Location: Heavenly Court Hall
Chief Judge: Jade Emperor
Associate Judges: Confucius, Jesus
Witnesses: Karl Marx, Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Nikita Khrushchev, Qin Shi Huang, Zhu Yuanzhang, Daoguang Emperor
Mao Zedong’s Defense Lawyers: Sima Bei, Kong Aidong
Observers: Lin Zhao, Zhang Zhixin, Yu Luoke, Li Jiulian, Zhong Haiyuan, Wang Shenyu, Ding Zuxiao, Mao Yingxing, Shi Yunfeng, Ren Daxiong, Shi Renxiang, Ma Mianzhen, Cai Tiegen, Zhao Jianmin, Zhou Yang, Chen Boda, Wu Han, Feng Xuefeng, Peng Zhen, Yang Shangkun, Ulanhu, He Long, Jian Bozan, Zhang Dongsun, Huang Yanpei, Chiang Ching-kuo, Fu Zuoyi, Lao She, Guo Moruo, Lu Xun, Ba Jin, Cao Yu, Yan Fuqing, Ding Ling, Feng Zikai, Hou Baolin, Ma Sicong, He Jiadong, Agnes Smedley, Wu Lili, Nicolae Ceaușescu, Xiao Zisheng, Luo Ruiqing, Yuan Shikai, Empress Dowager Cixi, Fu Lianzhang, Deng Tuo, Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping, Gao Gang, Zhu De, Qu Qiubai, Chiang Kai-shek, John Leighton Stuart, Chen Duxiu, He Zizhen, Liang Qichao, Matteo Ricci, Sun Yat-sen, Wang Jingwei, Chen Bijun, Soong Ching-ling, Khrushchev, Brezhnev, Enver Hoxha, Zhang Bojun, Ma Yinchu, Liang Shuming, Hu Shi, Richard Nixon, George Washington, Jiang Qing, Chen Yun, Norodom Sihanouk, etc.

Jade Emperor: Over the decades, this court has received countless accusations against Mao Zedong. It is impossible to review all, so today we will select 23 cases to publicly hear.

(Mao Zedong stands at the defendant’s bench)

Case 1: Yuan Wencai

Jade Emperor: What is your name?
Yuan Wencai: My name is Yuan Wencai, leader of bandits in Jinggangshan.

Jade Emperor: What grievances do you have?
Yuan Wencai: I led hundreds of armed men in Jinggangshan, collecting taxes to maintain order. The mountains were peaceful, the people safe, and I was called the “benevolent bandit.” Mao Zedong violently rebelled, bringing several hundred armed men to my territory. I provided food and lodging, yet he used the excuse of “fighting landlords” to loot villagers. Once, Mao sent dozens to seize grain, only to be surrounded and beaten by hundreds of villagers. He forced peasants to hold anti-landlord meetings, disrupting production. When attacking the county, he captured the county magistrate and held mass executions to instill terror, even I feared him. Eventually, he co-opted me into the Red Army and later killed me and Wang Zuo, dismantling our troops. We were deceived and killed.

Jade Emperor: Mao Zedong, how do you respond to Yuan Wencai’s accusations?
Mao Zedong: Yuan Wencai’s claims are partly true; I admit he was a bandit. But the deaths of Yuan Wencai and Wang Zuo were not on my orders.

Defense Lawyer: Actually, they were executed under Stalin’s command. Stalin ordered: “Bandits are to be killed after use.”
Jade Emperor: Stalin, did you issue this command?
Stalin: Yes, through the directives of the International Communist organization.
Jade Emperor: Mao Zedong, do you accept this accusation?
Mao Zedong: I do not. Since it was Stalin’s order, the responsibility lies entirely with him. The execution was carried out by Zhu Changkai and Peng Dehuai’s units; I was not involved. If the order had come to me, I would have executed it.

Case 2: Li Wenlin and Liu Di

Jade Emperor: What are your names?
Li Wenlin: I am Li Wenlin, and this is Liu Di. We were part of the same case, the so-called AB Group.

Jade Emperor: What do you accuse Mao Zedong of?
Li Wenlin: I was a Jiangxi communist leader; Mao Zedong, an outsider from Hunan, sought dominance in Jiangxi, falsely labeling us as counter-revolutionary AB Group, killing countless revolutionaries. He orchestrated the “Futian Incident,” killing over 40 provincial cadres, forcing Liu Di into rebellion, shouting “Down with Mao Zedong.” He suppressed us ruthlessly, executing over 700 officers above the deputy platoon level. The AB Group numbered 70,000 by name, 90,000 in total, subjected to over 100 cruel punishments. Jiangxi’s population under his rule significantly declined.

Jade Emperor: Mao Zedong, what is your response?
Mao Zedong: Li Wenlin’s claims are completely false. The Futian Incident was orchestrated by Zhu De behind my back. The accusation that I killed 90,000 AB Group members is slander. The so-called “Happy Soviet” in Jiangxi was prosperous under my rule.

Jade Emperor: Excuse me? Evidence shows Mao’s orders triggered the Futian Incident, causing rebellion and massive deaths. How can you claim happiness?

Case 3: Yang Kaihui

Jade Emperor: What is your name, and what do you accuse Mao Zedong of?
Yang Kaihui: My name is Yang Kaihui. In 1927, Mao Zedong, desperate to seize power, abandoned me and our three children, leading troops into the mountains as bandits. Within three months, he married a 17-year-old. Before and after marriage, he had affairs with countless women. He committed murder and arson while I tried to maintain our family for the children’s sake. He hypocritically claimed “no compensation can repay Kaihui’s death” and wrote “Die Butterfly Flowers” in Beijing to glorify himself, deceiving public opinion. Women were plentiful; he abused countless, leaving none unscathed.

Jade Emperor: Mao Zedong, how do you respond?
Mao Zedong: I admit her accusations, no more, no less.

Yang Kaihui: Mao was a moral and political rogue. He claimed to fight for the people but killed and plundered, abandoning me. My will even described him as a “life rogue, political rogue,” but his heirs erased it.

Jade Emperor: Do you accept this accusation?
Mao Zedong: I do not. I admit being a personal rogue, but not a political rogue.

Yang Kaihui: Before going to Jinggangshan, he falsely claimed to launch the Autumn Harvest Uprising in southern Hunan, deceived his troops, secretly took them to the mountains, and betrayed fellow revolutionaries. He fabricated a heroic escape story for journalist Edgar Snow. His words claimed service to the poor, but his actions were murderous, worse than bandits. Is this not political rogue behavior?

(Day One concludes, all parties exit the court)

NEXT: The Great Trial Day Two