Zhou Enlai was one of the founding elders of the Chinese Communist Party and one of the very few senior leaders who remained entangled with Mao throughout his life, from beginning to end.

One day, while Mao was half asleep, he saw Zhou Enlai come to visit him.

Zhou walked over and greeted him: “How have you been lately?”

Mao was startled. “Good, good. And you?”

Mao said, “You were once my superior! But you were magnanimous. I have reflected for forty years before realizing my own pettiness. In Ningdu, when you removed me from my post for two years, I brooded over it for decades, bringing it up again and again. I don’t know how many times you made self-criticisms and admitted fault, yet I never forgot it until the day I died!”

Zhou asked, “Has your heart grown broader now?”

Mao replied, “In 1958, during the Anti-‘rash advance’ campaign, I almost removed you as Premier. That was my mistake.”

Zhou said, “Because I contradicted you.”

Mao continued, “At the 7,000 Cadres Conference in 1962—after the Great Leap Forward, the great famine, and the starvation deaths—I had committed such enormous crimes. Yet at the conference you spoke publicly in support of me. Lin Biao’s support was superficial; yours was genuine.”

Zhou answered, “No matter how serious the problems, however many mistakes were made, it still had to be you who led the corrections. This great ship of China could not sail without you at the helm.”

Mao said, “Fortunately you delivered a long speech backing me up, saying that the more difficult the situation, the more necessary it was for me to steer the ship. Once you spoke, the overall situation stabilized. After the conference, I convened a Standing Committee meeting to test everyone’s attitude. I pretended to submit to the conference’s decision, saying I would resign as Chairman and step down to conduct social investigations. Zhu De, Chen Yun, and Deng Xiaoping immediately welcomed my resignation. You defended me, saying: ‘Even if the Chairman retreats to the second line, the Chairman is still the Chairman.’ Liu Shaoqi looked troubled but reluctantly agreed with your view. Your crucial vote carried me through.”

Zhou replied, “If I hadn’t defended you, Liu Shaoqi would have become Chairman, and I would have had to work under him. I would rather always work under your leadership. You had been our leader since the days in Jiangxi.”

Mao said, “On such a fundamental issue as the starvation of tens of millions, you did not support Liu Shaoqi but supported me. That was remarkable.”

Zhou responded, “Only after seeing the King of Hell did I realize I had taken the wrong stand. I did not stand on the side of the people’s interests. I was dissatisfied with Liu Shaoqi and felt his seniority did not match mine. Because of that, you were able to continue doing harm for more than a decade, and the people suffered for more than a decade more.”

Mao said, “Without you and Lin Biao, I could not have remained Chairman to the end.”

Zhou replied, “Yes. Lin Biao built momentum for you by compiling the Quotations of Chairman Mao. In 1964, I personally directed the 3,000-performer musical The East Is Red to praise you. I also personally supervised revisions to the song ‘Sailing the Seas Depends on the Helmsman’ to glorify you. All of that meant losing my conscience toward the people.”

Mao said, “Without you two, I could not have launched the Cultural Revolution or brought down Liu Shaoqi.”

Zhou answered, “I have also confessed to the King of Hell that when forced to choose between the people’s interests and you, I did not stand with the people but with your errors, helping you continue to bring calamity upon the nation.”

Mao said, “In 1964, when the Soviets removed Khrushchev, you went to Moscow. They tried to win you over, urging you to depose me as well. You protested on the spot and reported everything to me upon your return. I knew then of your loyalty.”

Zhou replied, “I was convinced that only you could hold China steady.”

Mao said, “That year you personally directed The East Is Red. Such a grand production praising me—it moved me deeply.”

Zhou said, “With you, the East is Red, and everyone was inspired.”

Mao continued, “In 1966, when I launched the Cultural Revolution, you supported it unconditionally. You even broke precedent at mass rallies by shouting, ‘Learn from Comrade Jiang Qing!’ and ‘Salute Comrade Jiang Qing!’ I knew Jiang Qing was hardly qualified. You did it for my sake, for the overall situation.”

Zhou replied, “Jiang Qing was your best student—of course she had to be supported.”

Mao said, “Toward the end, I deliberately intended for you to assist Jiang Qing in succeeding me. Why did you refuse?”

Zhou answered, “I had my difficulties. While you were alive, I could only work under your leadership.”

Mao said, “The Cultural Revolution wronged you. In 1973 the Central Committee even organized a ‘Group to Help the Premier Recognize His Mistakes,’ criticizing you for days and forcing you to write thousands of words of self-criticism by hand. You already had cancer then, yet you were repeatedly tormented. That was my fault.”

Zhou replied, “You were still magnanimous enough not to remove me from office, giving me the chance to continue serving the people.”

Mao said, “In 1976 you left before me. Out of pettiness, I did not attend your memorial service or make any statement. During the New Year I even deliberately set off firecrackers. Yet millions of people lined ten miles of street to bid farewell to their Premier—you had the people’s hearts. For decades you always protected me, upheld the overall situation, and endured for the sake of the country.”

Zhou said, “You were already gravely ill then. Sadly, I was powerless to care for you. In the end, I followed you down the wrong path. I committed grave crimes against the Chinese people and became, together with you, a criminal in history. I have repeatedly confessed to the Jade Emperor. He considers me an accomplice and you the principal offender. And since I did do some good deeds, he has not cast me into hell.”

Mao said, “There is one last thing I want to ask you: why did you request that your ashes be scattered after death, instead of being placed in Babaoshan?”

Zhou Enlai pondered for a moment before answering, “I can say this today. Before, I could not and dared not say it. The Communist Party committed too many sins, too heavy a burden of guilt. Posterity will not forgive us core figures of the Party. Sooner or later, our corpses would be whipped, our bones ground to dust. Rather than be humiliated in death like Empress Dowager Cixi, it was better to scatter my ashes first—so that there would be no corpse to desecrate, no ashes to scatter.”

When Mao heard these words, his heart grew exceedingly heavy. His spirit became even more uneasy. He thought of his own body lying in state in Tiananmen—sooner or later it would… He dared not continue the thought.

Seeing that his final words had deeply unsettled Mao, Zhou quietly slipped away without waiting for a farewell while Mao remained lost in contemplation.

NEXT: 34. Lin Biao (1907–1971)