Song Binbin
Song Binbin | |
|---|---|
| 宋彬彬 | |
Song in the 1960s | |
| Born | 1947 |
| Died | (aged 77) New York City, U.S. |
| Other names | Song Yaowu |
| Citizenship | American |
| Known for | Student Red Guards leader during the Cultural Revolution, involvement with death of teacher Bian Zhongyun |
| Political party | Chinese Communist Party |
| Movement | Cultural Revolution |
| Parent(s) | Song Renqiong (father) Zhong Yuelin (mother) |
| Song Binbin | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 宋彬彬 | ||||||||
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Song Binbin (Chinese: 宋彬彬; 1947 – September 16, 2024), also known as Song Yaowu (Chinese: 宋要武), was a Chinese woman who, as a 19-year old, began engaging in violence that led to a role as a senior leader in the Chinese Red Guards during the call to violence by Mao Zedong that was the Cultural Revolution. Although Song denied involvement, she was presumed present when a 50-year old teacher, Bian Zhongyun, was beaten to death by the female students of her school, reportedly the first killing of the Cultural Revolution.
After the Cultural Revolution, Song studied geology and moved to the United States, eventually receiving a doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1989. After becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen, she worked for the Massachusetts government before moving back to China and becoming the chairwoman of several companies. She apologized for her actions in the Cultural Revolution in 2014, though this was met with mixed reactions. She died in 2024, at the age of 77.