Editing Cultural Revolution (section)

==== Lin's flight and plane crash ====
{{Main|Lin Biao incident}}
[[File:Huayangpalace layers 2007 09.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Graffiti of Lin Biao's foreword to the ''[[Little Red Book]]'', with his name (lower right) later scratched out]]
According to the official narrative, on 13 September Lin Biao, his wife [[Ye Qun]], Lin Liguo, and members of his staff attempted to flee to the USSR ostensibly to seek political asylum. En route, Lin's plane crashed in Mongolia, killing all on board. The plane apparently ran out of fuel. A Soviet investigative team was not able to determine the cause of the crash but hypothesized that the pilot was flying low to evade radar and misjudged the plane's altitude.

The account was questioned by those who raised doubts over Lin's choice of the USSR as a destination, the plane's route, the identity of the passengers, and whether or not a coup was actually taking place.<ref name=Jin/><ref>Hannam and Lawrence 3–4</ref>

On 13 September, the Politburo met in an emergency session to discuss Lin. His death was confirmed in Beijing only on 30 September, which led to the cancellation of the [[National Day of the People's Republic of China|National Day]] celebration events the following day. The Central Committee did not release news of Lin's death to the public until two months later. Many Lin supporters sought refuge in Hong Kong. Those who remained on the mainland were purged.<ref name=Jin/>

The event caught the party leadership off guard: the concept that Lin could betray Mao de-legitimized a vast body of Cultural Revolution political rhetoric and by extension, Mao's absolute authority. For several months following the incident, the party information apparatus struggled to find a "correct way" to frame the incident for public consumption, but as the details came to light, the majority of the Chinese public felt disillusioned and realised they had been manipulated for political purposes.<ref name=Jin/>