Hai Rui
In Beijing, Wu Han also wrote another opera based on the same theme, "Hai Rui Dismissed from Office". This opera was attacked by Yao Wenyuan in 1965, accusing the play of being a veiled criticism of Chairman Mao Zedong. The attack by Yao on Wu Han's work about Hai Rui is often considered the opening shot of the Cultural Revolution, and would eventually led to the persecution and death of Wu Han. Zhou was also criticized for attacking Chairman Mao in his portrayal of the Jiajing Emperor in his opera, Zhou however countered by saying that those who suggested any similarity of Jiajing Emperor to Mao were the real detractors of Mao. Zhou and his son were arrested and imprisoned during the Cultural Revolution, but he refused to recant. He was released from prison a year later but placed under house arrest until his death in 1975.