After dreaming of Zhou Enlai, Mao suddenly found himself thinking of Lin Biao. One day, Mao’s ghost traveled to Mongolia to see the place where Lin Biao had died in a plane crash. On the desolate steppe there was a small mound of earth—the spot where Lin’s charred remains had been hastily buried. The body had been burned beyond recognition. Later, people were sent from Moscow to dig up the mound, remove the skull, and take it back to Moscow for examination, where it was confirmed to be Lin Biao. The skull, it is said, remains in Moscow to this day.

Mao held a stack of archival materials from the embassy about Lin Biao’s accident, trying to understand what had happened. He flipped through them again and again but could make little sense of it. He wished to see Lin. As soon as the thought arose, Lin Biao’s ghost quietly approached and stood before him.

Lin Biao spoke first: “Have you been well lately?”

Mao said, “You died so tragically. I have felt distressed and had to come see the site myself. Back then I forced you into flight, and the plane crashed. You died miserably.”

Lin replied, “Actually, I did not have to flee. If only I had been as magnanimous as the Premier.”

Mao said, “I understand you were more flexible than the Premier. You were unwilling to submit to me, and with the precedents of Gao Gang and Liu Shaoqi before you, you chose to leave once and for all—like a celestial horse galloping freely away.”

Lin answered, “I could never compare with the Premier.”

Mao said, “You had your strengths. You had vision in judging the larger picture. During the Korean War, you opposed sending troops—history proved you were right. And you knew how to cater to my preferences. Knowing I liked personality cults, you built one for me on a grand scale. ‘Read Chairman Mao’s books, listen to Chairman Mao’s words, be Chairman Mao’s good soldiers’—that was your creation. From the entire army to the entire nation, it swept the country. You compiled my Quotations so that everyone held a Little Red Book in hand. You promoted me as the ‘Four Greats.’ Without you, I would not have become so red.”

Lin said, “To establish the Red Sun, one should spare no effort.”

Mao continued, “The Cultural Revolution could not have happened without you. At the 7,000 Cadres Conference in 1962, only you lavishly praised me; the Premier followed your lead and helped me through the crisis. I realized then that only with you controlling the army could the Cultural Revolution proceed smoothly.”

Lin replied, “I liked being second-in-command, beneath you. But I hated Luo Ruiqing and urged you to remove him first. You agreed, and Luo was driven to attempt suicide. That was my fault. Later you linked Peng Zhen, Luo Ruiqing, Lu Dingyi, and Yang Shangkun together as the ‘Peng-Luo-Lu-Yang Anti-Party Clique,’ bringing them down to pave the way for removing Liu Shaoqi. I was satisfied then. Now, in reflection, we were both wrong and wronged many people.”

Mao said, “Looking back, it was my excessive suspicion that toppled them all. In the end I even stopped trusting you, fearing that as Vice Chairman you might one day overshadow me and jeopardize my power. I felt Jiang Qing, my own wife, was more reliable. I secretly toured the south to speak with some generals. Though I did not state it plainly, you sensed my suspicion and feared you would not fare well in the future. You grew tense and lost your composure, and then you fled.”

Lin replied, “Yes, I lost my composure. Ye Qun and Liguo believed the situation was dire and urged a quick escape, so I fled. I brought it upon myself. You relied on Jiang Qing; I relied on Ye Qun. Neither of them were proper people—unlike Wang Guangmei. Two women brought misfortune to the country, and we were both harmed by them.”

Mao said, “The responsibility lies with me. Without my unleashing her, she could not have lashed out everywhere. Without the signals I sent, you would not have died so tragically.”

After a pause, Mao turned to the Ninth Party Congress in 1969. “At the Ninth Congress, you and Chen Boda drafted the political report. Centering on grasping revolution while promoting production, restoring order and focusing on the economy—that was correct. My criticism of you for ‘productivism’ was wrong. I insisted on ‘taking class struggle as the key link,’ and the country was thrown into turmoil for another seven years. You were formally written into the Party Constitution as my successor, but later I grew suspicious and overturned it, which drove you to flee. After you ran, I launched campaigns to criticize Lin, criticize Confucius, criticize the Duke of Zhou, and the turmoil continued until 1976. The Premier, Marshal Zhu, and I all went to see Marx one after another.”

Lin said, “In these years I have also reflected. I was not like the Premier, who toiled patiently, endured for the country, and upheld the overall situation. My promotion of the ‘Four Greats’ may have seemed hollow compared to his substantive work. But I would not make false self-criticisms. I was not as skilled at acting as Zhou Enlai.”

Mao said, “In truth, I knew the Premier also had his hollow moments. When he shouted, ‘We vow to defend Comrade Jiang Qing to the death,’ that went too far. I knew he spoke against his heart. But he accomplished much in practical terms, and I knew he would never overshadow me. Though I was petty, I trusted him. I did not trust you. That is why you fled.”

After a pause, Mao added, “Actually, the Premier sympathized with you. Although he publicly denounced you as a traitor who fled, he understood your predicament. Only later did I learn that his niece revealed how, after presiding over a meeting in the Great Hall of the People arranging criticism of you, he slipped into a room with Ji Dengkui and broke down in tears.”

Lin said, “Since my death, my spirit has constantly reflected. I now understand that supporting and glorifying you was wrong. I committed grave crimes alongside you, bringing disaster to the country and the people. I have repeatedly confessed before the Jade Emperor. He considers me an accomplice and you the principal offender. In the end, I was actually killed because of you. I harmed the people, yet I was also a victim. Moreover, my son wrote the uprising plan—the ‘Project 571 Outline’—which showed some awakening to your crimes and recognized the Cultural Revolution as a disaster. That meant I was beginning to return to the side of the people’s interests. Therefore, the Jade Emperor has not cast me into hell.”

Hearing Lin’s words, Mao felt indignant, yet he could do nothing about it. Seeing Mao’s displeasure, Lin Biao took his leave.

NEXT: 35. Deng Xiaoping (1904–1997)