xu Gang said one thing.One night in May, Ding Ling and Chen Ming came to the literature workshop. At that time, Xu Gang was already the director of the literature workshop. He was surprised and pleasantly surprised, and immediately went to find Zhang Songru.Zhang Songru used to be the deputy director of the Literature Lecture Institute, and he still lives in the courtyard of the Literature Lecture Institute.Ding Ling said to them: "It is more difficult to release the song now than to mobilize the poor and hired peasants." Zhang Songru said politely: "We hope you will unite." Xu Gang asked Ding Ling: "How old are you this year?" Ding Ling said 52 years old.Xu Gang said: "We hope to see your new works, please don't contact Chen Qixia and Li Youran." I haven't done it yet, if I contact Chen and Li again at this time, it will cause trouble.Ai Qing's wife Gao Ying also recalled that Ding Ling called Ai Qing during the rectification movement in 1957 and said that it is difficult for the poor and lower-middle peasants to mobilize, so come out and speak! Su Yiping, the former deputy director of the Literary and Art Department of the Central Propaganda Department, said in a conversation in October 1978: "When the song was released in 1957, many people inside and outside the Propaganda Department, inside and outside the Writers' Association, and in the literary and art circles were very concerned about the 1955 release. Chen Ding’s anti-party clique has an opinion and thinks the struggle has gone too far.” Chen Ming said that when there were rumors that Ding Ling would be vindicated, one day at noon, Zhang Guangnian went to see Ding Ling at the Yunsong Nest in the Summer Palace, and he said with a little guilt: I am a person , is often pushed to the top of the waves. May has passed, and Ding Ling was moved by May. During the rectification movement, so many people expressed sympathy for her and stood up to complain for her.Sad soldiers must win, the traditional psychology of the Chinese people has always been to sympathize with the weak, and she never experienced this kind of warmth when she was in a high position.The masses have their own opinions in their hearts, and the masses are really kind. But the power to decide the final victory is not in the hands of the masses.