![Deepen the criticism of Lin [Biao] and Confucius, energetically increase production, 1975](images/plpk01.jpg "Deepen the criticism of Lin [Biao] and Confucius, energetically increase production, 1975")
Already in 1973, Mao Zedong indicated that the criticism of Lin Biao
and his followers should be combined with a thorough criticism of
Confucius. In the following months, Mao's remarks gave rise to a spate
of articles in the Chinese media praising the Legalists and Qin
Shihuangdi, the first emperor of China. Obscure historical allegories,
discussing events from the Warring States Period (475-221 BCE) and the
subsequent founding of the (first Chinese) Qin dynasty (221-207 BCE),
were used to support the Gang of Four (which sympathized with the Legalist philosophers).
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In the highly abstract and complicated debate that
took place at the highest levels, Mao saw himself as a latter-day Qin
Shihuangdi, who, as his example from antiquity did, opposed the
modern-day Confucius: Zhou Enlai.
To simplify the issues at stake: the Legalists, and Qin Shihuangdi,
were seen as the progressive forces, opposing the Confucians who were
considered reactionaries.
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In January 1974, the struggle was made into a
large-scale, national movement. The media continued to publish articles
that ostensibly were critiques of Lin Biao and Confucius. In fact, they
were innuendo attacks on Zhou Enlai and other rehabilitated veteran
cadres, including Deng Xiaoping.
Although the movement had been reviewed by Mao himself, the Central
Committee regularly had to send out circulars to clarify matters. In
the eyes of the Gang, the movement was not as far-reaching as intended;
Jiang Qing in particular continued to rally for the "seizure of the modern-day Confucian".
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In December 1974-January 1975, Mao discussed the movement together with Gang-members and
Zhou Enlai. Realizing that he had failed to oust Zhou, he turned his
criticism on the Gang instead. Soon after Deng took over Zhou's responsibilities in 1975, the movement was brought to
a halt.
Sources:
Guo Jian, Yongyi Song & Yuan Zhou, Historical Dictionary of the Chinese Cultural Revolution (Lanham, etc.: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2006)
Kwok-sing Li (editor) & Mary Lok (translator), A Glossary of Political Terms of the People's Republic of China (Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press 1995)
Zhonggong yanjiu zazhishe (ed.), Zhonggong "pi Kong" ziliao xuanji [A selection of materials of the Chinese Communist "Criticize Confucius" campaign] (Taipei: Zhonggong yanjiu zazhi, 1974) [in Chinese]
Return to Cultural Revolution Campaigns 
s.r.landsberger@let.leidenuniv.nl
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