Week 1. The Revolutionary Tradition
1. Chinese revolutions
(1911 Xinhai Revolution 辛亥⾰革命, 1949 Chinese Communist Revolution 解放戰爭,
第⼆二次國共內戰) were part of the revolutionary movement of the larger world,
informed by France and Russian Revolutions
Chinese Communist Revolution
Chinese People's War of Liberation 中国⼈人⺠民解放战争
National Protection War against the Communist Rebellion 反共衛國戡亂戰爭
Second Kuomintang-Communist Civil War 第⼆二次國共內戰 / 第⼆二次国共内战
Part of the Chinese Civil War (1927–1949)
Part of the Cold War (1947–1950)
2. Cultural Revolution (1966-76) was a continuation of Communist revolution of 1949
中华⼈人⺠民共和国历史始于公元 1949 年年 10 ⽉月 1 ⽇日在北京举⾏行行的开国⼤大典
3. The new social structure and public support after 1949: four keys: (8 years)
- Party network 政黨網絡
-
Rural land reform 農村⼟土地改⾰革 (1940s, 1950-53)
Korean War 朝鲜战争 (1950-1953)
- Urban socialist reform (1953-57) 城市社會主義改⾰革, 中国的社会主义改造:
elimination of private ownership
- Social divisions 劃分階級, 社會部⾨門: “class” identities, unit assignment,
neighbourhood committees
4. Anti-rightist campaign 反右运动 (1957, and the second wave in 1959):
Week 2. The Origins of the CR: Mao the Launcher (1949-1966)
3. The global context that explains Mao’s obsession with “Revisionism 修正主義”:
- USSR: Khrushchev’s speeches, 1956:
- 1960-64, the ideological split developed into conflicts btw PRC and the USSR
4. The domestic problems: The Great Leap Forward (1958-?(1960/2)):
- and the Great Famine (1960-1962)
(China Miracle 1.0: Ten Great Architectures 1958)
- Its criticism from Peng Dehuan and second wave of “anti-rightist” (1959)
- The correction: 7000 persons conference (1962) and Liu Shaoqi’s report. Mao
retired from the front line of state affairs
5. Mao’s fears
- Mao’s Socialist Education campaign 社会主义教育运动, 四清運動 1963?-1965?
failed, targeting the party bureaucrats
Chronology of the CR
• Prelude: 1964-66, SEM (induced by GLF)
• Stage I: 1966-68 (bottom up mass movement, red guards and rebels)
• Stage II: 1969-71 (top down suppressions and executions, the rise of the military)
• Stage III: 1972-76 (return of Deng vs the rise of gang of 4) (5 years)
(the split top and silent revolution below)
• The Ending: 1977/6-79
Stage I (1966-68)
Week 3. Red Guards and Rebels: Stage I (1966-68)
The Prelude of the CR: Socialist Education Movement (1963-66)
Liu Shaoqi, Chairman of PRC (1959-68)
• 1930s- Supported Mao against the leaders preferred by Moscow
• 1940s- rectification campaign: key role in reeducating CCP to accept Mao’s
leadership
• 1945, first praised “Mao Zedong Thought”, began Mao cult
• Promoting “obedient tool” of the party
• 7000 cadres conference (1962) “30% natural causes, 70% man-made disaster.”
To Begin: “May 16 Notice”, 1966: Setting the Target
A. How did Mao mobilize the red guards?
1. Mass media: Mao called “To rebel is justified”, and Mao’s “Bombards the
headquarter” (8.1966)
2. Mass rallies 群眾集會: (8-10, 1966), 3 months, 8 times, 12 million red guards from all
over China
3. Great revolutionary tourism (1966-67): to spread revolutionary seeds of fire
Five black categories: (1949-57)
-Landlord, Rich farmers, Counter-revolutionaries（1952-…）, Bad elements, Rightists
Add 4 to make 9 black: (CR 1966-76)
- Traitors, Spies, Capitalist roaders, Intellectuals (yu luoke)
C. The Red August/ the Red Terror (1966): the state sanctioned violence 合法
红卫兵运动在 1966 年年北京的“红八⽉月”期间达到⾼高潮并影响全国，随着 1968 年年开展的知识青年年“上⼭山下
乡运动”，红卫兵的政治组织逐渐解散[6][7]。1969 年年的九⼤大之后，随着“復課鬧⾰革命”的中央号召，红卫
兵的名称被借⽤用，⽽而共青团当时已经⼏几乎瘫痪。
Week 4 Mass Movement: Why Did Everyone Participate? (Rebels)
A. Rebels Groups “Seizing Power”奪權: workers and the military (1967-68)
1. The ministries 內閣 of the central government (1967):
2. The January storm, Shanghai (1967.1)
- Who proposed: Liu and Deng got Mao to agree to expand the CR to the
proletarians (1966)
- Jan.6, 1967, 100,000 mass rally overthrew the party committee and government
of Shanghai.
Week 5. The Send-Down Movements: Literature as History
A. The massive sent down (How to end the Mass movement?):
1. Up to the mountains and down to the villages 上⼭山下鄉:
- Red guards and all middle school graduates (1968-1979),
What is May 7 Cadre School 五七幹校?
-
Mao’s speech on May 7, 1966 “PLA is a great school”. Starting early 1968,
active through 1972, and formally ended 1979
Before young people (1968), because Brought down by the seizing power à re-education
When did the sent down movement end?
- Protest on their knees (1979.1), 2 million youth remain at the farm (left out)
à Official Ending:
-
1981 年年 10 ⽉月，國務院知青辦发布的《⼆二⼗十五年年來來知青⼯工作的回顧與總結》中說，知青上⼭山下
鄉是“我們黨解決就業問題的⼀一次⼤大試驗”
“⼯工作上有嚴重失誤，造成勞⺠民傷財，⼈人⺠民不滿”
Stage II (1969-71)
Week 6. The Repressive Campaigns: Who Were the Executioners? Stage II (1969-71)
B. Stage II: The Turning of CR direction at Phase II: Suppressive campaigns
Landmarks:
- January Storm of Shanghai (Jan 1967)
- Whole Nation Red (1968.8), The “whole nation turning red” 全國⼭山河⼀一片紅
~ established 29 RC ⾰革委會 by 1968.9
- The Ninth Congress 九⼤大 (1969.4)
C. The Class Cleansing Campaign 清理理階級隊伍
1. The launchers: Zhou and Mao
The Launching (late 1967):
- The 1st campaign carried out by RCs Late 1967 in Shanghai, full scale in
summer 1968 (coincide with the establishment of the RCs)
D. The “One Strike and Three Antis” ⼀一打三反
1. The Launching: 1970.2 by the new central leadership of CCP
The launchers: Document of CCP CC 中央－中,Zhou’s draft and Mao’s approval:
2. The impact of “One Strike"
- Lasted between 1970.2 and 1972-73
Week 7. In the Countryside: Unknown Stories, Conflicting Points of View
à Why study the countryside?
- Rural China had 82%+ of the total population (1966-76),
what happened there is definitive for evaluating CR
1. Research question 1-2:
à Answers: Yes, all 3 key events happened in the countryside,
at the same time as in the cities: (may have exception)
- Rebellion to seizing power (86.5%) 1966-Jan.1967, peaked Jan.-Mar.1967
- Faction fighting during the seizing power (72.6%), peaked July-Sept. 1967
- Establishing RC (98.3%): peaked Jan-Mar. 1968, ended Dec. 1971.
Stage III (1972-76)
Week 8. Deviations and Silent Resistance: Stage III (1972-76)
CR stage III (1972-76, 5 years)
- The “Lin Biao incident” (death of Lin, Sept 13, 1971)
- Nixon’s visit and international relations (1972)
- The return of Deng Xiaoping (1973) and old officials to government.
- Attacking Zhou Enlai and the rise of the gang of 4
- The four modernizations (1975)
- The death of Zhou (Jan 1976)
à Stage II to III: From the death of Lin Biao to the death of Zhou Enlai
B. The Split on Top
1. The Tenth Congress (1973):
- The main job: reaffirm the line of the Ninth congress:
Continued revolution under proletarian dictatorship
- Denouncing Lin Bao
- Selecting Wang Hongwen as the new successor and rising of Gang of 4
2. In name: Campaign of Criticizing Lin Biao and Confucius,
Real: targeting on Zhou Enlai (1974) 批林林批孔（批周公）
3. Deng Xiaoping taking over (1975) and criticizing Deng 批鄧
-
4. Four Modernizations OR Continued Revolution
- Four modernizations proposed by the party before CR and reaffirmed by Zhou
in 1975 in National Congress
Universities reopened (1973) to “workers, peasants, soldiers” based on recommendation
Politics: Tug of war between old guards and the Gang of Four
– Zhou’s year 1972:
followed by “Pi Lin Pi Confucius, and Pi Zhou Gong” 1974（批林林批孔批周公）
– Deng’s year 1975:
“all around readjustment”
“Repulsing Deng’s Right-Deviationist Wind” (反擊右傾翻案風 Nov 1975）
à Both sides were decreed 發佈命令 by Mao
Week 9. Culture and Counter-Culture: Stage III (1972-76)
D. Appearance of a Counter-culture
1. Underground art: The Wuming (No Name) Painting Group (1973-1981):
The Ending (1976/7-1979)
Week 10. The End of the CR and Beginning of a Future (1976-79)
The Final Ending: 3 Top Pol Incidents + 2 Public Protests
- The Death of Zhou Enlai (1. 1976)
- The first April 5th Tiananmen movement (4. 1976)
- The Death of Mao (9. 1976)
- Arrest of Gang of 4 (Oct 6, 1976)
- Democracy Wall Movement (1978-79)
- Deng took over the control of CCP (12. 1978)
- The victory/ rise of Deng XP over Hua Guofeng (1979)
- The trial of the Gang of 4, 11.1980-1.1981
The official verdict 判決:
“10 years of catastrophe launched & led by Mao and used by Lin Biao & the gang of 4.”
-- Resolution on CPC History, 1981
B. April Fifth Tiananmen Incident, (April 5, 1976)
1. The consequence:
- Purges continued in each work unit until Dec. 1978
C. The Democracy Wall (1978-79)
1. Appearance of Democracy Wall:
- When: in October. 1978
2. - Dec. 1978, Deng resumed power with support of the military, Hua Guofeng fell
- 11. 1978, Deng reversed 歸為 4.5 incident as “revolutionary action”
3. Dec 5. 1978, Wei Jingsheng wrote the “Fifth Modernization” – Democracy
4. The Crack down, arrest, and impact
January to March, 1979:
arrest underground journal writers, editors, and Wei Jingsheng
Week 11. The CR Legacy and the 1989 Tiananmen Movement
1. State orchestrated mass movement 國家精⼼心策劃的群眾運動
- The military suppression (1968-71, 1976, 1989) once finished its use
- Consequence: popular protests appropriate the official ideology; and 1989 is an
undemocratic movement recreating core features of CCP revolutionary culture
B. The Legacy of a Radical 激進 Revolutionary Culture:
Liu Xiaobo’s (1955-2017) Reflection on 1989
- Charged for “subverting state power”, sentenced to eleven years’ imprisonment
- Awarded 2010 Nobel Peace Prize
1. A carnival:
1989, Revolution as the festivals of the oppressed and exploited:
the carnival made people lose rationality and sense of reality. (1966: red guard)
C. The CR’s Political and Cultural legacies in the June 4th Movement:
1. The origin:
1966, 1976, 1978, 1989 – all moments of split leadership on the top,
and mass movement as a means to participate in that struggle
Sources
Week 1. The Revolutionary Tradition
Week 2. The Origins of the CR: Mao the Launcher (1949-1966)
1) MacFarquhar et al., “Introduction,” Mao’s Last Rev., pp. 1-13.
(MacFarquhar, Mao’s Last Revolution, p.6 )
2) “The Resolution of the Central Committee of CPC” OR No. 19, 《中國共產黨中央
委員會關於建國以來黨的若干歷史問題的決議》
(“The Resolution of the Central Committee of CPC”, No. 19)
Film: (Tian, Blue Kite)
Week 3. Red Guards and Rebels: Stage I (1966-68)
1) MacFarquhar et al., “The Red Guards,” Mao’s Last Rev., pp. 102-116.
2) “May 16 Circular” OR 《五一六通知》（原題《中國共產党中央委員會通知》）
(“May 16 Circular”)
3) “Bombard the Headquarters – My First Big-Character Poster” OR “炮打司令部——
我的一張大字報”
(Mao, “Bombard the Headquarters – My First Big-Character Poster”)
Film: (Hinton, Morning Sun)
Week 4 Mass Movement: Why Did Everyone Participate? (Rebels)
1) MacFarquhar et al., “The End of the Red Guards,” Mao’s Last Rev., pp. 239-252.
2) White, Lynn T. Policies of Chaos: The Organizational Causes of Violence in China's
Cultural Revolution. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1989, pp. 3-18.
(White, Policies of Chaos, p. 3-18)
Week 5. The Send-Down Movements: Literature as History
1) Yang Jiang, Six Chapters from My Life"Downunder", translated by Howard Goldblatt,
Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1984, ch.1 and 3.
OR 楊絳, 《幹校六記》, 北京: 中國社會科學出版社, 1992, ch.1 and 3. [Ebook]
(Yang, Six Chapters from My Life, p. 5-19, 33-50)
2）Acheng, Three Kings: Three Stories from Today's China; translated by Bonnie S.
McDougall. London: Collins Harvill, 1990. ch. 1-2.
OR 阿城, 《棋王》, 北京: 作家出版社, 2000, ch. 1-2. [Ebook]
(Acheng, Three Kings, p. 29-69)
Week 6. The Repressive Campaigns: Who Were the Executioners? Stage II (1969-71)
1) MacFarquhar et al., “Cleansing” and “One Strike,” Mao's Last Rev., pp. 253-62, 301307.
2) Yang Xiguang and Susan McFadden, Captive Spirits: Prisoners of the Cultural
Revolution, Hong Kong: Oxford University Press 1997, “Forward,” “Author’s
Preface,” and chapters 10 and 11. OR 楊曦光, 《牛鬼蛇神錄: 文革囚禁中的精
靈》, 香港: 牛津大學出版社, 1994, chapters 1, 11 and 12.
(Yang & McFadden, Captive Spirits: Prisoners of the Cultural Revolution)
3) 嚴非， “‘非正常死亡’再回顧” and 宋永毅，“廣西文革中的吃人狂潮”；《二十
一世紀》 (2016, June), pp.61-75， 76-95.
(嚴非, “‘非正常死亡’再回顧”) (宋永毅，“廣西文革中的吃人狂潮”)
4) Zhongfa（1970）3 [中發 1970 三號文件], Schoenhals, China’s CR, pp. 85-89.
(Schoenhals, “Zhongfa of CCP Center”, No. 3)
Week 7. In the Countryside: Unknown Stories, Conflicting Points of View
1) Walder and Yang Su, "The Cultural Revolution in the Countryside: Scope, Timing
and Human Impact." The China Quarterly no. 173 (2003): 74-99.
(Walder & Su, The Cultural Revolution in the Countryside: Scope, Timing and
Human Impact, p. 74-99)
2) Han Dongping, The Unknown Cultural Revolution: Educational Reforms and Their
Impact on China's Rural Development. New York: Garland Pub., 2000,
“Conclusion,” pp. 177-181.
(Han, The Unknown Cultural Revolution: Educational Reforms and Their Impact
on China's Rural Development, p. 177-181)
3) “The Speed of Economic Development”, Schoenhals, China’s CR, pp. 262－263.
(Schoenhals, “The Speed of Economic Development”, p. 262-263)
Week 8. Deviations and Silent Resistance: Stage III (1972-76)
1) MacFarquhar et al., “Zhou Under Pressure,” Mao’s Last Rev., pp. 358-378.
2) Dikötter, “The Silent Revolution,” The CR, ch. 11, pp. 270-284.
(Dikötter, The Silent Revolution, p. 271-284)
3) Model Operas:
(Wang, White Haired Girl)
(Cheng, Red Lantern)
Week 9. Culture and Counter-Culture: Stage III (1972-76)
Aihe Wang, “Apolitical Art, Private Experience, and Alternative Subjectivity in China’s
Cultural Revolution,” China Perspectives (2014) 4, pp. 27-36.
(Wang, Apolitical Art, Private Experience, and Alternative Subjectivity in China’s
Cultural Revolution, p. 27-360)
OR “文革中的地下藝術:無名畫會,” 《二十一世紀》 (2016, August), pp.99118.
(Jiang, In the Heat of the Sun)
Week 10. The End of the CR and Beginning of a Future (1976-79)
1) Wei Jingsheng, “The Fifth Modernization.” Or 魏京生，“第五個現代化.”
(Wei, “The Fifth Modernization”, p. 2)
2) Mao, “Seal the Coffin”, Schoenhals, China’s CR, p. 293.
OR《倒行逆施》王年一，《大動亂》, 600-601.
(Schoenhals, “Seal the Coffin”, p. 293)
(Gordon & Hinton, The Gate of Heavenly Peace)
Week 11. The CR Legacy and the 1989 Tiananmen Movement
1) Perry, Elizabeth J. "Studying Chinese Politics: Farewell to Revolution?" The China
Journal no. 57 (2007): 1-22.
(Perry, "Studying Chinese Politics: Farewell to Revolution?", p. 1-22)
2) Liu Xiaobo, “That Holy Word: Revolution.”
(Liu, “That Holy Word: Revolution”)
3) “The Resolution of the Central Committee of CPC” OR No. 19,《中國共產黨中央
委員會關於建國以來黨的若干歷史問題的決議》
(“The Resolution of the Central Committee of CPC”, No. 19)