Cultural Revolution in China

The Cultural Revolution in China, also known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution was an almost decade-long period of socio-political chaos launched by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Chairman, Mao Zedong to renew the spirit of communism, to “purify” the party “bourgeois” infiltrators and to reassert his position in the Chinese government with this revolution.

This article is about the cultural revolution and its effects on China. Please go through the article for further details and important keywords.

Overview of the Cultural Revolution

Given below is a brief overview of the timeline of the Cultural Revolution for better understanding:

Year	Significant events of the Cultural Revolution
May 16, 1966	The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) issued the May 16 notice announcing the start of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution.
May 25, 1966	Banners denouncing school leaders were put up across universities and sparks soon spread to other universities and secondary schools, with Red Guards leaving classes to join the revolution and pledging to “die fighting to protect Chairman Mao”
August 1966	Mao Zedong supported the Red Guards in a speech to the 11th plenum of the eighth CCP Congress. The Cultural Revolution denounced every form of religion and banned all open expression of faith—churches and temples are shut down and destroyed; believers were imprisoned.
January 1967	Red Guards and workers seized power in Shanghai; the revolution reached the army provoking more clashes.
July 1967	State President Liu Shaoqi was stripped of his duties weeks later and power was left in the hands of Lin Biao and Mao’s wife, Jiang Qing.
December 1968	Hundreds of thousands of Red Guards were sent to rural areas for ‘re-education’ because the violence and anarchy in cities caused by them became out of control.
September 1971	Mao’s designated successor, Lin, died in a plane crash in Mongolia.
April 1973	Deng Xiaoping was rehabilitated and named vice-premier.
January 1976	Death of Premier Zhou Enlai.
April 1976	About 2 million people gathered in Tiananmen Square to protest against the Gang of Four.
September 1976	Mao Zedong passed away, signaling the end of the Cultural Revolution.

The Beginning of the Cultural Revolution in China

Mao Zedong’s attempts to revive communist ideology

• We find that Mao Zedong’s authority in the government had weakened after the failure of his “Great Leap Forward” (1958-60) and the economic crisis that came after. Mao also felt that the party leadership was moving towards capitalist ideas and away from the socialist system. He wanted to reinvigorate the communist revolution by strengthening ideology and weeding out the “bourgeois” opponents.

Launching of the Revolution and Youth Mobilization aka the ‘Red Guards’

• Mao officially launched the Cultural Revolution at the Eleventh Plenum of the Eighth Central Committee, in August 1966. To achieve his goals, he created a group of radicals, which included his wife Jiang Qing and defense minister Lin Biao, to help him depose current party leadership and reclaim his authority.
• He called for a massive youth mobilization against the current “bourgeois” leaders and everyone in general who lacked a “revolutionary spirit”. The cultural moment spread quickly in the next few months and students formed paramilitary groups called the Red Guards, in classrooms and campuses across the country, that attacked the elderly and intellectual population of the country. Mao and his ideology soon took the shape of a cult and many factions claiming to be true “Maoists” sprang up all across China.
• Schools and universities were shut down, churches, shrines, libraries, shops, homes were ransacked or destroyed as the attack on “feudal/ bourgeois” traditions began.
• The Red Guards were disorganized and their actions led to anarchy and terror, as traditionalists, educators, and intellectuals were persecuted and killed for being “bourgeois”. The Red Guards were soon crushed by officials, however the brutality of the cultural revolution continued.

The aftermath of the ‘Red Terror’

• After the mass destruction caused by the student led “red terror”, chaos and panic spread throughout the nation quickly. Workers joined the Red Guards with students and China was pushed to the state of a virtual civil war, with rival groups fighting in cities across the country.
• Mao realized by 1968 that things had gone too far and his revolution had spiraled out of control. To make amends for the violence he caused, he sent millions of youth to the countryside for “re-education” and reflection.
• He instructed the Chinese military to bring back order and peace and transformed China into a military dictatorship, which lasted until 1971. The death toll was at an all time high in China as the army stepped in to bring back control.

Lin Biao’s Role in the Cultural Revolution

• Around 1967, Lin Biao was sent by Mao with army troops in to restore order in many Chinese cities that were on the brink of collapse and fallen to anarchy. The army soon suppressed the Red Guards into retreating however the bloodshed it caused was immense.
• Lin Biao was officially appointed as Mao’s successor in 1969. He began finding excuses to institute martial law in cities, and bothered by Lin’s desire for power, Mao began to plot against him with the help of Zhou Enlai, China’s premier, leading to a split of ranks in the Chinese government.
• Lin died in an airplane crash in Mongolia, apparently while attempting to escape to the Soviet Union in 1971, which led to Lin’s loyalists to be purged.

End of the Cultural Revolution and Gang of Four

• Mao’s death in 1976 and the downfall of the Gang of Four (a group of radical pro-Mao CCP members) brought an end to the cultural revolution.
• In order to avoid discrediting Mao and his legacy, party leaders ordered for Mao’s widow, Jiang Qing, and a group of her radical accomplices to be publicly tried for being responsible the chaos and terror. Jiang was sentenced to death in 1981, which was later reduced to life in prison.; She hung herself in 1991.
• Mao and Zhou had rallied behind and given support to Deng Xiaoping, before their deaths, however after a lot of falling in and out with the radicals Gang of Four, Deng rose back to power in 1977 and maintained control over the Chinese government for the next 20 years.

Effects of the Cultural Revolution on China

There were both short term and long term effects of the cultural revolution on China, both of which are discussed in detail below:

Short term effects

1. Destruction and Chaos throughout the country

Approximately 1.5 million people were killed during the Cultural Revolution by the youth mobs, and millions were imprisoned, displaced, had their properties seized, tortured and persecuted. The bloodshed and trauma faced by the population of China was immense. As a result of all this destruction, the economy of China was left completely disrupted too. These were the immediate aka short term effects of the cultural revolution on China.

2. Disruption in education for China’s youth

As schools and universities were shut down during the cultural revolution, we find that a whole generation of China’s youth had missed out on schooling and education and became more prone to violence. The young population is the foundation of any country and its future and the youth of China being denied proper education could have long term effects for the country.

3. General distrust in the Government

The general public began to trust the Chinese government less and less after the cultural revolution because of all the trauma and persecution many communities had to experience at the hands of radical groups, that were being backed by the government.

Long term effects

4. China’s embrace of capitalism

In the long run, the opposite of what Mao Zedong had hoped for happened aka China’s embrace of capitalism. Mao had hoped for the revolution to revive and strengthen communism throughout China, however the opposite happened because many people had lost their faith in the government and their ideology post the cultural revolution chaos and stopped following them blindly. Capitalism and its benefits came to be seen in a different light by the Chinese people.

5. Obsession with stability and political control

The cultural revolution was a period of utter disarray and chaos in China. Many cities has been plunged into anarchy and the instability in the ruling party at that time increased and added to this chaos; Therefore we find that the future Chinese governments, took lot of precautions to avoid this situation in the future. Best example to be seen in this case is the current president of China, Xi Jinping having been the president of the People’s Republic of China since 2013.

Conclusion

We find that historians today speculate that Mao Zedong used the cultural revolution in China as a smokescreen to weed out his enemies. The official reason for the launch of this cultural revolution in 1966 still remains the revival of communism and revolutionary spirit in people and purging of the “bourgeois” leaders in the ruler party; However we can also conclude that Mao very tactfully hit two birds with a stone and went after his enemies by launching this revolution to reassert his authority in the government. The cultural revolution caused widespread destruction and chaos in many Chinese cities and completely overturned any sign of normalcy for people. The youth was radicalized and manipulated, the intellectual class was persecuted, all of which had after effects for the country. The revolution ended after Mao’s death and to this day remains as a dark past for the communist party of China.

FAQ’s on Cultural Revolution in China

What are the Red Guards in the Cultural Revolution?

The Red Guards were a student-led, paramilitary social movement mobilized by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 until their abolishment in 1968, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution.

What were the goals of the Cultural Revolution?

Mao Zedong had the following broad goals for the Cultural Revolution: to replace his designated successors with leaders more faithful to his current thinking; to rectify the Chinese Communist Party; to provide China’s youths with a revolutionary experience and to achieve policy changes so as to make the educational, health care, and cultural systems less elitist.

What was the Cultural Revolution?

The Cultural Revolution was an upheaval launched by Chinese Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong during his last decade in power (1966–1976) to renew the spirit of the Chinese Revolution and Communism.

Why was the Cultural Revolution launched?

Mao Zedong launched the Cultural Revolution because he feared that China would develop along the lines of the Soviet model, and adopt capitalism, which he did not approve of and also because he was concerned about his own place in history.

When did the Cultural Revolution occur?

The Cultural Revolution took place from August 1966 to the autumn of 1976. It was officially ended by the Eleventh Party Congress in August 1977.