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History Daily

The Murder of Vice Principal Bian Zhongyun

History Daily

History Daily

History

4.42.5K Ratings

🗓️ 5 August 2025

⏱️ 17 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

August 5, 1966. Students at a school in Beijing, China beat a teacher to death, one of the first fatalities of the Cultural Revolution.


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Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:04.1

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0:06.0

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0:10.6

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0:31.6

Thank you. It's August 5, 1966, at Beijing Normal University Girl School in Beijing, China.

0:38.4

50-year-old vice-principal Bien-jong sits trembling behind a locked door as a mob of her own students pounds the walls with sticks and clubs. Just a few months ago, Zhong Yong would have

0:43.3

disciplined such misbehavior without hesitation, but not anymore, because in Chairman Mao's

0:48.5

China, power no longer resides with the teachers, belongs to the students. Ever since Mao began what he calls a cultural revolution,

0:57.2

once respected educators are now seen as enemies of the people,

1:01.1

symbols of an old society that must be torn down.

1:04.6

Knowing that the door won't hold for long,

1:07.3

Zhang Jung slowly rises, resigned to her fate.

1:12.9

She opens the door and the polite girls she once taught now seed with fury. Before Zhang Yun can say a word, they pounce. The girls punch

1:20.2

and kick and aim their clubs at Zhong Yong's face. Jong Yong crumbles to the floor, and as she goes

1:26.6

down, hands grab her by the hair,

1:29.2

and she's dragged out down the hallway.

1:31.4

She flails her legs and screams, trying to stop them, but the mob has her, and it won't let go.

1:41.1

By the time a nearby hospital is alerted to the attack on Bien Zhong Yong, it's too late.

1:47.0

Zhong Yong will become the first known victim of Chairman Mao's cultural revolution.

1:51.7

The far more violence and destruction will follow her death at the hands of her students on August 5, 1966.

2:02.7

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2:05.1

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