May Sixteenth elements

May Sixteenth elements (五一六分子) were named after the so-called May Sixteenth Army Corps (五一六兵团; 1967–1968), ultra-left Red Guards in Beijing during the early years of the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) who targeted Zhou Enlai with the backing of Jiang Qing. The name came from a May 16, 1966 notice (五一六通知) which Mao Zedong partially wrote and edited. However, Mao was concerned with its radicalism, so in late 1967 the group was outlawed on conspiracy and anarchism charges, followed by the arrest of most Cultural Revolution Group members (except Jiang Qing). A nationwide campaign was later launched to liquidate "May Sixteenth Elements", which ironically created more chaos and anarchy.

Countless innocent people were accused of being "May Sixteenth elements" and ruthlessly persecuted. According to one source, in the province of Jiangsu alone, more than 130,000 "May Sixteenth elements" were "ferreted out" and more than 6000 either died or suffered permanent injuries.^[1]

References

^ MacFarquhar, Roderick; Schoenhals, Michael (2006). Mao's Last Revolution. The Belknap Press.

v t e Cultural Revolution
Prelude	Anti-Rightist Campaign Great Chinese Famine Great Leap Forward Lushan Conference Seven Thousand Cadres Conference Socialist Education Movement Taoyuan Experience
Major events	Down to the Countryside Movement Cleansing the Class Ranks 12-3 incident January Storm February Countercurrent Wuhan incident 9th Party Congress One Strike-Three Anti Campaign Project 571 Lin Biao incident 10th Party Congress Black Painting incident Criticize Lin, Criticize Confucius Hangzhou incident 1975 Banqiao Dam failure Counterattack the Right-Deviationist Reversal-of-Verdicts Trend 1976 Nanjing incident 1976 Tiananmen Incident
Massacres	Red August Daxing Massacre Guangxi Massacre Inner Mongolia incident Guangdong Massacre Hunan Massacres Daoxian massacre Shaoyang County Massacre Yunnan Massacres Zhao Jianmin Spy Case Shadian incident Ruijin Massacre
Key figures	Mao Zedong Liu Shaoqi Zhou Enlai Lin Biao Deng Xiaoping Gang of Four (Jiang Qing Zhang Chunqiao Yao Wenyuan Wang Hongwen) Peng Dehuai Wu Han Peng Zhen Tao Zhu Chen Boda Wang Dongxing Xie Fuzhi Ji Dengkui Wang Li Qi Benyu Wu Faxian Qiu Huizuo Yang Chengwu Chen Zaidao Kang Sheng Mao Yuanxin Hua Guofeng Ye Jianying
Documents	Bombard the Headquarters Quotations from Chairman Mao Hai Rui Dismissed from Office May 16 Notification Six Articles of Public Security Sweep Away All Cow Demons and Snake Spirits On Class Origins
Concepts	Four Olds Newborn socialist things Struggle session Feudal fascism Big-character poster Cow demons and snake spirits Bloodline theory Continuous Revolution Theory Seizure of power Violent Struggle One Divides into Two Democracy Wall Eight model plays Loyalty dance Capitalist roader Yiku sitian Learn from Daqing in industry Learn from Dazhai in agriculture Stinking Old Ninth Five Black Categories Five Red Categories
Groups	Red Guards Conservative Faction Rebel Faction Scarlet Guards Ultra-Left Faction Xiaoyao Faction May Sixteenth elements Five Man Group Cultural Revolution Group Central Case Examination Group Central Organization and Propaganda Leading Group Hunan Provincial Proletarian Revolutionary Great Alliance Committee Revolutionary committee 8341 Special Regiment Sent-down youth 61 Renegades Barefoot doctor Worker-Peasant-Soldier student May Seventh Cadre School Xiang River Storm and Thunder
Related topics	Maoism Mao Zedong's cult of personality Mango cult Great Leap Forward List of campaigns of the Chinese Communist Party Class struggle Sino-Soviet split Two Whatevers Morning Sun (film) 3rd Plenum of the 11th Central Committee Boluan Fanzheng Scar literature
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