How Lin Biao Went Down a Point of No Return

This video analyzes Lin Biao's political stance and changes in mindset before and after the Cultural Revolution. Unlike Zhou Enlai, Kang Sheng, and others who actively chose their sides, Lin Biao passively became the successor to the state and was drawn into the Cultural Revolution. Having witnessed and deeply understood the cruelty of previous political struggles within the party, Lin Biao felt extreme panic when faced with the madness of the Cultural Revolution, and ultimately attempted to leave the ship of the Cultural Revolution by "lying flat" and parting ways with Mao Zedong.

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People like Zhou Enlai and Kang Sheng firmly stood with Mao Zedong at the 7,000-person meeting, even before the Cultural Revolution. You could say they were far-sighted and deeply realized that Mao Zedong could make a comeback; or you could say they had boarded Mao Zedong's pirate ship and could no longer get off. But Lin Biao's act of boarding the ship was more like a moment of foolishness on his part, boarding passively. Before the Lushan Conference, Lin Biao had no clear faction. Lin Biao had also always been unwilling to participate too much in political struggles before that. However, once the Cultural Revolution started, the status of being the successor to the state completely tied Lin Biao to this ship, and the way the Cultural Revolution turned out also terrified him. It's not as if the CCP hadn't had internal struggles before, such as the Yan'an Rectification Movement and the purge of the AB Corps; at that time, the Communist Party was ruthless toward its own people, using all kinds of torture without hesitation.

But Lin Biao, who was not good at picking sides, was unwilling to participate at the time and did not join in. Even when the Cultural Revolution had already begun, Lin Biao basically never personally participated in denouncing anyone. Lin Biao mostly just controlled the military, had the military pledge loyalty to Mao Zedong, supported Mao Zedong in carrying out denunciations, and kept Mao Zedong at ease. Lin Biao was indeed different from people like Jiang Qing and Wang Hongwen; Lin Biao was not good at these things, nor was he willing to engage in them. And yet, this same Lin Biao suddenly found himself involved in a movement even more terrifying and insane than the Yan'an Rectification or the purge of the AB Corps, and he had inexplicably become the second-in-command of this movement. So, wouldn't he be panicked? What was the final fate of those people during the AB Corps period? What was the final fate of those people during the Yan'an Rectification period? Although Lin Biao did not participate, he saw it all. Lin Biao also knew deep down that with his political wisdom, he couldn't even handle small-scale factional struggles like the AB Corps purge or the Yan'an Rectification, let alone this "ultimate plus" version of the Cultural Revolution, and even less so succeeding to the leadership of China in the future. At this point, Lin Biao realized his situation was dire and began to want to jump ship. And what was his way of jumping ship? It was to "lie flat," trying to get off the ship of the Cultural Revolution and part ways with Mao Zedong.