Notes on a Letter from the Family of Wen Niansheng
(September 28, 1975)

Please have Wang [2] forward this to Xiaoping and Chunqiao [3] for their consideration and appropriate action.

Mao Zedong
September 28

It may be a wrongful case.

Notes
Printed from the manuscript.
[1] On September 5, 1975, Su Feng, wife of Wen Niansheng, former deputy commander of the Guangzhou Military Region of the People’s Liberation Army, wrote to Mao Zedong stating that during the Long March, Wen Niansheng had served by his side as captain of the Military Commission Training Team; in 1942, while serving in Yan’an as commander of the First Guanzhong Security Brigade and concurrently as commander of the Malan Subregion, he was personally commended by Mao with the inscription “Balance between Production and Education”; in 1945, as commander of the Third Guerrilla Detachment advancing southward, Mao himself addressed the troops and saw them off. Wen Niansheng had grown into an old cadre under Mao’s and the Party’s long-term guidance. In the early stages of the Cultural Revolution in 1966, holding the post of deputy secretary of the Party Committee, he presided over the work of the Military Region Party Committee. Because he disagreed with the suppression of the masses carried out by Huang Yongsheng and others, he was removed from his position as head of the Military Region Cultural Revolution Leading Group in March 1967, and subsequently stripped of his posts as deputy secretary of the Party Committee along with all political and living allowances. Subjected to brutal struggle sessions, he died unjustly on June 6, 1968. Last year, my children and I submitted a request to the Military Region Review Group for a political conclusion to be reached and for his full rehabilitation to be publicly announced, but our request was denied. It is with extreme grief and indignation that my children and I now write this letter to the Chairman, hoping that Comrade Wen Niansheng’s wrongful conviction will be cleared up at an early date.
[2] Wang refers to Wang Dongxing, who at that time was a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the Central Office. On September 28, 1975, he suggested that “Chairman Mao’s instructions together with the original letter be circulated to the members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and the Standing Committee of the Central Military Commission in Beijing, with copies sent to the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee, the General Political Department, and other relevant units.” The Central Office later issued Su Feng’s letter and Mao Zedong’s instructions together as Document No. 236 of 1975.
[3] Xiaoping refers to Deng Xiaoping, who at that time held the positions of Vice Chairman of the CPC Central Committee, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, and Chief of the General Staff of the People’s Liberation Army. On September 28, 1975, he annotated Wang Dongxing’s report: “I agree with Comrade Dongxing’s view. The General Political Department should investigate and handle this matter; if it is indeed a wrongful case, it should be rectified.” On September 29, he further instructed: “After Comrade Dongxing has approved and printed it, please hand it over to the General Political Department for processing.” Chunqiao refers to Zhang Chunqiao, who at that time was a member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee and the Central Military Commission, as well as Director of the General Political Department of the PLA; see note [1] on page 397 of this volume.