The Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-76)



Figure 1.--The Cultural Revolution was one of the most tragic episodes in modern Chinese history. The idealism of youth was manipulated to destroy many lives. This is a painting from 1971. The army uniform was commonly worn by students of all ages, both boys and girls, during the Culture Revolution. That was almost the only important's children's style. Notice the Young Pioner scarfe, the Mao badge, and the Little Red Book. Alsi notice the red arm band. I am not sure what it says. We also so not know who the artist was.

Another major even more radical change occurred during the Cultural Revolutuion (1966-76), one of the most violent and tragic episodes in modern Chinese history. It was inspired by China's leader Mao Tse Tung and known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. Mao thought that the Chinese people were losing their revolutionary zeal. He was also stung by criticism of his Great Leap Forward (1959) and declining influence in the Government. Mao conceived of a cutural revolution to destroy once and for all the culture of pre-Communist China and to gain absolute control of the Goivernment. Major Chinese traditions such as respect for ones's elders and the value of scholarship in particular were attacked. Children were often forced to renounce their own parents. Mao sought to reinvigirate party cadre with a revolutionay commitment, to replace many in positions of rank and privilege who were no sufficently inspired, to punish the cadre for the criticisms that were lodged against Mao's disastrous Great Leap Forward experiment, and to continue attacks against the intelligentia who he thought were not sufficently committed to the Revolution. Important leaders including Peng Zhen to Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping who were not sufficently loyal to Mao suffered during the Cultural Revolution, now just as the intelligentia and those who hadn't embraced Mao's grand plan. Mao's power reached unprecedent levels during this period in a xenephobic and often irrational cult of personality, symbolized by a Little Red Book consisting of his quotations, ubiquitous buttons that bore his portrait, and statues virtually deifying him that were raised near any buildings of social significance throughout China. The attacks on people made during the Cultural Revolution were all done in Mao's name. The Cultural Revolution made individual thoughts a crime. Pople had to hide their thoughts and emotions. People were beaten by teams of Red Guards. Many were denounced, sometimes by their own children or former friends, and sent to brutal labor camps for education. Many do not survive the harsh regime at the camps. Many others were permanently injured from beatings and lack of medical care at the camps. Others suffer from the humiliations also inflicted on them by the Rd Guards and at the camps. Mao had initiated the Cultural Revolution in 1966 when he met thousands of cheering Red Guards (students) at Tian-An-Men Square wearing his military uniform, Mao suit, and armband. Girl students who saw him cut their long queues into two brushes. They put on military uniform, leather belts and Liberation Shoes, virtually the same as the boys were weraing. Military uniform were the most popular and considered suitably revolutionary. They were admired by everyone. Red Army style uniforms became very popualar for boys. Military uniforms became a symbol of revolution and as a result was the most popular style of clothing. Western clothing and qipao in the 1950s and early 60s might still be seen in China, especially on formal national holidays, such as Chinese National Day and Labor Day. As a result of the political reforms of the Cultural Revolution, western clothing entirely disappeared in China. It was dangerous to have such clothing in your home. let alone wear it. People wore tunic suits and cadre suits as their standard dress. This was for everyone, without destinctions of profession, social status, or even gender. This included children as well and boys and girls wore the same outfits. Even ranking army officers stoped wering well tailored uniforms and insignia of rank because they were preceived as impairing communication between officers and enlisted men. Mao's wife Jiang Qing in the early 70s designed the Jiang-qing skirt for females of all ages. She recommended it as standard clothing for women, but it did not prove popular. She did not have the same ability to inspire as her husband. [Chang] Gradually the Cultural Revolution played itself out. The Cultural Revolution effectively ended with the Gang of Foir episide in 1976. With Mao's death in 1976, the Gang of Four was arrested. China began to change course. The opening to the West began in 1979.

Cause

The Cultural Revolution was inspired by China's leader Mao Tse Tung and known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. It is impossible to know Mao's thought process. It is known that he thought that the Chinese people were losing their revolutionary zeal, but whether that was the key factor or if he was concerned that he was losing his grip on power was the main impetus will never be known. Mao was especially stung by criticism of the disaterous Great Leap Forward (1957-60)--a program with which he was personally identified and one of the great disasters in Chinese history. The Great Leap was to be a master stroke, leading to the rapid development of China. It was not only an abject failure, but untold millions perished in the resulting failure. Mao saw his influence declining both within the Party and Government. Opinions within the leadership varied as to the future direction of China. Marsal Lin Biao who led the Military Affairs Committee of the Party saw a need to maintain revolutionary morale and fervor. Other more pragmatic leaders like President Liu Shao-chi were more interested in a pramatic approach to goverment, relying more heavily on the beaucracracy and technical experts. The pragmatists in the leadership often influenced bt the Soviet Union were becoming increasingly skeptical of Mao's ideologically based leadership and quixotic desision making. Mao conceived of a cutural revolution to destroy once and for all the culture of pre-Communist China and to gain absolute control of the Government. Interestingly the leadership was split between two failed appraoches, Mao's fervent revolutionary Comminism and Soviet centralm planning which atb the time was beginning to show the economic failure that would lead tomits demise. There was no discussion of free market reforms.

Launch (April 1966)

Mao initiated the Cultural Revolution when he met thousands of cheering Red Guards (students) at Tian-An-Men Square (April 1966). This was his attempt to end the debate within the leadership and seize control. Directives subsequently issued (May 1966) stressed the mobilization of the masses amd the organization of self-sufficent communes and low-tech industries in the countryside. In many regards this approach was similar to the dusasterous Great Leap Forward. Little importance was attched to technical expertise, rather the focus was on ideological purity and commitment. Mao charged that "liberal bourgeois" elements had buried themselves in the Party and society at large and were covertly trying to restore capitalism (May 16, 1966). Mao charged the Red Guards with removing these traiterous elements through post-revolutionary class struggle. He told the young people that hung on his every word to mobilize. Red Guard units organize all over the country. The movement even spread into the military, the workers, and the party leadership.

Biographies

A cast of characters is essential in understanding the Cultural Revolution because so many of the individuals involved are largely unknown to Western leaders. Mao of course is at the center, but because he was aging, especially in the later phase of the Cukltural Revolution, it is not only clear who was acting, Mao himself or the now villified Gang of Four. This was the name given to a leftist political group composed of four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members coordinating Mao's purges of the CCP, Army and Government during the Cultural Revolution. They were: Zhang Chunqiao, Wang Hongwen, Yao Wenyuan, and Jiangqing. The four wielded great power acting under Mao's name during the Cultural Revolution and were afterwards charged with a longn lit of crimes because it was not possible to sully Mao's name directly. Their trial in represented a huge turning point in the history of the People's Republic (late-1980). Lin Biao / Piao was another key player in the Cultural Revolution. He was an important major Chinese Communist military leader during the Civil War. who was pivotal in the communist victory in the Chinese Civil War, especially the pivotal campaign in in northeastern China. Lin did not play an active role in politics after the Civil War, but gradually played a role in building Mao's personality cult (early-1960s), apparently a political decision to ingratiate himself to Mao. He was rewarded for his slavish devotion for his slavish devotion when Mao designated Lin his successor during the Cultural Revolution. It was Lin who had Mao's Little Red Book printed in the millions and distributed throughjout China. As commander of the People's Liberation Army he followed Mao's desire to sress political indoctrination in training. Zhou Enlai is one of the most prominant and respected leasers of the Communist Party. He is one of the few leaders Mao allowed to share the spollight. He supported Mao's Cultural Revolution attack on the Party bureaucracy. It is not clear if he agreed or simly correctly assessed how the political winds were blowing. He than played a critical role in picking uo the pieces after the Cultural Revolution had speny its course. Helping to rebuilding China's political institutions and effectively mediating the numerous political quarrels reulting from the Cultural Revolution. President Liu Shaoqi was one of the primarty target's of the Cultural Revolution, largely because he had questioned Mao's disatrous Great Leap Forward. Liu was arrested, beaten and otherwise mistreaten and ultimately died in prison. Hua Guofeng became Mao's designated successor after the Lin Biao Inncident (1971). He slavisly supported the Gang of Four and Mao's personality cult. Afre suceeding to opower he turned against the Gang of Four and had them arrested. In the more open ebvironment that followed, he was outnmanuerverd by Deng Xiaoping who convinced imoprtant laeders of the dangers of a leader committed to the persinality cult. Deng Xiaoping was an economuc reformer who was purged during the Cultural Revolution, but survived. He would be leader that would champion the free markket reforms that have turned China into an economic powerhouse.

Violent Outbreak: Mao Mobilizes China's Youth (May 1966)

One of the most dramatic events of the People's Republic of China was the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolutuion (1966-76), now seen as a violent and tragic episodes in modern Chinese history. Mao Zedong, chairman of the Chinese Communist Party was persoally responsible. Mao had established himseld as the preeminent leader of the Communist Party nd as a result of the People Republic with the Comminist victory in the Cicil War (1949). He was thus able to launch the chaotic Great Leap Forward with little opposition (1958-60). The disaster including famine and economic crisis which followed weakened his once unquestion control of the Party and Government. He decided to strike at his critics. He thought that the Party leadership in hina as well as the Soviet Union were losing their revolutiojary ardour and becoming revisionist. He objected to the growing emphasis on expertise rather than on ideological purity. Discarding expertise of course is what caused the Great Leap Forward disaster. Mao backed a group of radicals, including his wife Jiang Qing and Defense Minister Lin Biao, to assist him in regaining control. Mao launched the movement (May 16, 1966). He charged that 'liberal bourgeois' elements were permeating the Party and society at large and they were trying to restore capitalism to China. Mao demanded that these persons be removed through post-revolutionary class struggle. Hec turned to Chinese youth to do it. At a meeting of the Plenum of the Central Committee (August 1966), he set his movement in motion. He closed schools throughout China. He called for Chinese youth to mobilize and eize the Party back from the corupt, decadent leaders embracing bourgeois values and lacking in revolutionary spirit. Chinese youth did not fail him andpursued the movement with a vengence. . Mao's Cultural Recolution rapidly escalated. The students formed paramilitary action groups which became known as Red Guards. They attacked and terrorized China’s elderly and intellectual population--many died as a result. Mao had been revered before the Cultural Revolution a personality cult emeged imilar to that of the Josef Stalin in theSoviet Unio. Different factions emerged claiming ro represent the true representative of Maoist thought. Defense Minister Lin Biao ordered Mao's Little Red Book to be printed in massive numbers distributed throughout China. He captuted the imagination of China's idealistic young people. Cintroling what he unleashed prove more difficult. he movement quickly pread into the military, the workers, and the party leadership itself. Mao finally responding to the chaos, officially declared the Cultural Revolution to have ended (1969). Turning it off proved more difficult tghm lighting the fuse. It did not end. The power struggles and political instability continued under the Gang of Four led by Jiang Qing, who had become a kind of culltural queen under Mao. Their authority was not challenged until Mao died (1976).

Traditions: The Four Olds (September 1966)

Mao through Lin-Biao launched an assualt on the major institutions of the People's Republic, the Party, the People's Liberation Army (PLA), and the Government. The targets were the intellectual and social remnants of the past. And the older members of these institutions were often but not exclusively targeted. Their assault troops were the Red Guards. The Third Great Mass Rally brought out a million 'rebel revolutionaries' in the Plaza of Heavenly Peace (September 15, 1966). Lin Piao issued new orders to the assembed mass. He decided to focus on the center of 'enemy' resistance. Lin ordered the Red Guards to 'bombard the headquarters' of the opponents within the Communist Party throughout China. Their objective was what Mao saw as the 'four olds', meaning old habits, manners, custom, and culture. This mean essentially the the entire extant civilization of China. The Mao-Lin faction of the Party decided to essentially burn down the Communist house to smoke out their enemies once and for all. Mao had come to belive that the revolution had to be a permanent process, apparently unwilling to accept ant opposition as egitimate. He decided that unending class struggle was needed. The hidden enemies in the Party and intellectual circles needed to be identified and rooted out. Opposition had in reality grown to Mao's peronal leadership because if the disaterous Great Leap Forward. Apparently Mao conceived that the opposition wa holding China back. And critically was threatening his ladership role. Then they would be free to raise Utopia 'on the ashes of the old society'. Major Chinese traditions such as respect for ones's elders and the value of scholarship in particular were attacked. Those targeted were humiliated, detained, beaten, sent to the contryside for hard labor, and not uncommonly murdered. They were persecuted by not only the Red Guards, but neighbours, colleagues and pupils enegized by revolutionary fervor or not infrequently personal grudges. Friends, children and spouses turned on them. Children were often forced to renounce their own parents. Pupil turned on teachers. [Branigan]

The Party

Mao especially targetted tthe Oarty. He sought to reinvigarate party cadre with a revolutionay commitment, to replace many in positions of rank and privilege who were no sufficently inspired, to punish the cadre for the criticisms that were lodged against Mao's disastrous Great Leap Forward experiment, and to continue attacks against the intelligentia who he thought were not sufficently committed to the Revolution. Important leaders including Peng Zhen to Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping who were not sufficently loyal to Mao suffered during the Cultural Revolution, now just as the intelligentia and those who hadn't embraced Mao's grand plan.

Cult of Personality

Mao's power reached unprecedent levels during this period in a xenephobic and often irrational cult of personality, symbolized by a Little Red Book consisting of his quotations, ubiquitous buttons that bore his portrait, and statues virtually deifying him that were raised near any buildings of social significance throughout China. The attacks on people made during the Cultural Revolution were all done in Mao's name. The Cultural Revolution made individual thoughts a crime. Pople had to hide their thoughts and emotions.

Little Red Book

After launching the Cultural Revolution, the Red Guards were incouraged to carry a little red book of Mao's quotations (May 1966). Actually the term "Little Red Book" was never used in China, but was a term that became popular in the West to describe it. The book was an abridged collection of quotations from Mao's witings and speeches. Mao's selected works were published in four volumes. Most of the quotations in the little red book come from about 25 documents in these volumes. The quotations range in length from a sentence to a few short paragraphs, and borrow heavily from a group of about two dozen documents in the four volumes of Mao's Selected Works. The quotations are generally short, sometimes only 1-2 sentences. A few are two paragraphs. It beca,e rquired reading and many Red Guards committed the passages to memory. It was printed in a small pocket addition to make it way for the students to carry it. No one knows precisely how many copies were printed, but most believe ell over one billion copies, making it one of the mostly widely printed books in history. Soon it was not just Red Guards carrying the book, but every Chinese person including primary children. Individuals who could not produce one could be beaten by Red Guards or sentenced to lengthy prison terms. The book was discussed not only in schools, but in the work place as well. The Chinese were incouraged to solve problems with these quotations. Schools, industrial plants, agricultural communes, government offices, and military units set up study groups to read and discuss the quotations. Thus instead of studying or working, the Chinese devoted countless hours to study Mao's quotations. It was argued that a better understanding of Mao would bring about a degree of enlightenment that would result in great improvements in production. The Red Guards used the quotations to identify and weed out intellectuals no sufficently committed to Mao. The 427 quotations are organized thematically into 33 chapters in the book. The chapters were titled: 1) The Chinese Communist Party, 2) Classes and Class Struggle, 3) Socialism and Communism, 4) The Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People, 5) War and Peace, 6) Imperialism and All Reactionaries Are Paper Tigers. ect. Chinese propagada at the time either consisted of Mao's images or his devoted followers brandishing the little red book. Gradually the importance of the book declined, eespecially after the rise of Deng Xiaoping (1978). The Party came to the view that the glorification of Mao's quotations was a left deviation and a an example of the cult of personality. The book was nevera recalled and today in China is generally seen as memorabilia with a meaning that depends on ones experiences during the Cultural Revolution.

Red Guards

The first Red Guards were armed factory workers in Russia during the Revolution. The term Red Guards or hong wei bing is more commonly used for the groups of militant young people mobilized by Mao to drive his Cultural Revolution. The Red Guards were mostly young people in the teens or early 20s (mostly 15-25 years of age). The Red Guards were first active in schools, but soon exhausting the possibilities within the schools the Guards moved out of the schools into the neigborhood as a whole. Many schools were closed. And then large numbers began moving in groujps to Beijing and other large cities. Mao "summoned" them to guard the Revolution from "evil forces" including imperialism and corruption and this included individuals within the Party that were not sufficntly loyal. Red Guard detachments were formed in every sector of Chinese society, including government agencies. Armed with their little red books they terrorized individuals in authority or with prpfesional prestige like teachers, factory managers, scholars, artists, scientists, and others including Party cadre who using Mao's quotations in their little red books, they labeled "deviationists" or "closet capitalists". An especially serious vrime was putting "technical expertise" over "correct political thinking". A Red Guard detachment in the Foreign Ministry even seized contol from Foreign Minister Chen Yi. People were beaten by teams of Red Guards. Many were denounced, sometimes by their own children or former friends, and sent to brutal labor camps for education. Much of this was conducted out of ideolgical fervor. Some Red Guards used their position to conduct personal vendettas. Many of those targeted by the Red Guards did not survive the harsh regime at the camps. Many others were permanently injured from beatings and lack of medical care at the camps. Others suffer from the humiliations also inflicted on them by the Red Guards and at the camps. Besides the damage done to China, the young people involved essentually received no secondary or university education. The Chinese now refer to them the "lost generation".

Fashion

Mao had initiated the Cultural Revolution in 1966 when he addressed cheering Red Guards at Tian-An-Men Square wearing his military uniform, Mao suit, and armband. Girl students who saw him cut their long queues into two brushes. They put on military uniform, leather belts and Liberation Shoes, virtually the same as the boys were wearing. Military uniform were the most popular and considered suitably revolutionary. They were admired by everyone. Red Army style uniforms became very popualar for boys. Military uniforms became a symbol of revolution and as a result was the most popular style of clothing. Western clothing and qipao in the 1950s and early 60s might still be seen in China, especially on formal national holidays, such as Chinese National Day and Labor Day. As a result of the political reforms of the Cultural Revolution, western clothing entirely disappeared in China. It was dangerous to have such clothing in your home. let alone wear it. People wore tunic suits and cadre suits as their standard dress. This was for everyone, without destinctions of profession, social status, or even gender. This included children as well and boys and girls wore the same outfits. Even ranking army officers stoped wering well tailored uniforms and insignia of rank because they were preceived as impairing communication between officers and enlisted men. Mao's wife Jiang Qing in the early 70s designed the Jiang-qing skirt for females of all ages. She recommended it as standard clothing for women, but it did not prove popular. She did not have the same ability to inspire as her husband. [Chang]

Mao's Death and thev Gang of Four (1976)

Mao officially declared the Cultural Revolution ended in 1969. The power struggle to control China, however, did not end at that time. Lin Piao died in a poorly explained plane crash in Mongolia while trying to escape to the Soviet Uniom (1971). This marked the end of the radical left wing's domination of the Party. Much of the military high command was purged within a few weeks of Lin's disappearance. Lin was closely allied to the group now known as the Gang of Four and a foe of Zhou Enlai who had begun promote the idea of a raprochment with the United States. The so-called Gang of Four came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution. Political instability continued abd did not end until the smashing of the Gang of Four. Jiang Qing, Mao Zedong's last wife was the leading figure of the group. Her closest associates were Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wenyuan, and Wang Hongwen. Gradually the Cultural Revolution ground to a stop. They had lost much of their power after the death of Lin. Nothing showed this more than President Nixon's visit to China (1972). The more moderate factiion of the party could not move aggresively against them as long as Mao lived. This changed when Mao died (1976). Their downfall came in a coup d'état only a month after Mao's death (October 6, 1976). The Gang of Four was arrested. Major celebrations on the streets of Beijing followed. The Gang of Four was charged with a long list of treasonous crimes and show trials followed. Most historians date the end of the Cultural Revolution with Mao's death and the Gang of Four episode which followed (1976). Here the treatment of the Gang of Four was in sharp contrast to how the targets iof the Cultural Revolution were treated. This in itself was a major step forward for China. Thereforfmers did not chhallenge Mao's image irectly, but it was sullied byb the trial which was conducted in the open and broadcast throughout China. China began to change course under the far-sighted leadership of Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping. The opening to the West began soon after (1979).

Deng Xiaoping (1978)


Impact

The Cultural Revolutionn was an era of widespread social and political turmoil. The result was chaos and economic disarray. Essentialy an entire decade was lost. This was cathrostophic for China. Over 10 years, over 35 million individuals were persecuted and more than 1 million people were dead, although the precise number will never be known. Red Guards not only attacked people, they smashed up temples, burned books and destroyed inreplaceable art treasures. Universities closed dow, A generation of students went without schooling, an incalcuable loss to the nation. [Branigan]

Sources

Branigan, Tania. "China's Cultural Revolution: portraits of accuser and accused," The Guardian (February 24, 2012).

Chang, Chun. E-mail message, January 14, 2002.






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Created: August 29, 2002
Last updated: 7:56 AM 11/18/2015