The Mao Case

Sweeping Away the Four Olds. I was young then, you know. There was a lot I didn’t
     understand. So you may start by giving me a general background introduction on the campaign.”
    “Well, Mao wanted to snatch back power from his rivals in the Party, so he mobilized young students into Red Guards as a grassroot
     force fighting for him. As the first campaign of the Cultural Revolution, Red Guards were called on to sweep away the Four
     Olds — old ideas, old culture, old customs, and old habits. So the class enemies like capitalists, landlords, well-known artists
     and intellectuals, all of them became easy targets. They suffered mass criticisms, and their homes were searched for ‘old
     stuffs,’ which were either smashed or swept away.”
    “Yes, my father’s books were all burned. And my mother’s necklace was snatched off her neck.”
    “I’m sorry to hear about your family’s suffering. Mao declared ‘Sweeping Away the Four Olds’ to be revolutionary activities,
     and the
Red Guards believed in whatever he said. We beat people, but later we ourselves were beaten too.” Gang bent to pull up the
     bottom of his pants. “Look, I was beaten into a cripple. Karma.”
    “It was the Cultural Revolution, and you paid a price for it too. You don’t have to be too hard on yourself, Gang. But there
     were so many black class enemies at the time, and so many Red Guard organizations, how was the campaign conducted?”
    “For each factory or school or work unit, there was a Red Guard organization or something like it, but there were also larger
     organizations, like mine, which consisted of Red Guards from various schools. A Sweeping Away action against a particular
     family usually didn’t take a large organization like ours to carry out. For instance, your father was a professor, so it should
     have been the Red Guard organizations of the university that raided and ransacked your house.”
    With the arrival of the noodles and the rice wine, Gang stopped talking. Auntie Yao had the beef slices placed in a separate
     small dish instead of atop the noodles. She also gave them a dish of boiled peanuts for free.
    “The across-bridge noodles,” Gang said excitedly, opening the rice wine bottle by knocking it against the table corner, raising
     his chop-sticks for an invitation gesture as if he were the host. “So we can have the beef for wine. Auntie Yao is really
     considerate.”
    “But some special teams were also sent over from Beijing, I’ve heard, from the Cultural Revolution Group of the Central Party
     Committee.”
    “Why are you interested in that?” Gang said, looking up. “I’m a writer,” Chen said, producing a business card provided by
     the Writers’ Association. “I’m going to write a book about those years.”
    “Well, that’s something worth doing, Little Chen. Young people nowadays have no idea about the Cultural Revolution, or if
     anything at all, only about Red Guards being evil monsters. There should be some objective, realistic books about those years,”
     Gang said, putting down his chopsticks again. “Back to your question. Who headed the Cultural Revolution Group of CCPC in
     Beijing then? Madam Mao. Who’s behind her? Mao. When those teams were sent to Shanghai,
they were very powerful, capable of doing anything — beating, torturing, and killing people without reporting to the police
     bureau or worrying about consequences. In short, they were like the emperor’s special envoy brandishing the imperial sword.”
    “But did they contact your organization? After all, they were like dragons from somewhere far away, and you were the biggest
     local snakes.”
    “It was usually a small team with a secret mission. Occasionally, they could require our cooperation. For instance, if they
     wanted to crack down on someone, we would provide all the help, and if need be, keep other organizations away from the target.”
    “Do you remember Shang?”
    “Shang — just that she was an actress. That’s all I remember.”
    “A special team came for her during the campaign of Sweeping Away the Four Olds. She committed suicide.”
    “So that’s what you want to find out.” Gang drained his cup in one gulp. “You can’t find a better one to help you, Little
     Chen. I happened to have learned something about those special teams. Some actors knew about Madam Mao in the thirties — about
     her notorious private life as a third-rate actress. That’s why she wanted to