(The First: Liu Wencai Takes the Stand)

The Emperor: What is your name?

Liu: My name is Liu Wencai, a landlord from Sichuan.

The Emperor: So you are the notorious landlord Liu Wencai. What grievances do you have? What accusations do you bring against Mao Zedong?

Liu: I was a landlord, but I was kind by nature. I did many charitable deeds in the countryside—building bridges and roads, running schools, helping the poor. People called me “Liu the Great Benefactor.” Fortunately, I died before Mao’s Communist forces arrived in 1949; otherwise, I would certainly have been subjected to brutal struggle sessions and a bloody death. What is hateful is that my grave was dug up in 1958 and my remains destroyed. Then in 1965, Mao Zedong used me as a model villain in the large clay sculpture series “Rent Collection Courtyard,” fabricating so-called “landlord crimes” and promoting it nationwide. I became the representative landlord for the entire country. At the same time, my steward Cao Keming was arrested. Cao had killed three bandits and violent criminals, yet he was falsely accused of killing three poor peasants and of “murder to seize property.” He was wrongfully imprisoned for fourteen years. After his release, he sought redress in court everywhere but was rejected. In despair, he swallowed poison and killed himself in front of the courthouse.

Defense Lawyer: The 1965 clay sculpture series “Rent Collection Courtyard,” modeled on Liu Wencai, was produced under the direction of Propaganda Minister Zhou Yang, not Mao Zedong.

The Emperor: Mao Zedong, Zhou Yang was your propaganda chief. Were you aware of his actions?

Mao: Of course I knew. I also praised him for doing a good job. “Rent Collection Courtyard” publicized landlord crimes nationwide and had a tremendous impact. Everyone knew of it. It greatly aided my promotion of “class struggle.”

The Emperor: Liu Wencai mentioned your brutal struggles and bloody land reform. How many landlords did you kill?

Mao: Impossible to calculate. I did not require statistics to be reported—only that there be killing. The more killed, the more severe, the happier I was. I estimate between two and three million. I remember Ye Jianying carried out peaceful land reform in Guangdong—dividing land without killing. I criticized him for rightist tendencies and replaced him with Tao Zhu. As soon as Tao Zhu arrived, he began large-scale executions.

The Emperor: Mao Zedong, land reform means distributing land. Why was killing necessary?

Mao: I conducted land reform with “class struggle” as the guiding principle. Peaceful redistribution was impossible. Dividing land was not my main objective. My main objective was to eliminate the landlords’ ruling foundation and bring to power uneducated, uncultured lumpen proletarians to exercise dictatorship, completely overthrowing the old rural gentry. The so-called poor and lower-middle peasants I trusted were not honest farmers, but those who dared to fight and kill—the lumpen proletariat. Having them kill was a way of submitting a pledge of loyalty; that made them most obedient to me. The countryside relied on them to enforce dictatorship. Only by slaughtering landlords could the path for dictatorship be cleared. When everyone above and below are bandits, they share one heart.

The Emperor: Mao Zedong admits responsibility for the mass killing of landlords.

(The Second: Hu Feng Takes the Stand)

The Emperor: What is your name?

Hu Feng: My name is Hu Feng.

The Emperor: What grievances do you have? What accusations do you bring against Mao Zedong?

Hu: In the literary world, I upheld the spirit of Lu Xun, insisting on independent and free creation and a critical spirit. This was intolerable to Mao Zedong. On fabricated charges, he labeled me a counterrevolutionary. In 1955 I was imprisoned and sentenced to life. I endured endless torment in prison, developed schizophrenia, and nearly suffered total mental collapse. In the final six years, my wife voluntarily entered prison to live with me, comforting my spirit. Because of her, I was able to leave prison safely in 1979. After twenty-four years of wrongful imprisonment, I was essentially ruined.

The Emperor: Mao Zedong, what is your defense against Hu Feng’s accusation that you fabricated charges and framed him?

Mao: Hu Feng’s accusations are entirely true. In 1954 he wrote a 300,000-character letter expounding his literary views, which I could not tolerate. I branded him a counterrevolutionary and eliminated him thoroughly—killing the chicken to scare the monkeys. Literature had to follow my line, praise me and my class struggle. There could be no independent or free creation, and certainly no criticism. In short, only praise for me and the Party.

The Emperor: Hu Feng, Mao Zedong has admitted your accusations. Do you have further charges?

Hu: While labeling me a counterrevolutionary, Mao launched the so-called “Campaign to Purge Hu Feng Elements.” The investigation implicated 2,100 people in literary circles; 92 were arrested. In 1956, 78 were formally designated members of the “Hu Feng Counterrevolutionary Clique” and imprisoned. All were wrongful convictions. This was all Mao Zedong’s doing.

The Emperor: Mao Zedong, what is your defense regarding the fabricated “Hu Feng Counterrevolutionary Clique” case?

Mao: Hu Feng speaks the truth. The purge was personally deployed and directed by me. It was entirely fabricated. I assume full responsibility.

The Emperor: Mao Zedong assumes full responsibility for persecuting the so-called “Hu Feng elements.”

(The Third: Chu Anping Takes the Stand)

The Emperor: What is your name?

Chu Anping: My name is Chu Anping.

The Emperor: What grievances do you have? What accusations do you bring against Mao Zedong?

Chu: In 1957 Mao Zedong deceived people, using underhanded tactics—an “open conspiracy.” He lured everyone to offer criticisms during the rectification campaign, then netted them all in one sweep. I wrote an article titled “Some Opinions for Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou,” in very mild language. I noted that at the founding of the People’s Republic, Mao had appointed six vice chairmen, three from non-Party backgrounds; four vice premiers, two from non-Party backgrounds. By 1957, Mao felt secure in power and no longer needed democratic parties. Only one non-Party vice chairman remained—Song Qingling. Of twelve vice premiers, none were non-Party. Mao seized upon this to attack me, accusing me of “attacking the Communist Party” and being “anti-Party,” labeling me a leading rightist attacking “the Party’s world.” I was removed as chief editor of Guangming Daily and sent to labor reform on a farm. When the Cultural Revolution began in 1966, unable to endure further struggle and humiliation, I fled and took my own life.

The Emperor: Chu Anping accuses you of using deceptive and gangster-like tactics, persecuting well-intentioned critics to death. What is your defense?

Mao: Chu Anping’s accusations are true. In the 1957 Anti-Rightist Campaign, I set traps and persecuted those who dared to criticize. Deng Xiaoping said 550,000 rightists were struck; in fact, it exceeded three million. They were exiled to remote farms for labor reform; many became ill, disabled, or died there. Only after my death were they released, after twenty years of labor. Many were crippled and unable to work. I assume full responsibility. When Chu Anping disappeared, I instructed Zhou Enlai to investigate and bring him to justice. A nationwide search was launched, but no trace was found.

The Emperor: Chu Anping, your disappearance became the nation’s number one special case. Where did you die? Where are your remains?

Chu: I do not even know the name of the place. Mao’s tyranny began with land reform—campaigns to suppress counterrevolutionaries, internal purges, the Three-Anti and Five-Anti campaigns, the Anti-Rightist movement, and finally the Cultural Revolution. Movements never ceased; wrongful cases never ceased. Rivers across the land carried floating corpses. How could a decomposed body be identified? Fortunately, my son has erected a tomb for me in our hometown—an empty grave.

Mao: Indeed, across the nation there are many whose deaths left no remains to be found. I assume full responsibility.

The Emperor: Mao Zedong assumes full responsibility for all these crimes.

NEXT: The Great Trial Day Five