February Countercurrent

February Countercurrent
Part of the Cultural Revolution
Date	11 February 1967 – 18 February 1967 (1 week)
Location	Huairen Hall
Caused by	January Storm High ranking party members feeling threatened by the Cultural Revolution
Result	Cultural Revolution Group victory, party elders criticized and are made to conduct self-criticism
Parties
State Council Cultural Revolution Group Ministry of Public Security
Lead figures
Tan Zhenlin Li Fuchun Li Xiannian Chen Yi Ye Jianying Xu Xiangqian Nie Rongzhen Kang Sheng Chen Boda Jiang Qing Zhang Chunqiao Xie Fuzhi

The February Countercurrent (Chinese: 二月逆流; pinyin: Èryuè nìliú), or the February Adverse Current, was a group within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that opposed the early direction of the Cultural Revolution, as led by the "radicals" of the Cultural Revolution Group (CRG). Following the January Revolution and similar power-seizures around the country, top Party leaders were meeting to discuss these events and the future course of the Cultural Revolution.The Countercurrent included senior party and People's Liberation Army officers (PLA) - the "old guard" - who protested the revolution's high-level purges and persecutions. In February 1967, arguments between the Countercurrent and the radicals led to the intervention of Mao Zedong who resolved the confrontation by supporting the CRG. The leaders of the Countercurrent were punished, but not purged; Mao wanted to prevent the "old guard" from uniting against him.