On May 25th, 1966 seven students at Peking University put up a “big-character poster” attacking Lu Ping (President of the University and Secretary of its Party committee), Sung Shih (Deputy Head of the department in charge of university affairs of the Peking Municipal Party Committee) and a woman comrade Peng Pei-yun (Deputy Secretary of the university, Party Committee).
Following the line of the counter-revolutionary faction at the Central Committee meeting a few days earlier, these Comrades, were accused of supporting the line of Sung Shih, who, (speaking at an emergency meeting at the university on May 14th) was alleged to have said:
When the masses arise, they need to be led on to the correct path. (What are Sung Shih, Lu Ping and Peng Pei-yun Up To in the Cultural Revolution?”, in: “Peking Review”, No. 37, 1966; p. 19)
while Lu Ping and Peng-yun were alleged to have said:
Leadership is urgently needed to guide the movement towards a correct orientation. (“What are Sung Shih...etc?”; op. cit, p,19)
It was thus clear, said the big-character poster, that these Party leaders in the university were guilty of “suppressing the masses’ revolution.” (“What are Sung Shih...etc?”, op. cit.; p.20).
The poster concluded by calling:
Revolutionary intellectuals, now is the time to go into battle! Let us unite, ... thoroughly, totally and completely wipe out all ghosts and monsters and all Khrushchovian-type counter-revolutionary revisionists and carry the socialist revolution through to the end. (“What are Sung Shih...etc?”; op. cit.; p. 20).
On June 2nd, 1966 “Renmin Ribao” (People’s Daily), now the organ of a Central Committee dominated by the counter-revolutionaries, carried the attack upon the Peking Marxist-Leninists further:
Peking University...is a key point of the ’Three-Family Village’ sinister gang (i.e., the Peking Party leadership – Ed.), a stubborn bastion used by them to oppose the Party and socialism. ... The people of the whole country will rise up, oppose and knock down all those who oppose Chairman Mao. ... The whole nation will smash their sinister gang, sinister organization and sinister discipline to pieces. (“Hail a Big-Character Poster at Peking University”, in: “Renmin Ribao”, June 2nd, 1966; in: “Peking Review”, No. 37, 1966; p. 21, 22).
On the following day, June 3rd, the ground having, been well prepared, the Central Committee “reorganized” the Peking Municipal Committee of the Party, appointing Li Hsueh-feng as its First Secretary in place of the leading Marxist-Leninist Peng Chen, member of the Political Bureau and of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Party and Mayor of Peking.
On the same day the “reorganized” Peking Party Committee dismissed the editorial boards of its journals “Beijing Ribao” (Peking Daily), “Beijing Wanbao” (Peking Evening News) and “Qianxian” (Front Line), the daily papers continuing under new boards, while publication of “Front Line” was suspended.
The “reorganized” Peking Party Committee also “reorganized” the Peking University Party Committee, dismissing Lu Ping and Peng Pei-yun from their posts.
On June 15th, 1966, the leadership of the Peking Communist Youth League was “reorganized”.
On June 24th, 1966, the first direct attack upon Peng Chen appeared in “Renmin Ribao” (People’s Daily).
On December 4th, 1966 Peng Chen was dragged from his bed and “arrested” by “Red Guards” during the night. On December 12th he was displayed before a rally of 100,000. “Red Guards” in a Peking stadium and, along with three other prominent Marxist-Leninists, before further such rallies on January 4-5th, 1967.