Hai Rui Dismissed from Office
Encyclopedia
Hai Rui Dismissed from Office is a theatre play notable for its involvement in Chinese politics during the Cultural Revolution
.
Wu Han
, who wrote the play, was a historian who focused on the Ming Dynasty
. Wu Han wrote an article portraying Hai Rui
, a Ming minister who was imprisoned for criticizing the emperor, as the hero. The article was later adapted into a Beijing opera
play, having its first performance in 1961. The play was initially praised by Mao Zedong
.
However, at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, Yao Wenyuan
published an article criticising the play as an allegory of Mao's dismissal of Peng Dehuai
at the Lushan Conference
in 1959 (Peng had expressed reservations about Mao's Great Leap Forward
policy). Hai Rui was identified as a representation of Peng, with the emperor being Chairman Mao. The theatre play became an instrument for radical Maoists to attack the "rightist" pragmaticians in the politburo
in 1965. Wu Han became one of the first victims of the Cultural Revolution and died in prison in 1969, only to be posthumously rehabilitated in 1979.
The play was published under Wu' s pennane: Liu Mianzhi - a Song dynasty literatus, supporter of Yue Fei
.
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
.
Wu Han
Wu Han (PRC)
Wu Han was one of the most important historians in the development of modern historical scholarship in China with his work in the 1930s and 1940s. In the 1940s he was a leading member of the Democratic League, a non-aligned Third Force. After 1949, he was Deputy-Mayor of Peking...
, who wrote the play, was a historian who focused on the Ming Dynasty
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
. Wu Han wrote an article portraying Hai Rui
Hai Rui
Hai Rui was a famous Chinese official of the Ming Dynasty. His name has come down in history as a model of honesty and integrity in office and he reemerged as an important historical character during the Cultural Revolution.-Biography:Hai Rui, whose great-grandfather married an Arab and...
, a Ming minister who was imprisoned for criticizing the emperor, as the hero. The article was later adapted into a Beijing opera
Beijing opera
Peking opera or Beijing opera is a form of traditional Chinese theatre which combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance and acrobatics. It arose in the late 18th century and became fully developed and recognized by the mid-19th century. The form was extremely popular in the Qing Dynasty court...
play, having its first performance in 1961. The play was initially praised by Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
.
However, at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, Yao Wenyuan
Yao Wenyuan
Yao Wenyuan was a Chinese literary critic, a politician, and a member of the "Gang of Four" during China's Cultural Revolution.-Biography:...
published an article criticising the play as an allegory of Mao's dismissal of Peng Dehuai
Peng Dehuai
Peng Dehuai was a prominent military leader of the Communist Party of China, and China's Defence Minister from 1954 to 1959. Peng was an important commander during the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Chinese civil war and was also the commander-in-chief of People's Volunteer Army in the Korean War...
at the Lushan Conference
Lushan Conference
The Lushan Conference , officially the 8th Plenum of the Eighth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, began on July 2, 1959 and was an informal discussion about the Great Leap Forward...
in 1959 (Peng had expressed reservations about Mao's Great Leap Forward
Great Leap Forward
The Great Leap Forward of the People's Republic of China was an economic and social campaign of the Communist Party of China , reflected in planning decisions from 1958 to 1961, which aimed to use China's vast population to rapidly transform the country from an agrarian economy into a modern...
policy). Hai Rui was identified as a representation of Peng, with the emperor being Chairman Mao. The theatre play became an instrument for radical Maoists to attack the "rightist" pragmaticians in the politburo
Politburo
Politburo , literally "Political Bureau [of the Central Committee]," is the executive committee for a number of communist political parties.-Marxist-Leninist states:...
in 1965. Wu Han became one of the first victims of the Cultural Revolution and died in prison in 1969, only to be posthumously rehabilitated in 1979.
The play was published under Wu' s pennane: Liu Mianzhi - a Song dynasty literatus, supporter of Yue Fei
Yue Fei
Yue Fei , style name Pengju, was a military general of the Southern Song Dynasty. His ancestral home was in Xiaoti, Yonghe Village, Tangyin, Xiangzhou, Henan...
.