Project 571: The failed 1971 plot to overthrow Chairman Mao Zedong

History · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: In 1971, a clandestine document surfaced in China, outlining a desperate plan to assassinate Chairman Mao Zedong. Known as Project 571, the plot was allegedly orchestrated by the family of Lin Biao. While the coup failed spectacularly, the leaked manifesto left an indelible mark on the history of the Cultural Revolution.

Project 571, or 'armed uprising' in Chinese, was a secret plan to topple Mao Zedong. While the Chinese Communist Party initially blamed Vice Chairman Lin Biao, modern scholars and evidence from the 1980 special trials suggest the true architect was Lin's son, Lin Liguo. A high-ranking Air Force officer, Liguo drafted the outline in March 1971 with a small circle of loyalists known as the 'United Flotilla'. The document was less a military strategy and more a blistering political manifesto, attacking Mao as a paranoid sadist who treated comrades as disposable pawns.

The plotters proposed various assassination methods, including bombing Mao's train or using flamethrowers, but they lacked the military strength to succeed. Mao, who had become increasingly suspicious of Lin Biao, inadvertently thwarted the conspiracy by changing his travel route in September 1971. With their plans collapsing, Lin Biao, his wife Ye Qun, and Lin Liguo attempted to flee to the Soviet Union. Their plane crashed in Mongolia on September 13, 1971, killing everyone on board. In the aftermath, Mao purged over 1,000 senior military officials.

Despite the failure of the coup, Mao made the unusual decision to circulate the Project 571 outline among senior party cadres. He likely intended to expose the 'counter-revolutionary' nature of the plot, but the document’s scathing critique of Mao’s leadership resonated with the public. By labeling the regime a 'feudal dynasty disguised as a socialist country,' the manifesto provided a vocabulary for dissent. Its influence was later visible in the 1976 Tiananmen Square protests, where protesters echoed the document's call for a return to true Marxism-Leninism, signaling the beginning of the end for the Cultural Revolution.

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