Letter to Ye Jianying
(February 15, 1974)


Comrade Ye Jianying:
This is a very important matter, involving millions of people from the grassroots level all the way up to Beijing. Among those who enter through the back door, there are good people; among those who come in through the front door, there are also bad ones. At present, metaphysical thinking and one-sidedness are rampant. The campaign to criticize Lin Biao and Confucius has been mixed with criticism of “taking the back door,” which may dilute the essence of that campaign. The speeches by Xiao Xie and Chi Qun[2] contain shortcomings and should not be circulated downward. Such is my view.


Mao Zedong
February 15, 1974


[1] Ye Jianying was then Vice Chairman of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission.
[2] “Xiao Xie” refers to Xie Jingyi, who at the time was a member of the CPC Central Committee and Deputy Secretary of the CPC Committee at Tsinghua University. Chi Qun was then Secretary of the CPC Committee at Tsinghua University. On January 25, 1974, catering to the demands of Jiang Qing’s counter-revolutionary clique, they seized the opportunity during the mobilization meeting on the “Criticism of Lin Biao and Confucianism” held by organs directly under the CPC Central Committee and the State Council to extensively discuss the so-called issue of “preventing a counter-revolutionary restoration” while introducing Document No. 1, “Lin Biao and the Doctrine of Confucius and Mencius.” They propagated that one of the practical aspects of the “Criticism of Lin Biao and Confucius” should focus on combating the practice of “taking the back door,” thereby directing their attacks against the older generation of revolutionaries and a large number of Party, government, and military leaders. After October 1976, Xie Jingyi was removed from all her posts both within and outside the Party. In March 1977, she was arrested by the Beijing Public Security Organs. Due to her relatively good attitude in admitting guilt, she was ultimately not prosecuted. In February 1977, Chi Qun was also arrested by the Beijing Public Security Organs. In 1983, the Beijing Intermediate People’s Court sentenced Chi Qun to 18 years’ imprisonment and deprived him of political rights for four years on charges of repeatedly participating in a counter-revolutionary group, engaging in counter-revolutionary propaganda and incitement, and maliciously framing others.