Excerpts of the Additional Sentencing Materials in the Lin Zhao Case
Original judgment: No. 171 of the 62nd year, issued on May 31, 1965
Prosecutor: Wu Zehao from Jing’an District Procuratorate. Acting Judge: Li Wenlong, Clerk: Hu Naichun.
Defendant: Gu Yan, 30, from Nanhui County, former graduate student at Lanzhou University, became a rightist in 1958, forged documents and was sentenced to seventeen years in Shanghai in 1959.
Defendant: Lin Zhao, 33, from Suzhou, born into a pseudo-official family, former student at Peking University, became a rightist in 1958, was placed under watch, and in 1959, used an excuse of illness to return to Shanghai and did not come back, previously residing at No. 11, Lane 159, Maoming South Road, Shanghai. Sentenced to 20 years, main crimes: (arrested on October 24, 1960)
After being placed under watch, she refused to repent, wrote a reactionary long poem “Seagull”, slandering and attacking the Anti-Rightist Campaign, and sent it to rightists in Lanzhou for dissemination.
The Lanzhou counter-revolutionary group was led by Zhang Chun Yuan, who came to Shanghai in the second half of 1959 to establish contacts, sharing similar sentiments and expressing support. Before Zhang returned to Lanzhou, Lin Zhao gifted him a draft of a modern revisionist program and her own reactionary long poem “A Day of Suffering for Prometheus” (viciously attacking the Party and socialist system). Later, Zhang and Gu Yan referenced this book and openly proposed “to realize a peaceful, democratic, and free socialist society in China”; and published Lin’s reactionary long poem in the reactionary “Spark” publication.
In the first half of 1960, Lin Zhao received various conspiracy plans from Zhang, Tan Chuanxue, Gu, and others, and undertook the task of drafting reactionary programs.
After her arrest in October 1960, she adopted an antagonistic attitude and refused to admit her crimes.
In March 1962, while on medical parole, she took the opportunity to organize a reactionary organization called “Chinese Communist Free Youth Fighting League” with rightist Huang Zheng in Suzhou, and wrote ten points of reactionary political program. In September of the same year, she wrote four extremely reactionary articles including “We Are Innocent”, desperately defending rightists and counter-revolutionaries, attempting to overturn the case. She also colluded with foreign expatriate Arnold Neumann, requesting to send materials abroad to expand reactionary propaganda.
In December 1962, after lawful review and detention, she continued to develop her reactionary activities in prison, involving a female prisoner Zhang Ru Yi in her organization, and arranged for Zhang to contact Huang Zheng in Suzhou after release. Meanwhile, she openly wrote a large number of reactionary articles and poems in prison, shouted reactionary slogans, and incited other prisoners to oppose the government, displaying a bold reactionary demeanor.
Defendant Liang Yanwu, 30, from Meixian, Guangdong, former assistant at Peking University, became a rightist in 1958, then worked in factories for inspection, resigned in the first half of 1960, sentenced to seven years.
Main Crimes During Re-education and Transformation Period
1. Frenziedly attacking, insulting, and slandering our great Chinese Communist Party and great leader Chairman Mao.
During detention, she used hairpins, bamboo sticks, etc., to puncture flesh hundreds and thousands of times, and wrote tens of thousands of words of extremely reactionary and vicious letters, notes, and diaries with bloody ink, fiercely attacking and insulting our Party and leader, even openly insulting them during conversations with staff and fellow prisoners.
She slandered and insulted our Party as “devil regime”, “the creator of class struggle theory on stairs”, “tyrannical dictatorship that maintains rule through blood and hatred”, “a bunch of scoundrels descended from Marx”. She slandered our Party as “a secret spy system monitoring, controlling, and ruling the entire Party”, “extremely autocratic, dark, and corrupt Party life, with no democracy even between feudal monarchs and ministers”. She wildly shouted to “pick up torn paper in public toilets and paste it on faces”.
She crazily insulted our great leader Chairman Mao, calling him “devil”, “tyrant”, “insidious and ruthless”, “the most heinous and unforgivable leader”. She repeatedly shouted that “as long as she lives, she will fight Mao Zedong every day”. Especially vile was her repeatedly defiling Mao’s portrait with her bloody ink, smearing faces, mouths, or brain points, making the bloodstains soiled, to vent her deep hatred for our leader, even to the extent of defiling the portrait whenever she saw it. She openly tore off Mao’s head from the portrait, hung it upside down on the iron door of the cell with a black line, and after staff removed it, she further cursed loudly, fasted in protest.
2. Extreme hostility and hatred towards the proletarian dictatorship and socialist system.
In her speeches and blood writings, Lin Zhao viciously attacked and slandered the proletarian dictatorship and socialist system.
She publicly slandered the socialist system as “an unjust regime”, “a terroristic rule that plunders everything as a ‘human’”, “a bloody dictatorship”, “a filthy, evil, and hypocritical totalitarian system”, “a shame to the motherland’s history and a stain on human civilization”, “an unprecedented brutal and terrifying system in history”.
She slandered the proletarian dictatorship as “a secret spy system that has caused extremely serious bloodshed, with innocent people unjustly killed”, “causing Comrade Ke Qingshi to be assassinated in an unprecedented and horrifying political murder”.
She slandered the public security organs as “secret spies”, “the top emperor in your Party who kills without blinking”, who subjected her to “many heinous tortures and brutalities”.
She also recklessly wrote anti-government slogans on prison walls such as “Tyranny must fall, long live freedom, denounce unjust persecution, protest against brutal abuse” (with photos). She arrogantly shouted, “As long as I have breath, I will defend as much as I can”, “with divine right of self-defense, is there no divine right of revenge?”.
3. Publicly shouting reactionary slogans, disrupting prison order, inciting other prisoners to rebel, and threatening revenge on counter-revolutionaries “to avenge” those who have been executed.
Lin Zhao not only publicly shouted reactionary slogans such as “Long live the United States”, “Long live freedom”, “Long live the United Nations”, “Long live revisionism” in her reports and notes, but also repeatedly shouted “Long live Chiang Kai-shek” and other reactionary slogans loudly, crazily shouting “You (referring to our great leader Chairman Mao) can shout long live, but I will only shout long live Chiang Kai-shek, long live!”. She also often, in the dead of night, pressed her face against the cell bars and shouted curses, inciting revolutionary activities, shouting “Prisoners of Tilanqiao, do not be afraid, the dawn sun has shone into Tilanqiao prison”. She openly incited other prisoners to “actively support No. 1000 (a stubborn counter-revolutionary female prisoner Li Kunxiu, code 21000)” to fight against us.
She also repeatedly hung reactionary blood writings on the prison door, such as “On December 3, 1965, at the prison door, she hung reactionary blood paper strips saying ‘Injustice kills innocents, Shanghai prison shelters murder’”, and openly displayed “Injustice”, “The world is dark, and the sky is without sunlight” on the prison door, “Heaven and man witness, blood sea injustice” etc., attempting to arouse sympathy among other prisoners and oppose the government.
On November 11, 1965, the city’s higher court lawfully executed Lu Cun Song, who engaged in reactionary sabotage activities in prison. Lin Zhao used bloody ink to write on the wall and paper “Red blood fills the chest, my heart is steadfast, I have not spared my life, but have survived until now”—an extremely reactionary poem mourning Lu Cun Song’s death, and hung it on the iron door. After the Cultural Revolution began, Beijing executed reactionary murderer Yang Guoqing, and Lin Zhao immediately wrote “Yang Guoqing immortal” and other reactionary words on newspapers with blood, such as “Thorough exposure, thorough understanding, thorough failure”; “Everyone has their fate, not decided by themselves”, and even crazily shouted “Revenge for Yang Guoqing”, showing extreme arrogance.
4. Consistently maintaining reactionary stance, refusing to admit guilt, resisting discipline, and resisting transformation.
Since her arrest for preliminary investigation, Lin Zhao has persistently maintained a reactionary stance and refused to admit guilt.
On the second day after her sentencing, June 1, 1965, she wrote a so-called “Declaration after sentencing” blood-written reactionary statement on the back of the judgment document, slandering the government’s verdict as “extremely filthy, extremely shameful”, and shamelessly claiming to be a “freedom fighter”, feeling “supremely glorious” about her sentence, calling it “a good witness of her fighting career”, and viciously slandering our Party and government.
Usually, she often shouted loudly “Injustice”, and wrote “Injustice” with blood, insulting and cursing the pre-trial and disciplinary staff as “Fascist robbers”, “dogs of the Communist Party”, etc. She publicly wrapped a towel embroidered with “Injustice” around her head and arm; wrote the character “Injustice” with blood on walls and doors.
Multiple times, she attempted to jump off buildings, hang herself, smash windows, and cut her veins with broken glass, attempting suicide.
In addition, Lin Zhao also wrote dozens of thousands of words of blood-written “statements” and “letters” to the United Nations and People’s Daily editorial office, openly asking for her case to be overturned, claiming it was caused by the “bloody and violent” Anti-Rightist Campaign of 1957, calling it “officially forcing the people to rebel” and “pushing them onto the Liangshan”. She described herself as a “freedom fighter” and “youth rebel” opposing “tyranny”, and systematically and viciously slandered the Party, socialism, the proletarian dictatorship, and various political movements.
Lin Zhao also slandered our great leader as having assassinated Comrade Ke Qingshi, fabricated stories of a “spiritual marriage” with Comrade Ke, and sought revenge for him, writing in her diary a so-called “spiritual union” with Ke’s spirit, with 180,000 words of reactionary, vulgar, and absurd content, called “Lingou Xuyu”. She drew Ke’s spirit tablet and her father’s (who committed suicide) spirit tablet side by side on her shirt with blood, insulting our Party and national leaders.
During her years of detention, she persistently refused to accept education, writing a large number of reactionary blood writings. Examples include: “Lingou Xuyu” completed from May to December 1965 (about 180,000 words), “Christ Still Exists”, “Not Practice—But Practice” written on June 8, 1966, “Practice Two” on June 27, “Practice Three”, “Flowers Bloom in the Sorrowful May”, “Prisoner’s Lament”, “Autumn Voice Farewell”, “Self-eulogy”, “Blood Poems on Clothes”, “Blood Clothes Postscript”, and dozens of other works totaling about 200,000 words, along with her reactionary diary written with blood from July to November 1966, attacking the Party’s leadership, the proletarian dictatorship, socialist system, the Three Red Flags, and all political movements, with vicious slander. Despite repeated education, solitary confinement, designated reading, dedicated guards, family persuasion, and other measures, Lin Zhao remained unrepentant, openly declaring “afraid of death and will not oppose the Party”, determined to “alert the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China” and “never abandon her principles or change her stance”, embroidered “Iron Bone Preserves Virtue” on cloth to show her stubbornness.
(Excerpted from the comprehensive report of the labor reform bureau)
Director Wang Jian of the Public Security Bureau commented:
Agree to prosecute and increase sentence, please consult with the Procuratorate and Court for discussion. 66.12.8
Labor Reform Bureau opinion:
…Our opinion is that Lin Zhao should be sentenced to death. 1966.12.5
Reactions and Anti-Revolutionary Behavior in Prison
On the evening of September 6, 1965, she cursed “The ancestors of the Mao family are lacking virtue, millions of people have been killed by you, you are maggots in a cesspit…”; shouted “Long live Chiang Kai-shek” and other reactionary slogans.
On July 15, she used blood to smear Mao’s portrait on newspapers; on July 25, she pasted grass paper on Mao’s portrait face; on August 4, the People’s Daily published images of national leaders including Mao, and she used blood to smear Mao’s face, insulting Mao as “devil”, “irreconcilable enemies”, “insidious and ruthless”, “the most heinous and unforgivable leader”. On August 18, she wrote reactionary blood letters and hung them on the iron door, which were removed by guards, after which she cursed loudly, “…the bad deeds of the Kuomintang and your bad deeds are less than one percent, you are butchers who kill without blood”; shouted “Long live Chiang Kai-shek”.
Evidence of Crimes:
1. On October 2, 1965, in the People’s Daily, Mao’s portrait and those of other leaders on Tiananmen Square were published; Lin Zhao used blood to smear Mao’s mouth and body.
2. On October 2, 1965, on newspapers with Mao’s portrait, she used blood to smear Mao’s mouth and body (personally witnessed by female prisoner Zhai Shen).
3. On November 11, 1965, she tore up newspapers with images of national leaders and poured water on them, committing another act of slandering our leader.
4. After her crimes, she stopped reading newspapers, then cut off Mao’s portrait’s head with blood, hung it upside down on the iron door (personally witnessed by female prisoner Zhai Shen, October 2, 1965).
5. On October 9, 1965, Lin Zhao handed over No. 1 People’s Daily, again using blood to smear Mao’s portrait’s head, mouth, nose, and other parts.
6. On January 22, 1966, she again used blood to smear Mao’s portrait on the newspaper, leaving bloodstains and writing “1965.4.9” on it, placing it at the prison door.
7. She used blood to smear Mao’s portrait on the newspaper, on her head, body, and brain points, four places in total.
8. On July 25, she pasted grass paper on Mao’s portrait face on the newspaper.
9. She smeared blood around the portrait of Comrade Ke Qingshi after his death.
10. On November 23, 1966, Lin Zhao wrote with blood on the prison wall the reactionary phrases “Blood-stained chest, steadfast heart, I have not spared my life, but survived to this day” (with photos).
11. Lin Zhao embroidered the character “Injustice” on a towel, wrapped it around her head (original preserved in prison).
12. The day after her sentencing, June 1, 1965, she wrote her “Declaration after sentencing” on the back of the judgment document, a reactionary blood-written statement.
Family and Historical Background:
Her paternal family were pseudo-officials and counter-revolutionary control personnel, who committed suicide during control (around November 23, 1960); her maternal family are members of the Suzhou Democratic League and CPPCC, participated in the Communist Party early on, later joined the Kuomintang, and during the Anti-Japanese War, sat in prison with Lin Zhao; she also has a younger brother (social youth) and a sister (doctor).
After liberation, Lin Zhao participated in land reform in 1950, then worked at Changzhou newspaper office, Textile Party Committee office, etc. In 1954, she was admitted to Peking University’s journalism department, expelled from the Youth League in 1957, but retained her student status and was placed under labor supervision, and was classified as a rightist in 1958. In 1959, she came to Shanghai for recuperation due to illness.
She was arrested on October 24, 1960; released on medical parole in 1962; detained again in December 1962; sentenced on May 31, 1965; transferred to a city detention center on May 31, 1965.
