Xin Yuanhua was born in 1934 in Zhejiang. In 1952, he went to Xinjiang to participate in railway construction. In 1963, while serving as an economic planner for the Hami Hydropower Section, he deeply reflected on the famine caused by the “Three Red Banners” campaign and concluded that leadership failures were the main cause. He wrote letters to Mao Zedong and other leaders, as well as to 48 newspapers and magazines nationwide, sending a total of nine letters comprising 177 pages of correspondence and poetry. On July 3, 1963, Xin Yuanhua was arrested. In 1965, he was sentenced to three years’ control, placed under public supervision for reform.

On January 24, 1967, during his period of supervised reform, he submitted a letter—his tenth—to the security office of the Hami Hydropower Section. The next day he was detained again and publicly criticized. In May 1970, he was sentenced to death and executed by firing squad.

For nearly fifty years in the spirit world, Xin Yuanhua remained indignant, thinking: I only wrote letters to leaders; I did not contact foreigners or publicize to outsiders. It was entirely lawful. Even expressing opinions by letter could get me executed—I am purely a “letter offender.” He longed to seek justice from the Jade Emperor, and finally, one day, his wish was granted.

The Jade Emperor, seeing a man who appeared only in his thirties, assumed he was another wronged spirit and asked directly, “What is your name, and what grievance do you have?”

Xin said, “My name is Xin Yuanhua. I want you to administer justice. I only wrote letters to Mao Zedong to give advice, yet the Communist Party executed me. Is that not unjust? I have come today to seek redress.”

The Jade Emperor asked, “What advice did you give Mao?”

Xin replied, “In 1963, after deeply reflecting on the famine caused by the ‘Three Red Banners’ and the continuation of Great Leap Forward errors for three years, I realized leadership was the main problem. I wrote letters hoping Mao would improve leadership, but I was arrested. Do you think that’s reasonable?”

The Jade Emperor said, “Your advice was similar to Peng Dehuai’s. In 1959, Peng wrote to Mao about the Great Leap Forward and was purged. In 1963, you repeated it and expanded on it; in Mao’s eyes, you were a ‘small Peng Dehuai.’ Your letters never reached Mao, yet you were already punished. Who would dare deliver such letters to Mao?”

Xin continued, “During the hardest winter of 1960, after two years of famine, I spent several days and nights reflecting. The country was enveloped by the shadow of personality cult. Hypocrisy was inevitable under rampant superstition. After the Anti-Rightist Campaign of 1957 and the Anti-Right-Deviation Campaign of 1959, even well-intentioned people inside and outside the Party dared not speak the truth. Our hardworking, intelligent nation had deteriorated into one where people commonly spoke falsehoods. Mao lived in a haze of praise, detached from reality and the common people. This was a sugar-coated nuclear bomb! I firmly believed the clouds of personal cult and superstition would eventually be swept away by the awakening of the masses.”

The Jade Emperor said, “You are correct. Across the nation, people could only speak according to Mao’s line; any deviation led to arrest. Not worshipping Mao was impossible; he loved flattery. Shouting ‘Long live Chairman Mao!’ was personally mandated by him.”

Xin said, “Even if Mao is like the sun, he must acknowledge he is only an ordinary member of the galaxy.”

The Jade Emperor said, “Have you heard Mao say, ‘The monk holds an umbrella, lawless and unchecked’? There is no heaven, let alone a galaxy!”

Xin replied, “Mao was self-indulgent, politically blind and deaf, a fool, like Stalin in his later years—terribly isolated. I saw that he distrusted his successor Lin Biao, immersed in a sea of praise, blind to the disasters and suffering of the people. Mao Zedong lacked normal human empathy!”

The Jade Emperor said, “True. Mao trusted no one, only his wife and nephew—but they lacked experience, like mud that cannot support a wall. The old marshals were destroyed; only Deng Xiaoping remained.”

Xin said, “I was only a small ant, but I held fast to my beliefs, regardless of danger. In 1967, I wrote my final tenth letter to Mao, fully prepared to be criticized, arrested, and killed. Each interrogation was an opportunity to present my thoughts. In the final interrogation, I said, ‘Right or wrong, history will judge.’ I remained calm at all times. Yet in 1970, I was executed by firing squad at the age of thirty-six.”

Xin continued, “If Mao had accepted my 1963 advice, the country might have had a glimmer of hope. But Mao chose a path of darkness to the end. His image still hangs in Tiananmen, but it is empty, like a mere talisman! Only a few interest groups continue to exploit Mao’s name to deceive the world. Mao’s spirit still hovers over China! His successors dare not expose his crimes and continue to conceal them, using his sinister influence to deceive people. Mao’s crimes will be revealed to the world, and he will ultimately be nailed to the pillar of historical shame!”

The Jade Emperor said, “That is precisely what I intend to do.”

Upon hearing the Jade Emperor’s promise, Xin Yuanhua rose and took his leave.

NEXT: 102. Xu Huichang (1949–1972)