Bian Zhongyun

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bian Zhongyun

Bian Zhongyun (Chinese: 卞仲耘, 1916, Wuwei County, China – 5 August 1966, Beijing) was a deputy principal at the Experimental High School Attached to Beijing Normal University, in Beijing, China. She was attracted to the Chinese Communist Party during the Sino-Japanese War and joined the party in 1941, and before working for the high school in Beijing, she worked at an editor for the People's Daily then located in rural Hebei.[1] She became the first victim of the Cultural Revolution in 1966 during Beijing's "Red August", when she was beaten to death with wooden sticks by a group of students, who were led by Song Binbin.[2] Prior to her death, Bian had been the party leader at the school, but was denounced as a "counter-revolutionary revisionist" by Song's group of Red Guards.

A documentary about her, Though I Am Gone, was released in 2006. It claims that Song, a student leader involved in the Red Guards in the school, was sent to the United States to study on government sponsorship and invited back to Beijing Normal University as a prominent alumna. Song's father, Song Renqiong was the mayor of Beijing and a high member of the Chinese Communist Party.

Bian's husband, Wang Jingyao, has stated that he was informed by anonymous witnesses that the female students who delivered the final blow did not include Song Binbin, even though Song was the nominal leader of the group. Song has also stated that although she was one of the leading Red Guards in the school during the unrest, she did not participate in the killing of Bian Zhongyun. For several decades, witnesses, including Wang and Song, refused to openly name the students who were involved in the killing as they were politically connected individuals. In 2005, the daughter of Zhang Bojun, a prominent victim of the Cultural Revolution, wrote a book in which she finally named Deng Rong, the youngest daughter of Deng Xiaoping, as one of the perpetrators. In 2012, on his deathbed, Wang Jingyao finally confirmed that the students who delivered the final blow to his wife on 5 August 1966 included Liu Pingping, a daughter of Liu Shaoqi. Ironically, the Deng and Liu families would both become persecuted during the Cultural Revolution.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Ye, Weili (1 February 2017). "The Death of Bian Zhongyun". The Chinese Historical Review. 13 (2): 203–240. doi:10.1080/1547402x.2006.11827241.
  2. ^ "The Chinese Cultural Revolution; Remembering Mao's Victims". Der Spiegel. 15 May 2007.
Stub icon

This Chinese biographical article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

  • v
  • t
Retrieved from ""