1966, the ten-year special period began, and the Red Guards movement also developed in full swing. The person we are going to talk about today is also a member of the Red Guards, and he is also one of the leaders of the Red Guards. His name is Zhang Jianqi. During that period, Zhang Jianqi was a relatively "famous" person, but now there are very few people studying him, which has led to many mysteries in Zhang Jianqi not being solved.
Zhang Jianqi's hometown is Heilongjiang. His biological father went to Yan'an to participate in the revolution in his early years and later sacrificed his life for the revolution. Zhang Jianqi's mother was also a young woman who went to Yan'an to participate in the revolution. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, she served as deputy director of the Heilongjiang Provincial Department of Light Industry and was a deputy department-level cadre. After Zhang Jianqi's father died, his mother remarried a man named Zhang Shijun, who served as deputy minister of the Ministry of Forestry and was a senior deputy ministerial official in New China. At the same time, Zhang Jianqi was also raised by his stepfather.
Zhang Jianqi’s specific date of birth cannot be verified. I only know that at the beginning of the special period of ten years, he looked about eighteen or nineteen years old, and was a student of Beijing Iron and Steel College . In March 1967, Zhang Jianqi posted a big-character poster at the Beijing Iron and Steel Academy to criticize Premier Zhou, and he was criticized for this, but Zhang Jianqi firmly refused to admit his mistakes. In May, he gathered others to establish the "May 16th Red Guard Corps" and served as the leader of the "May 16th Red Guard Corps".
At that time, there were only more than twenty people in the Red Guard organization. They were all late at night, posting slogans and big-character posters everywhere, which caused a very bad impact. In June 1967, Zhang Jianqi's Red Guards organization merged with the "June 16th Corps" of the Beijing Foreign Languages College to establish the "Capital May 16th Red Guards". At that time, Zhang Jianqi didn't know that the sky was high and the earth was strong. He imitated the regular army and set up commanders, General Political Department, , etc. within the "Capital May 16th Red Guards Regiment". Although the number was not large, it was quite impressive. However, just two months later, the "Capital May 16th Red Guards Regiment" was recognized as a counter-revolutionary organization, and Zhang Jianqi was also arrested.
After Zhang Jianqi was arrested, the relevant departments investigated the "Capital May 16 Red Guard Corps" and found that his system was quite similar to the regular army. So the so-called "May 16 elements" were investigated nationwide, which also implicated many innocent people. It is estimated that this was something Zhang Jianqi did not expect at the time. After being arrested, Zhang Jianqi was detained at the First Juvenile Discipline Inspection Institute in the northern suburbs of Beijing to participate in the so-called "study class". At the beginning, Zhang Jianqi refused to admit his mistakes. He was severely disciplined and his health became worse and worse. After that, Zhang Jianqi pretended to admit his mistake and tried hard to maintain his body. After he took good care of his body, he immediately overturned his confession and refused to admit his mistake.
For a period of time, Zhang Jianqi left the study class and regained his freedom. However, with the nationwide inspection of the "May 16th element", Zhang Jianqi, the leader of the "May 16th element", was arrested again and imprisoned in Qincheng Prison. During his time in Qincheng Prison, Zhang Jianqi was also a special person. He almost ignored others. After finishing work every day, he would walk around the aisle alone, and no one cared about him.
In 1972, the Central task force found Zhang Jianqi for a conversation, but Zhang Jianqi still refused to admit his mistake, which can be said to have been repeated and he refused to correct him. After that, Zhang Jianqi was assigned to Chadian Farm and for labor education. However, during the labor camp, Zhang Jianqi made another serious mistake. At the end of 1976, he was sentenced to 420 years in prison and entered the First Prison Third Squadron to serve his sentence.
In the second half of 1978, the central government began to rehabilitate one after another. The staff of the task force went to the prison to talk to Zhang Jianqi several times, but Zhang Jianqi still refused to admit his mistake. However, after discussion, the Beijing Municipal Committee finally decided to release Zhang Jianqi. After restoring freedom, Zhang Jianqi's personnel relations were still at the Beijing Iron and Steel College at that time, and were assigned to work by Beijing Municipal Personnel Bureau. In 1986, Zhang Jianqi was officially assigned to work at the Beijing Building Materials Testing Site, and now he is at the retirement age.
