In 1966, Mao started the Great
Proletarian Cultural Revolution
to create a working class culture.
The Little Red Book, a collection
of Mao’s thoughts, provided
knowledge in all areas.
The Red Guards were formed to
eliminate the “Four Olds” – old
ideas, old culture, old customs,
and old habits.
The Cultural Revolution
• After ending the Great
Leap Forward, Mao was
worried that the
communist spirit was
being thwarted by the
desire to make money.
• He concluded that China
needed a cultural
revolution to get rid of the
Four Olds: old ideas, old
culture, old customs, and
old habits.
The Cultural Revolution
• Many Communist
leaders disagreed with
this plan to reverse
economic recovery, so
Mao turned to the young
people to lead the
revolution and created
the Red Guards.
The Red Guards
•
The Red Guards were mostly high
school and college age students who
sought to get rid of enemies of the state:
city dwellers, corrupt communist
officials, highly educated people, or
anyone who associated with the Four
Olds.
•
They traveled all over the country
wreaking havoc, even the military was
given orders not to stop them.
•
Within two years, China was on the
brink of anarchy and no one was safe
from the Red Guards.
•
In 1969, Mao recognized the excesses of
the Red Guards and called them to
disband. The military was allowed to
impose order and law (finally).
Chinese cultural revolution
• Began in 1966 and lasted until 1976
• Mao thought that the reforms were too much,
and so he created the Red Guard and the
Cultural Revolution
• Lead by the youth of China
– The Red Guard was almost completely lead by
students your age
Chinese Cultural Revolution
• The point of the revolution was to create a
society where peasants and workers were all
equal
– They didn’t like intellectuals or artists because they
were considered useless and dangerous.
– They shut down colleges and schools
– They targeted professors and teachers, government
officials, factory managers, and even their own
parents
• Eventually Mao said that it was too much, and
called for an end.
Summary
Cultural Revolution
• 1968-1978
• Mao steps back to the front
• Goals: Remove all elements of
western ideas (books, music, ideas) &
purge CCP of rivals
• Mao sends Red Guard to enforce
“True Chinese Communism”
• Red Guard: squads of students given
power to beat, humiliate anyone too
westernized, intellectual, or “old
fashioned”
• Result: Political, economic, social
chaos. Mao puts down Red Guard,
gives up power.
Red Scarf Girl by Ji Li Jian
• Story about a girl who lived through the
Chinese Cultural Revolution
Memoirs 1
• “As we entered the apartment, I smelled smoke
and started choking. I looked around in alarm.
But Grandma was sitting alone in the main
room, showing no sign of worry. ‘Grandma, is
there a fire?’ we shouted anxiously. ‘Don’t you
smell the smoke?’ ‘Hush Hush!’ Grandma said.
‘It’s nothing. They’re just burning some pictures.
Your mother heard today that photos of people
in old-fashioned long gowns and mandarin
jackets are considered part of the old world. So
your parents are burning them in the bathroom.”
Memoirs 2
• “Xiao-cheng’s father had been our District
Superintendent. Now he was suspended
and under investigation for being a capitalist
follower. Ming-ming’s father had been the
Party Secretary of the Shanghai Institute of
Political Science and law, and had been
under arrest at the Institute for several
weeks. He had been accused of being a
traitor.
Memoirs 3
• “At least he was still alive. At least he was
still able to work. He wasn’t lying on the
floor, bruised and cut from beatings, as
Grandma had imagined… ‘You saw your
father,’ [the guard said] ‘He is being
remolded through labor. We have evidence
that he has committed a serious
counterrevolutionary crime. But he is very
stubborn and refuses to confess. And your
mother. Humph. She’s another despicable
thing!”