•This started in 1966 and turned China upside down
•Thousands of people lost their lives during this time of chaos
and violence
•Due to the failed program of the Great Leap Forward, many
people, especially the intellectuals, became opposed to Mao
•So Mao decided to shake things up
and get rid of those who opposed him
•He organized a group of young
people 11 million strong into
the “Red Guard”
A Campaign Against
the
“FOUR OLDS”
► Old Thoughts
► Old Culture
► Old Customs
► Old Habits
To Rebel Is Good!
Communist China
Under Mao
► Designed to renew revolutionary
spirit and establish a more
equitable society
► Mao wanted to put “intellectuals”
in their place
► Schools shut down – students
revolted
► Red Guards – students who
attacked professors, government
officials, factory managers
Red Guards (1)
• The first group of people to call themselves "Red Guards" in China were
a group of students at the high school attached to Tsinghua University,
led by Zhang Chengzhi; they used the name to sign two big-character
posters issued on 29 May and 2 June 1966.
• According to Zhang, the group of students originally wrote the posters
as a constructive criticism towards the university administration, which
was accused of harboring "intellectual elitism”.
• The group chose the name "The Red Guards" to create an image of a
mass student movement.
• Soon afterwards, the news of the movements reached Mao Zedong,
which organized "work teams" across schools and replaced school
administrations.
• Zhang's group soon put up more posters calling for radical revolution,
which was approved by Mao and published on the People's Daily.
• Soon afterwards, students all over Beijing were calling themselves "Red
Guards".
• Many rival Red Guard groups were formed.
A Red Guard
Red Guards (2)
• During the Cultural Revolution, the Red Guards traveled
throughout China, going to schools, universities, and
institutions, spreading the teachings of Mao.
• Many were violent and oppressive to those who went
against the teachings of Mao or criticized him.
• The role of Red Guard was mainly to attack the "Four Olds"
of society, old ideas, cultures, manners, and customs of
China at the time.
• Red Guards in had taken to the streets from their schools.
They made posters, speeches, and committed violent acts
in the name of the Cultural Revolution.
• The Red Guards ransacked museums and destroyed old
books and works of art throughout China. Many famous
temples, shrines, and other heritage sites were destroyed. In
total, 4,922 out of 6,843 were destroyed.
Red Guards March to
Canton
China under
Mao
• Mao launched the Cultural Revolution in
1966 as a response to threats to his
power from fellow CCP members.
• The Cultural Revolution created chaos
throughout China, creating violence and
driving many people to suicide. When
Mao was informed of this issue, he
allegedly commented: “People who try
to commit suicide—don't attempt to save
them! …China is such a populous
nation, it is not as if we cannot do
without a few people. ”
• Mao declared the Cultural Revolution
finished in 1969, but most historians cite
Mao’s death in 1976 as the true end of
the Revolution.
A Cultural Revolution
poster featuring Mao as
the “never-setting sun.”
What Mao taught…
Beginnings of Cultural Revolution
• Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.
• People, not weapons, are decisive in waging war.
• The proletariat must forge military strategy and
tactics which can bring into play its particular
advantages, by unleashing and relying upon the
initiative and enthusiasm of the revolutionary
masses.
• He insisted on the need to lead the masses in
carrying out revolutionary transformations and to
develop these politically, economically and
culturally in the service of advancing revolutionary
warfare.
Re-education
• Re-education was demanded to
intellectuals; who finished high
school education or even lower
school education.
• They were usually sent to country
side where they were educated
to live as peasants or low class
people.
Banned Items
• Any books including Chinese, western or any
Asian books that weren't about the
communism and Mao Zedong
• Nor any items that was linked or related to
western culture.
Public Humiliation Trials
•
•
•
•
Pull hair
Force to drink water/ other liquids
Kneel in broken shards of glass
Have your alleged “crimes” called out to
while kneeling in front of an audience
• Public beating
• Stoning
• Hanging
The Little Red Book (1)
• The Little Red Book also known as Quotations from Chairman Mao
Zedong (毛主席语录) has been published by the government of
the People’s Republic of China since 1964.
• It is a collection of quotations excerpted from Mao Zedong's past
speeches and publications.
• 900 million copies of The Little Red Book has been sold, second
only to the bible which has been around much longer.
• It was essentially an unofficial requirement for every Chinese
citizen to own, to read, and to carry it at all times during the
Cultural Revolution. The punishment for failing to produce the
book upon being asked would range from being beaten by Red
Guards to being given years of hard-labor imprisonment.
• Studying the book was required in schools, as well as at
workplaces. Workplaces have specified reading sessions during
working hours for workers to study the book.
The reddest, reddest, red sun in our
heart, Chairman Mao, and us together
Zhejiang Workers, Farmers and Soldiers
Art Academy collective, 1968
Mao’s
Little Red
Book
Propaganda Poster
Go among the workers, peasants and
soldiers, and into the thick of struggle!
1967-1972
Cultural Revolution Propaganda
• The posters show political adversaries crushed by giant
workers. The smiling image of Mao overshadows all,
hovering above crowds carrying red flags and Little
Red Books.
• Hundreds of thousands of copies of posters were
distributed.
Beat our common
enemy -reformer
like Liu Shao qi!
Mao is great and
he says
revolutionary
committee is
good!
Mao was
seen like
a god
•Mao dispersed the Red Guard
all over the country where they
Violently attacked people
and things that represented
the old ways.
Also singled out for attack were
writers,
scholars, and scientist; they were sent to the country to
do hard labor.
•Schools and universities were closed
for several years.
•In 1968 Mao called an end to the
Red Guard by sending them to help out
on the farms.
•Mao ended up with all his power back but
it was a disaster for China’s economy,
agriculture, and education.