China’s Cultural Revolution
“I saw rows of teachers, about 40-50 in all, with black ink poured all over their
heads… hanging round their necks were placards with words such as `reactionary
academic’ or `class enemy’… they all wore dunces caps. All were barefoot, hitting
broken gongs. Beating and torture followed; electric shocks, being forced to kneel
on broken glass…” –Ken Ling
Thesis: Though China’s Cultural
Revolution allowed Mao to regain power,
both China’s economy and culture
suffered greatly.
“He ruled by getting people to hate each
other. Mao had managed to turn the
people into the ultimate weapon of
dictatorship.” - Jung Chang from Wild Swan
Thesis Rationale
• Thesis: Though China’s Cultural Revolution allowed Mao to regain political power, both China’s economy and
culture to suffer greatly.
• In the 1960’s, Mao Zedong, the leader of China’s communist party, sought to regain his political status, as his
opponents began to speak out against his ideas and policies.
• His product was the Cultural Revolution, which implemented ideas that punished those who spoke out
against communism, or contradicted governmental action. Mao, through the Cultural Revolution, looked to
inspire the population of China, and gain great political popularity.
• However, the policies and ideas which Mao created during this time did much more damage than good for
China. For example, he promoted the destruction of all previous culture, eliminating Confucian thought
which was previously a major part in the education of the population. And as for said education, Mao caused
an entire generation’s lack of education due to the formation of the Red Guard, a formation of young people
devoted to Mao’s teachings and thoughts. This Red Guard was encouraged to dismantle and kind of anticommunist institutions or ideas they encountered. This mindset lead to the destruction of schools, erosion
of families, and the abuse of teachers who were deemed anti-communist by the Red Guard. The members of
the Guard also were unable to obtain jobs after the Cultural Revolution due to their lack of education. They
were encouraged to re-educate themselves after the revolution, however the already present lack of jobs at
the time led to a major lack of production, and the Chinese economy suffered greatly.
• Clearly, Mao’s Cultural Revolution was not a beneficial process for China, and both its economy and culture
were heavily damaged.
Key
• Red Guard (Bottom Middle Picture)- Mao told the young students of China to form the Red Army. Children were
asked to denounce their own parents as anti-Communist if they contradicted any governmental action. The Red
Guard caused many schools to close as teachers and lecturers were beaten by members of the Red Guard if they
were deemed anti-revolutionary. The Red Guard was known for its many torture methods. One example was
making victims kneel on broken glass. Other targets for the Red Guard included the original Communist party that
Mao himself created, and homes that had anti-revolutionary items in it. Red Guards began to form factions and
began to fight amongst themselves to the point that Mao had to bring in the PLA (People’s Liberation Army) to stop
the fighting. It is estimated that about one million people were killed after the violent phase of the Red Army. As a
result of the Red Army, the education of a whole generation had been lost, and industrial production had fallen.
The faith which the Chinese people held in the communist party that had helped them through past decades had
been severely damaged.
• Madame Mao- Jiang Qing aka Madame Mao, censored cultural productions during the Cultural Revolution. The
ideas she adopted through eight "Model Operas" were applied to all areas of the arts. These operas were
performed continuously, and attendance was mandatory. Revolutionary heroes were the main characters in each
opera. She prohibited all western arts and promoted revolutionary arts. Madame Mao also used art as a way of
channeling propaganda as a pretext for the Cultural Revolution. She also nearly made Mao’s “Little Red Book”
mandatory to own as it was an explanation of the protocol during the Cultural Revolution. Through the actions of
Madame Mao, specifically in the world of arts, the Chinese culture had been distorted, as she shielded the ideas of
previous Chinese and Western thinkers
Key Continued
• Little Red Book (upper left)- The Little Red Book is known as the “Quotations of Chairman Mao”. It contained
Mao’s teachings, and acted as a bible-like book to many of the Chinese citizens. Although this book held the
guidelines of the citizens, it also caused great strife amongst the people of China. It corrupted the minds of
young individuals, and caused them to rebel against their supposed-to-be elders and leaders. It became so
that children ruled their parents. Along with this change in the familial structure, the little red book
permitted the abuse of teachers who encouraged any ideas opposite those of Mao’s, which led to the
destruction of schools. This Little Red Book caused great change in the culture of China, as it prevented
individual thought, and mandated actions which were supported by the communist government.
• Quote (“He ruled by getting people to hate each other. Mao had managed to turn the people into the
ultimate weapon of dictatorship.” - Jung Chang from Wild Swan) - Mao’s grip to stay in the government
brought his rule to be corrupt to where his way of ruling was to get people to hate each other. He ruled the
people by getting them to hate one another, which in turn gave him the ultimate power, because with
people hating each other they did anything to get rid of the other even if it meant to join Mao. Once Mao
was gone he left behind this hatred between the people which with no one to truly guide them it only
brought chaos which led to the fall of China. For example, Mao’s Red Guard began to split towards the end
of the Cultural Revolution, leaving it separated into two factions. This essentially prevented the uprising of
the Red Guard as one, which allowed Mao to further stay in power, thus conveying his corrupt nature and his
poor efforts in leading China throughout the Cultural Revolution.
Key Continued
• The quote from Ken Ling (top, middle) is explaining the actions of the Red Guard on the
intellectuals, scientists, doctors, teachers, and political leaders. The Red Guard roamed China
persecuting the intellectuals, scientists, doctors, teachers, and political leaders. The Red Guard
would barge into a person’s house and take them out. They would then put a sign around their
head explaining their crime. From there, they would be taken out into public and humiliated. The
accused would kneel in front of hundreds on broken glass. The people in the crowd would be
yelling what crime was being charged against the person. This quote connects to the thesis
because it illustrates that Mao’s efforts to help protect the country, such as the Red Guard,
backfired and caused the lives of millions of innocent Chinese.
• Suffering (Top, Right). Life for the people in communist China was not easy. If you were an
intellectual, scientists, doctor, teacher, or political leader, you were afraid of being taken,
humiliated, and persecuted by the Red Guard. Over a million people were thought to be killed by
the Red Guard. Thousands of people were starving because of the lack of production of food.
Education came to a standstill because of Mao’s Cultural Revolution. Many kids ran off to join
Mao’s Cultural Revolution and left their family and parents. This picture connects to the thesis
because it proves the point that Mao’s laws and regulations to help better China, only caused
death and destruction to Chinese civilization.
Key Continued
• Destruction of the four olds:
• A key aspect to the Cultural Revolution was the elimination of four main principals of the
Chinese culture. These were known as old customs, old culture, old habits, and old ideas.
Generally, this campaign looked to revolutionize China as a country, and eliminate
previous ideas in order to further develop.
• Actions carried out during this process included the abduction of many personal
possessions of the people and the destruction of buildings which supported any old idea.
For example, a local Chinese market known as “Great Prosperity Market” was mandated
to change its name, as it was deemed supportive of the old idea of personal wealth,
which was frowned upon under communism. The destruction also attempted to silence
the expression of intellectuals who proposed ideas which were opposite of communism.
Furthermore, family structure was destroyed as families were encouraged to divide in
order to work in the countryside. The destruction of these four olds was a major blow to
Chinese culture, for it also looked to eliminate any and all Western influence among the
country. Quite evidently, Mao’s policy of the destruction of the four olds was extremely
damaging to the Chinese culture.