Chinese have long since used the deaths of defrocked leaders as occasions to let out sentiments that can find no expression through the normal political process. During the winter of 1976, when Premier Zhou Enlai (viewed as a relative liberal in the Maoist hierarchy) died, tens of thousands of people spontaneously flooded Tiananmen Square, giving the Party a tremendous fright.
很长时间以来，中国人都借被免职领导之死来发泄平时通过正当的政治渠道发泄不了的情绪。1976年冬周恩来总理（毛体制下相对的自由主义者）去世时，成千上万人自发地涌向天安门广场，令当时的领导人感到巨大的恐惧。