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🗓️ 5 August 2025
⏱️ 21 minutes
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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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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. |
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