During the 1957 Anti-Rightist Campaign, more than 550,000 people were officially labeled “Rightists,” though later scholarly estimates range from 1.2 million to over 3 million. Among those branded the “Number One Rightist” was Zhang Bojun.

Zhang had once been an early Communist. Later he left the Party and followed a “third way” political path, yet remained broadly sympathetic to the Communists and cooperated after 1949. In 1957, under the banner of “helping the Party rectify its style,” intellectuals were encouraged to speak out—only to be accused afterward. Deng Xiaoping later rehabilitated most Rightists, but five major figures—including Zhang Bojun—were not fully cleared.

That night, Mao lay in bed thinking about Zhang Bojun. Half-asleep, he suddenly saw Zhang standing before him—as if a spirit had entered his dream.

Mao startled: “Are you Bojun?”

Zhang replied: “I am Zhang Bojun.”

Mao said: “You were an old revolutionary too. We joined the movement around the same time. In 1922 you went to Germany on public funds, traveling with Zhu De. In 1923 Zhu introduced you into the Communist Party. When you returned in 1926, you taught at Sun Yat-sen University. You earned 280 silver dollars monthly—donating 200 as Party dues. During the First United Front, we both joined the Kuomintang as Communists and participated in the Northern Expedition. You served as Party representative of the Ninth Army and deputy director in the political department during the Nanchang Uprising.”

Zhang answered: “That is correct. After the uprising failed, I left the Party and followed Deng Yanda in building the Third Party. You remember, after the 1927 revolution collapsed, Stalin even suggested Deng Yanda become General Secretary of the CCP.”

Mao nodded: “I remember Deng and Soong Ching-ling secretly went to Moscow. Stalin reportedly invited Deng to assume leadership of the CCP. Deng declined, saying he was not a Communist but wished China to take a socialist—not capitalist—road, and insisted on independence rather than subordination to the Comintern.”

Zhang said: “Deng believed China should ally with the Soviet Union but not be controlled by it. Excessive interference would only prolong China’s suffering.”

Mao replied: “Deng Yanda was capable. In the Huangpu Military Academy he ranked just below Chiang Kai-shek in influence. During the Great Revolution, he valued me highly and appointed me deputy director of the Peasant Movement Training Institute in Wuchang.”

Zhang continued:
“In 1931, Deng was arrested in Shanghai and secretly executed by Chiang Kai-shek at age thirty-six. It was a great loss.”

Mao sighed: “Had he lived, he might have replaced Chiang as a national leader. But he refused Soviet backing; without Stalin’s support, success was unlikely. With Stalin’s support, I prevailed.”

Zhang responded: “That was China’s tragedy. Following Stalin helped you seize power. But Stalin’s path also shaped your later failures. We democratic parties only played supporting roles.”

Mao said: “It was not solely my achievement. Without your democratic movements in Nationalist-controlled areas stirring public opinion, would victory have been so smooth?”

Zhang turned to 1957: “You launched the Anti-Rightist Campaign. My proposal for a ‘Political Design Institute’ and a bicameral system, Luo Longji’s ‘Rehabilitation Committee,’ and Chu Anping’s ‘Party-state’ critique were labeled anti-Party and counterrevolutionary. We intended to help rectify governance—our tone was far milder than criticism of Chiang Kai-shek. Yet you struck down millions, silencing the nation’s intellectuals.”

Mao replied bluntly: “I wanted centralized authority and rapid movement toward communism. There could be no dissenting voices. Frankly, I had long considered sidelining bourgeois intellectuals—even before 1949. The Anti-Rightist Campaign merely acted.”

Zhang said: “After 1957, I was idle for nine years. During the Cultural Revolution, my home was raided repeatedly; possessions seized; I was reduced to a small guard’s room with fifteen yuan per month. Depression turned to cancer. I died in 1969.”

Mao asked: “You were rehabilitated later?”

Zhang answered: “In 1980, most Rightists were rehabilitated, but five major ones—including me—were not fully cleared. Perhaps the Party wished to signal that the campaign itself was justified, only ‘excessive.’ In 1982, my ashes were allowed into Babaoshan Cemetery, suggesting partial restoration. Whether the label remained mattered little. What matters is that left, center, and right should coexist peacefully, without persecution, debating calmly and equally.”

Mao said: “You speak well. Later, Hu Jintao spoke of ‘harmony’—something akin to your view. But realization remains difficult.”

Zhang sensed unusual candor in Mao’s tone. Feeling the conversation had run its course, he rose and quietly departed into the night.

NEXT: 63. Luo Longji (1896–1965)