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The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (simplified Chinese: 无产阶级文化大革命; traditional Chinese: 無產階級文化大革命; pinyin: Wúchǎn Jiējí Wénhuà Dà Gémìng; lit. 'Proletarian Cultural Great Revolution'; often abbreviated to 文化大革命 wénhuà dà gémìng, literally "Great Cultural Revolution", or even simpler, to 文革 wéngé, "Cultural Revolution") in the People's Republic of China was a struggle for power within the Communist Party of China, which grew to include large sections of Chinese society and eventually brought the People's Republic of China to the brink of civil war. It was launched by Communist Party of China Chairman Mao Zedong on May 16, 1966 to regain control of the party after the disasters of the Great Leap Forward led to a significant loss of his power to rivals such as Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping. Though Mao himself officially declared the Cultural Revolution to have ended in 1969, the term is today widely used to also include the period between 1969 and the arrest of the Gang of Four in 1976.
Between 1966 and 1968, Mao's principal lieutenants, Vice-Chairman Lin Biao and Mao's wife Jiang Qing, acting on his instructions, organised a mass youth militia called the Red Guards to overthrow Mao's enemies and seize control of the state apparatus. In the chaos and violence that ensued, millions died and millions more were injured or imprisoned.
The Communist Party of China officially repudiated the Cultural Revolution in 1981, placing partial responsibility for it on Mao Zedong. According to a Central Committee resolution adopted on June 27, 1981, the Cultural Revolution was carried out "under the mistaken leadership of Mao Zedong who was used by the counterrevolutionaries Lin Biao and Jiang Qing and brought serious disaster and turmoil to the Party and the Chinese people." This official view, which has since become the dominant framework for the Chinese historiography of the Cultural Revolution, enormously simplifies such a complex historical reality - in the opinion of most western historians the official position significantly falsifies it. Attempts in recent years to reopen discussion of the Cultural Revolution inside China have been suppressed.
Background
Great Leap Forward
Main article: Great Leap ForwardIn 1957, after China's first Five-Year Plan, Mao Zedong called for an increase in the speed of growth of "actual socialism" in China (as opposed to "dictatorial socialism"). To accomplish this goal, Mao began the Great Leap Forward, establishing special communes in the countryside through the usage of collective labor and mass mobilization. The Great Leap Forward was intended to increase the production of steel and to raise agricultural production to twice 1957 levels.
However, industries went into turmoil because peasants were producing too much steel while other areas were neglected. Furthermore, the peasantry, as agriculturalists, were poorly equipped and ill-trained to produce steel, partially relying on such mechanisms as backyard furnaces to achieve production goals, which had been mandated by the local cadres. Meanwhile, farming implements like rakes were melted down for steel, impeding agricultural production. This led to declines in production of most goods other than steel. To make matters worse, in order to avoid punishment, local authorities frequently reported grossly unrealistic production numbers, which hid the problem for years, intensifying it. Having barely recovered from decades of war, the Chinese economy was again in shambles. Steel production did show significant growth, to over 14 million tons of steel a year, from the previous 5.2 million. The original goal was to produce an overly optimistic and, in hindsight, unrealistic 30 million tons of steel, though that was later revised down to twenty million. However, much of the steel produced was impure and useless. In the meantime, chaos in the collectives and unfortunate climatic conditions resulted in widespread famine, while Mao continued to export grain to save face with the outside world. According to various sources , the death toll due to famine may have been as high as 20 to 30 million.
In the 1959 Lushan meeting of the Central Committee, Peng Dehuai criticized Mao's policies on the Great Leap in a private letter. Peng wrote that the Great Leap was plagued by mismanagement and "petty-bourgeois fanaticism". Although Mao made repeated self-criticisms in speeches for the Great Leap Forward and called for dismantling the communes in 1959, he insisted that the Great Leap was 70% correct overall. Also in 1959, Mao resigned as chairman of the PRC, and the government was then run by other leaders such as the new chairman Liu Shaoqi, Premier Zhou Enlai and the CPC general secretary Deng Xiaoping. Mao still remained chairman of the CPC. Politically, Mao formed an alliance with Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping, in which he granted them day-to-day control over the country, in return for framing Peng and accusing him of being a "right opportunist". The attack on Peng was also combined with an attack on the Soviet Union and the Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev, who had recently distanced the Soviet Union from the Stalin era. This change was also a part of the deterioration of Sino-Soviet relations begun by the Korean War (see Sino-Soviet split).
Among Liu's and Deng's reforms were a partial retreat from collectivism, which had failed miserably.
Increasing conflict between Mao Zedong and Liu Shaoqi
In China, the three years beginning with 1959 were known as the Three Years of Natural Disasters. Food was in desperate shortage, and production fell dramatically. By the end of the Three Years of Natural Disasters, which was the direct result of the failed Great Leap Forward campaign, an estimated 38 million people had died from widespread famine.
Liu Shaoqi decided to end many Leap policies, such as rural communes, and to restore the economic policies used before the Great Leap Forward.
Because of the success of his economic reforms, Liu had won prestige in the eyes of many party members both in the central government and among the masses. Together with Deng Xiaoping, Liu began planning to gradually retire Mao from any real power, and to turn him into a figurehead. To restore his political base, and to eliminate his opposition, Mao initiated the Socialist Education Movement, in 1963.
Mao later admitted to some general mistakes, while strongly defending the Great Leap Forward in concept. One great irony of the Socialist Education Movement is that it called for grassroots action, yet was directed by Mao himself. This movement, aimed primarily at schoolchildren, did not have any immediate effect on Chinese politics, but it did influence a generation of youths, upon whom Mao could draw for support in the future.
In 1963, Mao began attacking Liu Shaoqi openly, stating that the idealism of "the struggle of the classes" must always be fully understood and applied; yearly, monthly, and daily. By 1964, the Socialist Education Movement had become the new "Four Cleanups Movement", with the stated goal of the cleansing of politics, economics, ideas, and organization. The Movement was directed politically against Liu.
Social background
The political changes after the 1949 Communist takeover also resulted in sweeping social changes, particularly the labeling of much of the former ruling class and intelligentsia as rightist and "black elements". Such social changes created a vast pool of Chinese discontented by China's economic and political transformation. The tumult of the Cultural Revolution would give their discontent a window to be aired and an avenue to oppose China's new power structure.
Immediate influences
In late 1959, historian and Beijing Deputy Mayor Wu Han published the first version of a historical drama entitled "Hai Rui Dismissed from Office" (pinyin: Hai Rui Ba Guan). In the play, a virtuous official (Hai Rui) was dismissed by a corrupt emperor.
The play initially received praise from Mao. In 1965, Mao Zedong's wife Jiang Qing and her protégé Yao Wenyuan—who at the time was a little-known editor of a prominent newspaper in Shanghai—published an article criticising the play. They labeled it as "poisonous weeds," and as an attack on Mao, using the allegory of Mao Zedong as the corrupt emperor and Peng Dehuai as the virtuous official.
The Shanghai newspaper article received much publicity nationwide, with many other prominent newspapers asking for publication rights. Beijing Mayor Peng Zhen, a supporter of Wu Han, established a committee studying the recent publication and emphasizing that the criticism had gone too far. This committee, called "Group of Five in Charge of the Cultural Revolution," on February 12, 1966 issued "Theses on the ongoing scientific discussion."
In May, 1966, Jiang Qing and Yao Wenyuan once again published various articles with content denouncing both Wu Han and Peng Zhen. On May 16, under Jiang Qing's influence, a formal notice was issued, representing figuratively the beginning of the Cultural Revolution. In this document, titled "Message from the Central Committee of CPC," Peng Zhen and his theses were deeply criticized, and the "Group of Five" was disbanded. "Completely penetrated with double-dealing, the theses furiously attacked the Great cultural revolution, personally developed and managed by comrade Mao Zedong, the instructions of comrade Mao Zedong concerning criticism of Wu Han," stated the "Message." One year later, on May 18, 1967 this "Message" was called "a great historical document developed under direct management of our great leader comrade Mao Zedong" in the editorial of People's Daily.
In a later meeting of the CPC Politburo in 1966, the new "Group in Charge of the Cultural Revolution" (GCCR) was formed. On May 18, Lin Biao said in a speech that "Chairman Mao is a genius, everything the Chairman says is truly great; one of the Chairman's words will override the meaning of ten thousands of ours." Thus started the first phase of Mao's cult of personality led by Jiang Qing, Lin Biao, and others. At this time, Jiang and Lin had already seized some actual power. On May 25, a young teacher of philosophy at Beijing University, Nie Yuanzi, wrote a dazibao ("big-character poster") where the rector of the university and other professors were labeled "black anti-Party gangsters". Some days later, Mao Zedong ordered the text of this big-character poster to be broadcast nationwide and called it "the first Marxist dazibao in China." On May 29, 1966, in the Middle School of Tsinghua University, the first organization of Red Guards was formed. It was aimed at punishing and neutralizing both intellectuals and Mao's political enemies.
On June 1, 1966, the People's Daily, the official newspaper of the CPC, stated that all "imperialists", "people with affiliations with imperialists", "imperialistic intellectuals", et al., must be purged. Soon a movement began, that was aimed at purging university presidents and other prominent intellectuals. On July 28, 1966, representatives of the Red Guards wrote a formal letter to Mao, stating that mass purges, and all such-related social and political phenomena were justified and right. Mao responded with full support in his "Bombard the Headquarters". Thus began the Cultural Revolution.
The Cultural Revolution
1966: The 16 Points and the Red Guards
On August 8, 1966, the Central Committee of the CPC passed its "Decision Concerning the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution" (also known as "the 16 Points"). This decision defined the GPCR as "a great revolution that touches people to their very souls and constitutes a new stage in the development of the socialist revolution in our country, a deeper and more extensive stage":
- Although the bourgeoisie has been overthrown, it is still trying to use the old ideas, culture, customs, and habits of the exploiting classes to corrupt the masses, capture their minds, and endeavor to stage a comeback. The proletariat must do just the opposite: It must meet head-on every challenge of the bourgeoisie in the ideological field and use the new ideas, culture, customs, and habits of the proletariat to change the mental outlook of the whole of society. At present, our objective is to struggle against and crush those persons in authority who are taking the capitalist road, to criticize and repudiate the reactionary bourgeois academic "authorities" and the ideology of the bourgeoisie and all other exploiting classes and to transform education, literature and art, and all other parts of the superstructure that do not correspond to the socialist economic base, so as to facilitate the consolidation and development of the socialist system.
The decision thus took the already existing student movement and elevated it to the level of a nationwide mass campaign, calling on not only students but also "the masses of the workers, peasants, soldiers, revolutionary intellectuals, and revolutionary cadres" to carry out the task of "transforming the superstructure" by writing big-character posters and holding "great debates." The decision granted the most extensive freedom of speech the People's Republic has ever seen, but this was a freedom severely determined by the Maoist ideological climate and, ultimately, by the People's Liberation Army and Mao's authority over the Army, as points 15 and 16 already made clear. The freedoms granted in the 16 Points were later written into the PRC constitution as "the four great rights (四大自由)" of "great democracy (大民主)": the right to speak out freely, to air one's views fully, to write big-character posters, and to hold great debates (大鸣、大放、大字报、大辩论 - the first two are basically synonyms). (In other contexts the second was sometimes replaced by 大串联 - the right to "link up," meaning for students to cut class and travel across the country to meet other young activists and propagate Mao Zedong Thought.) These freedoms were supplemented by the right to strike, although this right was severely attenuated by the Army's entrance onto the stage of civilian mass politics in February 1967. All of these rights were deleted from the constitution after Deng's government suppressed the Democracy Wall movement in 1979.
On August 16, millions of Red Guards from all over the country gathered in Beijing for a peek at the Chairman. On top of the Tiananmen Square gate, Mao and Lin Biao made frequent appearances to approximately 11 million Red Guards, receiving cheers each time. Mao praised their actions in the recent campaigns to develop socialism and democracy.
For two years, until July 1968 (and in some places much longer), student activists such as the Red Guards expanded their areas of authority, and accelerated their efforts at socialist reconstruction. They began by passing out leaflets explaining their actions to develop and strengthen socialism, and posting the names of suspected "counter-revolutionaries" on bulletin boards. They assembled in large groups, held "great debates," and wrote educational plays. They held public meetings to criticize and solicit self-criticism from suspected "counter-revolutionaries." Although the 16 Points and other pronouncements of the central Maoist leaders forbade "physical struggle (武斗)" in favor of "verbal struggle" (文斗), these "struggle sessions" often led to physical violence. Initially verbal struggles among activist groups became even more violent, especially when activists began to seize weapons from the Army in 1967. The central Maoist leaders limited their intervention in activist violence to verbal criticism, sometimes even appearing to encourage "physical struggle," and only after the weapons seizures did they begin to suppress the mass movement.
Liu Shaoqi was sent to a detention camp, where he later died in 1969. Deng Xiaoping, who was himself sent for a period of re-education three times, was sent to work in an engine factory, until he was brought back years later by Zhou Enlai. But most of those accused were not so lucky, and many of them never returned.
The work of the Red Guards was praised by Mao Zedong. On August 22, 1966, Mao issued a public notice, which stopped "all police intervention in Red Guard tactics and actions." Those in the police force who dared to defy this notice, were labeled "counter-revolutionaries."
On September 5, 1966, yet another notice was issued, encouraging all Red Guards to come to Beijing over a stretch of time. All fees, including accommodation and transportation, were to be paid by the government. On October 10, 1966, Mao's ally, General Lin Biao, publicly criticized Liu and Deng as "capitalist roaders" and "threats". Later, Peng Dehuai was brought to Beijing to be publicly displayed and ridiculed; he was then purged.
1967: Political power struggles
On January 3, 1967, Lin Biao and Jiang Qing were behind the "January Storm", in which many prominent Shanghai municipal government leaders were heavily criticized and purged. This raised Wang Hongwen into real power in the city and in the city's CPC power apparatus. In Beijing, Liu and Deng were once again the targets of criticism, but others, who were not as engaged in the CPC criticism sessions, like Chen Boda and Kang Sheng, pointed at the wrong-doings of the Vice-Premier of the State Council, Tao Zhu. Thus started a political struggle among central government officials and local party cadres, who seized the Cultural Revolution as an opportunity to accuse rivals of "counter-revolutionary activity" as the paranoia spread.
On January 8, Mao praised these actions through the People's Daily, urging all local governmental leaders to rise in self-criticism, or the criticism and purging of others. This started the massive power struggles of purge after purge among local governments, some of which stopped functioning altogether. Involvement in some sort of "revolutionary" activity was the only way to avoid being purged, but it was no guarantee.
At the same time, many large and prominent Red Guard organizations rose in protest against other Red Guard organizations, further complicating the situation. This led to a notice to stop all unhealthy activity within the Red Guards. On April 6, Liu Shaoqi was openly, and widely denouced by a Zhongnanhai faction. This was followed by a protest and mass demonstrations, most notably in Wuhan on July 20, which Jiang Qing openly denounced as "counter-revolutionary activity"; she later personally flew to Wuhan to criticize Chen Zaidao, the general in charge of the Wuhan area.
On July 22, Jiang Qing directed the Red Guards to replace the People's Liberation Army when needed, and thereby to render the existing forces powerless. After the initial praise by Jiang Qing, the Red Guards started to steal and loot from barracks and other army buildings. This activity, which could not be stopped by any army general, went on until autumn 1968.
1968: Cult of personality
In the spring of 1968, a massive campaign began aimed at promoting the already-adored Mao Zedong to a god-like status. On July 27, 1968, the Red Guards' power over the army was officially ended and the central government sent in units to protect many areas still being targeted by Red Guards. Mao had supported and promoted this idea by allowing one of his "Highest Directions" to be heard by all of the people. A year later, the Red Guard factions were dismantled entirely; Mao feared that the chaos they caused--and could still cause--might harm the very foundation of the Communist Party of China. In any case, their purpose had been largely fulfilled, and Mao had largely consolidated his political power, following the example of the Soviet leader Stalin.
In early October, Mao decided to purge many officials. They were sent to the countryside to work in labor camps. In the same month, at the 12th Plenum of the 8th Party Congress, Liu Shaoqi was "forever expelled from the party", and Lin Biao was made the Party's Vice-Chairman, second only to Mao.
In December 1968, Mao began the "Down to the Countryside Movement". During this movement, which lasted for the next decade, young intellectuals living in cities were ordered to the countryside. Most of the "intellectuals" were actually recently graduated middle school students. In the late 1970s, these "young intellectuals" were finally allowed to return to their home cities. This move was in part a means of moving Red Guards out of the cities to the countryside, where they would cause less social disruption.
Time dominated by Lin Biao
The following account of Lin Biao's attempted expansion of his power base and overthrow of Mao is roughly the PRC government's party-line and is widely disputed outside mainland China.
Transition of the party apparatus
On April 1, 1969, at the CPC's Ninth Congress, Lin was the big winner, officially becoming China's second in charge, and also holding military power. Lin's biggest political rival, Liu Shaoqi, had been purged and Zhou Enlai's power was gradually fading.
The Ninth Congress started with Lin Biao delivering a Political Report, which was critical of Liu and other "counter-revolutionaries" and continuously quoted Mao's Little Red Book. The second thing to be tackled was the new party constitution, which was modified to officially designate Lin as Mao's successor. Henceforth, at all occasions, Mao's name was to be linked with Lin's. Thirdly, a new Politburo was elected with Mao Zedong, Lin Biao, Chen Boda, Zhou Enlai, and Kang Sheng being the five new members of the Politburo Standing Committee. This new Politburo consisted mostly of those whom had arisen as a result of the Cultural Revolution, with Zhou barely keeping his status. Zhou only ranked fourth among the five.
Lin's attempts at expanding power base
After being confirmed as Mao's successor, Lin focused on the restoration of the position of State President, which had been abolished by Mao due to Liu Shaoqi's dismissal from power. Lin's aim was to become Vice-President, with Mao holding the position of State President.
On August 23, 1970, the Second Plenum of the CPC's Ninth Congress was once again held in Lushan. Chen Boda was the first to speak, widely praising Mao and boasting of Mao's status, with the unstated intention of raising his own. At the same time, Chen requested the restoration of the position of State President. Mao was deeply critical of Chen's speech and removed him from the Politburo Standing Committee. This was the beginning of a series of criticism sessions across the nation for people who used "deceit" for gains, who were called "Liu Shaoqi's representatives for Marxism and political liars".
Chen's removal from the Standing Committee was also seen as a warning to Lin Biao. After the Ninth Congress, Lin had continuously requested promotions within the party and the Central Government, leading Mao to suspect him of wanting supreme power and intending to oust Mao himself. Chen's speech added to Mao's apprehensions. If Lin were to become Vice-President, he would legally have supreme power after the President's death -- a clear danger to Mao's safety.
Lin's attempted military coup
Mao's refusal to let Lin gain more prominence within the party and the government deeply angered Lin. Moreover, his power base was shrinking day by day within the Party apparatus; Lin decided to use the military power still at his disposal to oust Mao in a coup. Soon afterwards, Lin and his son Lin Liguo and other loyal comrades founded a coup apparatus in Shanghai aimed solely at ousting Mao from power by the use of force. (Many Chinese believe that Lin's son was solely responsible for the coup and that Lin Biao knew nothing about it until the coup failed and Lin was hunted by the Chinese government.) In one known document, Lin stated in Shanghai that "A new power struggle has surged upon us, if indeed we could not take control of revolutionary activity, then these control powers will fall upon someone else."
Lin's plan consisted mainly of aerial bombardments and the widespead use of the Air Force. Were the plan to succeed, Lin could successfully arrest all of his political rivals and gain the supreme power that he wanted. But if it were to fail, there would be great and dire consequences awaiting him.
Assassination attempts were made against Mao in Shanghai, from September 8 to September 10, 1971. It was learned that before these attacks upon Mao there was initial knowledge of Lin's activities on the part of local police, who stated that Lin Biao had been coordinating a huge political plot, and Lin's loyal backers were receiving special training in the military.
From these events onward came continuous allegations and reports of Mao being attacked. One of these reports suggested that en route to Beijing in his private train, Mao was physically attacked; another alleged that Lin had bombed a bridge that Mao was to cross to reach Beijing, which Mao avoided because of intelligence reports causing him to change routes. In those nervous days, guards were placed every 10–20 meters on the railway tracks of Mao's route to avoid attempts at assassination.
Although these reports conflicted, and were sometimes fabricated, it is known that after September 11 of the same year Lin never appeared in public again, nor did his backers, most of whom attempted to escape to Hong Kong. Most failed to do so and around twenty army generals were arrested.
It was also learned that on September 13, 1971, Lin Biao and his family tried to fly to the Soviet Union. En route, Lin's plane crashed in Mongolia, killing all on board. On the same day, the CPC Politburo met in an emergency session to discuss matters pertaining to Lin Biao. Only on September 30, was Lin's death confirmed in Beijing, which led to the cancellation of the National Day celebration events the following day.
The exact cause of the plane crash remains a mystery. It is widely believed that Lin's plane ran out of fuel or that there was a sudden engine failure. There was also speculation that the plane was shot down by the Chinese. It could also have been Soviet forces, who later took possession of the bodies of those on board. Nonetheless, Lin's attempted coup had failed, leading to the complete destruction of his image in the CPC and China.
Time of the "Gang of Four"
Developments and "Criticize Lin Biao, Criticize Confucius" Campaign
Mao Zedong was busy trying to find a new successor. In September 1972, Shanghainese Wang Hongwen was transferred to work in Beijing for the Central Government, becoming the Party Vice-Chairman in the following year. At the same time, under the influence of Premier Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping was transferred back to Beijing. Mao had been severely shaken by the Lin Biao plot and had to turn to Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping again.
In 1974, a campaign, which appears absurd in retrospect, was started by Jiang Qing and several backers (later to be known as the Gang of Four): the Pi-Lin Pi-Kong campaign or "Criticize Lin Biao, Criticize Confucius" campaign. This widely-publicised campaign was aimed at Premier Zhou Enlai, who allegedly possessed "unhealthy" ideas related to Lin and Confucius, although Zhou's name was never mentioned throughout the campaign. Since the death of Lin Biao, Zhou had become the main political rival of the Gang of Four for the succession to power. But the population was weary of useless or devastating campaigns and had little stomach for this one. The campaign failed to achieve its goals.
In October, Premier Zhou Enlai became gravely ill, and was admitted into day-to-day hospital care. Deng Xiaoping was named First Vice-Premier and was actually in charge of daily business of the State Council. Deng continued to expand Zhou's Four Modernizations ideas for a better China. In September 1975, Mao himself was also admitted into hospital with a grave illness.
1976: Cultural Revolution's end
On January 8, Zhou Enlai died of bladder cancer. The next day, Beijing's Monument of the Martyrs started filling up with wreaths expressing the people's mourning for the beloved Premier. The event was unprecedented. On January 15, Zhou's funeral was held, and events commemorating Zhou across the country were held. Deng Xiaoping delivered Zhou's official eulogy.
In February, the rival Gang of Four started to criticize the only one left to oppose them, Deng Xiaoping. With permission from Mao, Deng was once again demoted. But after Zhou's death, Mao did not select a member of the Gang of Four to become premier, instead choosing the relatively unknown Hua Guofeng.
April 5 was China's Qing Ming Festival, a traditional day of mourning for those who had died. People had gathered since late March in Tiananmen Square, mourning the death of Zhou Enlai. At the same time, people were also signaling anger towards the Gang of Four. Gradually, more and more people began writing and posting messages of hatred against the Gang of Four. On April 5, around 2 million people were gathered in and around Tiananmen Square, turning the assembly into a form of protest against the Gang of Four. The Gang of Four ordered police to enter the area, clear the wreaths and messages of hate, and disperse the crowds. They pointed to Deng Xiaoping as the planner of this expression of public dissatisfaction. This incident was later "politically rehabilitated" in the winter of 1978, and became known as the Qingming Tiananmen Square incident (not to be confused with the Tiananmen Massacre).
On September 9, 1976, Mao Zedong died. Before dying, Mao had written a message on a piece of paper stating "With you in charge, I'm at ease", to Hua Guofeng. Hence, Hua became the Party's Chairman (although there has been controversy as to what the message really meant). Before this event, Hua had been widely considered to be lacking in political skill and ambitions, and as posing no threat to the Gang of Four in the power succession. But under the influence of prominent generals like Ye Jianying, and partly under influence of Deng Xiaoping, and with the support of the Army, Hua ordered the arrest of the Gang of Four following Mao's death. By October 10, the 8341 Special Regiment had all members of the Gang of Four arrested. Thus ended the Cultural Revolution.
After the Revolution
Even though Hua Guofeng publicly denounced and arrested the Gang of Four in 1976, he continued to invoke Mao's name to justify his policies. Hua opened what was known as the Two Whatevers, saying "Whatever policy originated from Chairman Mao, we must continue to support," and "Whatever directions were given to us from Chairman Mao, we must continue to work on their basis." Like Deng, Hua's goal was to reverse the damage of the Cultural Revolution; but unlike Deng, who was not against new economic models for China, Hua intended to move the Chinese economic and political system towards Soviet-style planning of the early 1950s.
Soon afterwards, Hua found that without Deng Xiaoping it was hard for him to continue daily affairs of the state. On October 10, Deng Xiaoping personally wrote a letter to Hua asking to be transferred back to state and party affairs. Unconfirmed information allegedly stated that Politburo Standing Committee member Ye Jianying would resign if Deng was not allowed back into the Central Government. With increasing pressure from all sides, Hua decided to bring Deng back into regular state affairs, first naming him Vice-Premier of the State Council in July 1977, and to various other positions. In actuality, Deng had already become China's number two figure. In August, the Party's Eleventh Congress was held in Beijing, officially naming (in ranking order) Hua Guofeng, Deng Xiaoping, Ye Jianying, Li Xiannian, and Wang Dongxing as the latest members of the Politburo Standing Committee.
In May, 1978, Deng seized the opportunity for his protégé, Hu Yaobang, to be further elevated to power. Hu published an article in the Bright Daily Newspaper making clever use of Mao's quotations while expanding Deng's power base. After reading this widely publicized article, almost everyone supported Hu and thus Deng. On July 1, Deng publicized Mao's self-criticism report of 1962 regarding the Great Leap Forward. With an expanding power base, in September 1978, Deng had already started to openly attack Hua Guofeng's "Two Whatevers".
On December 18, 1978, the Third Plenum of the Eleventh CPC Congress was held. Deng stated that "a liberation of thoughts" and "an accurate view leading to accurate results" was needed within the party. Hua Guofeng engaged in self-criticisms, stating that his own "Two Whatevers" was wrong. Wang Dongxing, formerly Mao's trusted supporter, was also criticized. At the Plenum, the Qingming Tiananmen Square incident was also politically rehabilitated. Liu Shaoqi was allowed a belated state funeral.
In the Fifth Plenum of the Eleventh CPC Congress, held in 1980, Peng Zhen and many others who had been purged during the Cultural Revolution were politically rehabilitated. Hu Yaobang was named General-Secretary of the CPC and Zhao Ziyang, another of Deng's protégés, was named into the Central governing apparatus. In September, Hua Guofeng resigned, with Zhao Ziyang being named the new Premier. Deng was the Chairman of the Central Military Commission. By this time, Deng was the foremost and paramount figure in Chinese politics.
Effect
The effects of the Cultural Revolution directly or indirectly touched essentially all of China's populace. During the Cultural Revolution, much economic activity was halted, with "revolution" being the primary objective of many. The start of the Cultural Revolution brought huge numbers of Red Guards to Beijing, with all expenses paid by the government, and the railway system was in turmoil. Countless ancient buildings, artifacts, antiques, books, and paintings were destroyed by Red Guards. By December 1967, 350 million copies of Mao's Quotations had been printed.
Elsewhere, the ten years of the Cultural Revolution also brought the education system to a virtual halt. The university entrance exams were cancelled during this period, only being restored by Deng Xiaoping in 1977. Many intellectuals were sent to rural labor camps. Many survivors and observers suggest that almost anyone with skills over that of the average person was made the target of political "struggle" in some way. According to most Western observers as well as followers of Deng Xiaoping, this led to almost an entire generation of inadequately educated individuals.
Mao Zedong Thought had become the central operative guide to all things in China. The authority of the Red Guards surpassed that of the army, local police authorities, and the law in general. China's traditional arts and ideas were ignored, to praise from Mao. People were encouraged to criticize cultural institutions and to question their parents and teachers, which had been strictly forbidden in Confucian culture. This was emphasized even more during the Anti-Lin Biao; Anti-Confucius Campaign. However, no matter how much or how far the generations of one's parents and their ancestors could be questioned, one thing definitely could not, and these were the "thoughts of Mao Tse-tung".
The Cultural Revolution also brought to the forefront numerous internal power struggles within the Communist party, many of which had little to do with the larger battles between Party leaders, but resulted instead from local factionalism and petty rivalries. Members of different factions often fought on the streets, and political assassination, particularly in the more rural provinces, was common. One example, given by the writer Patrick French in his book Tibet, Tibet, is of the 'Big' and 'Small' factions in the Wuxuan county of the Guangxi Zhang Autonomous Region, which fought gun battles and threw bombs on the streets. The leader of the Small Faction, Zhou Weian, was eventually murdered in 1968, and his eight-month pregnant widow, Wei Shulan, forced to kneel under his dismembered body and denounce him.
China's historical reserves, artifacts and sites of interest suffered devastating damage as they were thought to be at the root of "old ways of thinking". Many artifacts were seized from private homes and often destroyed on the spot. There are no records of exactly how much was destroyed. Western observers suggest that much of China's thousands of years of history was in effect destroyed during the short ten years of the Cultural Revolution, and that such destruction of historical artifacts is unmatched at any time or place. Religious persecution, in particular, intensified during this period, as religion was seen as being opposed to Marxist-Leninist and Maoist thinking. Some temples, however, such as the Longxing Temple near Shijiazhuang, survived because of the protection of local party members, who sometimes sent units of the PLA to protect it from mobs of Red Guards.
The Cultural Revolution was particularly devastating for minority cultures in China. This supposedly stemmed from Jiang Qing's personal animosity towards, and contempt for ethnic minorities. "The centrality of the Han ethnic group" was a major theme throughout this period. In Tibet, over 2,000 monasteries were destroyed, often with the complicity of local ethnic Tibetan Red Guards. In Inner Mongolia, many were executed during a ruthless witchhunt to find members of the allegedly "separatist" Inner Mongolian People's Party, which had actually been disbanded decades before. In Xinjiang, Koran books of the Uyghur people were burned and Muslim imams were reportedly paraded around with paint splashed on their persons. In the ethnic Korean areas of northeast China, some killings occurred and language schools were destroyed. In Yunnan Province, the palace of the Dai people's king was torched, and an infamous massacre of Hui Muslim people at the hands of the People's Liberation Army, called the "Shadian Incident", claimed over 1,600 lives in 1975. It is ironic that all this activity and violence was directed at so-called "foreign influences", when the driving force behind Maoist thinking, the doctrines of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin, had come into China, from "foreign outsiders" themselves.
Millions in China reportedly had their human rights annulled during the Cultural Revolution. Millions were forcibly displaced. During the Cultural Revolution, young people from the cities were forcibly moved to the countryside, where they were forced to abandon all forms of standard education for the propaganda teachings of the Communist Party of China.
Crimes against the government were brutally and publicly punished. People were forced to walk through the streets naked, were flogged publicly, or forced, some report, to sit in the jetliner position for hours. Many deaths occurred in police custody, although they were often covered up as "suicides". People had to carry two or more copies of Mao's Little Red Book to avoid being accused of not supporting Mao. Numerous individuals were accused, often on the flimsiest of grounds, of being foreign spies; to have, or have had, any contact with the world outside of China, could be extremely dangerous. Accusations were often based upon 'symbolic' language or gestures, such as the omission of certain strokes from a written character, or the placing of a picture of Mao in a subordinate position in a room. This paranoia may in part have derived from the tradition of Chinese revolutionaries, who used code-words and symbolic gestures in communication.
Some commentators argue that the Cultural Revolution years saw the Chinese people leave behind many uncritical habits of conformist and authoritarian thinking. This can be seen in the words of some of the student leaders of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. According to student leader Shen Tong in his book, Almost a Revolution, the trigger for the famous hunger-strikes of 1989 was a "dazibao" (big-character poster), a form of public political discussion that gained prominence in the Cultural Revolution and subsequently outlawed. When students organized demonstrations in their millions, something not seen since the Cultural Revolution, youths from outside Beijing rode the trains into Beijing and relied on the hospitality of the train workers and Beijing residents, just as their counterparts had ridden the trains freely during the Cultural Revolution. Also, as in the Cultural Revolution, students formed factions, with names similar to those of Red Guard factions, using the term "Headquarters" for instance, and according to Shen Tong, these factions even went to the extent of kidnapping members of other factions, just as they had done in the Cultural Revolution. Finally, in a small minority of cases, some of the student leaders of 1989 had been youth activists in high school during the Cultural Revolution. It was as a result of the Cultural Revolution that criticism of high-level authority in public became more thinkable in the PRC, although criticism of Mao Zedong still remained entirely off-limits.
Estimates of the death toll, civilians and Red Guards, from various Western and Eastern sources are about 500,000 in the true years of chaos of 1966–1969. However, the true figure may never be known since many deaths went unreported or were actively covered up by the police or local authorities. Other reasons are the state of Chinese demographics at the time, as well as the reluctance of the PRC to allow serious research into the period.
World reaction
The reaction abroad was mixed, and inevitably, tied to political movements of the time. Opposition to the Vietnam War fostered sympathy for communist revolutions and some Western observers, predominantly on the Left of the political spectrum, sympathized with the Cultural Revolution. Reports of violence and excess were often excused or dismissed as 'rightwing propaganda'. A significant reevaluation of the events of the Cultural Revolution occurred amongst the Left, particularly in the West, once the full extent of the destruction became known, tarnishing China's image in the West.
Specific effects included workers in Hong Kong striking, the publishing of Quotes from Chairman Mao in many languages, to be circulated in many African and other third-world or developing countries. "Revolutionary" movements in several African countries, often resulting in considerable damage, were inspired by the Cultural Revolution.
Sympathies for the Cultural Revolution were also famously denounced by John Lennon of the Beatles, in the song "Revolution", showing that the issue was of some controversy in the late 1960's West. Whatever the case, several self-described "Maoist" political parties survive today, throughout the globe.
Historical views
Today, the Cultural Revolution is seen by most people inside and outside of China, including the Communist Party of China and Chinese democracy movement supporters, as an unmitigated disaster, and as an event to be avoided in the future. There are no politically significant groups within China that defend the Cultural Revolution. However, there are many workers and peasants in China who, left behind by economic liberalization and the widening rich-poor gap, feel nostalgia for the Cultural Revolution (as well as the Maoist Era in general), during which the proletariat was glorified. Author Gao Mobo has written essays praising the Cultural Revolution as a "golden age" of urban and rural development. Some memoirists, such as Ma Bo, also hold aspects of the Cultural Revolution to be worthy of fond remembrance .
Among those who condemn it, the causes and meaning of the Cultural Revolution remain highly controversial. Supporters of the Chinese democracy movement see the Cultural Revolution as an example of what happens when democracy is lacking and place responsibility for the Cultural Revolution on the Communist Party of China. Similarly, human rights activists and civil libertarians in the West also see the Cultural Revolution as an example of the dangers of statism. Briefly put, these views of the Cultural Revolution attribute its cause to "too much government and too little popular participation".
By contrast, the official view of the Communist Party of China is that the Cultural Revolution is what can happen when one person establishes a cult of personality and manipulates the public in such a way as to destroy the party and state institutions. In this view, the Cultural Revolution is an example of too much popular participation in government, rather than too little; and is an example of the dangers of anarchy rather than statism. The Communist Party also strongly de-emphasises the extent of Mao's involvement in the instigation of the Cultural Revolution, preferring to shift most of the blame onto the Gang of Four as a convenient culprit. The consequence of this view is the consensus among the Chinese leadership that China must be governed by a strong party institution, in which decisions are made collectively and according to the rule of law, and in which the public has only limited input.
These contradictory views of the Cultural Revolution were put into sharp relief during the Tiananmen Protests of 1989, when both the demonstrators and the government justified their actions as being necessary to avoid another Cultural Revolution.
Despite some knowledge of the Cultural Revolution among many Chinese, there has not been a single museum dedicated to its events on the mainland, until recently. In mid-2005, a privately-funded museum opened in Guangdong province, created by Peng Qi'an, 74, a former deputy mayor of Shantou. Peng himself was almost executed during the Cultural Revolution, and survived only due to a last-minute reprieve. He stated that he wanted future generations of Chinese to realise how large an impact the period had on China, and how far ordinary Chinese suffered. However after its opening, authorities made it clear that open discussions of the issues it raises were still not on the official agenda.
References
- ^ Historical Atlas of the 20th Century
- Text of 16 Points
- Ma, Bo. Blood Red Sunset. New York: Viking, 1995
- Simon Leys (penname of Pierre Ryckmans) Broken Images: Essays on Chinese Culture and Politics (1979). ISBN 0-8052-8069-3
- - The Burning Forest: Essays on Chinese Culture and Politics (1986). ISBN 0-03-005063-4; ISBN 0-586-08630-7; ISBN 0-8050-0350-9; ISBN 0-8050-0242-1.
- - The Chairman's New Clothes: Mao and the Cultural Revolution (1977; revised 1981). ISBN 0-85031-208-6; ISBN 0-8052-8080-4; ISBN 0-312-12791-X; ISBN 0-85031-209-4; ISBN 0-85031-435-6 (revised ed.).
- - Chinese Shadows (1978). ISBN 0-670-21918-5; ISBN 0-14-004787-5.
- Chan, Anita. 1985. Children of Mao: Personality Development and Political Activism in the Red Guard Generation. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
- Chan, Che Po. 1991. From Idealism to Pragmatism: The Change of Political Thinking among the Red Guard Generation in China. Ph.D. diss., University of California, Santa Barbara.
- Liu, Guokai. 1987. A Brief Analysis of the Cultural Revolution. edited by Anita Chan. Armonk, N.Y.: M. E. Sharpe.
- Yang, Guobin. 2000. China's Red Guard Generation: The Ritual Process of Identity Transformation, 1966-1999. Ph.D. diss., New York University.
- Fox Butterfield, China: Alive in the Bitter Sea, (1982, revised 2000), ISBN 0-553-34219-3, an oral history of some Chinese people's experience during the Cultural Revolution.
- Zheng Yi Scarlet Memorial: Tales of Cannibalism in Modern China
See also
- Chinese Neo-Leftism
- The Hundred Flowers Movement
- Maoism
- Great Leap Forward
- List of campaigns of the Communist Party of China
- History of the People's Republic of China
- Hong Kong 1967 riots
- Li Zhensheng Chinese photojournalist who captured images from the Cultural Revolution.
- GPCR Ultra-Left
- Zhdanov Doctrine
External links
- China Digital Times
- Labels with Cultural Revolution Posters, Badges, and History
- Morning Sun - A Film and Website about Cultural Revolution
- Another website about the Cultural Revolution
- Attempts to document using eyewitness accounts events during the Cultural Revolution
- Chinese propaganda posters, Cultural Revolution statuettes, maoist stuff and revolutionary songs
- Exhibition causes stir with candid views of 'great' Mao The Times, July 14, 2005
- Chinese Museum Looks Back in Candor: Groundbreaking New Exhibit on Cultural Revolution Sparks Official Displeasure but Visitors' Praise from the Washington Post, June 3, 2005
- Novel: Red Scarf Girl by Ji-Li Jiang. A story about the life of a young girl during the cultural revolution.