Zhang Zhixin

On October 16, 1978, the Intermediate People's Court of Yingkou City, Liaoning Province, revoked the original judgment and acquitted Zhang Zhixin. Four years after her execution, in the spring of 1979 she was officially proclaimed a 'martyr'; 4 April 1979 was designated the day of her memorial. Although an investigation was begun into her case, however party leader Hu Yaobang had it stopped.

Zhang was paraded and executed on 4 April 1975, close to the end of the Cultural Revolution. It is reported that her larynx was slit before the execution, in order to prevent her from speaking.

In 1969, Zhang was imprisoned in by the Liaoning Provincial Party Committee her critical comments toward Mao. She saved up 2 yuan a month to purchase books to read in the facility, where she wrote her study notes on toilet paper. The prison guards then took her pen away. She proclaimed that the party would be "punished by history; if not sooner, then later". For a year and a half she was frequently shackled in leg irons and tied in a harness.

Zhang Zhixin (Chinese: 张志新; pinyin: Zhāngzhìxīn; Wade–Giles: Chang Chih-hsin; 5 December 1930 – 4 April 1975) was a dissident during the Cultural Revolution who became famous for criticizing the idolization of Mao Zedong and the ultra-left. She was imprisoned for six years (1969 to 1975) and tortured, then executed, for having opposing views while being a member of the Chinese Communist Party. A second party member who had expressed agreement with Zhang was sentenced to 18 years in prison.

Zhang Zhixin was born in Tianjin in 1930. She was educated at Renmin University of China from 1951 to 1952 and later worked in the university. Zhang later became a member of the Communist Party Propaganda Department at Liaoning province.