Cai Tiegen, an old Red Army veteran, was born in 1911, eighteen years younger than Mao. He joined the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army in 1936 and the Communist Party in 1939. During the War of Resistance against Japan, he took part in the Battle of Pingxingguan. In 1955 he was awarded the rank of Senior Colonel, and in 1956 he became director of the War History Teaching and Research Office at the Nanjing Military Academy.

From May to July 1958, at an enlarged meeting of the Central Military Commission held in Beijing, Liu Bocheng and Xiao Ke were criticized for “dogmatism.” Many officers in charge of military training and education were attacked; Cai Tiegen was also besieged.

In October 1958, he was expelled from the Party and the army, stripped of his rank, demoted to grade fourteen, and sent to work in a company in Changzhou. In March 1970, he was executed in Changzhou on charges of counterrevolution.

In September 1979, he was posthumously rehabilitated; an empty urn was placed in Beijing’s Babaoshan Cemetery. After his death, Cai’s spirit found no peace. Feeling his injustice unresolved, he roamed the underworld shouting in anger. One night, while wandering, his spirit collided with Mao’s.

Mao asked: “Who are you? Why are you wearing an old Red Army uniform and roaring in the underworld?”

Cai replied: “My name is Cai Tiegen. I was labeled a counterrevolutionary and executed. Who are you?”

Mao answered: “I am the spirit of Mao Zedong. At the Jade Emperor’s request, I am seeking out injustices from my time in power, to ask forgiveness and perhaps receive a lighter sentence. Tell me, what grievance do you bear?”

Cai said: “It began with the 1958 campaign against dogmatism in the military. Tell me, what crime is dogmatism? Nothing more than advocating regularization of the army and establishing rules and discipline. Should the army forever retain guerrilla habits?”

Mao replied: “In reality, criticizing dogmatism at the Military Academy was a pretext to target Liu Bocheng, and you were caught up in it. Once you were purged, what more did you expect?”

Cai said: “The denunciation was terrifying. They shouted, ‘Counterrevolutionary—shoot him!’ I asked Political Commissar Zhong Qiguang, ‘Commissar, does truth still exist?’ He gave a bitter smile and said, ‘Don’t you know that truth must also obey the organization?’ By ‘organization’ he meant the Central Committee—and that meant you. Even truth had to obey you. After the struggle session, people rushed the stage, tore off my epaulettes and collar insignia, and shoved me down.”

Mao replied: “Zhong spoke the Party’s truth. Obedience to the organization is the first truth. After more than twenty years in the revolution, did you not understand the power of organization? Layer by layer, level by level—ultimately it comes down to me. I am the organization. What happened to you afterward?”

Cai said: “I was expelled from the Party and army, sent down to a company in Changzhou, and in 1970 executed as a counterrevolutionary. They did not even preserve my ashes.”

Mao said: “That was excessive. But you were not the only one purged in those years. Why roar so in the underworld?”

Cai replied: “The great famine of 1960 made me reflect deeply. I realized that the socialist revolution deprived everyone of private property and personal freedom. One could live only by relying on the Party and the collective; otherwise one could not move a step. Household registration and grain ration coupons—these trifles—stripped 800 million people of freedom. The Party controlled everything, supposedly to prevent capitalism, but in truth out of fear of the people becoming prosperous!”

Mao responded: “That was ‘better socialist weeds than capitalist seedlings.’ I still think that was correct!”

Cai said: “Private property is the economic foundation of personal freedom. Once private property is lost, personal freedom disappears. Abolish private ownership, and personal freedom is extinguished. Personal freedom and collective public ownership are incompatible. Private property and personal liberty are inseparable.”

Mao answered: “You speak truly. My revolution aimed at one leader, one will—eliminating personal freedom, forbidding private property, allowing only collective distribution. That is communism.”

Cai said: “Your revolution violated human nature and regressed toward slavery, where there is no personal freedom. It ran counter to the tide of the world and ultimately failed. Yet I still acknowledge your political skill—you truly were ‘one unmatched in all ages.’ You achieved what rulers ancient and modern could not: control over people’s minds. With your thought, you controlled everything; 800 million people could not speak.”

Mao replied: “That owes much to Lin Biao’s promotion—his ‘four firsts,’ the Little Red Book, the ‘four greats,’ ‘one sentence worth ten thousand.’ Without him, my supreme instructions might not have swept all before them.”

Cai said: “Lin Biao rendered great service blowing your trumpet. After the famine, I also realized that intra-Party struggles were nothing more than leaders fighting for power and prestige. Those with thought and conscience became sacrifices, while the vile and unscrupulous were deemed true Marxist-Leninists. Today you fought this one, tomorrow that one. Supposedly only you were correct. People were required to shout ‘Long live!’”

Mao replied: “Yes, I required it. Only with such unity—one command, one will—could there be centralization. I was absolute authority.”

Cai continued: “You sought to be the world communist leader, demanding the entire Party become your ‘docile tools.’ All dissenters were labeled ‘Rightists,’ ‘Right opportunists,’ ‘anti-Party elements,’ ‘anti-Party cliques.’ The Party constitution was trampled into nothingness; inner-Party democracy wiped out. You eliminated all differing voices. Only you were eternally correct—yet you were the source of all error. No one dared say so, because your authority surpassed even God. You were truth.”

Mao replied: “You see deeply—rare awakening among old Red Army men. Many may have thought it but dared not speak. Ha! That is my nature.”

Cai said: “My regret is that nearly fifty years after my death, those in power still dare not openly expose your crimes. From heaven I look down and see the land still shielding you.”

Mao answered: “Indeed, my ghost lingers. I often wander there still.”

Cai concluded: “History and time are the best judges. I trust the Jade Emperor will examine all. My injustice will ultimately be redressed.”

Mao perfunctorily replied: “You speak reasonably. Let us await the Jade Emperor’s verdict.”

After his denunciation, Cai Tiegen departed in anger.

NEXT: 58. Zhao Jianmin (1912–2012)