Turncoats and Revolutionaries—A Character Analysis of 

Song Qiankun and Luo Zheng in Black and White

Left Wheel, June 15,2025

Song Qiankun's original name was Huang He, the third young master of landlord Huang Yaozu. At fifteen, Huang He fell in love with his classmate Cui Ying, but his father Huang Yaozu stole her away, making Cui Ying his fifth concubine. Huang Yaozu held a position in the Military Statistics Bureau [the Kuomintang's intelligence agency] and was appointed as commander of the Chuzhou Anti-Communist United Militia, committing countless crimes against Red Army soldiers and the people of Peizhen. Under the guidance of his cousin Han Ying, Huang He joined the Red Army and later personally led an elimination team to kill his father Huang Yaozu. To completely break with his past, Huang He changed his name to Song Qiankun.

After graduating from Kangda [Anti-Japanese Military and Political University], Song Qiankun served as security staff officer to Zong Da, an important leader of the CCP Central Committee's East River Bureau, where he met Zong Da and his wife Anna. After Zong Da's disappearance, both Song Qiankun and Anna were investigated by the organization. Following the investigation, Song Qiankun joined his cousin-in-law Hong Hu's troops at the front lines, fighting desperately against the Japanese invaders, and later married Anna.

During the Liberation War, Song Qiankun was appointed leader of underground work in Dajiang, reuniting with his former subordinate Luo Zheng, who was responsible for the Dajiang liaison station. Neither could have imagined they would later become bitter enemies. Later, the underground committees of Dajiang and Dongjiang Province were exposed due to a traitor's betrayal, and both Song Qiankun and Luo Zheng were captured and imprisoned. They were later exchanged through two captured Kuomintang military officers by the Dongjiang Provincial Committee and Military Region. After their release, Luo Zheng learned that the provincial committee headquarters and military region general hospital at Niangzi Lake had been attacked by enemy forces, resulting in the sacrifice of his fiancée Bai Xue and over a hundred cadres, masses, and wounded soldiers.

At the graves of Bai Xue and other martyrs, Luo Zheng vowed to find the traitor who had betrayed them. Based on the clues Luo Zheng had gathered, Song Qiankun was highly suspect. During the "Three-Anti" and "Five-Anti" campaigns [注: "三反""五反"运动, early 1950s political campaigns], Luo Zheng sent a denunciation letter to central and provincial authorities, explicitly naming Song Qiankun as a suspected traitor and requesting organizational investigation. However, due to insufficient evidence, Song Qiankun was quickly restored to his original position, while Luo Zheng was viewed as an oddball and sat on the bench at the newspaper office for over ten years. During the Cultural Revolution, Luo Zheng again posted a big-character poster [注: 大字报] targeting Song Qiankun titled "Who Betrayed the Dajiang Underground Committee and the Martyrs in the 'Phoenix Island Massacre'?" Song Qiankun, originally labeled a "capitalist roader" , now had the additional hat of "traitor and spy," and was imprisoned. However, after Song Qiankun was "liberated," Luo Zheng again found himself on the bench, and after the fall of the "Gang of Four" , he was isolated for investigation as one of the "three types of people" [注: "三种人"], ultimately ending up in the same prison that had held both him and Song Qiankun before liberation.

Regarding whether Song Qiankun participated in the Military Statistics Bureau's kidnapping of Zong Da, or whether he betrayed the Dajiang underground committee and the martyrs of Phoenix Island, Teacher Liu Jiming does not clearly state this in the book. Characters within the novel like Wang Sheng, as well as readers outside the novel, seek to understand the truth. Song Qiankun indeed has many suspicious points: when serving as Zong Da's security staff officer, one or two guards were usually arranged when Zong Da took his evening walks by the river, but on the day of his disappearance, no guards were arranged. When leading the Dajiang underground committee, he emphasized active attacks in underground work that could easily lead to exposure. When Old Fish  spoke with Luo Zheng about Song Qiankun, his tone was evasive. Among the underground committee leadership in Dajiang, only Song Qiankun knew about the provincial committee headquarters and military hospital hiding at Phoenix Island. The memoirs of Military Statistics Bureau agent Bai Shouhe also contain relevant content involving Song Qiankun's betrayal. All clues point to Song Qiankun.

Although Song Qiankun is highly suspect, there is no concrete evidence to prove he is the traitor Luo Zheng seeks. Luo Zheng's suspicions about Song Qiankun are merely speculation, and organizational investigations found no problems. Bai Shouhe's memoirs are only one-sided testimony and cannot serve as evidence from the perspective of "isolated evidence cannot establish truth."

Does this mean Song Qiankun is a revolutionary loyal to the cause but misunderstood and persecuted by others? The answer is naturally no. Teacher Liu Jiming's refusal to clearly indicate whether Song Qiankun betrayed Zong Da or the organization serves a purpose: on one hand, it leaves room for readers' imagination and analysis; on the other hand, whether Song Qiankun betrayed the organization is no longer important, because regardless of whether he betrayed anyone, his various behaviors have already proven he is not a true Communist, but a genuine turncoat—an opportunist lurking within the revolutionary ranks!

Song Qiankun has a strong desire for promotion and wealth. After the founding of New China, Song Qiankun served as deputy director of the Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department, but he was dissatisfied with this position, often complaining and even blaming Anna. After becoming deputy director of the Youth Cadre Bureau of the Central Organization Department, Song Qiankun became energetic and set promotion goals, showing great ambition in officialdom. However, Luo Zheng's denunciation made Song Qiankun's promotion dreams evaporate. After the investigation ended and his position was affected, Song Qiankun again became dispirited. His grudge against Luo Zheng was thus formed, and he began to marginalize him. As a Communist Party member, Song Qiankun lacked communist ideals and consciousness of serving the people, focusing only on his own career advancement. Such people join the revolution not for faith, not for people's liberation, but merely to secure their own future. His marginalization of Luo Zheng reflects Song Qiankun's narrow-mindedness. Luo Zheng, as Song Qiankun's former subordinate, had no personal grudges with him and only reported Song Qiankun to discover the truth and comfort the revolutionary martyrs. Afterward, Song Qiankun marginalized Luo Zheng, making him sit on the bench for over ten years.

Song Qiankun and Anna divorced in the late 1950s. According to Anna's revelations, Song Qiankun's lifestyle was extremely corrupt—not only did he engage in improper relationships with women and seduce female nurses at sanatoriums, but he also instructed the Dongjiang Steel Factory to use special steel to custom-make bathtubs for several secretaries of the Provincial Party Committee Secretariat. During the Cultural Revolution, under the manipulation of Song Qiankun and others, the Dongjiang Provincial Cultural Revolution diverted the struggle's main direction, transforming criticism of capitalist roaders within the Party into struggle sessions against "landlords, rich peasants, counter-revolutionaries, bad elements, and rightists" [注: "地富反坏右"] and "destroying the Four Olds" [注: "破四旧"], inciting masses to fight masses, ultimately leading to the "July 20 Armed Struggle" [注: "7.20武斗"] that caused two workers' deaths. Under big-character posters from Anna and Luo Zheng, Song Qiankun was imprisoned. However, three years later, Song Qiankun was "liberated" and began retaliating against Anna and Luo Zheng. Anna was labeled a "British spy" and imprisoned, while Luo Zheng was dismissed from his position and also imprisoned after the fall of the "Gang of Four."

During the reform and opening-up period, Song Qiankun, as an "open-minded" veteran cadre, boldly implemented reforms. During this time, Song Qiankun's corruption became even more severe. He used state financial allocations for old revolutionary base areas to build dozens of villas for veteran cadres by Dongjiang's South Lake, and forced a primary school to relocate from the lakeside. After Luo Zheng reported these matters, Song Qiankun's promotion path was again interrupted.

Unlike the opportunist Song Qiankun, Luo Zheng's actions never betrayed his identity as a Communist Party member. Like his comrade Wang Shengli, Luo Zheng remained loyal to the revolution throughout. After liberation, to find the traitor, he wrote a denunciation letter about Song Qiankun, but ultimately achieved nothing. During the Cultural Revolution, Luo Zheng again posted big-character posters targeting Song Qiankun, sending this capitalist roader to prison. Although Song Qiankun was later "liberated," Luo Zheng again suffered Song Qiankun's retaliation and was imprisoned after the fall of the "Gang of Four." Prison life did not make Luo Zheng give up—he later wrote another denunciation letter about Song Qiankun's construction of South Lake villas, again shattering Song Qiankun's promotion dreams.

Luo Zheng didn't only target Song Qiankun; facing various social injustices, he would stand up. When brick factory director Ba Guangming engaged in corrupt behavior, Wang Shengli and the workers wrote a joint letter seeking Luo Zheng's help. Luo Zheng forwarded it to relevant provincial committee leaders, ultimately resulting in Ba Guangming's dismissal. When the old principal of Phoenix Island led masses to petition, Luo Zheng always provided help—not only providing food and lodging but also helping them write and submit petitions and leading them in appeals. When Hei San [注: 黑三, literally "Black Three"] brought people to arrest the old principal and attempted to block Luo Zheng's group's petitioning activities, Luo Zheng stood up and was severely injured by Hei San. From his hospital bed, after learning about Wang Sheng's denunciation letter, Luo Zheng encouraged and supported Wang Sheng's actions, ultimately helping Wang Sheng resolve to struggle against Du Wei and Wu Bozhong.

Luo Zheng finally reached the end of his life, and even on his deathbed, he remained mindful of his fiancée Bai Xue, who had sacrificed her life due to a traitor's betrayal. Luo Zheng entrusted his People's Bookstore to Wang Sheng. As Luo Zheng's only legacy, this bookstore could be said to embody his entire life. This was where Luo Zheng was born, lived, and fought. By entrusting it to Wang Sheng, Luo Zheng was passing on a spirit—having struggled for revolution his entire life, he hoped Wang Sheng would inherit this fighting spirit and never yield to any evil forces. Wang Sheng did not disappoint Luo Zheng's expectations; in the end, facing Du Wei's threats and bribes, Wang Sheng ultimately chose to struggle to the end.

After Luo Zheng's death, Song Qiankun, accompanied by his housekeeper Xiao Wu, came to the People's Bookstore—the liaison point where he had participated in underground work in Dajiang. This was the starting point of decades of grievances between Song Qiankun and Luo Zheng, and Song Qiankun came here to settle things. At the bookstore entrance, Song Qiankun recalled past experiences with mixed joy and fear. Joy because Luo Zheng was dead and no one would pester Song Qiankun anymore; fear because although Luo Zheng was dead, the terror that his past pestering had brought Song Qiankun had not dissipated. Luo Zheng was like a ghost, haunting Song Qiankun both in life and death. Song Qiankun had previously been diagnosed with "high low-density lipoprotein" at the hospital, which for an elderly diabetic patient like him meant the constant danger of cerebral thrombosis and sudden death. Song Qiankun didn't enter the People's Bookstore but took a taxi home. On the way back, Song Qiankun died in the car with foam at his mouth, less than half a month after Luo Zheng's death.

The grievances between Song Qiankun and Luo Zheng constitute an important plot in Black and White, through which both characters' images gradually become vivid. During the New Democratic Revolution period, both men's actions appeared quite revolutionary. Song Qiankun righteously eliminated a relative, personally killing his father Huang Yaozu. Huang Yaozu had committed many crimes against the masses and revolutionary soldiers, so Song Qiankun's actions were ridding the people of a menace, showing extremely high revolutionary spirit. During the Anti-Japanese War, Song Qiankun followed General Hong Hu in bloody battles against Japanese invaders, achieving distinguished military service. During the Anti-Japanese War, Luo Zheng joined the CCP underground peripheral organization "Anti-Japanese Pioneer Youth Association" [注: "抗日先锋青年会"], later joined the New Fourth Army [注: 新四军], and during the Liberation War served as a CCP underground liaison officer in Dajiang. Even after being captured and facing severe torture, he never betrayed the revolution.

However, after liberation, Song Qiankun's revolutionary spirit gradually dissipated. He set promotion goals for himself, placing his ambitions on climbing the official ladder and getting rich. When dissatisfied with his position, Song Qiankun lacked motivation, complained about low rank, and blamed others for problems and responsibilities. When satisfied with his position, Song Qiankun was energetic and ambitious, seeking higher status and position for himself. Additionally, Song Qiankun's lifestyle gradually became corrupt. He grew distant from Anna, who demanded the cancellation of special supply privileges [注: 特供待遇], and even his old superior General Hong Hu often reminded him not to seek special privileges. But Song Qiankun continued on his own path, pursuing his career advancement. During the Cultural Revolution, Chairman Mao called for criticism of capitalist roaders within the Party to defend China's socialist cause. Undoubtedly, Song Qiankun's actions exemplified what Chairman Mao called capitalist roaders. To protect his official position, Song Qiankun manipulated the Cultural Revolution movement in Dongjiang Province, diverting the struggle's main direction, transforming criticism of capitalist roaders within the Party into criticism of "landlords, rich peasants, counter-revolutionaries, bad elements, and rightists" and "destroying the Four Olds," inciting masses to fight masses and ultimately causing mass casualties. After reform and opening-up, Song Qiankun went even further down the capitalist road, with corruption becoming increasingly severe.

Luo Zheng was exactly the opposite. After liberation, he was not confused by sugar-coated bullets but diligently performed his duties. Luo Zheng did not forget his promise at the martyrs' cemetery to find the traitor who betrayed them. To discover the truth, Luo Zheng was willing to break with his old superior Song Qiankun, sending a denunciation letter about Song Qiankun to relevant departments during the "Three-Anti" and "Five-Anti" campaigns. Not only did this achieve nothing, but he also suffered Song Qiankun's retaliation, making Luo Zheng sit on the bench at the newspaper office for over ten years. However, Luo Zheng did not give up. At the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, he posted big-character posters targeting Song Qiankun. After Song Qiankun was "liberated," Luo Zheng again suffered his retaliation. In the process of reporting Song Qiankun, Luo Zheng gained no benefits; instead, he constantly hit walls and endured others' strange looks. Facing oppressed masses, Luo Zheng provided various help, leading them in petitions and even being injured and hospitalized as a result. Luo Zheng's participation in revolution brought him no benefits; instead, he suffered unfair treatment, but Luo Zheng never betrayed the revolution because of this. Luo Zheng participated in revolution without calculating personal gains and losses, instead putting proletarian interests first. For this, Luo Zheng dared challenge authority—he was willing to offend his old superior Song Qiankun and showed no fear of local strongmen like Wu Bozhong who had protective umbrellas. In Luo Zheng, we see the true colors of a Communist Party member, something that opportunists like Song Qiankun could never possess.

We can see that people like Song Qiankun had ulterior motives when they originally joined the revolution. Although Song Qiankun righteously eliminated his relative by killing his father Huang Yaozu, we later discover that Song Qiankun's initial actions were merely revenge for his father stealing his beloved. In Song Qiankun's later years, he participated in the unveiling ceremony for the renovation of the Huang family ancestral hall in his hometown of Peizhen. In the ancestral hall dedicated to ancestors, he saw his father Huang Yaozu's memorial tablet prominently displayed, generating a strong sense of guilt. Song Qiankun's guilt toward his father Huang Yaozu completely exposed his true nature—his initial actions were no longer righteous elimination of a relative. He didn't kill Huang Yaozu because of his father's reactionary and brutal nature, but merely due to personal grievances. If Song Qiankun truly opposed Huang Yaozu's actions, he shouldn't have felt guilty. After liberation, Song Qiankun began pursuing fame, fortune, and status, calculating personal gains and losses, and dreaming of promotion and wealth. Such people's participation in revolution is opportunistic behavior—they bet on the revolutionary side, hoping to gain benefits for themselves after revolutionary success. They believe in "those who conquer the country should rule it," viewing revolution as simple dynastic change. People like Song Qiankun lack communist faith; they only believe "if one doesn't look out for oneself, heaven and earth will destroy them." Such people are parasites on the revolutionary cause, and their participation in revolutionary ranks causes great damage to the revolutionary cause.

People like Song Qiankun are not isolated cases; they are a group—what Chairman Mao called "capitalist roaders." They joined the Party during the New Democratic Revolution period, some for national liberation, others through opportunistic behavior, hoping to gain more benefits for themselves later. During the New Democratic Revolution period, they might still identify with the Party's program and struggle for the New Democratic Revolution. After liberation, when our country began socialist construction, they were no longer willing to continue revolution, failing to recognize the change in revolutionary nature and believing the revolution had succeeded—that having conquered the country, they should now rule it. During the cooperativization period, they were like "women with bound feet" [注: 小脚女人], unable to take big steps, believing cooperativization was "premature" and wanting to "establish New Democratic social order."

Influenced by the "Hungarian Incident" and "Polish Incident" [1956 uprisings], combined with continuous accumulation of domestic social contradictions, many Party cadres developed bureaucratic and subjective styles. Chairman Mao decided to launch the "Rectification" movement , mobilizing mass movements to offer opinions to the Party, overcome the constantly growing bureaucratic style within the Party, and better conduct socialist construction. Because this touched upon the interests of bureaucratic groups within the Party, they strongly opposed the "Rectification" movement. To better maintain their rule, Party bureaucrats exaggerated the attacks on the Party by a few rightists during the "Rectification" movement, infinitely magnifying rightist attacks to conclude that "if rectification continues, the Party will be ruined," opposing Chairman Mao's view that "if rectification doesn't continue, the Party will be ruined." Under the planning of Party bureaucrats, the "Rectification" movement evolved into the "Anti-Rightist" movement [注: 反右运动]. Chairman Mao believed there were only a few thousand rightist elements domestically and wanted to quickly end the "Anti-Rightist" movement to continue "Rectification." However, Party bureaucrats would never miss this opportunity. Although most masses' opinions about the Party were well-intentioned, hoping to make the Party more perfect, Party bureaucrats couldn't tolerate any criticism from the masses. They used the "Anti-Rightist" movement to label a large number of people who dared offer opinions—but weren't rightists—as rightist elements, expanding the "Anti-Rightist" movement and catching 550,000 "rightists" nationwide. The "Anti-Rightist" movement reflected Party bureaucrats' resistance to mass supervision and mass movements—to defend their privileges, they would use every means available. The "Anti-Rightist" movement brought very adverse consequences, making many people afraid to tell the truth afterward, worried about being "lured out like snakes" and getting burned. The harm of not daring to tell the truth was exposed during the Great Leap Forward period through "exaggeration winds"  and "communist winds" , producing serious consequences.

During the Great Leap Forward, Party bureaucrats, for their own achievements, exploited the masses' enthusiasm for building socialism, creating massive "communist winds" and "exaggeration winds." Although many cadres and masses knew actual grain production, influenced by the previous "Anti-Rightist" movement, they worried that telling the truth would label them as rightist elements, so they didn't voice opposition. Although Chairman Mao tried his best to correct these "leftist" tendencies during the Great Leap Forward, his efforts ultimately failed due to Peng Dehuai's problems at the Lushan Conference [注: 庐山会议]. The harm of bureaucrats' deception finally fully exposed itself under natural disasters, causing three years of economic difficulties in our country. Areas with severe "exaggeration winds" like Henan even suffered the "Xinyang Incident" [注: 信阳事件], causing massive deaths. Party bureaucrats' corrupt behavior had already brought serious damage to our country's socialist construction.

In the struggle between two lines within the Party, Chairman Mao gradually realized the existence of a potential bourgeoisie within the Party. Chairman Mao initially called them the "bureaucratic class." In 1965, he said: "Bureaucrats and the working class and poor and lower-middle peasants are two sharply opposing classes. These people have become or are becoming bourgeois elements who suck workers' blood—how could they understand? These people are targets of struggle, targets of revolution; the Socialist Education Movement cannot rely on them. We can only rely on those cadres who have no hatred toward workers and have revolutionary spirit." Later, Chairman Mao replaced the term "bureaucratic class" with the more precise name "capitalist roaders." Capitalist roaders are those in power within the Party who take the capitalist road—they defend bureaucratic privileges, oppose mass supervision, and attempt to use capitalist methods to solve problems in socialist construction. After the "Four Cleanups Movement" [注: 四清运动], Chairman Mao increasingly realized the harm of capitalist roaders within the Party. He said: "After the democratic revolution, workers and poor and lower-middle peasants didn't stop—they want to continue revolution. But some Party members don't want to advance anymore; some have retreated and oppose revolution. Why? They've become big officials and want to protect big officials' interests. They have good houses, cars, high salaries, and servants—even more powerful than capitalists. When socialist revolution reaches their own heads, some within the Party opposed cooperativization and resented criticism of bourgeois legal rights. In conducting socialist revolution, not knowing where the bourgeoisie is—it's within the Communist Party, the capitalist roaders in power within the Party. Capitalist roaders are still taking the capitalist road." In Chairman Mao's view, compared to rightist elements and former old landlords and old bourgeoisie, capitalist roaders in power within the Party were the most fundamental force for capitalist restoration. For this reason, Chairman Mao launched the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in his later years, attempting to use mass movements to solve the problem of capitalist roaders within the Party.

During the Cultural Revolution, the position of capitalist roaders within the Party was shaken. To defend their privileges, they diverted the struggle's main direction, turning mass movements into movements against masses, transforming criticism of capitalist roaders within the Party into criticism of "landlords, rich peasants, counter-revolutionaries, bad elements, and rightists," causing great damage to the Cultural Revolution movement. Chairman Mao adopted the method of "learning from past mistakes to avoid future ones, treating illness to save lives" toward defeated capitalist roaders within the Party, hoping they could transform from conscious or unconscious capitalist roaders. However, most capitalist roaders didn't change their original positions after being defeated but became more determined to defend their privileged positions. With the Cultural Revolution's failure and the implementation of reform and opening-up, potential bourgeois elements within the Party became the genuine bourgeoisie, and taking the capitalist road became reality.

Song Qiankun is a very typical image of a capitalist roader, making him the character I most hate in Black and White. There are many villains in Black and White, and their actions seem more despicable and shameless than Song Qiankun's. The charlatan Wu Bozhong uses medical practice as a pretext to toy with women and forcibly occupies residents' land by building Wu Ancestral Hall on Phoenix Island. His son Du Wei inherits his father's life philosophy, acts unscrupulously with ruthless methods, and together with Wu Bozhong turns Phoenix Island into a corrupt den of official-business collusion, sending Wang Sheng, who reported them, to prison. Lang Tao, a returnee overseas doctor who abandoned literature for politics, gradually becomes corrupt in officialdom and becomes an important supporter of Phoenix Island's corrupt den, along with characters like the Qian Gang father and son, Judge Niu Zhi, lawyer Huang Zipeng, Tang Fei, and others. But the reason these people can dominate society and cover the sky with one hand is precisely because people like Song Qiankun provide the soil for their survival and development. It is because of the actions of Song Qiankuns that capitalist restoration occurred. For their own privileged interests, they sacrificed the fundamental interests of the broadest masses of people. Capitalist restoration made the Song Qiankuns the biggest beneficiaries and caused the emergence of Du Weis in society.

Teacher Liu Jiming evaluates Song Qiankun this way: "Song Qiankun is both an old revolutionary and actually a deep-hidden opportunist within revolutionary ranks, bearing deep class marks. Such people are extremely representative—they were speculators during revolutionary years, capitalist roaders in power during Mao's era, and became representatives of so-called open-minded veteran cadres during reform and opening-up. Historical development finally restored their true nature—so-called 'genuine at both ends' people. Such people in revolutionary ranks are as numerous as fish crossing the river..." Song Qiankun killed his biological father Huang Yaozu and fought bravely during the New Democratic Revolution period, making contributions to the revolution. But in Song Qiankun's eyes, these contributions were chips for his promotion and wealth-seeking. Although Song Qiankun participated in revolution, he never truly accepted communism ideologically and never transformed into a proletarian fighter, still bearing bourgeois marks. Therefore, he was extremely resistant to socialist construction, and his true nature was released after reform and opening-up, restoring his original face. The Song Qiankuns in revolutionary ranks ultimately buried the revolutionary cause—even the strongest fortress cannot resist enemies from within. The Song Qiankuns usurped leadership and discourse power of revolutionary ranks, molding themselves as leaders of the times and defenders of revolutionary cause, while labeling loyal revolutionaries like Luo Zheng as "ultra-leftists." Party membership is not the standard for determining whether someone is a revolutionary—some people organizationally joined the Party but lack communist faith ideologically; some are not Communist Party members but are true Communists in thought and action. Although Song Qiankun is a so-called open-minded veteran cadre within the Party, his actions have fundamentally betrayed the most basic original intention of true Communists. Although Luo Zheng was expelled from the Party, his actions truly embody the true colors of a Communist Party member—he is worthy of being called a genuine revolutionary. The development of the times has exposed the true face of the Song Qiankuns, and the great winds of the times will eventually sweep the Song Qiankuns into history's grave.