The Death of Liu Zhidan and Mao Zedong’s Taboo

Liu Zhidan, the founder of the Shaanbei revolutionary base, met a mysterious death on the battlefield, which Mao Zedong called an “accident.” However, even 26 years later, Mao still showed great aversion to hearing this name.

In the summer of 1962, a novel began to be serialized in newspapers, bringing back into the spotlight the name of Liu Zhidan, who had passed away 26 years earlier, a name that Mao Zedong had tried to suppress.

The novel “Liu Zhidan,” written by Liu Zhidan’s sister-in-law, was criticized as anti-Party fiction, giving Mao Zedong a reason to intensify censorship, leading to a purge of individuals associated with Liu Zhidan at that time, including Xi Jinping’s father, Xi Zhongxun.

Today, let’s delve into why Mao Zedong was so averse to the name Liu Zhidan.

Born in 1903, Liu Zhidan graduated from the Whampoa Military Academy and later joined the Communist Party of China (CPC). He pioneered the Shaan-Gan-Ning, Shaanbei, and Shaan-Gan revolutionary bases, holding various positions such as Vice Commander and Commander of the Shaan-Gan Guerrilla Unit of the Red Army, Political Department Head and Chief of Staff of the 26th Army Second Division, Chief of Staff and Division Commander of the 42nd Division, and Chairman of the Shaan-Gan-Ning Revolutionary Military Committee.

Liu Zhidan was a significant figure in the history of the CPC because he founded the Shaan-Gan Red Army and was one of the founding members of the CPC Soviet Area in Shaanbei. This area, centered around Yan’an, later became the headquarters for the CPC Central Committee and the Red Army after the so-called “Long March.”

The “Long March” was actually a fleeing journey to evade the encirclement of the Nationalist Kuomintang forces. The Central Red Army, led by Zhu De and Mao Zedong, also known as the First Front Army, met with Liu Zhidan’s Shaanbei Red Army in Wuqi, Shaanxi in 1935.

According to the book “Mao Zedong: The Unknown Story” written by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday, the only remaining Soviet area in the country at that time was established by Liu Zhidan. When Mao Zedong’s team arrived, Liu Zhidan had five thousand troops, more than Mao Zedong’s.

Even before setting off for Shaanbei, Mao Zedong knew that once his troops reached Shaanbei, it would be as if he had sought refuge with Liu Zhidan, making it difficult for him to maintain his position. Moreover, Liu Zhidan had a good reputation; in the eyes of the locals who sympathized with the Red Army, he was seen as a hero.

Thus, on September 12, 1935, as Liu Zhidan departed from his Shaanbei base heading north, Mao Zedong subtly laid the groundwork, implying to the high-ranking officials that Liu was “not necessarily correct in his leadership.”

In reality, before Mao’s army even arrived in Shaanbei, a major incident occurred in the CPC’s Shaanbei Soviet Area. An internal struggle unfolded within the Party.

In mid-September, the 25th Army entered Shaanbei. Dai Jiyin, Chief of Staff of the 25th Army, was appointed as a member of the CPC Shaan-Gan-Jin Provincial Committee and Director of the Political Security Bureau of the Northwest Revolutionary Military Committee.

At that time, reports were sent to the temporary Central Bureau in Shanghai stating that Liu Zhidan, Xi Zhongxun, and others were adhering to a “right-leaning” and “rich peasant route.” The temporary Central Bureau dispatched personnel to the northwest to resolve the issue.

The individuals sent to address the problem joined forces with Dai Jiyin and launched a counter-revolutionary movement primarily targeting the leadership of the Shaan-Gan border revolutionary base.

With 3,400 troops, the 25th Army was not as powerful as Liu Zhidan’s armed forces. However, Liu did not resist. When he was summoned from the front lines to the rear and learned that he was to be arrested, he voluntarily walked into the prison cell.

As to why he did this, some believe Liu Zhidan felt confident in his integrity, while others think he did it to avoid division among his comrades.

His compliance was not praised as loyalty to the Party but was instead distorted and used as evidence against him. It was claimed that he knowingly allowed himself to be arrested to gain the Party’s trust. In prison, Liu Zhidan wore heavy shackles, which later made it difficult for him to walk for extended periods.

His comrades’ situations were even more tragic, with torture being commonplace. Red-hot iron wires were inserted into the thigh of one of his comrades until it reached the bone. Many were buried alive. Xi Zhongxun, a survivor, later stated that he was imprisoned in a dungeon at Wayaobao, where “the grave for burying people was already dug, and we were at risk of being buried alive at any time.”

At this time, Mao Zedong intervened, ordering a halt to the capture and killing of individuals. By late November, Liu Zhidan and others were released, and the counter-revolutionary movement was deemed a “serious mistake,” with Dai Jiyin facing disciplinary action.

Mao emerged as the savior of Liu Zhidan and his subordinates, staging a drama of “usurping the nest” and “rising to dominance.” This allowed him to take over the Shaanbei base from a position of ultimate advantage.

The brutal counter-revolutionary actions greatly harmed Liu Zhidan and his comrades, leaving them powerless. Mao easily ostracized them from the leadership circle.

Although Liu Zhidan was the founder of the base, he held only low-ranking positions, leading a new army, the 28th Army. Mao appointed his confidants as political commissars to supervise and monitor him. Liu Zhidan did not complain; publicly expressing support for Mao’s authority, and his affected comrades also obediently followed the Party’s directives.

While Mao Zedong took control of the Shaanbei base, his position was not secure, requiring the immense prestige of Liu Zhidan to govern effectively. However, Mao also sought to eliminate Liu Zhidan, needing to find a way to rid himself of him.

Analysis in the book “Mao Zedong: The Unknown Story” suggests that this was because Liu Zhidan was a local in Shaanbei Yan’an, and Mao realized that the CPC would inevitably need to extract resources such as food, money, soldiers, and labor from the locals, policies that would likely provoke resistance from the local population. Native officials, deeply connected with the local community, would be prone to leading such resistance.

Mao devised a plan that not only eliminated Liu Zhidan but also prevented his followers from finding reasons to revolt. He decided to eliminate Liu Zhidan on the battlefield.

He plotted the Eastern Expedition. The Eastern Expedition began on February 17, 1936. Similar to the Long March, the CPC propaganda stated that the purpose was to fight Japan. In reality, not a single Japanese soldier was engaged, let alone their borders.

Mao’s true plan was to cross the Yellow River and proceed to the prosperous Shanxi Province to recruit soldiers and raise funds, potentially establishing a new base before heading north to the border of Mongolia outside the Soviet Union satellite countries.

In Shanxi, Mao recruited some soldiers and plundered resources, but before approaching Outer Mongolia, his forces were driven back west of the Yellow River by Yan Xishan’s troops in early May.

Despite this, within just two and a half months, Mao Zedong eliminated Liu Zhidan.

The CPC claimed that the 33-year-old Liu Zhidan died on the battlefield, but all details surrounding his death indicated that he was assassinated.

On the day of Liu Zhidan’s death, April 14, at the Huanghe Ferry in Sankuai Town, the CPC stated that enemy gunfire swept through the attacking Red Army, hitting his heart.

However, many began to question this account. Liu Zhidan was not among the advancing Red Army troops nor within the crossfire range of the two forces. He was observing the battle through a telescope on a small hill over two hundred meters away when a bullet struck his heart.

The assessment in the book “Mao Zedong: The Unknown Story” remarks, “If he was indeed shot by a machine gun, then the machine gun was truly miraculous: it was originally firing in a completely opposite direction and suddenly made a sharp turn, hitting Liu Zhidan’s heart from two hundred meters away with precision that would put expert marksmen to shame.”

At the time Liu Zhidan was shot, two individuals were present, a political security bureau agent named Pei, who was responsible for safeguarding the Red Army’s treasures during the Long March, and Liu Zhidan’s bodyguard.

Pei, the special agent, was promoted to the rank of Major General after the CPC came to power. He was known as Major Pei Zhouyu. When he passed away at 103 in 2015, Chinese Communist media emphasized that he was a witness at the scene of Liu Zhidan’s death.

According to Pei Zhouyu’s own account, after Liu Zhidan was hit, he called the bodyguard to fetch a doctor. “By the time the doctor arrived, he had already stopped breathing.” In other words, Liu Zhidan passed away with only Pei Zhouyu by his side.

The analysis in the book “Mao Zedong: The Unknown Story” suggests that this manner of death raises suspicions that Liu Zhidan was assassinated by Pei or his own bodyguard. This is because assassination was a significant part of the work of the CPC’s Political Security Bureau. Guards assigned to “unreliable” leaders were often personnel from the political security department. General Li Mingrui of the former Red Seventh Army was shot dead by a guard when suspected of attempting to lead his troops in an escape. Red Army Commander Gong Chu was most afraid of his guards when planning to flee.

Before Liu Zhidan was sent to the battlefield, a series of events unfolded. When these incidents are connected, it becomes apparent that his death was meticulously planned by Mao Zedong.

Eight days before his death, Mao ordered, “Hereafter, the 28th Army reports directly to the headquarters.” This meant that once Liu Zhidan passed away, his 28th Army would report directly to Mao.

Two days later, Mao appointed Liu Zhidan as a member of the Military Committee, a position he had previously been excluded from. This decision signified Liu’s complete exoneration and entry into the military decision-making body. Therefore, Liu would be treated as a hero after his death, and his subordinates would not be provoked to rebel.

Ultimately, Liu Zhidan’s trip to Sankuai Town was a direct order from Mao himself. He was shot and killed the day after his arrival.

At the time, suspicions arose as upon examining Liu Zhidan’s wound, it appeared that he was shot from behind rather than from the front as claimed by the official account.

During Liu Zhidan’s burial, his widow Tong Guirong was not allowed to see his body. Reflecting on this later, Tong Guirong stated, “I wanted to open the coffin and see him once, but Vice Premier Zhou Enlai advised, ‘Widow Liu, you are not well, it will be more distressing for you to see him.’ So, I did not see him.”

Seven years later, she was finally allowed to open the coffin, but by then, the body had decomposed, making it impossible to examine the wound.

Allowing Liu Zhidan’s widow to view the body at that time was also done at Mao Zedong’s behest. In 1942, Mao launched a rectification campaign in Yan’an, particularly in need of stability within the local CPC cadre, requiring the use of Liu Zhidan’s name.

He held a grand funeral for Liu Zhidan, renaming Baoan County to Zhidan County with Mao’s own inscription, stating that Liu Zhidan’s “brave sacrifice was accidental.”

After Liu Zhidan’s death, his closest aides also passed away quickly. This meant that within a few months of Mao Zedong’s arrival in Shaanbei, the top three Red Army commanders in the region all “died in battle.” Consequently, Mao Zedong’s residence in Shaanbei remained secure for eleven years.

Internal struggles within the CPC have always been ruthless, with Mao Zedong adept at wielding power games and persecuting his political opponents or those he deemed threatening to his authority.

Liu Zhidan was not the first high-ranking CPC member maliciously killed by Mao Zedong, nor was he the only one. The deaths of Lin Biao, Liu Shaoqi, Zhou Enlai were connected to Mao Zedong, who even poisoned Wang Ming.