In 1958, Fu Lei, a famous Chinese translator and writer, was classified as a rightist by the authorities. At that time, his eldest son Fou Ts'ong (same surname, different romanization), who was far away in Poland, was about to finish his studies and return to China. With the pressure of his father being classified as a rightist, however, he chose to move to London, England. This action was considered a serious case of defection by China. As a result, Fu Lei and his wife were subjected to political persecution. After the Cultural Revolution began in 1966, Fu Lei's family was raided and criticized by the Red Guards for four days and three nights. In the early morning of September 3, Fu Lei and his wife, Zhu Meifu, left a suicide note "To Zhu Meifu's Brother"; both hanged themselves at their residence, the Jifeng Xunyu Building. They wrote in their suicide note, "Scum like us from the old society should have withdrawn of our own accord from the stage of history already!"

Before their deaths, Fu Lei and his wife exchanged their views on art and ideas with their sons Fou Ts'ong and Fu Min through letters. Later on, the 186 letters collected by Fou Ts'ong were published in a book titled "Fu Lei's Family Letters", which has since become a classic handed down from generation after generation of Chinese intellectuals.

Fu Lei was finally acquitted in 1979. In 2013, the ashes of husband and wife were buried in Ruyin Garden, in Pudong, Shanghai. Fu Lei's famous words were inscribed on the tombstone: "When alone, a child will create a world."

References: [風傳媒 ("Storm Media Group")(Chinese)] (https://www.storm.mg/article/25930); [BBC中文網("BBC News Chinese Edition")(Chinese)] (https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/trad/chinese-news-55473277); "Central News Agency" (https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acul/202012290023.aspx)