Liu Wencai was depicted by the Chinese Communist Party as the archetypal “ten-evil landlord.” Yet, in his home region of Sichuan, even nearly seventy years after his death, locals still referred to him as “Liu the Good.” In the underworld, Liu had long been resentful and unhappy. Recently, hearing of the planned public trial of Mao Zedong, he approached the Jade Emperor to present his grievances about what happened to him in mainland China after his death.

Liu said: “I’ve been in the underworld for seventy years. I’ve been watching and waiting for the Jade Emperor to judge Mao Zedong’s crimes, but nothing has happened. I could not wait any longer, so I’ve come to petition today.”

The Jade Emperor asked: “You died before the founding of the PRC in 1949. What is your grievance?”

Liu: “Fortunately, I passed away before the CCP arrived. Otherwise, I would have faced cruel struggle sessions and likely died in torment. I don’t know how many landlords were killed during the land reform, but if I had survived into the new regime, I would surely have been beaten to death.”

The Jade Emperor: “Mao didn’t care how many died. To him, the dead were mere statistics. By killing, he terrified the peasants, making them compliant with the land reform. He wanted a radical revolution, bloodshed to inspire the poor and lower peasants to rise against the landlords.”

Liu: “He destroyed the rural elite and gentry, replacing them with uneducated, unskilled, untrained thugs to rule. The foundation of three thousand years of rural civilization in China was ruined. Before liberation, under my administration, villages were peaceful and prosperous. When Mao arrived, he violently redistributed land; at first, peasants had some freedom, but by 1955, under collectivization, they were semi-bound, and by 1958, with communes, they were fully shackled. By 1960, farmers were immobile, and millions starved. Over thirty million perished, a truth still hidden by the CCP. The so-called liberation was in fact enslavement!”

The Jade Emperor: “After your death, the CCP turned your estate into a model for class struggle education, portraying landlords as utterly evil, fabricating stories of water prisons, iron cages, and executions. They also persecuted your steward, Cao Keming, falsely sentencing him to fifteen years, leading to his tragic suicide. Can you elaborate?”

Liu: “In 1962, Mao ordered another wave of class struggle. In Sichuan, a large-scale clay sculpture, The Rent-Collecting Courtyard, was built based on my estate. Zhou Yang reported it to Mao as a great artistic achievement, alongside the Monument to the People’s Heroes. When the sculpture was completed, my steward Cao Keming was imprisoned, accused of murdering three poor and lower-middle peasants and seizing land—pure fabrication. In reality, Cao had only killed three violent bandits. In 1979, during Deng Xiaoping’s era, his sentence was reduced to five years, and he was released after fourteen years in prison. Desperate, he tried to seek justice in court in 1980, but, hopeless, he poisoned himself. Now his soul roams the underworld in unrest. I met him by chance; he sought my help. I said my own guilt and the heavy stigma on me prevent me from helping. That’s why I petition you, Great Emperor.”

The Jade Emperor: “I’ve heard that some writers, pursuing justice, investigated locally, interviewed witnesses, and published books showing that the locals called you ‘Liu the Good.’ You built bridges, schools, helped the poor, and developed the local economy—none of the ‘ten-evil’ claims are true. You and your steward were wronged; your spirits remain restless. I will vindicate you both.”

Liu: “My tomb was dug up in 1958, and my remains are still missing. Descendants have tried to restore my honor but without success. In 2010, during Qingming, over a thousand Liu clan members, ages one to ninety-five, gathered near my estate to honor me. More than 200 people had no seats, though they had prepared for only seven or eight hundred. Descendants of my steward and servants also attended. The ceremony was magnificent, glorifying the family. When will the CCP reveal the truth to the world? I have waited seventy years!”

The Jade Emperor: “That day will come soon.”

Liu: “I shall wait.”

NEXT: The Great Trial Day One