In 1942, Wang Shiwei, a 37-year-old writer with sixteen years of Party membership, published the essay Wild Lilies in the Yan’an newspaper Liberation Daily, criticizing the inhumanity, coldness, bureaucracy, and hierarchical system in Yan’an. This triggered a mass movement calling for “opposing bureaucracy and striving for democracy.” As Mao launched campaigns to suppress democracy and enforce ideological conformity, Wang Shiwei was targeted as a warning to others. He was publicly criticized, forced to wear three black iron hats labeled “anti-Party,” “Trotskyist,” and “spy,” and imprisoned. On July 1, 1947, after four years in custody, Wang Shiwei was secretly killed with a spade and thrown into a dry well at the age of 41.

Wang Shiwei’s spirit, unable to rest after his unjust death, learned that the Jade Emperor was collecting evidence against Mao Zedong. Together with his wife Liu Ying, he stopped the Jade Emperor to present his case.

The Jade Emperor asked, “What grievance do you wish to report?”

Wang Shiwei said, “I was executed because I published the famous essay Wild Lilies. I did not expect that a single essay would lead to my imprisonment for four years and eventually my death.”

The Jade Emperor said, “Your essay criticized bureaucrats and the hierarchical system in Yan’an. Mao Zedong could not tolerate independent criticism and only accepted praise. Your death traces directly back to him.”

Wang replied, “At that time, Mao was like a rising sun, the emperor of the Communist Party. I never specifically targeted him, only the phenomena I observed.”

The Jade Emperor said, “Even if you did not name him, criticizing the system under Mao would inevitably be seen as challenging his authority. Your punishment was meant as an example. Democracy could only apply to the Kuomintang; within the Party, obedience was demanded.”

Wang continued, “I was later sent to a prison in Shanxi for labor reform. Mao’s trusted enforcer Kang Sheng ordered my execution. As a small writer, I was powerless. I was secretly killed at night with a spade and thrown into a dry well.”

The Jade Emperor asked, “What happened afterward?”

Wang said, “After my death, my family was kept in the dark. My wife Liu Ying searched for me repeatedly after the liberation. For years, she received conflicting reports, sometimes being told I went behind enemy lines, to Northeast China, or to Taiwan. No one admitted that I was dead.”

Liu Ying added, “I was the same age as him and joined the Party the same year. I could not accompany him to Yan’an due to my pregnancy. After the liberation, I searched extensively for him. Only in 1978, when I heard his name on the radio, did I learn he had been killed. I requested his posthumous rehabilitation multiple times, and finally, in 1991, he was officially rehabilitated. The Ministry of Public Security offered a monetary compensation, which I refused, though he received literary awards from the Writers’ Association.”

The Jade Emperor said, “Your essay Wild Lilies praised martyrs and criticized Yan’an’s dark sides. It was mild criticism, but Mao used your case to set an example. Your death is therefore directly caused by him.”

Wang said, “They forced me to wear three black iron hats labeling me anti-Party, Trotskyist, and spy, driving me to my death. I was just a writer who stood out, but Mao’s system would not allow any independent thought. Even leaving the Party was forbidden.”

The Jade Emperor said, “The Party only allows entrance, never exit. Once inside, there is no escape. Yan’an was a place you could enter but not leave. Freedom, democracy—none of that existed. The Party demands total obedience.”

Wang said, “I only wanted to call for humane, democratic socialism. But the Party was merciless. They killed me and kept my family in the dark for thirty years. It was inhumane.”

The Jade Emperor said, “Indeed, the Communist Party ignores humaneness. Thousands died unjustly, yet each life has value. I will ensure these wrongs are judged.”

Wang said, “The problem is that the Party has never admitted its wrongdoing. Many spirits like mine cannot rest.”

The Jade Emperor said, “I understand. Justice will be served.”

Wang Shiwei and Liu Ying, reassured by the Jade Emperor’s promise, respectfully withdrew and left.

NEXT: 113. Chu Anping (1909–1966)