Wu Han (historian) facts for kids

Wu Han (Chinese: 吴晗; pinyin: Wú Hán; August 11, 1909 – October 11, 1969) was an important Chinese historian and politician. He helped shape how history was studied in China during the 1930s and 1940s.

In the 1940s, he was a key member of the China Democratic League. This was a political group that later supported the Chinese Communist Party during the Chinese civil war. After 1949, Wu Han became the Vice Mayor of Beijing.

In November 1965, at the start of the Cultural Revolution, he faced strong criticism. This was because of a play he wrote called Hai Rui Dismissed from Office. Many people thought the play was secretly criticizing Mao Zedong. This led to his political downfall and also caused the removal of Beijing Mayor Peng Zhen. Wu Han died in prison in 1969.

Wu Han's Life Story

Early Life and Education

Wu Han was born in Yiwu, Zhejiang, China, in 1909. His family helped him go to special schools in Hangzhou and Shanghai. There, he was inspired by the lectures of a famous scholar named Hu Shih.

In 1931, he started studying at Tsinghua University. He was influenced by his teacher Tsiang Tingfu. Wu Han had to support his younger brother and sister, so he could not study abroad. He stayed at Tsinghua as a teaching assistant. He started writing important articles about the Ming dynasty, using new ways to solve old historical puzzles.

A Historian and Politician

When the war with Japan began in 1937, Wu Han joined National Southwestern Associated University in Kunming. While there, he wrote a full book about Zhu Yuanzhang, who founded the Ming dynasty. This book was published in 1943 and updated in 1947.

He became a leading thinker in the democratic movement of the 1940s. He also wrote many essays. Because of his role in the China Democratic League, he helped establish the People's Republic of China in 1949.

As a member of the Democratic League, Wu Han was asked to become the Vice Mayor of Beijing. He was in charge of education and cultural matters. In the 1950s, Wu Han traveled abroad to represent China on cultural trips. He also shared his historical research at home, using figures from history as examples. He secretly joined the Chinese Communist Party in the mid-1950s. Most of his friends and even other Party members did not know this until his files were found during the Cultural Revolution.

As a historian, Wu Han was a pioneer in studying the Ming dynasty. This topic had been avoided for a long time under the Qing dynasty.

Later Years and Controversy

In 1956, Wu Han and his wife, Yuan Zhen, adopted a daughter named Wu Xiaoyan. In 1958, they adopted another child, Wu Zhang.

Before the big argument about his play Hai Rui Dismissed from Office, Wu Han, Deng Tuo, and Liao Mosha wrote a series of articles. These articles were called The Village of the Three Families. They used humor to criticize some of the political ideas of the Great Leap Forward.

A journalist named Yang Jisheng wrote about Wu Han in his book on the Cultural Revolution. He said that Wu Han used history to talk about current political events. Before 1949, Wu Han's writings criticized the Ming emperor Zhu Yuanzhang. This was seen as a way to criticize Chiang Kai-shek. But after 1949, Wu Han's book Zhu Yuanzhang praised Mao Zedong.

Yang Jisheng also wrote that Mao Zedong encouraged Wu Han to write an essay called "Hai Rui Scolds the Emperor." This essay was published in the People's Daily in June 1959. It was based on the life of a Ming dynasty official. Wu Han later turned this essay into a Beijing opera called Hai Rui Dismissed from Office. The play was performed in 1961 and was very popular.

However, some powerful people, like Jiang Qing and Kang Sheng, thought the play was a hidden message. They believed it was connected to the Lushan Conference and supported ideas that Mao did not like. Mao Zedong took their concerns seriously. He told Jiang Qing to find someone to criticize the play.

The attacks on the play and Wu Han were actually aimed at Peng Zhen, who was the mayor of Beijing. Peng Zhen was a very important person in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Mao Zedong wanted to remove him from power. This process took time, but it eventually led to the start of the Cultural Revolution. This was a ten-year struggle between Mao and the CCP leaders.

On November 10, 1965, a critic named Yao Wenyuan published an article. This article was one of the first attacks in this struggle. He wrote in the Wenhui Bao newspaper that Wu Han's play was wrong. Yao Wenyuan said that the character Hai Rui in the play was like Marshal Peng Dehuai. Peng Dehuai had criticized Mao Zedong for starting the Great Leap Forward and was removed from his position. Yao Wenyuan argued that Wu Han was saying Mao Zedong was like the Ming emperor who unfairly fired Hai Rui.

Under great pressure, Wu Han admitted he made some mistakes in his ideas. But he denied that he was trying to go against the government. The argument grew over the next few months. Wu Han was eventually put in jail. He died in prison in 1969.

See also

• Chen Boda
• Jian Bozan
• Deng Tuo
• Wu Xiaoyan, Wu's adopted daughter