Chapter 10 “Countercurrent”

After the article “Practice is the Sole Criterion for Testing Truth” was published, its impact was unprecedentedly huge, to the extent that even Edward Faulkner’s family was swept up in it.

At that time, the influence of the Cultural Revolution still lingered. Although the Gang of Four had been arrested for quite some time, there were still certain differences at the top regarding the understanding of the Cultural Revolution, or rather, the recognition of historical issues left by the previous leadership.

As soon as this article was published, it immediately drew opposition from some people, who believed it was a subversion of traditional understanding, a complete denial of the hard work of the previous decades, and extremely dangerous and utterly wrong!

A certain powerful figure instructed some heads of the central propaganda department to “make no statement” and “not get involved” in the discussion on the criterion of truth. Moreover, some people, on many occasions, accused this article of “actually targeting Chairman Mao’s thought,” and demanded, “Whose central opinion is this?!” in an attempt to suppress it.

Edward Faulkner knew that this article was a prelude to the successful launch of China’s reform and opening-up, as well as a major clash of public opinion and thought. After this, the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee officially set the main tone for the coming decades. It could be said that this article emerged at the right moment. As for the details, he was too young at the time to have a clear understanding, and later on, he never systematically studied the specifics of this period. Therefore, after seeing the original article in the newspaper and combining it with what he learned later, he couldn’t help but write a commentary.

Because it was a spur-of-the-moment thing, Edward Faulkner didn’t pay much attention to the article he wrote and casually tossed it aside, where it got mixed into a pile of newspapers.

At school, students often had to put up blackboard bulletins, and that weekend it happened to be Grace Bolton’s class’s turn. Usually, this kind of task was given to student leaders to copy, both to train the students and to foster a healthy competition among classes, creating a “let a hundred flowers bloom” atmosphere.

“Mr. Bolton, what should we put on the blackboard today?” Class monitor Lily Lincoln ran to the office to ask Grace Bolton.

It was a certain day of the week, and Grace Bolton was in the meeting room discussing the next week’s activity arrangements with teachers of the same grade. Upon hearing Lily Lincoln’s question, she just paused for a moment and then said, “Miaomiao, go look on the teacher’s desk, just under the newspapers. I’ve already written a draft. Just copy that.”

“Yes, goodbye, teacher.” Lily Lincoln nodded and turned to leave.

After finishing her business, Grace Bolton went home and completely forgot about it, because Lily Lincoln was very reliable. As long as she prepared the draft, she didn’t have to worry about the blackboard bulletin or any decorations.

Who would have thought that Grace Bolton’s moment of carelessness would stir up such a storm.

On Monday, because Grace Bolton was out on business, the Chinese class was covered by the math teacher. She had no idea that the school was already in an uproar.

“Practice is the Sole Criterion for Testing Truth” had already been widely circulated, but when people were still too constrained by inertia to discuss the topic, a commentary on this article by a special commentator for Guangming Daily actually appeared on the blackboard bulletin of a primary school for children of workers at a county-level military enterprise!

“In a certain sense, practice is the sole criterion for testing truth. This is the loudest and most crucial slogan in more than a decade. Since the Cultural Revolution, the ‘supreme instructions’ that outweigh ten thousand sentences have become the only standard for testing truth. No one has ever dared to ask: What tests the ‘supreme instructions’? The proposal that practice is the sole criterion for testing truth is not simply a challenge to Mao Zedong’s unquestionable authority, but rather paves the way for new exploration.” A teacher read aloud the neatly written content on the blackboard and couldn’t help but feel a chill down their spine.

“How could such reactionary content have been written?!” Someone immediately flew into a rage.

After decades of propaganda, the leader’s correctness was not to be questioned. In some people’s eyes, the appearance of the article “Practice is the Sole Criterion for Testing Truth” was already a very serious problem, and now there was an even more “reactionary” follow-up commentary—how could this be tolerated?!

“This is defending the restoration of the bureaucratic bourgeoisie! It’s serving as a shield for all reactionary acts! It’s looking for excuses for all despicable behavior!” Andrew Ford, who had served as deputy secretary of the Panshi Municipal Party Committee for more than a decade, slammed the table in anger after seeing the urgent report delivered to his desk.

The head of the city’s public security bureau also sternly pointed out that this was a premeditated counterrevolutionary incident! It was a conspiracy by bourgeois careerists attempting restoration! It was the general offensive signal for certain overthrown landlords and capitalists to try to stage a comeback! In short, the author must be found and brought to the people’s judgment! The conspiracy must be strangled in the cradle! The dignity of the people’s democratic dictatorship cannot be challenged!

This was a countercurrent! A reactionary undercurrent moving against the revolutionary tide!

Because this day was May 15th, the quickly established special task force was named the “515 Incident” Special Task Force. The public security bureau dispatched its best officers, who quickly entered the factory-affiliated primary school to conduct an urgent investigation.