Editing Cultural Revolution (section)

=== Socialist Education Movement and ''Hai Rui Dismissed from Office'' ===
{{See also|Socialist Education Movement|Hai Rui Dismissed from Office}}

[[File:Luo Ruiqing.jpg|thumb|upright|The purge of General [[Luo Ruiqing]] solidified the PLA's loyalty to Mao]]

In 1963, Mao launched the [[Socialist Education Movement]].<ref name="Baum-1969">{{cite journal |last=Baum |first=Richard |year=1969 |title=Revolution and Reaction in the Chinese Countryside: The Socialist Education Movement in Cultural Revolutionary Perspective |journal=[[The China Quarterly]] |volume=38 |issue=38 |pages=92–119 |doi=10.1017/S0305741000049158 |issn=0305-7410 |jstor=652308 |s2cid=154449798}}</ref> Mao set the scene by "[[Purge|cleansing]]" powerful Beijing officials of questionable loyalty. His approach was executed via newspaper articles, internal meetings, and by his network of political allies.<ref name="Baum-1969" />

In late 1959, historian and deputy mayor of Beijing [[Wu Han (historian)|Wu Han]] published a historical drama entitled ''[[Hai Rui Dismissed from Office]]''. In the play, an honest [[civil servant]], [[Hai Rui]], is dismissed by a corrupt emperor. While Mao initially praised the play, in February 1965, he secretly commissioned [[Jiang Qing]] and [[Yao Wenyuan]] to publish an article criticizing it. Yao described the play as an allegory attacking Mao; flagging Mao as the emperor, and Peng Dehuai, who had previously questioned Mao during the [[Lushan Conference]], as the honest civil servant.<ref name="Mac" />{{rp|15–18}}

Yao's article put Beijing mayor [[Peng Zhen]] on the defensive. Peng, Wu Han's direct superior, was the head of the [[Five Man Group]], a committee commissioned by Mao to study the potential for a cultural revolution. Peng Zhen, aware that he would be implicated if Wu indeed wrote an "anti-Mao" play, wished to contain Yao's influence. Yao's article was initially published only in select local newspapers. Peng forbade its publication in the nationally distributed ''[[People's Daily]]'' and other major newspapers under his control, and not pay heed to Yao's petty politics.<ref name="Mac" />{{rp|14–19}} While the "literary battle" against Peng raged, Mao fired [[Yang Shangkun]]—director of the [[General Office of the Chinese Communist Party|party's General Office]], an organ that controlled internal communications—making unsubstantiated charges. He installed loyalist [[Wang Dongxing]], head of Mao's security detail. Yang's dismissal likely emboldened Mao's allies to move against their factional rivals.<ref name="Mac" />{{rp|14–19}}

On 12 February 1966, the "Five Man Group" issued a report known as the ''February Outline''. The ''Outline'' as sanctioned by the party center defined ''Hai Rui'' as a constructive ''academic'' discussion and aimed to distance Peng Zhen formally from any ''political'' implications. However, Jiang Qing and Yao Wenyuan continued their denunciations. Meanwhile, Mao sacked [[Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party|Propaganda Department]] director [[Lu Dingyi]], a Peng ally.<ref name="Mac" />{{rp|20–27}}

Lu's removal gave Maoists unrestricted access to the press. Mao delivered his final blow to Peng at a high-profile Politburo meeting through loyalists [[Kang Sheng]] and [[Chen Boda]]. They accused Peng of opposing Mao, labeled the ''February Outline'' "evidence of Peng Zhen's revisionism", and grouped him with three other disgraced officials as part of the "Peng-Luo-Lu-Yang Anti-Party Clique".<ref name="Mac" />{{rp|20–27}} On 16 May, the Politburo formalized the decisions by releasing an official document condemning Peng and his "anti-party allies" in the strongest terms, disbanding his "Five Man Group", and replacing it with the Maoist Cultural Revolution Group (CRG).<ref name="Mac" />{{rp|27–35}}