In the 1960s the Chinese Communist Party created a “heroic figure” named Ouyang Hai, who was a squad leader of the Guangzhou Military Region’s troops in Leiyang, Hunan.
“On the morning of November 18, 1963, white fog and drizzling rain were the order of the day. On the east bank of the Xiangjiang River in Hunan Province, between the maple-red mountains, train number 282, loaded with passengers, was speeding north from Hengyang. With a long whistle, the train entered a sharp turn in a valley between two mountains. A group of artillery soldiers, pulling pack-gun horses, were coming up the east side of the railroad. Unexpectedly, a tall black mule carrying a gun rack, enraged by the ear-splitting whistle, barged onto the track and stood in the middle of the track, dragging the reins with all his might, but the mule did not move. The train was rushing toward the black mule at a speed of 30 kilometers per hour, only 40 meters apart, and it was too late to stop. Veteran driver Wang Zhiwei only felt a ‘buzz’, the blood of the body surged to the top of the head, he pulled the emergency brake ‘deadbolt’ …… carriage violently shaking vibration, the wheels rolled the railroad track Squeaking and Screaming …… Just at this critical moment, a soldier bursts out of the ranks of the troops, leaps onto the railroad, gets in front of the locomotive, and uses all his strength to push the black mule off the track …… passengers and train are saved! However, this great warrior was knocked head-on under the wheels of a train …….”
However, the truth of the matter is that Ouyang Hai was killed by a train trying to drive a frightened horse off the track when he was driving a troop carriage on a personal matter.
Creating a “Hero”
As a result of the “National Education for the People’s Liberation Army” campaign, writer Jin Jingmai was instructed by the top brass to write the novel “Song of Ouyang Hai,” which portrayed Ouyang Hai as a heroic figure who served the people wholeheartedly and defended the people’s property in times of danger.
After Ouyang Hai’s Song was released in July 1965, nearly 30 million copies were published, the largest number of copies of any Chinese novel ever published. In addition, not only did Ouyang Hai become a household name and a role model for everyone to follow, but writer Jin Jin Jinmai was also suddenly promoted from an ordinary soldier to “Minister of Culture.
Jin Jingmai Goes to Jail
However, a few months later, Jin Jingmai was sent to Qincheng prison on charges of “counter-revolutionary” and was rehabilitated on a farm for 11 years. What happened in the meantime?
Originally, in the first draft of the novel, Jin Jingmai portrayed Ouyang Hai as a flawed, individualistic, flesh-and-blood ordinary man who dared to argue with his superiors in the army, according to the actual situation. However, at that time, the Ministry of Culture officials pointed out that Ouyang Hai could not contradict his superiors because his superiors were “the embodiment of the Party,” and contradicting his superiors was an act against the Party, which must be revised. Jin Jingmai had to rewrite the relevant content.
In his book, Jin also pioneered the use of quotations from Mao. In his first draft, he only quoted a few paragraphs of Mao’s quotations, but later he added more and more. He was worried that it was too personal, so he added two more quotes from then-President Liu Shaoqi’s On the Cultivation of Communist Party Members to “balance” and “dilute” them. Mao and Jiang Qing were already preparing to “pull Liu Shaoqi down,” and it was obviously a huge “mistake” for Jin to put the two together, and he ignored Jiang Qing’s order to remove the quotes from Liu Shaoqi’s book.
It was not until 1967, when Zhou Enlai asked him to make the changes and Liu Shaoqi was “defeated” and turned into a “traitor,” that Jin again followed the order and deleted two quotes from Cultivation and criticized them. Ouyang Hai was also changed into a perfect soldier who studied Mao Thought carefully, was eager to help others, obeyed orders, and was willing to protect national property with his life.
In May 1967, Jin Jingmai was appointed the de facto “Minister of Culture” and climbed the Tiananmen Square as “head of the People’s Liberation Army” and became the de facto “head” of the “Central Cultural Revolution” literary group.
During his tenure, he was sent to Qincheng prison on charges of “collecting black materials of the central leadership and plotting against Chairman Mao” and “plotting to kidnap Chairman Mao while he was on a southern tour” after Jiang Qing ordered him to collect all the movies and magazines related to the shameful history of his early years as an actor in Shanghai and his marriage to Tang Na, which she tried to hide.
The claim that Jin Jingmai “conspired to kidnap Mao Zedong” is, of course, a fabrication. It turns out that in August 1967, Jin Jingmai took a TU-1024 back to his hometown in Guangzhou, but because there was armed fighting in Guangzhou, the plane could not land, so it had to land at the Foshan airport and soon returned home. This incident, because Lin Biao wanted to do something about Mao, said that he flew to Guangzhou to organize a tactical force of more than 800 people, organized a death squad of 40 people, and set up a secret radio station 4411, to conspire to wait for Mao to arrive in Guangzhou to kidnap him.
Although Jin Jingmai was imprisoned and severely beaten, the “Song of Ouyang Hai” was still widely circulated and translated into many languages. Later, many of the heroes of the Cultural Revolution were written according to the patterns, models, and standards created by the book, such as Wang Jie, Menhe, Liu Yingjun, and Guofu.
Reflections in Later Years
Eleven years later, Jin Jing went to prison, while Jiang Qing went to jail. After his ordeal, Jin Jingmai began to reflect. In his autobiography, “Big Moon, Big Sky,” he said that the long imprisonment made him understand a lot of things and see a lot of people clearly. Thus, I discovered that all the troubles and doubts that I had experienced in my mind over the years were due to people who were playing God, and that there were many more people who were helping God to help the demons, and I believed them gullibly. I have also sincerely participated in the creation of gods and demons, and spared no effort to be hoarse”. He sincerely said, “When I wrote the Song of Ouyang Hai, I was asleep. Now, I am awake.”
Jin Jingmai also felt guilty for pioneering the use of Mao’s quotations in his novel, since it was this novel that helped fuel the mass distribution of Mao’s quotations throughout the country.
As for the book Song of Ouyang Hai, Jin Jingmai only gave himself a score of 15. He said that the character of Ouyang Hai was “greatly exploited” by politicians. He believes that without criticizing the Cultural Revolution, there is no hope for China. If a great and powerful nation with a population of 1.3 billion does not seriously reflect on what it has done, it is a nation that is not sober, then there is no hope for this nation.”
What message does Jin Jingmai’s reflection give to those in high positions today?
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