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[A potentially interesting set of statements.

Perhaps Zhang Fei might tell us more about this, or have a good guess about what is actually going on.
What is YT? Is Song Ping really 105? Was he on the Long March with Mao?]

Only real insiders are privy to what is happening. If there is a coup, there’s likely to be radio silence for a period on the events in question. For instance, Mao’s widow was his de facto heir. She was basically Queen Elizabeth I (unlike the powerless and unrelated Queen Elizabeth II) after his death - with the power to do anything she wanted. Her problem? Many of her underlings hated her. So when Hua Guofeng, the de jure (but powerless) heir got together with Deng Xiaoping to make himself chief, her underlings deserted her and went with Hua.

I read in a recent twitter thread that Madam Mao and her favorites were arrested on Oct 6, 1976. The news came out on Oct 21, 1976. If I had to venture a guess as to the reason for the gap in time, I’d say they were securing buy-ins from the various military and civil officials who might take the coup the wrong way. They were either being reassured by intermediaries they trusted or were related to or bought off, perhaps both. Because if a significant number were opposed to the coup and resisted with arms, the potential for all against all civil war over the succession was non-trivial. Not out of ideological principle, but a combo of fear of being purged/killed and hope re the possibilities that open up in times of turmoil.

The amusing coda? Deng Xiaoping launched a coup against Hua Guofeng while Hua was abroad showing what a great statesman he was. That’s how Hua and Madam Mao became footnotes, and Deng got to lord it over the Chinese empire for well over a decade.

If I remember my history, Madame Mao launched the Chinese youth against the traditions of China and the people who maintained them. Many scholars and treasures of history and culture were lost, purged, or destroyed. A tragic time for the history and culture of China.

Thank you for some interesting history, can you answer any of my 3 questions?