Abstract: An established scholar within China’s official apparatus published a book in 2008 titled The Fall of the Red Sun—Achievement and Crimes of Mao Zedong, in which the author uses “horrendous atrocities committed” to describe Mao and proposes to “take Mao’s portraits off the wall and remove Mao’s corpse out of the mausoleum.” Surprisingly, the author has been tolerated by the authorities so far. This may indicate a change in Beijing’s ideology. The author, Xin Ziling, who was a young communist and diehard fan of Mao, now completely negates communism, rehabilitates capitalism, strongly denounces Mao’s crimes, and prescribes political reform strategies for the Chinese Communist Party. This reflects the new views of the democratic leaning senior party cadres. Reassessing Mao is the first step for the Chinese Communist Party to rationally reevaluate itself. It is also a necessary step for China’s democratization. Although the book has some questionable parts, the combination of its strong tone of denouncing Mao and its author’s belonging to the establishment has caused a nuclear tomb-like shock.