Hai Rui
In late 1959, historian and Beijing Deputy Mayor Wu Han published a historical drama entitled "Hai Rui Dismissed from Office". In the play, an honest civil servant, Hai Rui, is dismissed by a corrupt emperor. While Mao initially praised the play, in February 1965, he secretly commissioned his wife Jiang Qing and Shanghai propagandist Yao Wenyuan to publish an article criticizing it. Yao boldly alleged that "Hai Rui" was really an allegory attacking Mao; that is, Mao was the corrupt emperor, and Peng Dehuai was the honest civil servant.