Chen Boda

Party career

Chen Boda was born in 1904 in Fujian in a poor peasant family. Almost nothing is known about his youth. He graduated from the Jimei High School for the Poor, and possibly a primary school teacher. Chen Boda managed to continue his education; he graduated from Shanghai Workers' University. He served in the army of General Zhang Zhen, became his personal secretary, participated in the organization of the Northern Campaign of 1926 - 1927 . In 1927, he secretly joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and soon went to study in the USSR . In 1927 - 1930 he studied in Moscow at the Sun Yat-sen Institute . In Moscow, he joined the university "faction" of the CCP, for which he then received a party penalty for "factionalism." He returned to his homeland in 1930 , taught at a college in Beijing , was engaged in party and propaganda work in Fujian and northern China, and was the editor of party publications. He was arrested, in 1931-1932 he was in Kuomintang prison, despite the requests of General Zhang Zheng for his release. After his release, he conducted underground propaganda work in Tianjin , while simultaneously teaching history and philosophy at the literary department of Peking University. In 1937, Chen Boda moved to the main "revolutionary base" of the CCP in Yan'an . There he begins to teach philosophy at the Central Party School of the CCP (the director of the school was Kang Sheng ) and quickly advances to the leading theorists of the party. He became one of the founders of the Institute of Marxism-Leninism, opened on May 5, 1938 (director - Zhang Wentian ). He taught history, Marxist-Leninist knowledge and philosophy at the institute. He worked in the Central Committee of the CPC as a lecturer at the Central Party School, and was the head of the Chinese research bureau. He published articles on the theory of Marxism-Leninism. In 1939, on the recommendation of Zhang Wentian, Mao Zedong made Chen Boda his political secretary. In 1942, Chen Boda promoted himself during the “ style streamlining campaign ,” Zhengfeng , and soon became responsible for the news service and work propaganda. In April 1945, Chen Boda was elected a candidate member of the CPC Central Committee at the Seventh Congress of the CCP. After the defeat of Japan, he performed party missions in Hong Kong . In 1946, he became a member of the 7th convocation CPC Central Committee. In 1947, he published the book “ Four Families of China ” criticizing the Kuomintang (It is still considered one of the most valuable historical sources in China).

Career after founding of the PRC

In October 1949, Chen Boda was appointed deputy head of the Propaganda Department of the CPC Central Committee, deputy director of the Institute of Marxism-Leninism in Beijing. He also became (until October 1954 ) the Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Culture and Education of the State Administrative Council of the PRC. He participated in the creation of the Academy of Sciences of the PRC - since 1949 - Vice President of the Academy of Sciences of the PRC, Doctor of Sciences. He accompanied Mao Zedong during his trip to Moscow for negotiations on the Sino-Soviet friendship treaty (December 1949 - February 1950 ). During this trip, he became famous for the fact that during the screening at the Bolshoi ballet theater of R. M. Glier about the Chinese Revolution, “ Red Poppy ”, he was outraged by the incorrect interpretations, in his opinion, and intended to defiantly leave the hall. Soviet representatives managed to avoid a scandal, and the ballet was renamed “ Red Flower ” ^[1] . In the early 1950s, Chen Boda became a leading specialist in theoretical heritage of Mao Zedong. In 1951, Chen Baud's article, " The Theory of the Chinese Revolution of Mao Zedong - an Alloy of Marxism-Leninism with the Chinese Revolution, " and the book " Mao Zedong on the Chinese Revolution " were published. In June 1955, Chen Boda became a member of the Department of Philosophical and Social Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In July 1955, he resigned as deputy head of the Propaganda Department of the CPC Central Committee. When Mao Zedong proposed at the meeting of the CPC Central Committee to create a research cabinet for "political research", Chen Boda was appointed its leader. Since 1956, a candidate member of the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee. In May 1958 , at the Second Session of the VIII Congress of the CPC, he was appointed editor-in-chief of the ideological journal "Hongqi" ("Red Banner") established by the congress. At the Lushan Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPC of 1959, Mao Zedong used Chen Boda as the chief critic of the opposition, led by Marshal Peng Dehuai . As a theoretician, Chen Boda supported, in particular, the popular theory of the transition to communism among Mao Zedong’s circle by destroying bureaucracy.

Role in the Cultural Revolution

In April 1966, at a meeting of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, Chen Boda and Kang Sheng sharply criticized the candidate for membership in the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Beijing Mayor Peng Zhen , which was the actual beginning of the Cultural Revolution ^[2] . On April 16, 1966, Chen Boda was appointed head of the reorganized Group for the Cultural Revolution under the Central Committee of the CPC (GKR) , whose powers were constantly expanding. Mao Zedong's wife, Jiang Qing , was appointed his first deputy, and Kang Sheng was one of two advisers. During this period, the GKR, with the tacit support of the army, was engaged in the preparation and organization of the Hungweibin movement in the country's educational institutions. On June 1, 1966, at the direction of Mao Zedong, Chen Boda published an article entitled “ Lettuce All Monsters and Demons!” ", Which became a signal for the mass movement of the Hungweibins. However, in the summer, in the absence of Mao Zedong, the Hongweibing movement faced opposition from the party leadership - Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, sent "working groups" to educational institutions. In July 1966 , after Lu Dini was dismissed, Chen Boda also became the head of the propaganda department of the CPC Central Committee.

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At the direction of Mao Zedong, along with Jiang Qing and Kang Sheng, he was sent to Peking University to organize opposition to the "working groups." A few days later the “working groups” opposed by the Hongweibins were disbanded and the Cultural Revolution began to gain momentum. On August 12, 1966, at the XI plenum of the 8th convocation Central Committee of the CPC, Chen Boda became a member of the Politburo and the Standing Committee of the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee. In October 1966, he delivered a report, “ Two Lines in the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, ” at a workshop of the CPC Central Committee, in which he opposed Liu Shaotsi and Deng Xiaoping and pointed out that most party committees still resisted the Cultural Revolution.

On January 18, 1967, the Dongfanghong newspaper published a speech by Chen Boda to representatives of industrial and mining enterprises. In it, the head of the SCR summed up the results of the first months of the Cultural Revolution. Chen Boda said:

“From the very beginning, the great proletarian cultural revolution was in fact a struggle for power ... For six months, the great proletarian cultural revolution carried out the ideological preparation of the masses for the seizure of power. The struggle for the seizure of power increased in the process of its development ... Under the leadership of Chairman Mao, we ... will certainly successfully fight for power . " Chen Boda said that the “ Chinese revolution is a continuation of the October revolution ” (in Russia), but “the experience of the October revolution is not comprehensive ” and “ in many respects it is not very complete” ^[3] .

. In January 1967, together with Lin Biao, Chen Boda supported the removal of the Shanghai authorities and the creation of the Shanghai Commune. As the head of the SCR, Chen Boda managed to take part in a mass of meetings and rallies of hungweibins, traveled around the country, participated in the removal of local authorities and the transfer of power in the provinces to the Revolutionary Committees. In his speeches, he called for the deepening and expansion of the Cultural Revolution until the complete victory of "Mao's ideas." An example of Chen Bod's rhetoric is one of his speeches in March 1967. He said:

“Our enemies, this evil spirits, these chameleons, changing their color, these reptiles - they will all go to hell. None of these villains can hide from the eye of the great teacher, Chairman Mao! ” ^[4] .

In November 1967, as the head of the SCR, Chen Boda was appointed head of the commission for the development of the new Charter of the CPC. The three others responsible for developing the Charter as part of the Group were Kang Sheng , Zhang Chunqiao and Yao Wenyuan . A week later, they published the finished draft of the Charter in the publication of the Dongfanghong Hongweibin. The project said, “The modern world has entered a new era, an era whose banner is the ideas of Mao Zedong .” ^[5] On March 27, 1968, Chen Boda spoke at a rally of one hundred thousand at the Rabochiy stadium condemning the army leadership led by and. Father-in-Chief of the PLA General Staff Yang Cheng, Air Force Political Commissioner Yu Lijin and Beijing Garrison Commander Fu Chunbi, in his speech he summed up the results of two years of the “great proletarian cultural revolution” and highlighted “five great battle battles” in its history. elimination Paix Zhen , Yang Shangkun , Lou Dini, and Luo Ruiqing, the second - the removal of Liu Shaoqi , Deng Xiaoping and Tao Zhu , the third - the defeat of "February regressive trend" in 1967 , Zhu De , Chen Yi , Ye Jianying and others, the fourth - the destruction of Wan Li , Guan Feng and Qi Benyuyu. The occurring "disclosure" of the army command - the "March explosion" - Chen Boda considered the "fifth battle." The next day, Yang Cheng was removed from all posts ^[6] . On the night of July 28, 1968 took part in the meeting leaders of the country with the leaders of the Hongweibins, during which a decision was made on reforms tion hunveybinskogo movement and transfer of cultural revolution in the rural areas. ^[7] . In October 1968, by the decision of the XII expanded plenary session of the Central Committee of the CPC, he became one of the 14 members of the “ Proletarian Headquarters ” created for the PRC ^[8] . Together with Lin Biao, he wrote the text of a political report to the X Congress of the CCP, and then made a speech during its discussion at the congress. On April 24, 1969, at the XII plenum of the CPC Central Committee, after the Xth Congress of the CPC, Chen Boda was again elected a member of the Standing Committee of the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee.

Fall

In March 1970, Mao Zedong decided to revise the Constitution of the PRC and called for the abolition of the post of Chairman of the PRC. Chen Boda, along with Lin Biao, advocated maintaining this post. Chen Boda was in the process of drafting the new Constitution, which legally enshrined the role of Lin Biao as successor to Mao Zedong. In August 1970, at the Lushan Plenum (II Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPC of the 9th convocation), Chen Boda again tried to keep this post for Lin Biao. On August 31, Mao wrote the document “ My Opinion ” against Chen Bod, accusing him of “ carrying out a surprise attack, engaged in provocative activities ”. After that, by the decision of the CPC Central Committee, a campaign of “ criticizing Chen Bod and streamlining the style ” was launched in the country, an investigation was launched against him, on November 16, 1970, the CPC Central Committee issued “ Guidelines on the Anti-Party Activities of Chen Bod, ” where he was called the “False Marxist” ”,“ Careerist ”,“ intriguer ”and“ anti-party element ” ^[9] . Chen Boda finally disappeared from the political arena in March 1971 - he was arrested and sent to prison. The Chinese press called him "the stubborn follower of Lin Biao ." He was criticized during the campaign of condemning Lin Biao and Confucius , as he considered Confucius a kind of ancestor of the Cultural Revolution. In August 1973, the 11th CCP Congress condemned Chen Boda and Lin Biao again. At the trial in the case of Lin Biao and the Gang of Four , organized after the death of Mao Zedong , November 20 - December 29, 1980, Chen Boda was sentenced to 18 years in prison. In 1988 he was released for health reasons.

In one of the interviews, he claimed that two weeks after the creation of the GKR, he fell ill and did not lead events ^[10] .

He died on September 20, 1989 in Beijing .

• Chen Boda. Four families of China. / per. with whale., M., - 1948.
• Chen Boda. Chiang Kai-shek is the worst enemy of the Chinese people. / M., - 1950

• https://web.archive.org/web/20090425001757/http://memzal.ru/text/1126/page/7
• https://web.archive.org/web/20080621223640/http://www.maoism.ru/library/Shaping/ruin_of_GPCR.htm
• http://www.iisg.nl/~landsberger/cbd.html
• https://web.archive.org/web/20090428092328/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761584165/Chen_Boda.html

• Bosev, Krum Typhoon per. from Bulgarian / M. Politizdat, 1978
• Burlatsky F.M. Mao Zedong: “our crown number is war, dictatorship” .. - M.: International relations, 1976. - P. 225.
• China. History in faces and events. Under the general ed. Academician S. L. Tikhvinsky. - M .: Politizdat, 1991 .-- S. 163.