The Jade Emperor decided to publicly try Mao Zedong and allowed the spirits of those persecuted to death during Mao’s rule in China to present their accusations against him. The first to denounce Mao Zedong was Zhang Zhixin.

Zhang Zhixin was executed by gunshot after her throat was cut in 1975. In 1979, she was rehabilitated and posthumously recognized as a martyr, becoming known throughout the country.

When the Jade Emperor saw Zhang Zhixin covered in blood, he was greatly shocked. “Why do you appear in such a state?”

Zhang said: “Six years in prison. I suffered every humiliation there. They clamped my tongue and mouth with iron pliers and stuffed a mop inside. I carried an eighteen-pound iron hammer on my back and wore shackles on my feet. I was beaten many times; my hair was almost completely torn out. They repeatedly sent male prisoners to rape and gang-rape me. Before my execution they cut my throat. I was tortured by you Communist bandits until I was disfigured beyond recognition, a sight too terrible to behold.”

The Jade Emperor wanted to know how this had come about and asked, “How did you end up like this?”

Zhang Zhixin said: “Very well, I will begin from the start. I was born in 1930 in Tianjin, into a family of university music teachers. My father had participated in the Xinhai Revolution; my mother was a university graduate. I had three older brothers and three younger sisters.

“In 1950, after graduating from a Tianjin middle school, I entered the Department of Education at Tianjin Normal College. When the Korean War broke out, I responded to the call to Resist America and Aid Korea, joined the Volunteers, and entered a military cadre school. In 1951, the army urgently needed Russian translators, and I was recommended to study Russian at Renmin University of China. In 1952, I graduated early and remained at the university, working in the Russian Department’s reference room. At that time, Zeng Zhen was the Youth League Secretary of the Philosophy Department. On National Day in 1955, we married. That same year, I joined the Communist Party. In 1957, my husband and I were transferred to Shenyang to work as cadres in the Liaoning Provincial Party Committee.

“When the Cultural Revolution broke out, in 1968 I was sent down with the Provincial Propaganda Department to a cadre school in Panjin for ‘reform through labor.’ I began to be specially interrogated by a task force on charges of opposing the Cultural Revolution.

“In 1969, at a struggle session, I was ordered to admit my mistakes. I replied: ‘You cannot force me to call truth an error. You cannot make me surrender. As long as one lives, one must be upright and honorable, confident and justified, not servile and obsequious. I do not wish to enslave others, nor will I allow others to enslave me. I am a Communist Party member. No matter what happens, I must uphold justice, uphold truth, be selfless and open and aboveboard.’

“On September 18, I was arrested on charges of being an active counterrevolutionary and was detained for six years. In prison I wrote A Communist Party Member’s Declaration. I said that on matters concerning the future and destiny of the Party and the nation, expressing opinions and putting forward views is a manifestation of loyalty to the Party and the duty and right of an ordinary Party member. The prison repeatedly tortured me. I was almost driven insane. I wrote a suicide note and prepared to kill myself. When they discovered it, they placed me under strict surveillance and held struggle sessions, accusing me of ‘using death to demonstrate against the Party and resist the movement.’

“In May 1970, the Liaoning authorities sought to sentence me to death for ‘opposing Chairman Mao, opposing Jiang Qing, and reversing the verdict on Liu Shaoqi.’ The Liaoning High Court reduced the sentence to fifteen years. But in prison I refused to confess and shouted the slogan ‘Down with Mao Zedong.’ This alarmed Chen Xilian. Commander Chen said: ‘Leave her alive as a negative example; better not kill her.’ My sentence was changed to life imprisonment with forced labor.

“On November 16, 1973, at a prison meeting criticizing Lin Biao and Confucius, when the speaker denounced Lin Biao’s ultra-rightist line, I stood up and shouted: ‘The ultimate root of the ultra-rightist line is Mao Zedong.’ For this I was accused of ‘stubbornly persisting in a reactionary stance and constituting a new crime’ and sentenced to death.

“On February 26, 1975, the Liaoning Provincial Party Committee reviewed my case. Mao’s nephew Mao Yuanxin said: ‘She was given life imprisonment yet remains reactionary to the end, still so crazy, still committing crimes. Letting her live one more day means one more day of counterrevolution. Kill her.’ With provincial approval, I was sentenced to death and executed immediately. Before the execution I was confined for several days in a tiny cell so small one could only sit, not lie down. I had been driven insane, dipping steamed buns in menstrual blood to eat, relieving myself in that tiny cell. I was no longer like a human being.”

The Jade Emperor listened carefully and said: “From beginning to end, you appear to be a person of upright roots and loyal character. Your opposition to Mao was merely verbal. You organized no activities and took no actions. At most, if you committed any offense, it was one of thought. It did not warrant death.”

Zhang Zhixin said: “As for my so-called anti-Mao remarks, for example, I said Mao’s contributions in the Communist Party’s seizure of power could not be denied. But I believed that during the stage of socialist revolution and socialist construction, Mao also made mistakes. These were concentrated in the Great Leap Forward, which failed to follow objective laws and exceeded objective conditions, emphasizing the theory of continuous revolution while neglecting the stages of revolutionary development. This led to problems in revolution and construction, reflected especially in the three years of hardship and the ‘Three Red Banners.’

“In addition, regarding the ‘Three Loyalties’ and dancing the ‘loyalty dance,’ I said: ‘In the past, feudal society spoke of loyalty. Why are we doing this now? Decades from now, people will look at our relationship with the Party leader as we now look at our predecessors believing in gods and spirits—unable to understand it.’ ‘No one can be an exception; no individual can stand above the Party.’ ‘No one should engage in personality cults.’”

The Jade Emperor said: “These anti-Mao remarks are trivial. How could they justify a death sentence? Your tragic death appears unjust. Did your case also implicate your family?”

Zhang Zhixin said: “I was born into a musical family. My sisters could play instruments from childhood. One became a music teacher; another became the principal violinist of the Central Orchestra. We sisters were very close. In 1968, when I went to Beijing, I stayed at my sister’s home. The three of us squeezed onto one double bed and talked from 11 p.m. until 5 a.m. That was our last reunion. In 1969 I was arrested and imprisoned, completely cut off from my family.

“My sister once sold the violin our father had played for over twenty years to raise travel expenses for my third brother to visit me in Shenyang Prison, but he was refused entry. My son applied to the junior division of the Shenyang Conservatory of Music and ranked first in the exams, yet he was not admitted—simply because I was imprisoned as a counterrevolutionary.

“In 1976, as my family was preparing to visit me again in Shenyang, someone came from Shenyang to inform my sister that I had already been executed and asked my mother to handle my belongings. When my mother learned this, she was bedridden for three days.”

The Jade Emperor asked, “Were you later rehabilitated?”

Zhang Zhixin said: “After Mao’s death, in 1978 the Yingkou Court revoked the original verdict and declared me innocent. In 1979, the Shenyang Court fully rehabilitated me. Ren Zhongyi said: ‘Zhang Zhixin was a good Party member, upholding truth, upholding Party spirit, persisting in struggle, unyielding unto death. I support recognizing her as a martyr.’ The Liaoning Provincial Party Committee posthumously recognized me as a revolutionary martyr. At the National People’s Congress, Ren Zhongyi also said: ‘From the Zhang Zhixin case, people deeply understand that without sound democracy and rule of law, the dictatorship of the proletariat can turn into fascist dictatorship.’

“A memorial service was held for me. In the mourning hall stood an empty urn—my ashes were gone. A grave was established for me at Huilonggang Revolutionary Cemetery in Shenyang, inscribed: ‘To seek truth, value practice; loyal bones destroyed, righteous spirit endures forever.’

“Yet even after my rehabilitation, there were disputes. A reporter from Guangming Daily traveled by train to Shenyang to investigate. After reading my materials, he could neither eat nor sleep. He interviewed my husband and daughter, inspected the tiny cell where I had been confined and the interrogation room where my throat was cut. After four days and nights of work, he wrote a ten-thousand-word report titled A Report Written in Blood. It stirred national concern and prompted nearly a hundred follow-up articles and discussions. It led to the question: who was guilty? The one who cut my throat claimed innocence; those who guarded and beat me claimed innocence; the Public Security Bureau, the courts, the provincial propaganda department—those who denounced me—claimed innocence. Under that kind of dictatorship, everyone was ‘following higher instructions’ and implementing Chairman Mao’s revolutionary line. So who was guilty? Yet there were also Mao supporters who denied that my throat had been cut and said I deserved my fate. Further discussion of my case was eventually ordered to stop.”

The Jade Emperor said, “So although you were rehabilitated, there is still controversy.”

Zhang Zhixin replied: “Yes. I was declared innocent, but no one has borne responsibility. My soul cannot rest in peace. I once asked you how this should be resolved. You said: ‘Your case is not concluded until the mastermind confesses and accepts guilt. Only then can your wronged spirit rest.’ The key lies with Mao. Mao was the chief mastermind. He never once said, ‘I am guilty.’ His successors have never confessed guilt on his behalf. Forty years have passed, and all the wrongful cases still hang unresolved.”

The Jade Emperor said: “I understand. Wait for my judgment. Once judgment is rendered, all parties will be released from this burden. Mao is meeting with his former subordinates as well. All are awaiting my formal verdict. I will not disappoint you.”

Hearing the Jade Emperor’s promise, Zhang Zhixin said: “I will wait for your public trial. I will wait for your judgment upon Mao.”

NEXT: 93. Lin Zhao (1932–1968)