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Title: Lin Zhao papers
Date (inclusive): 1934-1982
Collection Number: 2009C41
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
Chinese
Physical Description:
1 manuscript box
(0.4 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Letters and diaries, written in prison; photographs; and posthumous rehabilitation documents and printed matter: relating
to political prisoners in China.
Creator:
Lin, Zhao, 1932-1968
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Users must sign use agreement. The collection may not be used without permission of the Archivist; there is digitized content
from this collection available.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 2009.
[Identification of item], Lin Zhao papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Alternative Forms of Material Available
Digital and paper copies available for on-site use only.
| 1932 December 12 | Born, as Peng Lingzhao, in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China. |
| 1943-1949 | Attended Cuiying Private Secondary School and Jinghai Women's Teachers College in Suzhou |
| 1950 August - 1952 May | Participated in the Sunan rural land reform movement |
| 1954 | Admitted to Peking University's (PKU) School of Journalism where she was editor of the Poetry Society's PKU Poetry Journal |
| 1957 | Condemned to three years of labor reeducation camp |
| 1960 Spring | Allowed to return to Shanghai for medical treatment; founded Xinghuo magazine |
| 1960 October | Accused of founding a counter-revolutionary group; arrested and detained at Shanghai Number One Detention House, Shanghai Number Two Detention House and Shanghai Municipal Jail |
| 1962 Spring | Released on bail for medical rehabilitation |
| 1962 December | Incarcerated a second time in Shanghai, China. Staged multiple hunger strikes and attempted suicide while in prison |
| 1965 May 31 | Condemned to 20 years of imprisonment |
| 1968 April 29 | Executed, Shanghai Airport, China |
Scope and Content of Collection
On October 26, 2009 the Hoover Institution Library and Archives opened a collection of the letters and diaries of Chinese
political activist Lin Zhao for public use. Lin Zhao, the nom de guerre of Peng Linzhao (1932-1968), was arrested for her
criticisms of the ruling Chinese Communist Party during the Anti-Rightist Campaign of 1958; she spent most of the following
decade in prison until her execution in Shanghai in April 1968, at the height of the Cultural Revolution.
During the last years of her life, she compiled an extensive collection of prison writings--some of them written in her own
blood--detailing her grievances with the government and her demands for political reform. Although most of these writings
have long since disappeared, a small collection of original prison diaries and letters were returned to Lin Zhao's family
after her posthumous rehabilitation by the Chinese government in 1981. Those documents form the basis of the new collection
of Lin Zhao's papers at the Hoover Institution, the first such collection of her papers that has been made publicly available
to students and scholars at an academic archive.
Initially an ardent supporter of the Communist Party, Lin Zhao took part in the agrarian reform movement following the Chinese
Revolution of 1949. By the time she began her studies at Beijing University in the early 1950s, she had begun to question
the Communist Party's treatment of its opponents and to wish for reform within the party to which she was still loyal. When
the Hundred Flowers Campaign of 1956-1957 encouraged intellectuals to voice criticisms of the government, Lin Zhao and many
of her acquaintances at the university took part. Soon, however, the government changed its course; as it began to crack down
on those expressions of dissent, Lin Zhao was swept up in the subsequent Anti-Rightist Movement and eventually imprisoned
as a result of her outspoken critiques. During her imprisonment she began the writings for which she is well known today,
including the "blood letters," which she wrote in own blood. In the decades since her rehabilitation, Lin Zhao has gained
attention not only in China but internationally, partly owing to a 2005 documentary film by the Chinese filmmaker Hu Jie,
In Search of Lin Zhao's Soul, which chronicled her life and examined her legacy.
The Lin Zhao papers at the Hoover Institution consist of a series of diaries and open letters written between 1965 and 1968,
only a small portion of her prison writings (the rest have disappeared). Those materials, which were returned to Lin Zhao's
family in 1982, were donated to the Hoover Institution earlier this year by her sister, Lingfan Peng. In addition, Ms. Peng
generously donated family photographs of Lin Zhao, as well as additional letters and documents, all of which will provide
researchers with a firsthand look at this intriguing, controversial, and courageous personality whose life continues to generate
interest among students of recent Chinese history.
The papers are arranged by type of material, as they were received from the donor.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Political crimes and offenses -- China
Dissenters -- China
Political prisoners -- China