Summary:
A short history of the Cultural Revolution in China from 1966 to 1976 and the degree to which it led to disorder and disaster within China.
The Cultural Revolution of China began as a series of political persecutions by Mao Zedong as an effort to wipe out any members of the Communist Party who dared to oppose him. By 1966, after the initial proclamation of China as the Peoples' Republic of China, the Communist Party had clearly split into two sides, each arguing that their direction was better for China to head in. The radicals, or Maoists, believed that politics were more important than developing China's economy, and wished to reinforce in the people their support and love of Mao by producing the Little Red Book, a collection of Mao's quotations and thoughts. The moderates, led by Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping, believed building up the economy was the top priority.
The year of 1962 saw Mao launch the Socialist Education Movement and the 'Four Clean-Ups Campaign'. Both of these aimed to get rid of corruption in the Party, make sure the Chinese people wholeheartedly supported Communism, and clear the country of intellectual thought and expression. The Four Clean-ups Campaign was launched to get rid of the four 'olds' - old customs, old habits, old culture and old ideas, all of which were said to be part of 'capitalist' and 'counterrevolutionary' behaviour.
In 1964 Mao Zedong drew up a list of famous writers, artists and scholars and labeled them 'reactionary bourgeois authorities'. Following this he ordered every region's communist officials to expose others - that is, those who dared to think in even a slightly different manner to Mao. This was the preface to the Cultural Revolution. By not letting the people express themselves through art and culture, Mao had effectively turned them towards him and him only, giving them reason to suspect anyone and anything.
With the support of Lin Biao, the Minister for Defence, the People's Liberation Army, and Jiang Qing, his wife, Mao launched the 'Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution' in 1966. To begin, he called the students and youths of every city to form groups called the Red Guards. With Mao's support, the Red Guards went around the cities, putting up posters criticizing 'capitalists' and attacking the Four Olds. However, they began to abuse their new-found power and resorted to violence. They beat up people, burnt down libraries, schools, churches and shops and led so-called 'capitalists' through the streets to be publicly humiliated in 'denunciation meetings'. More often than not, these 'capitalists' were parents and teachers who the Red Guards did not like. The Red Guards were also given free transport around the country by Mao and sometimes he would meet thousands of Red Guards in Tiananmen Square to encourage them and give them his support.
The Red Guards put up posters of Mao everywhere. Support for him soon turned out to be worship and most people thought of him as a god, learning the Little Red Book by heart. They also hated Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping, the leaders of the moderates who were both expelled from the Party. Liu Shaoqi later died while in imprisonment.
Soon, however, some Red Guards began to doubt Mao and the Cultural Revolution. This was mostly due to the excessive violence. Often there were fights between different groups of Red Guards who had different beliefs. People who were opposed to the violence were then criticized themselves, and all across the country there were brawls between different factions of Red Guards as almost every school had its own committees. The whole of China was plunged into chaos and uncertainty, and over 400,000 people were killed with many more imprisoned, tortured and humiliated.
By 1967 even Mao had realized that things had gone too far. His wish to stir up rebellion and class struggle had gone beyond what he had expected, and it was time to restore order to the country. Schools were reopened, and in an attempt to discourage violence, thousands of Red Guards were sent off to the country side to live with peasants and be 're-educated'. Denounced government officials and teachers were given back their jobs, and people opened up their shops again. The Cultural Revolution was officially over in April 1969.
Although Mao now had the support of most of the government as most of the moderates had been expelled, Lin Biao's support for him was wavering. In 1971 he planned to assassinate Mao; however his plot was found out and in an attempt to flee the country, his aircraft crashed in a desert near Mongolia and he died.
After Lin Biao's death, the government was once again in uncertainty about which direction to head in. It was still split between the Right-wing moderates, led now by Premier Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping who had been reinstated, and the Left-wing radicals led by Mao and the Gang of Four, comprising of Jiang Qing and three other radicals. The Gang of Four was in charge of all the media and this put them at an advantage - they could control what was communicated to the people. They also had the support of the Communist Youth League, trade unions and some of the PLA.
The Right was all for modernizing China and building up the economy. They supported Zhou Enlai's plan for Four Modernizations (industry, farming, defence, science), while the Left believed politics was much more important and that everyone should study 'Maoism'. When Zhou Enlai died, Deng Xiaoping was blamed for the riots afterward and he was again expelled from the Party. They appointed Hua Guofeng in his place.
After Mao's death in 1976, the Gang of Four seemed to be in control of the nation. However the Politburo gave the post of Chairman to Hua Guofeng and the Gang of Four was arrested. Deng Xiaoping became Deputy Chairman in 1977 and began to stabilize the country.
Today, people think of the Cultural Revolution as a disaster and wonder why it happened. It happened because a once-reasonable leader went mad with power and, thinking the country was too peaceful, wished to stir up some violence. But it should never happen again.
Bibliography
Brooman, Josh. China Since 1900. Longman Inc., New York: 2003
Ferdinand, Peter. "Cultural Revolution." Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 98
Morales, A.C. East Meets West Volume II: 1920 - 1980. MacMillan Publishers (HK) Ltd., Hong Kong: 1986
