What Was the Chinese Cultural Revolution?
Young people have always been seduced by radical politics
On the 23rd of August 1966, members of the Red Guard humiliated a famous author named Lao She. They whacked him with leather belts, pummeled him with their fists, spat on his face, and accused him of being a counterrevolutionary.
Traumatised by the brutality, the acclaimed author committed suicide by drowning himself in a lake.
Lao She was just one of an estimated 500,000 people who died during China’s Cultural Revolution, an event that historian Paul Clark has described as ‘… the biggest non-wartime, concentrated social upheaval in world history’.
Destroying the Past
In 1966, Mao Zedong called on the people of China, particularly the urban youth, to renew the communist revolution, hoping to avoid the revisionism he saw taking place in the Soviet Union.
Practically speaking, this meant purging society of any remaining capitalist elements. Young people wearing paramilitary uniforms and red armbands carried out Mao’s bidding. The Red Guards caused devastation in major Chinese cities, justifying their violence in the name of the greater good.
The Red Guards wanted to destroy the ‘four olds’: old thought, old culture, old customs, and old practices. They sacked libraries, burned books, ruined museums, tore down statues, and attacked theatres and opera houses.
In true Orwellian fashion, the Red Guards also changed the names of streets, stores, trademarks, halls, and houses, revolutionising them in line with the values of communism. In Beijing, for example, the Legation Quarter was renamed the Anti-Imperialism Road, and Chang’an Boulevard was changed to East-Is-Red Boulevard.
Religion and Public Execution
Radical activists on both sides of the political spectrum often hate religion, and Mao’s Red Guards were no exception.
They targeted mosques in the northwest region of Xinjiang, storming these religious buildings and torching copies of the Koran. Similarly, Buddhist monks were expelled from Wutai Mountain, and their temples were pillaged by the Red Guards.
This whirlwind of violence turned to murder. Those accused of being a capitalist - such as landlords and wealthy peasants - were chained up and dragged through the streets. In extreme cases, the Red Guards shot their victims in the back of the head.
The Red Guards expanded their targets as time went on, turning on store owners and entrepreneurs. The violence wasn’t just a way of cleansing society of capitalism. It was also designed to frighten others into compliance.
The Lost Generation
Mao eventually called for an end to the violence. In July 1968, he disbanded the Red Guards, and the Cultural Revolution officially ended in April 1969.
Many of the students who took part in the violence ruined their future prospects. Having dropped out of the education system for several years, the Red Guards didn’t have the knowledge or the skills to obtain high-earning jobs. Consequently, many young people were sent off to work in the countryside, away from the cities they had purged.
Those who were still inside the education system witnessed a significant change to the curriculum, which put a great emphasis on the sayings of Mao. Big statues of Mao also appeared in public halls, parks, and university campuses.
These cultural changes were sometimes referred to as ‘the Cult of Mao’.
Sources
The Rise and Fall of Communism by Archie Brown
The Chinese Cultural Revolution: A History by Paul Clark
Turbulent Decade: A History of the Cultural Revolution by Yan Jiaqi and Gao and Gao
China Under Communism by Alan Lawrance
Comrades: Communism - A World History by Robert Service