Yao Wenyuan
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Shanghai literary critic and propagandist; member of the Cultural Revolution Group and the Politburo; one of the four tried in 1980 as the "Gang of Four", the post-1976 leadership's name for the group · China
On the regime page: People's Republic of China under Mao Zedong
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Content note: Public denunciation that preceded the persecution of Wu Han. The words are shown as they were said or written. Why
“We are of the opinion that the Dismissal of Hai Jui is not a fragrant flower but a poisonous weed.”
English: American Consulate General, Hong Kong (Current Background no. 783). Original-language text not found.
Critique of the play by Wu Han, deputy mayor of Peking, that is generally taken as the opening of the Cultural Revolution. Wu Han was later persecuted and died in custody in 1969.
"On the New Historical Play 'Dismissal of Hai Jui'", Wen Hui Pao (Shanghai), 10 November 1965; reprinted in People's Daily, 30 November 1965; English translation in Current Background no. 783 Source
Content note: Public denunciation of named writers shortly before their persecution. The words are shown as they were said or written. Why
“What sort of thought was provoked? Was it not the thought that would pave the way for reversing the previous decisions on the Right opportunists and other anti-Party elements? Was it not the thought that would release monsters to attack socialism and the dictatorship of the proletariat?”
English: Foreign Languages Press, Peking (The Great Socialist Cultural Revolution in China, 1966). Original-language text not found.
Attack on the writers Deng Tuo, Wu Han and Liao Mo-sha, whose essay columns had been published in Peking. The passage links Deng Tuo's writing to the earlier verdicts on "Right opportunists" (the 1959 Lushan group). Deng Tuo died in May 1966.
"On 'Three-Family Village': The Reactionary Nature of Evening Chats at Yenshan and Notes from Three-Family Village", Liberation Daily and Wen Hui Pao (Shanghai), 10 May 1966; in The Great Socialist Cultural Revolution in China (Peking: Foreign Languages Press, 1966) Source
Content note: Calls for smashing the standing of intellectuals in schools. The words are shown as they were said or written. Why
“It is essential for the workers and People's Liberation Army fighters to go to those places where intellectuals are concentrated, be they schools or other units, to smash the complete domination by intellectuals [...]”
English: Peking Review (English edition), no. 35, 30 August 1968, pp. 3-6. Original-language text not found.
Article published in the weeks when worker propaganda teams were sent into universities and schools. The sentence continues to say that they should occupy the "independent kingdoms" of the intellectuals.
"The Working Class Must Exercise Leadership in Everything", Peking Review no. 35 (30 August 1968), pp. 3-6 Source
“The analyses made by Lenin and Chairman Mao tell us that bourgeois right which inevitably exists as regards distribution and exchange under the socialist system should be restricted under the dictatorship of the proletariat, so that in the long course of the socialist revolution the three major differences between workers and peasants, between town and country and between manual and mental labour will gradually be narrowed and the discrepancies between the various grades will be reduced and the material and ideological conditions for closing such gaps will gradually be created.”
English: Peking Review (English edition), no. 10, 7 March 1975, pp. 5-10. Original-language text not found.
Article issued during the 1975 campaign to study the dictatorship of the proletariat, a month before Zhang Chunqiao's article on the same theme. It argues that unequal distribution under socialism produces a new bourgeoisie.
"On the Social Basis of the Lin Piao Anti-Party Clique", Hongqi (Red Flag) no. 3, 1975; English translation in Peking Review no. 10 (7 March 1975), pp. 5-10 Source