Revolution That Changed Chinas Soul

Lela G. Jgerenaia Prof. William Joseph POL2 208 Politics of China 11/22/2012

Title idea inspired by Maos statement on the goals of new revolution

Changes in society are due chiefly to the development of the internal contradictions It is the development of these contradictions that pushes society forward and gives the impetus for the supersession of the old society by the new. 1 Mao Zedong

Introduction The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution of China between 1966 and 1976 was the last attempt of the Chairman Mao to gain control over the masses and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).2 The Revolution, which was a distillation of Maos philosophy, unleashed a campaign of terror on Chinese society.3 The Cultural Revolution was a reflection of Maos growing distrust of the CCP members, and his isolation from the realities of Chinese society. Mao started the Revolution as an attack against those party leaders, whom he viewed as revisionists and capitalist-sympathizers threatening communist ideology. His goal was to purge the enemies of the ideology from power and create a new revolutionary class of youth as the backbone of his movement. 4 This paper will analyze the origins of the Cultural Revolution and its triggers. It will elucidate the role of Mao Zedong Thought and the degree of its influence in creating and guiding the revolution. The last section of the paper will discuss the effects of the Cultural Revolution on Chinese politics in the aftermath of the movement. Origins of Cultural Revolution The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (196676) was launched by Chairman Mao as his discontent grew over the way the CCP was handling political, social and economic matters. His vision for advancing China into communism through industrialization was shattered by the

Mao Zedong, On Contradictions, August 1937. <http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume1/mswv1_17.htm>. 2 Roderick MacFarquhar on his book Maos Last Revolution, (FORA.tv, 2006). <http://fora.tv/2006/09/28/Roderick_MacFarquhar>. 3 June Grasso, Jay Corrin & Michael Kort, Modernization and Revolution in China: From the Opium Wars to the Olympics, (London: New York: An East Gate Book, M.E. Sharpe, 2009), pg. 208. 4 Timothy Cheek, Mao Zedong and Chinas Revolutions, University of British Columbia, (Boston: New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 2002), pg. 26.

inability of party officials and the peasantry to meet the unrealistic goals of the Great Leap Forward. The unprecedented suffering from the results of Great Leap policies caused Mao to step back from the front line of CCP leadership. He appointed new leaders and Deng Xiaoping was entrusted to work towards Chinas economic rehabilitation. Mao felt excluded as some party members, particularly Deng, did not consult with him about their actions. Focusing on economic recovery, Deng legalized previously outlawed practices such as free markets and private farming. He would adopt any model as long as it worked: it does not matter if it is a black cat or a white cat, as long as it catches mice.5 Mao was alarmed by Dengs ideological leniency as well as other party leader policies, and this threat to ideological purity was one of the impetuses for launching the Cultural Revolution in 1966. Mao was assisted in the movement by the Gang of Four, which consisted of his wife Jiang Qing, Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wenyuan, and Wang Hongwen as well as Lin Biao, the Defense Minister.6 Through the empowerment of the Red Guards, intellectuals, local officials and even top party members were denounced as capitalist roaders.7 Even as early as 1962, at the 7,000 Cadre Conference, Mao spoke about new bourgeoisie making its appearance in socialist society. 8 By 1963, socialist education and struggle against intellectuals had commenced.9 Soon after, in 1966 he started a broad movement that would touch peoples very soul and affect every aspect of life by bringing Chinas culture closer to proletariat ideology and revolutionary culture.10 He felt the need to re-launch revolution to get China off the capitalist road. Mao was concerned about generational succession and he concluded it was necessary to have the young people

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William Joseph, Politics of China, Class Lectures, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, fall 2012. Grasso et al, Modernization and Revolution in China, pg. 213. 7 Timothy Cheek, Mao Zedong and Chinas Revolutions, pg. 26-27. 8 William Joseph, Politics of China, The Calm Between Storms, Class Lectures, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, fall 2012. 9 Keesings Research Report, The Cultural Revolution in China: its Origins and Course, (New York: Charles Scribners Sons, 1967), pg. 7. 10 Preking Review, A Great Revolution That Touches the People to Their Very Souls, <http://www.marxists.org/subject/china/peking-review/1966/PR1966-24d.htm>.

experience revolutionary struggle against capitalists to make sure his ideology would be continued.11 He called Liu Shaoqi the Chinese Khrushchev, and Liu was expelled from the party. By 1969 seven top members of the party were purged as a result of the Great Proletariat Cultural Revolution launched by Chairman Mao to get rid of poisonous weeds12 that threatened true communist ideology through revisionism. As Deng, Liu and others labeled as class enemies were removed from power, the CCP was now in the hands of an informal group: Mao and his Cultural Revolution group.13 Another major reason for Maos fear of ideological pollution was the example of the Soviet Union, which had deviated from true communism in the Chairmans view. Stalins denunciation by Khrushchev and the Soviet Union signing the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty made it look like other imperialist paper tigers in Maos eyes. He concluded that the Soviet Union was no longer communist and they had restored capitalism under Khrushchev. Mao feared that China would follow the same path if he did not take action.14

Cultural Revolution and Mao Zedong Thought

A revolution is not a dinner party. A revolution is an insurrection, an act of violence by which one class overthrows another.15

- Mao Zedong Mao believed that violence had a central role in revolution, and it was not meant to be gentle or refined.16 The manner in which the Cultural Revolution took place reflects this thought, which gave legitimacy to the brutal actions of the Red Guards. 17 In fact, Cultural Revolution supporters and the revolutionary Red Guards were using the Little Red Book, quoting
11 12

Keesings Research Report, The Cultural Revolution in China, pg. 5. William Joseph, Politics of China, 100 Flowers Movement, Class Notes, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, fall 2012. 13 Li Zhisui, The Private Life of Chairman Mao, (1994), pg. 15. 14 Keesings Research Report, The Cultural Revolution in China, pg. 7. 15 William Joseph, Politics of China, Mao Zedong Thought, Class Notes, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, fall 2012. 16 Morning Sun, Produced and Directed by Carma Hinton, Geremie R. Barme & Richard Gordon, (Long Bow Group, Inc., 2003). <https://sites.google.com/a/wellesley.edu/lts-videos/pol2-208-01-fa-12>. 17 Morning Sun, Hinton, Barme & Gordon, (Long Bow Group, Inc., 2003).

Mao Zedong Thought, as their bible.18 The primary subject at universities became Mao Zedong Thought.19 Now standards of art and literature were required to meet the criteria set by Jiang Qing and Mao in portraying revolutionary spirit and the peasant class in a heroic light. 20 Mao Zedong Thought further developed and tailored Marxism-Leninism to China. Maos nascent thoughts took shape around late 1920s and solidified by the time the Peoples Republic of China was established. Mao Zedong Thought was a theory based on Chinas revolutionary experience and the main guiding principle of the Communist party.21 For Mao, ideology was the most important glue for all parts of society that had to work for the purpose of serving the people.22 Mao believed in the power of the masses and felt that everything was from the masses, and to the masses.23 He considered their strength as the iron bastion which was unconquerable.24 Lin Biao claimed that Mao Zedong Though was a spiritual atom bomb, which China alone possessed, and was more powerful than the actual atom bomb.25 Mao understood the power of mobilizing the masses and he employed this principle in inciting the youth in the Cultural Revolution. In his 1957 speech, On the Correct Handling of Contradictions among the People,26 Mao drew a firm line between the people supporting the socialist revolution and those who opposed or undermined it. He defines two major types of contradictions, antagonistic and nonantagonistic. He identifies antagonistic contradictions as between the people supporting the socialist revolution and everyone resisting it, defined as the enemy. He defines non-antagonistic

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Though I Am Gone, Directed by Hu Jie, (2006). <https://sites.google.com/a/wellesley.edu/lts-videos/pol2-208-01-fa-12>. Grasso et al, Modernization and Revolution in China, pg. 203. 20 Grasso et al, Modernization and Revolution in China, pg. 205. 21 Resolution on CPC History (1949-81), Authoritative Assessment, pg. 57. 22 Resolution on CPC History (1949-81), Authoritative Assessment, pg. 65. 23 Timothy Cheek, Mao Zedong and Chinas Revolutions, pg. 15. 24 William Joseph, Politics of China, Mao Zedong Thought, Class Notes, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, fall 2012. 25 Morning Sun, Hinton, Barme & Gordon, (Long Bow Group, Inc., 2003). 26 Mao Zedong, On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People, February 27, 1957. <http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-5/mswv5_58.htm>.

contradictions as those which may arise within the people and which can be resolved among the people and does not necessarily become antagonistic. The struggle between the Chinese working class and the bourgeoisie is a contradiction with both an antagonistic and non-antagonistic aspect, which can be transformed into a non-antagonistic contradiction and resolved through peaceful means if the bourgeoisie can be criticized and reeducated. If the bourgeoisie resists the socialist revolution, then they become the enemy and the contradiction becomes an antagonistic one, which can only be resolved through violent class struggle and revolution. Mao felt the capitalist roaders and counter-revolutionaries, even among the CCP, were incapable of being reeducated, and therefore were deemed the enemy and had to be overthrown.27 Inheritance of Cultural Revolution The Great Proletariat Cultural Revolution was a dramatic and painful transformation of peoples lives. It changed the arrangement of society, caused loss of efficiency and sacrificed the countrys economic and industrial advancement in the name of revolution. During the two year campaign of the Red Guards, economic growth and output decreased significantly, Institutions were stifled, whole classes of people were disenfranchised and Chinas international reputation suffered.28 An area deeply influenced by this revolution was the education system, which was viewed as a vestige from the past that favored the privileged. University students predominantly were constituted by the children of urban middle class and party cadres, who were better students for the most part due to better access to educational resources. Those top students and others with bourgeois education were sent to remote villages to work with peasants and learn from them. The result of this reeducation campaign was a generation of promising young people who
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Mao Zedong, On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People, February 27, 1957. Grasso et al, Modernization and Revolution in China, pg. 202.

were deprived of the potential for training and careers, in the name of revolution. These students would become a cohort that mistrusted and resented their treatment by the government.29 Negative stories of the Cultural Revolution transmitted to the foreign press and further eroded Chinas already imperfect international reputation. In 1967, Red Guards took over the Foreign Ministry, rifled through files of high security importance and communicated messages to a number of foreign missions without authorization.30 Foreign officials were attacked and their consulates and property were vandalized and burned; as a consequence, relations with a number of countries were strained.31 Most importantly, the Cultural Revolution managed to annihilate the Chinese cultural heritage.32 Traditional values of Chinese society: family, morals, dignity and religion among others, were attacked and destroyed. Maos views were unchallenged veracity and the youth followed his words blindly, even if it meant fracturing the family.33 China was in great turmoil.34 Soon people no longer knew who to follow; If Mao was wrong, they did not know who had the right answer.35 Youth, who had been told by Mao that they were the future and hope of China, lost faith and did not understand the purpose of revolution any longer. Some, who were still loyal to Mao, did not wake up until the tables were turned and the oppressed became the oppressors36 after Dengs succession to the ailing Premier Zhou.37 1976 marked the time of Chinas grand awakening from a great slumber and hypnosis of ideology. This year was important for a number of reasons. April 5th was a day of remembrance of dead ancestors. In Beijing many people went to the symbolic tomb of Premier Zhou in Tiananmen Square, Monument to the Peoples
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Morning Sun, Hinton, Barme & Gordon, (Long Bow Group, Inc., 2003). Grasso et al, Modernization and Revolution in China, pg. 205. 31 Grasso et al, Modernization and Revolution in China, pg. 206. 32 Jung Chang, Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China, (New York: London: Simon & Schuster, Globalflair Ltd., 2003), pg. 518. 33 Grasso et al, Modernization and Revolution in China, pg. 207. 34 Grasso et al, Modernization and Revolution in China, pg. 208. 35 Morning Sun, Hinton, Barme & Gordon, (Long Bow Group, Inc., 2003). 36 Grasso et al, Modernization and Revolution in China, pg. 214. 37 Morning Sun, Hinton, Barme & Gordon, (Long Bow Group, Inc., 2003).

Heroes.38 Protests started when the flowers were removed from the monument by the police. Demonstrators were praising Deng and Zhou, while condemning Mao and his Cultural Revolution support group. Some placards even made parallels between Mao and Emperor Qin Shihuang. Protests were dissolved with the force of the military, but this day marked the breaking out from the ideological and political poison of Mao Zedong Thought.39 Mao died on September 9th of 1976 and the power struggle between Maos chosen successor Hua Guofeng and the Gang of Four began. Hua, feeling threatened, found allies among Deng and other Politburo members that opposed the Gang of Four.40 He managed to arrest them and retain power41 until 1978 when Deng Xiaoping started overshadowing the provincial leader, who had no experience in Beijing politics or foreign affairs.42 The end of the Cultural Revolution marked the transformation of China as a whole, as during Deng Xiaopings administration, new reforms started the second revolution. The country opened its doors to trade, tourists and foreign investment. Many students funded by the state went abroad to gain education.43 Chinas agriculture, industry, defense and science and technology were the four modernizations that would lead to the nations advancement. Deng had the support of the people in moving towards new policies that were not favored by Maoists. People supported more change and more decentralization of power.44 As a prominent China scholar, Roderick MacFarquhar stated, without the Cultural Revolution, there would have been no reform in China. Deng had suffered the Cultural Revolution along with his country, so the

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Grasso et al, Modernization and Revolution in China, pg. 215. Grasso et al, Modernization and Revolution in China, pg. 215. 40 Grasso et al, Modernization and Revolution in China, pg. 215. 41 William Joseph, Serve the People! Images of Daily Life in China during Cultural Revolution, Last Modified May, 2010. <http://www.wellesley.edu/Polisci/wj/China1972/intro.html>. 42 Grasso et al, Modernization and Revolution in China, pg. 219. 43 Jung Chang, Wild Swans, pg. 523. 44 Grasso et al, Modernization and Revolution in China, pg. 220.

ills brought by the revolution made it possible for him to justify deviation from the path Mao had set.45 Conclusion The Cultural Revolution is a clear illustration of the harm caused by absolute power. Mao was given legitimacy by the people, he had a monopoly when it came to the right to set policies or approve them. As former party secretary, Li Rui stated, when Mao set the tone, no one could contradict him.46 Those who did would be purged as anti-party counter-revolutionaries. Mao exercised direct dictatorship on the party while using media and propaganda to maintain the favor of the masses. Mao was corrupted by absolute power, and as he lost his sense of reality he became more detached from the party and the masses. The Cultural Revolution was Maos last attempt to gain absolute control once again using the masses.47 It is clear that Mao knew how to gain the favor of the masses, who were capable of defeating all enemies when united. During the Cultural Revolution, his message resonated powerfully with the youth. Masses were Maos weapon once again. Mao was employing his main principle of revolution and denouncing those aspects of education that all students hated, and his words pressed them on to violent actions. Mao was an expert manipulator of the crowd, and he had unlocked the secret of organizing peoples discontent into all powerful revolution. Through his charismatic leadership and deep understanding of human nature, Mao was able to regain the control of the masses and the CCP through the tools of Cultural Revolution. The Chinese people suffered from Maos ideological and spiritual control until 197648 and the country was left both physically and spiritually battered.

45 46

Roderick MacFarquhar on his book Maos Last Revolution, (FORA.tv, 2006). Morning Sun, Hinton, Barme & Gordon, (Long Bow Group, Inc., 2003). 47 Roderick MacFarquhar on his book Maos Last Revolution, (FORA.tv, 2006). 48 Morning Sun, Hinton, Barme & Gordon, (Long Bow Group, Inc., 2003).

Bibliography
Chang, Jung, Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China, New York: London: Simon & Schuster, Globalflair Ltd., 2003. Cheek, Timothy, Mao Zedong and Chinas Revolutions, University of British Columbia, Boston: New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 2002. Cover image source: Sina English, Belated confessions of former Red Guards, Last Modified January 25, 2011. <http://english.sina.com/china/p/2011/0125/357378.html>. Grasso, June, Corrin, Jay & Kort, Michael, Modernization and Revolution in China: From the Opium Wars to the Olympics, London: New York: An East Gate Book, M.E. Sharpe, 2009. Joseph, William, Politics of China, Class Lectures, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, fall 2012. Joseph, William, Serve the People! Images of Daily Life in China during Cultural Revolution, Last Modified May, 2010. <http://www.wellesley.edu/Polisci/wj/China1972/intro.html>. Keesings Research Report, The Cultural Revolution in China: its Origins and Course, New York: Charles Scribners Sons, 1967. MacFarquhar, Roderick, on his book Maos Last Revolution, FORA.tv, 2006. <http://fora.tv/2006/09/28/Roderick_MacFarquhar>. Mao Zedong, On Contradictions, August 1937. <http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume1/mswv1_17.htm>. Mao Zedong, On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People, February 27, 1957. <http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume5/mswv5_58.htm>. Morning Sun, Produced and Directed by Carma Hinton, Geremie R. Barme & Richard Gordon, Long Bow Group, Inc., 2003. <https://sites.google.com/a/wellesley.edu/lts-videos/pol2208-01-fa-12>. Resolution on CPC History (1949-81), Authoritative Assessment of: Mao Zedong, the Cultural Revolution and Achievements of the Peoples Republic, Beijing: Foreign Language Press, 1981. Though I Am Gone, Directed by Hu Jie, 2006. <https://sites.google.com/a/wellesley.edu/ltsvideos/pol2-208-01-fa-12>. Zhisui, Li, The Private Life of Chairman Mao, 1994.
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