Mao Zedong having gained control of China built his leadership upon a right, not unlike European monarchies using divine right. Mao like Stalin didn't use god as a justification for his rule it was him. He was the god, the one person who could lead China out of the wilderness. Cults can be unstable when constructed upon a single pillar. Thus when Mao proved he wasn't a deity, but flawed and human like the rest of us he lashed out. And, cost thousands of people their lives and would have a wide ranging effect on China and the Communist party for years.
Murdered for Mao: The killings China 'forgot'
Wang Jingyao creaks open a metal door to let us into his cramped apartment.
In a modest living room, he shows us a meticulously kept shrine to his wife.
"My wife had always been a kind person since she was young. She was kind-hearted and gentle," he says.
Red Guards, Mao's enforcers
In one sense, the events that led up to Bian's death began with the bruised ego of Mao Zedong.
Led by their leader Song Binbin, the students labeled Bian as a counter-revolutionary and "opposing Chairman Mao," according to historian Wang Youqin, who attended the school at the time.
Soon the attacks got physical with Bian and other teachers put through so-called "struggle-sessions."
"Students ran onto the stage to strike Bian with iron-clad wooden training rifles. Each time Bian fell to the floor, someone would douse her with cold water and drag her upright again by the hair to endure further criticism," says Wang.
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