Anton Lee Wishik II translated an article from the latest Yanhuang Chunqiu (炎黄春秋）magazine, posted on translator’s mei-zhong blog:
The Red Guards first originated at the affiliated middle school of Beijing Qinghua University. At that time, I was the president of the work association of the school. I saw with my own eyes the beginning of the Red Guard movement.
On June 1st, 1966, the People’s Daily published a banner written by Beijing University’s Nie Yuanzi (and 7 others) criticizing the school’s educational methods. Afterwards, the Cultural Revolution surged through all the large universities in Beijing. Students, working independently, went on strike, and the leadership organizations were paralyzed.
On June 3rd, under the leadership of comrades Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping, an enlarged meeting of the Politburo was convened. The new Municipal Party Secretary Wu De and Youth League Central Committee Secretary Hu Keshi both were in attendance. The Politburo decided on eight governing principles for leading the Cultural Revolution. They also entrusted the responsibility for leading the Cultural Revolution within Beijing’s middle schools to the Communist Youth League. That night, in the Beijing municipal meeting hall, all the concerned work unit leaders gathered to attend a meeting and spread the spirit of the Politburo’s meeting.
