Chapter 83 Many highly respected teachers were persecuted and forced to commit suicide

Journalist: “Did universities also carry out extensive purges of the class ranks?”

Mao: “Yes, I have said: ‘At Peking University, the temple is small but the gods are many. The pool is shallow but there are plenty of turtles.’ My highest directives became the holy decree for launching the cleansing of the class ranks. In August 1968, the Propaganda Teams entered Peking University and proclaimed: ‘There are too many turtles at Peking University, even bumping into each other.’ Over 900 individuals were identified for key scrutiny, and 23 of them died as a result of persecution. At Tsinghua University, out of its 6,000 faculty and staff, over 1,200 were investigated and 16 of them died due to persecution.”

Journalist: “Did some prominent figures also become implicated?”

Mao: “Yes, Ye Qisun, the pioneer of physics in China and a 1923 physics Ph.D. from the United States, was targeted for his association with his student Xiong Dashen during the 1930s. He was persecuted since 1967 and arrested during the purges in 1968. He endured eight interrogations while suffering from serious illness in prison, experiencing urinary incontinence, leg swelling, and difficulty standing with his body bent at a 90-degree angle. He was released without evidence in November 1969 but remained under isolation and scrutiny until 1975. He passed away in January 1977 and was not exonerated until 1987. In 1995, a bronze statue was erected at Tsinghua University in his memory, and a play titled ‘Ye Qisun’ was performed at Tsinghua in 2010 to commemorate him.

Another pioneer of modern physics, Rao Yutai, a member of the first session of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1948 and a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1955, suffered greatly during the purges. In October 1968, at the age of 77, he hanged himself at Peking University.

Journalist: “So, one physics master was left disabled, and the other hanged himself?”

Mao: “Yes, Dong Tiebao, a mechanics and mathematician, a pioneer in computer and fracture mechanics research in China, who took risks repairing bridges during the resistance against Japan. He earned his Ph.D. in the United States in 1945 and participated in the design and programming of the first-generation computer. He returned to China in 1956 to teach at Peking University. During the purges, he was accused of being a spy, detained, and subjected to investigation. He hanged himself in October 1968.

Zhao Jiuzhang, a meteorologist and space physicist who led the project for the development of artificial satellites in the 1960s, ended his life by taking poison during the purges in October 1968.”

Journalist: “So, these two masters were both persecuted and committed suicide?”

Mao: “Yes, during the same period in 1968, among the first-level researchers who committed suicide in the Chinese Academy of Sciences, there were Xiong Qinglai, Liu Chongle, Deng Shuqun, and others, totaling 20 individuals.

Li Guangtian, a renowned writer who served as the head of the Chinese Department at Tsinghua University and the president of Yunnan University, drowned himself during the purges in 1968.

Fu Lei, a famous translator, was labeled as a rightist in 1958. During the purges, he and his wife were subjected to criticism and humiliation. On September 3, 1968, the couple hanged themselves.”

Journalist: “Such great talents ending their lives, the loss is immense.”

Mao: “Indeed, in various research institutes of the Shanghai Academy of Sciences, over 600 people were falsely accused of being spies, more than 200 individuals were placed under isolation for investigation, 2 people were
beaten to death, 10 people were disabled, and 4 people died by suicide, with 9 attempted suicides.

In the Maanshan Iron and Steel Research Institute in Anhui, over 130 scientific personnel were targeted for investigation.

At the Changchun Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, 166 scientific personnel were labeled as spies.

The Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry had 110 scientific personnel similarly targeted, subjected to investigation and criticism.”

Journalist: “Beyond Beijing, the same happened in various locations in Shanghai?”

Mao: “Yes, Dr. Xiao Guangyan of the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, who previously held a senior position at the American Mobil Oil Corporation, returned to China in 1950 and was repeatedly targeted during political movements. In October 1968, he was arrested by the Work Propaganda Teams and taken to the cowshed for interrogation and his house was searched. On December 11, he died by suicide by taking sleeping pills, at the age of only 48. The Xiao case was classified as a major case involving a spy group, implicating 26 individuals from 11 units. Xiao’s wife, after returning from a labor reform camp to handle funeral arrangements, committed suicide along with their 14-year-old daughter a few days later.”
Journalist: “The entire family of this Ph.D. holder who studied in the United States died by suicide?”

Mao: “Yes, teachers at primary and secondary schools became key targets in county towns. In Jiangxi’s Chongyi County, the entire county’s teachers were subjected to concentrated scrutiny, with two-thirds of them removed. In Heping County, Guangdong, over 38,000 individuals were targeted for purges, resulting in over 750 disabilities and 249 deaths. Teachers at primary and secondary schools were also a key focus, with over one-third of them being arrested and investigated.”

Journalist: “Even teachers at primary and secondary schools suffered mass persecution?”

Mao: “Yes, in the sports field, Fu Qifang and Jiang Yongning, national table tennis coaches, as well as Rong Guotuan, the first world champion in table tennis, all committed suicide due to being labeled as suspected spies upon their return from Hong Kong.”
Journalist: “Several table tennis players also committed suicide?”

Mao: “Yes, Shanghai renowned actress Shangguan Yunzhu was imprisoned in the cowshed on suspicion of being a spy. I had secretly met with her seven times. Unable to endure the criticism, she jumped off a building and died by suicide in November 1968.”

Journalist: “Your confidante also committed suicide after being criticized?”

Mao: “Yes, famous Huangmei opera actress Yan Fengying was accused of opposing Jiang Qing, resisting model operas, and being an undercover spy. She was subjected to criticism and her husband and two children were also targeted. On the evening of April 7, 1968, she took sleeping pills and died by suicide. Her husband requested medical intervention, and a military representative arrived, but instead of providing medical assistance, a criticism session was held by her bedside, delaying her transport to the hospital, resulting in her death in the early morning. The military representative even accused her of committing suicide on the orders of a spy organization, claiming she had a hidden transmitter in her abdomen and demanded her stomach be cut open. The doctors were forced to open her abdominal cavity, only to find it empty except for the remaining sleeping pills.”

Journalist: “That’s so cruel, to cut open the stomach even after the person has died by suicide?”

Mao: “Yes, even the pre-1949 veteran workers were widely investigated. In the Yumen Oilfield in Gansu, over 30,000 people were subjected to digging out more than 2,000 spies. They were tortured continuously for 17 days and nights, forcing the former deputy party secretary to confess to over 240 fake spies, resulting in the persecution and deaths of 8 senior-level officials, 6 mid-level officials, and 8 veteran workers. Hundreds of people were injured, and several thousand relatives were implicated.”

Journalist: “They didn’t spare the veteran workers either?”

Mao: “No, during the purges in 1968, the second nationwide house search took place, with a thorough search for gold and silver.

In Rudong County, Jiangsu, in Digang Town, out of 3,000 households, 183 were sealed off and searched, with gold and silver coins completely seized.

In Quancheng Commune, Fengcheng, Jiangxi, a large amount of gold, silver, and silver coins worth 280,000 yuan were confiscated, along with the seizure of 92 houses. In Meixian County, Hunan, over 5,000 households were searched, and over 9,000 people were arrested.

In Yangshuo County, Guangxi, in 1970, 20,000 people were organized to search and 4,600 households were raided, with a significant amount of cash, gold, silverware, gemstones, jade, watches, and more seized.”

Journalist: “Wow, the house searches confiscated all the gold and silver treasures?”