China’s Cultural Revolution
1966-1976
“The revolutionary war is a war of the masses; it can
be waged only by mobilizing the masses and relying
on them.”
-Mao Zedong, CCP Chairman 1943-1976
Communism
Individual Illustration
A theoretical economic system
characterized by the collective
ownership of property and by the
organization of labor for the
common advantage of all members
Communism
Example
Non-Example
Background/Why a Revolution?
 Great Leap Forward
 Increase agriculture and industry
 Reforms create communes (700 million people into
26,578 communes)
 Production of steel in “backyard” furnaces
 Steel melted down for construction. Many times tools
were melted down
 Propaganda to set and beat targets of production leads
to lying/over-reporting numbers
Background/Why a Revolution?
 Useless, poor quality steel created and time away from
crops led to bad harvest
 3 year famine (1958-1961) caused by drought,
flooding, poor agricultural techniques
 ~10-30 million dead from starvation or disease
 Mao dislikes shift towards capitalization (the
“capitalist road”)
 Mao urges people to overthrow gov’t
Images of the Great Leap Forward
Plans of Mao Zedong
 Create a true Communist society
 Destroy the “Four Olds” (Ideas, Culture, Customs,
Habits)
 Rid the government/society of “elites” or “reactionaries”
who threaten Communist goals (Government officials,
teachers, artists, scholars, scientists, or any in
opposition)
 Spread the Cultural Revolution throughout all of China
 Sending the Red Guard out into the fields to spread
the word/ideas
 Factory workers and elites sent to work the fields
What happened?
 China’s urban youth create the Red Guard (~20 million high
school and college students)
 Schools closed to free students for Red Guard
 Red Guard uses violence and intimidation to spread the
word of Mao
 Individuals beaten, killed, publicly shamed (degrading signs
hung around their necks, made to wear dunce caps)
 Put up posters, banners hung, “Little Red Book”, leaflets and
newspapers distributed
 “Little Red Book”: handbook of quotes to tell readers how
to apply Mao Zedong ideas to their lives
 "Little Red Book" Guidance
What happened?
 Books, artifacts, museums, temples and shrines were
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destroyed
The Red Guard groups began to fight each other thinking
they knew best what China needed to move forward.
Some individuals sent to the countryside to be “re-educated”
by agricultural workers (“To read too many books is
harmful.” -Mao Zedong)
Others sent to the countryside by parents to carry out the
communist goals of Mao
Video of destruction/violence
Red Guard Targets
Red Guard/Students against:
 Administration
 Teachers
 Parents of students
 Students
 Killing spills out into community
 http://www.chinese-memorial.org/
Images of the Cultural Revolution
Images of the Cultural Revolution
Effects of the Cultural Revolution
 ~10-40 million dead because of GLF
 Starvation/disease
 Land owners executed/land used for communes
 “Elitists” targeted/beaten and killed
 A generation of uneducated youth (“The Lost
Generation”)
Recovery
 Recovery began because:
1. Mao gives up control of gov’t
2. Factory managers return from fields to run industry
3. Forced collectivization of agriculture stops
Review
 What is communism? What are some of its characteristics?
 What was the Great Leap Forward? What caused it?
 What was the Cultural Revolution? What caused it?
 What individuals were targets of violence/intimidation?
 Who was targeting these individuals? Why?
 What were the desired affects of the violence?
 What were the actual affects?
Assessment
 Choose an assignment:
1. You are a newspaper reporter who has immersed him/herself
in the revolution. Write a narrative about what life used to be
like and what it is like post-revolution. What differences to
you see? Use imagery to tell your story.
2. On an unlined sheet of paper draw two pictures. One picture
should illustrate a “before” look at China prior to the Cultural
Revolution. Next to this, an “after” picture of China, showing
a changing/changed country.
Rubrics
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Newspaper Article
Heading (First and last name,
date, period) – 2pts
Date of revolution in article
(Month/Day/Year) – 2pts
Explanation of feelings – 2pts
Explanation of surroundings –
2pts
4 example of how China or its
people changed – 8pts
2 forms of imagery present –
4pts
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Illustration
Heading (First and last name,
date, period) – 2pts
Date of revolution in drawings
(Months/Days/Years) – 2pts
Colored – 2pts
Drawn neatly (quality decided by
me!) – 2pts
2 changes present in drawing –
4pts
Short description of pictures =
4pts
Explanation of changes and how
they came about in Communist
China – 4pts