This article is about the PRC politician. For the Han Dynasty general, see Wu Han.

A party official of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in the People's Republic of China (PRC), Wu Han was commissioned by Mao's government to write an article about Hai Rui, a Ming dynasty official who criticized the Jiajing emperor to his face and was resultantly sacked. The article on Hai Rui appeared in the Chinese Publication the People's Daily on May 16, 1959, and was interpreted by many readers and intellectuals as a political parallel to the situation of Peng Dehuai. Peng had been Mao Zedong's minister of defense, but fell into disgrace in 1959 when he led the criticism of the Great Leap Forward, a program of Mao's which was intended to rapidly industrialize China but ultimately amounted to failure on almost every level. This article is about the Han Dynasty general. ... Communist Party of China flag The Communist Party of China (Simplified Chinese: 中国共产党; Traditional Chinese: 中國共産黨; pinyin: Zhōnggu ngchǎndǎng) is the ruling party of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Hai Rui (Wade-Giles Hai Jui)(æµ·ç‘ž)(1514-1587) was a famous Chinese official of the Ming dynasty. ... Ming redirects here – for other uses of this term see Ming (disambiguation) The Ming Dynasty (Chinese: 明朝; Pinyin: ) was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644. ... The Peoples Daily (Chinese: 人民日报; Pinyin: ) is a Simplified-Chinese-language newspaper published worldwide with a circulation of 3 to 4 million. ... May 16 is the 136th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (137th in leap years). ... 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Peng Dehuai . Péng Déhuái (T. Chinese: 彭德懷, S. Chinese: 彭德怀, Wade-Giles: Peng Te-huai) (October 24, 1898 - November 29, 1974) was a prominent Chinese Communist military leader. ... (help· info) (December 26, 1893 – September 9, 1976; Mao Tse-tung in Wade-Giles) was the chairman of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China from 1943 and the chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China from 1945 until his death in 1976. ... The Great Leap Forward (Simplified Chinese: 大跃进; Traditional Chinese: 大躍進; Pinyin: ) of the Peoples Republic of China was an economic and social plan to use Chinas vast population to rapidly transform mainland China from a primarily agrarian economy dominated by peasant farmers into a modern, industrialized communist society. ...

The Hai Rui article, which originally sought to rehabilitate Hai Rui's reputation and qualify him as a political hero, was published at a time when Mao was actually encouraging popular critiques of the Great Leap Forward. However, as the popularity and distibution of the article expanded (in 1960 it was even converted into a hit play and successful Beijing opera called Hai Rui Dismissed from Office), Mao finally became aware of the fact that many people allegorically equated Hai Rui with Peng Dehuai, and that they therefore associated Mao himself with the un-approachable Ming emperor. Moreover, by 1965 (the opening year of the Cultural Revolution), Mao recognized that the popularity of Hai Rui Dismissed from Office created a direct threat to his reputation, so on November 10 he authorized a public attack on the play and attempted to debase Hai Rui's legacy as an attempt to discredit Peng Dehuai. 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... In Beijing, September 2002 Beijing opera or Peking opera (Simplified Chinese: 京剧; Traditional Chinese: 京劇; Pinyin: Jīngjù) is a kind of Chinese opera which arose in the mid-19th century and was extremely popular in the Qing Dynasty court. ... 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ... November 10 is the 314th day of the year (315th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 51 days remaining. ...

Wu Han himself, who a few years earlier was asked by his political superiors to compose the article, had, by March 1966, become the subject of harsh government criticism as a direct result of his contribution. His particular predicament is often chosen to represent the Chinese government's frequent practice of reversing its verdicts under Mao's control (for a similar event, see the Hundred Flowers Movement of 1956-1957). 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... The Hundred Flowers Campaign (百花运动) period refers to a brief interlude in the Peoples Republic of China from 1956 to 1957 during which the Communist Party authorities permitted or encouraged a variety of views and solutions. ... 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...