Peng Zhen was First Secretary of the Beijing Municipal Committee and oversaw the daily work of the CCP Secretariat—wielding considerable power. His political line was close to that of Liu Shaoqi. When Mao sought to bring down Liu at the start of the Cultural Revolution, Peng became the first target.

In 1966 Peng was accused of being “anti-Party” and imprisoned. In 1975 he was exiled to Shaanxi. He returned to Beijing only in 1978 and was rehabilitated in 1979.

More than forty years after his death, Mao often thought of Peng—who had followed him faithfully from Yan’an to Beijing, committed no wrongdoing, and achieved much in governing the capital. Yet simply because Mao needed to strike at Liu Shaoqi, Peng was sacrificed and suffered twelve years of injustice. Mao felt lingering guilt and wished to apologize to him in person.

Mao, always fascinated by names, began: “I hear your surname was not originally Peng. What was it?”

Peng replied: “My original surname was Fu—Fu Maogong. In 1937 I changed my name to Peng Zhen. My grandmother’s surname was Peng. She was fond of me, and I was fond of her. ‘Zhen’ means ‘upholding truth, preserving authenticity and seeking truth from facts.’”

Mao said: “A meaningful name—honoring elders and seeking truth. When the Cultural Revolution began, I had you overthrown and arrested, leaving you unjustly persecuted for twelve years. In reality, I was targeting Liu Shaoqi. But unless I first dug out you and your associates, I could not bring him down. You became the scapegoat and endured a long ordeal.”

Peng answered: “I knew as early as Yan’an that you had become the emperor of the Party—untouchable. I was naïvely sincere. At the 7,000 Cadres Conference in 1962, I spoke frankly:

‘Our mistakes are first the responsibility of the Secretariat. Does that include Chairman Mao, Comrade Shaoqi, and the Standing Committee? If it should include them, then it should include them. However many mistakes there were, that is how many. Chairman Mao is not without fault. The three-to-five-year transition and the communal dining halls were all approved by Chairman Mao. Now within the Party there is a tendency not to dare raise opinions or examine errors, as if self-criticism would cause collapse. If Chairman Mao’s mistakes are not examined, it will leave a bad legacy. From Chairman Mao down to branch secretaries, each has his share of errors.’”

Peng continued: “Later I realized my speech echoed Liu Shaoqi’s formulation of ‘three parts natural disaster, seven parts man-made calamity.’ That planted the seeds of my misfortune.”

Mao replied: “The tone of your speech was indeed different. Lin Biao praised me, Zhou Enlai protected me, Chen Yun remained silent—but you were the most direct, true to your name.”

Peng said: “The Great Leap Forward led to famine. After the 7,000 Cadres Conference, you were unwilling to accept defeat. Jiang Qing said you were ‘seething with pent-up anger.’ In the summer of 1962, you began your counterattack. At the Beidaihe meeting, which was meant to focus on economic issues, you suddenly shifted the direction to class struggle. Kang Sheng led the charge, criticizing Liao Mosha in Beijing.”

Mao responded: “At the Eighth Party Congress in 1956, Peng Dehuai proposed deleting ‘Mao Zedong Thought.’ Liu and Deng agreed. At the Lushan Conference in 1959, Peng Dehuai wrote a long letter of criticism. Then at the 7,000 Cadres Conference in 1962, there was a general offensive against me. I feared being overthrown.”

Peng said: “In fact, when you raised ‘taking class struggle as the key link,’ I defended you. Chen Yun called me several times urging expansion of free markets. I refused, fearing it would encourage capitalism and individual farming.”

Mao said: “In 1964 I wanted to establish a Cultural Revolution Group to wage class struggle in the cultural sphere. I asked you to head it—to test you.”

Peng replied: “In 1965 you instructed Jiang Qing to have Yao Wenyuan criticize Hai Rui Dismissed from Office. You said the key issue was ‘dismissal from office,’ aimed at Peng Dehuai. I investigated and found Wu Han had no connection to Peng Dehuai. I reported this frankly to you, but you would not let it go. Peng Dehuai already sensed disaster approaching. In March 1966, at the Third Front construction meeting in Chengdu, when everyone posed for a group photo, he stepped aside and refused to be photographed, saying he did not want to implicate others.”

Mao said: “In March 1966, you wrote suggesting participation in the 23rd Congress of the Soviet Communist Party. I accused you of plotting a coup and colluding with foreign powers. In 1964, when Zhou Enlai attended the October Revolution anniversary in Moscow, Soviet Defense Minister Malinovsky suggested to Zhou that they jointly remove me. Zhou protested immediately. Later Brezhnev apologized, saying Malinovsky had spoken out of turn while drunk. But from then on, I became wary.”

Peng answered: “My suggestion to attend the 23rd Congress was for exchange and observation. You disliked Khrushchev, but by then the Soviets had already removed him and partially rehabilitated Stalin—whom you admired. So I suggested we see the situation firsthand.”

Mao said: “Domestically I had no fear—no one could overthrow this emperor. What I feared was internal and external collusion. If Soviet tanks rolled in, we could not stop them. I ordered fortifications built along the plains bordering Outer Mongolia—reinforced concrete structures like a new Great Wall. But even the U.S. Defense Secretary later said such defenses would not hold. The project was eventually abandoned.”

Peng continued: “In February 1966 I chaired the Cultural Revolution Group and drafted the February Outline, opposing the elevation of academic disputes into political persecutions. I reported to you in Wuhan. You expressed no objection, so I issued it Party-wide. Soon after, however, you instructed Kang Sheng and Jiang Qing to draft the May 16 Notification. You revised it eight times, rescinded the February Outline, removed me from office, and established the new Central Cultural Revolution Group. I was repeatedly criticized at central meetings, then arrested and imprisoned by rebel factions. In 1975 I was exiled to Shaanxi. I returned to Beijing at the end of 1978 and was rehabilitated in 1979.

“Before that, I stayed temporarily at the Qianmen Hotel. Many people came to see me, including young people who had once denounced me. They lined up for half a month. I embraced them and said I did not blame them.”

Mao said: “You were magnanimous, forgiving, optimistic—that is why you lived beyond me.”

Peng replied: “People liked my saying, ‘All are equal before the law.’ But after the Anti-Rightist Campaign in 1957, that was labeled a ‘bourgeois legal viewpoint’ and removed from the Constitution. In 1983, when I oversaw legal reforms, it was restored. Of course, I understood it could restrain those below—but not the emperor.”

Mao said: “You spoke of ‘seeking truth from facts—what is right is right, what is wrong is wrong, treated equally,’ and ‘upholding truth and correcting errors at any time.’ Very good.”

Peng answered: “In Yan’an I also participated in purges. I felt guilty for that. After 1949 I apologized to those I had wronged—sometimes repeatedly. In my later years my thinking became more conservative. At eighty-five, I criticized Hu Yaobang and helped push him out of office. That went too far; it was my fault.”

Mao said: “Your later years were relatively complete. You were well commemorated afterward.”

The two lingering spirits felt they had said nearly all that needed to be said. Their forms gradually dispersed, each drifting away.

NEXT: 50. Luo Ruiqing (1906–1978)