Two Deputy Directors of the Central Committee’s General Office committed suicide during the ten-year Cultural Revolution: one was Tian Jiaying, who had served as Mao Zedong’s secretary for a long time, and the other was CCP Major General Wang Liangen.
After the Cultural Revolution ended, on March 28, 1980, the CCP Central Committee rehabilitated Tian Jiaying; on November 1, 1979, the CCP Central Committee rehabilitated Wang Liangen. In other words, both of these Deputy Directors of the Central Committee’s General Office were wrongly persecuted.
Regarding the death of Tian Jiaying, I have previously written an article on the topic. Here, the focus is on discussing the death of Wang Liangen.
At the time, the Acting Party Committee Secretary and Deputy Secretary of the Central Office, Wang Dongxing and Zhang Yaoci respectively, wrote a report to the CCP Central Committee titled “Report on Wang Liangen’s Suicide Due to Fear of Guilt.”
On January 26, 1973, at 11:55 a.m., the Political Department of the Central Committee received a call from Wang Liangen’s family member, Wang Ying, saying that Wang Liangen had hanged himself in the dormitory bathroom. Medical staff from the 305 Hospital rushed to rescue him, but due to the prolonged hanging time, his heart stopped beating, resulting in unsuccessful resuscitation. Subsequently, forensic experts from the Ministry of Public Security arrived at the scene to conduct an examination, confirming Wang Liangen’s death by hanging.
In Wang Liangen’s jacket pocket, there was a letter he wrote to Mao Zedong. In it, he stated that he had never colluded with Lin Biao, his “death comrade.”
Afterwards, his home was searched, and his wife and children were expelled from the Zhongnanhai compound.
According to Wu Jicheng, former Deputy Director of the Central Guard Bureau, on January 29, 1973, the Central Office convened an expanded meeting of the temporary Party Committee to report Wang Liangen’s death. The office leaders stated that Wang Liangen had “betrayed the party and the people.”
The then Minister of Public Security, Li Zhen, also spoke at the meeting, saying: “Wang Liangen committed serious errors in the tenth round of ideological struggle. The Central Committee had waited for him for two years, but he kept covering up.” “Once he got on the thief’s ship and held on tightly, refusing to get off, he ended up being buried together with it.”
“His suicide was a demonstration against the party… His suicide to silence himself was out of fear of exposing his comrades, which was malicious and also delusional.”
By the way, nine months after Wang Liangen’s suicide, on October 20, 1973, Minister of Public Security Li Zhen also “committed suicide due to fear of guilt.”
On October 6, 1976, Mao Zedong’s wife Jiang Qing and the “Gang of Four” were arrested, marking the end of the ten-year Cultural Revolution.
In June 1977, the second year after the end of the Cultural Revolution, four years after Wang Liangen’s suicide, under the direction of Wang Dongxing, the Temporary Party Committee of the Central Committee’s General Office made a “Political Conclusion and Organizational Handling Decision on Counterrevolutionary Wang Liangen.” The decision stated that Wang Liangen’s suicide was a betrayal of the people, and decided to revoke his party membership and dismiss him from all party and non-party positions.
The then Minister of Public Security, Li Zhen, said: “Wang Liangen committed serious errors in the tenth round of ideological struggle.”
What was the tenth round of ideological struggle? It was the struggle between Mao Zedong and Lin Biao, Mao’s personally designated successor written into the CCP Party Constitution.
After the outbreak of the Cultural Revolution in May 1966, with the help of Marshal Lin Biao, Mao Zedong overthrew Liu Shaoqi, Mao’s first designated successor and the second most powerful figure in the CCP.
In August 1966, Lin Biao became the CCP’s second most powerful figure – the only Vice Chairman of the CCP Central Committee. The CCP Party Constitution passed in April 1969 stated that Lin Biao “has consistently held aloft the great banner of Mao Zedong Thought, most faithfully and resolutely carrying out and defending Mao’s proletarian revolutionary line,” and that he was Mao’s “intimate comrade and successor.”
Five years after the outbreak of the Cultural Revolution, Mao suddenly turned against Lin Biao, preparing to overthrow him. Upon learning of Mao’s intentions, on September 13, 1971, Lin Biao fled with his wife Ye Qun and son Lin Liguo on a Trident airplane from Shanhaiguan, but tragically crashed and died in Wudanhan, Mongolia.
After Lin Biao’s death, he, his family, along with a number of high officials believed to be Lin Biao’s “comrades,” were dubbed the “Lin Biao Counterrevolutionary Clique” by Mao Zedong. Lin Biao was accused of being a “capitalist roader, conspirator, two-faced counterrevolutionary, traitor, and traitor to the country,” and was “expelled from the party forever,” thoroughly discredited and vilified.
In the first half of 1972, in documents issued by the CCP Central Committee criticizing Lin Biao, the emphasis was on linking criticism with reality and integrating it with rectification. It was during this anti-Lin rectification movement that Wang Liangen was criticized as a member of the “Lin Biao Counterrevolutionary Clique.”
However, from Wang Liangen’s suicide note, it is evident that he never admitted to being a part of the “Lin Biao Counterrevolutionary Clique.” This may have been the truth.
Wang Liangen was born in Weixian County, Shandong Province. In 1938, he joined the Eighth Route Army’s Ludong Guerrilla Unit and joined the CCP the same year. During the War of Resistance against Japan, he served in the Shandong Division of the Eighth Route Army. During the Chinese Civil War, he served as the Political Commissar of the Third Column of the Huadong Field Army, participating in battles such as the Battle of Luoyang, Jinan, and the Huaihai. In 1949, he was promoted to Director and Political Commissar of the 65th Division of the 22nd Army. After the CCP took power, he held positions such as the Director of the Organizational Department of the Zhejiang Military Region, Director of the Organizational Department of the Huadong Military Region, and Deputy Director of the Political Department of the Nanjing Military Region. In 1964, he was promoted to the rank of Major General.
Lin Biao and Wang Liangen had no intersections from Jinggangshan to Yan’an to the Northeast, and even up to Hainan Island.
After the outbreak of the Cultural Revolution in May 1966, Mao first defeated the “Peng, Luo, Lu, Yang Counterrevolutionary Clique.” Yang refers to the former Director of the Central Office, Yang Shangkun. Subsequently, a group of officials associated with Peng, Luo, Lu, and Yang were toppled. Mao selected and transferred officials from various military regions to Beijing, replacing the subordinates of Peng, Luo, Lu, and Yang.
Recommended by Mao’s trusted aide and Commander of the Nanjing Military Region, Xu Shiyu, Wang Liangen was transferred to Director of the Political Department of the Central Office.
At the time, Wang Dongxing was the Director of the Central Office, and Zhang Yaoci was the Deputy Director, primarily serving Mao Zedong. Wang Liangen and Yang Dezong were mainly responsible for tasks assigned by Zhou Enlai. In April 1969, Wang Liangen was appointed Vice Secretary-General of the 9th National Congress of the CCP. On November 15, 1969, Wang Liangen was appointed Deputy Director of the Central Office and Director of the Political Department.
In August 1970, the Second Plenary Session of the 9th CCP Central Committee was held in Lushan, where Wang Liangen was in charge of the Secretariat’s work. At this Central Committee meeting, CCP Politburo Standing Committee Member Chen Boda was overthrown by Mao for being too close to Lin Biao. Mao’s goal in toppling Chen Boda was to send a warning message to Lin Biao.
On September 6, 1970, Chen Boda was isolated for review, and Wang Liangen was appointed as the head of the special group. If Mao thought Wang Liangen was with Lin Biao, how could he have allowed him to lead the special group working on Chen Boda?
After Lin Biao’s downfall, from the central level to the local level, Lin Biao’s old subordinates, such as Huang Yongsheng, Wu Faxian, Li Zuopeng, Qiu Huizuo, were all investigated.
Wang Liangen not only escaped investigation but also participated in the work of the Lin Biao special group, responsible for investigating Lin Biao’s residence and personnel related to Lin Biao’s office.
If Mao deemed Wang Liangen to be associated with Lin Biao, how could he have allowed him to join the Lin Biao special group?
So, why did Wang Liangen choose to commit suicide?
The key reason was that he offended Mao’s wife, Jiang Qing.
After Lin Biao’s death, three letters were found during a search at Lin Biao’s residence, one each addressed to Chairman Mao and Vice Chairman Lin, written by the Commanders of the Nanjing Military Region, the Jinan Military Region, and the Fuzhou Military Region, respectively. The special group submitted these letters to Wang Liangen’s office. After Wang Liangen saw them, he submitted them to Zhou Enlai, who stamped them with “Taken away when circulating. Return.” Upon receiving these letters back from Zhou Enlai, Wang Liangen archived them.
In early 1972, when Jiang Qing participated in discussions on handling issues in Shandong at the central level, she learned about these three letters and immediately began to investigate. The investigation revealed Wang Liangen’s involvement.
Wang Liangen had only submitted these three letters to Zhou Enlai and not to Jiang Qing, who was also a member of the Lin Biao special group. This infuriated Jiang Qing.
Moreover, the content of these three letters greatly displeased Jiang Qing.
At the Second Plenary Session of the Ninth CCP Central Committee, Lin Biao, with Mao’s consent, vaguely criticized Deputy Director of the Central Cultural Revolution Small Group Zhang Chunqiao in his speech. After the meeting, the three aforementioned Commanders wrote the letters supporting Lin Biao’s remarks. Upon receiving these letters, which Wang Liangen was in charge of handling, he submitted them to Zhou Enlai, who in turn submitted them to Lin Biao. However, Lin Biao’s office Director Ye Qun intercepted these letters and did not pass them on to Mao Zedong.
After reading the three letters, Jiang Qing believed they were loyalty letters to Lin Biao. The letters referred to “those who make mistakes” and were regarded by Jiang Qing as referring to Zhang Chunqiao, who was associated with her. As the letters mentioned the need to review and forbade working in the central body, wasn’t this clearly shown as opposing Zhang Chunqiao and Jiang Qing?
Upon discovering the existence of these letters, Jiang Qing demanded a thorough investigation into how the letters reached Lin Biao.
Upon receiving Jiang Qing’s directive, from January 3 to 8, 1972, the Central Office conducted four consecutive meetings to criticize Wang Liangen. Wang Liangen failed to pass the criticism in all four sessions, and the atmosphere became increasingly charged with tension.
On January 9, 1973, in a Central Office briefing on the anti-Lin rectification, Jiang Qing made another directive accusing Wang Liangen of harming the Central Party and Chairman Mao.
That day, all personnel of the Special Group, along with relevant leaders of departments 1, 2, and 3, were summoned to the Great Hall of the People to attend an expanded meeting of the Central Office’s temporary Party Committee.
Once everyone assembled, Jiang Qing sat down in the middle with a stern expression and immediately stated: “I want to file a complaint. Wang Liangen persecuted me.”
In conclusion, what led to Wang Liangen’s suicide was not his wrongdoing, but the use of Mao’s philosophy of struggle, which dictates the creation of enemies to fight against, even when none exist. Wang Liangen fell victim to the forces of power within the CCP, portraying how political struggles during that tumultuous era could have devastating consequences on individuals who found themselves caught in the crossfire.
The information presented here sheds light on the intricate web of political intrigue and power struggles that characterized the turbulent years of the Cultural Revolution, ultimately illustrating the dangerous implications of being perceived as an obstacle in the pursuit of power within the Chinese Communist Party during that era.