A Serious Discussion: In an Era of Open Thought, Do We Have the Necessity and Obligation to Study the Lin Biao Question?

Who created the miracle of a single company defeating an entire division? Who led troops in the First Anti-Encirclement Campaign and captured Nationalist 18th Division Commander Zhang Huizan alive? Who in his first command of large-scale army operations annihilated the Nationalist 52nd Division in the Battle of Huangpo? Who commanded the 115th Division at Pingxingguan to wipe out over 1,000 men of the Japanese Sakagaki Division's 21st Brigade -- known as the "Flower of the Army" -- shattering the myth of Japanese invincibility? Who was called a genius military commander by Stalin and invited to join the Soviet General Staff? Who in 3 years successively annihilated 1.08 million troops under the commands of three famous generals -- Du Yuming, Chen Cheng, and Wei Lihuang -- liberating the entire Northeast as a resource-rich strategic zone and cultivating a powerful strategic reserve? Who took only 29 hours to capture Tianjin's city defenses, which Fu Zuoyi claimed could hold for half a year as "impregnable"? Who fought from the white mountains and black waters to the farthest corners of the land, sweeping through thousands of troops like rolling up a mat? These questions all have one common answer: Lin Biao.

Like Han Xin and Xu Da, Marshal Lin Biao's post-founding affairs cannot and will not be discussed here. Nor will we discuss whether, in an era when even the most vicious criminal's remains receive basic humane treatment after death, a nation that considers burial in foreign soil the greatest misfortune should deny its founding marshal even the most basic human right of having his soul return home. Let all arguments and questions be judged by history. Now I only want to discuss one question: can the Lin Biao question now be researched and discussed? In an era of open thought, do we have the necessity and obligation to study the Lin Biao question?

It can be said this way: without profoundly discussing and studying Lin Biao, it is impossible to correctly understand a period of our history. Without deeply studying Lin Biao himself, to some extent we cannot deeply understand certain characteristics of our national character. Without understanding Lin Biao, we will lose many beneficial things from both positive and negative perspectives.

To study Lin Biao, the most important thing is that much of the primary source material is inaccessible. China's biggest problem currently is the lack of a comprehensive historical document declassification protocol, and this is unacceptable under any circumstances. China should establish a clear historical document declassification protocol -- this is indispensable for historical research.