Cultural Revolution

In 1966, Chairman Mao Zedong launched the Cultural Revolution, also known as
the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution.1 The main intention of the Cultural Revolution
was to throw away the old customs and make everyone equal by denying capitalism. 2
However in 1976, the Cultural Revolution ended by the death of the Chairman. China
later reformed under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping. Mao Zedongs Cultural
Revolution caused China to fall behind in developing their country, reshaped many
teenagers thoughts, and restricted the citizens freedom of press and speech, but only
with the Cultural Revolution, China was able to increase both the government
responsibility and the rights of the citizens to further provide the citizens a better
environment.
Mao Zedong said the Cultural Revolution would benefit everyone with the idea of
communism, but instead, the revolution caused China to fall behind in both economic and
educational development. China was only 1% of the worlds economy during the Cultural
Revolution3. Before the Cultural Revolution, Chinas industrial value was mainly
increasing, but during the Cultural Revolution, Chinas industrial value dropped 16,845
million Yuan ($2,764,685,625) within the first two years.4 Immediately after the Cultural
Revolution, the economy grew by 7.6% and 11.7% in the following year. Food
1 Cultural Revolution HISTORY. 1996-2013, A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web.

November 14, 2013

2 Sayson, Mimi Milanie. Maos Last Attempt: The Cultural Revolution
3 Economic Growth, 1970 to 2007pg.6 The Globe Social Change Research Project,

Copyright May 2007, PDF

consumption decreased from 204.5 kg per capita in 1956, to 191.5 kg per capita in 1976,
and cotton consumption decreased from 29.2 feet per capita to 23.7 feet per capita. 5 Yet
the Chinese population had increased 27.41%, thus decreasing the quality of daily life.
Not only did the Cultural Revolution caused China to fall behind economically, it also
left scars among the citizens educational life. Many teenagers during the Revolution did
not receive proper education, and missed the chance of graduating high school and
getting a college degree.6 Though, shortly after the Cultural Revolution, the government
took up the responsibility and improved its subsistence allowance to rural areas to reduce
poverty. By 2010, more than 46.154 million people in rural area were helped by the
allowance on medical care and financial needs.7
Mao Zedong shaped many teenagers thoughts during the revolution. During the
Cultural Revolution, all public high schools were shut down for six years and more years
for college because of Maos beliefs, To read too many books is harmful.8 It is
necessary for intellectual students to go to the countryside and be re-educated by poor or
average peasants. 9 Afterwards, about one million college students and two million high
school students stopped receiving education and 16 million citizens went to the
4 Maddison, Angus & Wu, Harry W., Measuring Chinas economic performance
5 Impact on Economy Think Quest.
6 CULTURAL REVOLUTION, CHINA Gordon State K.G.L
7 Development-oriented Poverty Reduction Policies and Their Implementation China.
8 Quote Worddetail Mao Zedong
9 Chinese Cultural Revolution Punahou.

countryside to live or work on the farms, all believing in Maos words. Little Red
Book, published in 1966, were pamphlets of quotes that Mao passed out to the teenagers
for them to read, learn, and support the Cultural Revolution. Maos denials of liberalism,
his agreement with communism, and actions he wants the citizens to take were all printed
on the pamphlet.10 The Red Guards, mainly formed by teenagers, was a communist
organization that punished those that do not agree with Mao. Teenagers were encouraged
to denounce their friends and families who were against communism, and those who tried
protecting his or her parents were beaten or executed.11 Mao also controlled the media
and neglected many facts about the violence and execution, causing teenagers to continue
believing in the success of the Cultural Revolution. 12 After the Cultural Revolution ended,
universities were reopened for students to enroll, but the ones who were eligible to enroll
were students recommended by the political officials.13 In order to give citizens equal
rights, the political leader, Deng Xiaoping, declared that there should a national entrance
exam, which is now officially known as National Higher Education Entrance
Examination. In 2010, more than 31 million students take the exam and receive higher
education.
During the Cultural Revolution, people were unable to express their true thoughts
about Mao Zedong. The freedom of speech was strictly limited under the Cultural
10 Mao, Zedong, Quotations from Mao Tsu Tung
11 Tania Branigan China's Cultural Revolution: son's guilt over the

mother he sent to her death

12 Wang, Youqing. Ed. Student Attacks Against Teachers: The revolution of 1966
13 Jeffery Hays, Cultural RevolutionTHE END

Revolution environment.14 People were not able to share their ideas by newspapers since
Mao Zedong had dominant control over all media. 15 Many were sentenced to jail time if
found criticizing Mao publicly or being suspected to go against Mao Zedong. 16 Research
shows that 36 million people died or suffered from political persecution ordered by Mao
Zedong for unexplainable reasons.17 Persecutions were covered up by accidents or
suicides to keep the citizens uninformed. Liu Shaoqi, a former acquaintance of Mao, was
against Maos Revolution, and later became a target of the nation because of Maos
posters that criticized him.18 Liu Shaoqi died in prison on November 12, 1969. An
ordinary citizen, Dan Chung, was suspicious of the Revolution and said, Why don't they
just make a decision on me?and called for the crowd to attack Mao Zedong. She was
soon denounced by her own son and shot in public.19 Many other officers and citizens
were denounced because of their criticism or doubts toward Mao Zedong. Due to their
awful experiences during the Cultural Revolution, China has learned its mistakes. Article
43 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China passed in 1979 by the newly
14 Zhao, Yan. Sixty Years: Pervasive Dictatorship Propaganda, Limited

Press Freedom
15 Liu, Hainian. Freedom of Speech and Social Development
16 Harding, Jeff. Nominate Sun Wenguang for Nobel Peace Prize Daily

Capitalist
17 Communist China Diploma History
18 The renegade, traitor and scab Liu Shaoqi must forever be expelled from the Party!

1968 1968 Libcom.org

19 Tania Branigan China's Cultural Revolution: son's guilt over the

mother he sent to her death

formed government stated that, "the death penalty is only applicable to criminals who
have committed the most heinous of crimes20, thus limiting the government from
giving capital punishments to citizens without a proper trial or judgment. On August 14,
2009, the Sina Company launched a government approved program, Weibo, where
citizens were given the rights to freely express their ideas and be informed with the latest
news. In 2012, Weibo has more than 350 million users across China. 21 Many more of
these types of changes were made to avoid taking advantage of citizens rights, and
providing a better environment.
During the Cultural Revolution, goods from other countries were not reaching
China and caused a downfall of economy.22 He also encouraged teenagers to be violent;
for roughly 1.5 million people died during the Cultural Revolution. With Mao Zedongs
control over media and military, he ensured the Cultural Revolution would last as long as
he was in power. Stories about Mao Zedong were headlines in Japanese newspapers.
Students formed a group called Zenkyoto that is similar to the Chinese Red Guard, but
Japan soon stopped it and prevented other groups from forming in the future.

23

As China

reformed, the government took up the responsibility of managing the country, started the

20 Carrying out the Punishment of criminals. China.

21 Magistad, Mary Kay, ed. How Weibo Is Changing China
22 Grover, Sam. Long term effect of Cultural Revolution
23 Hurumaya, Tadao, "The Cultural Revolution and Japan"

first wave of foreign direct investment in 1985, 24 and opened its borders for trade.

25

The

2012 Gross Domestic Product is about 159 times greater comparing to the GDP at the end
of Cultural Revolution, making China second in 2012 World GDP ranking.26 Now the
citizens in China enjoy a range of speech, assembly, association, procession, and
demonstration freedom.

27

Presently, at least 300 million Chinese have joined social

networks to express their thoughts or create their own copyright information. 99% of 420
million people who have internet access use the search engine Baidu that is similar to
Google and enjoy the freedom of press.28 With the balance between government
responsibilities and citizen rights, together they have put in every effort to rebuild the
country from its dark past and welcome its unknown future.

(1130 words)

24 GDP growth in China 1952-2011 China Ability.

25 China. Xinhua News Agency. China increases subsistence allowance China
26 GDP. The World Bank. 2013 The World Bank Group,
27 The Chinese People Have Gained Extensive Political Rights Human

Rights Reader
28 Tsotsis, Alexia. 99% use Baidu for search Techcrunch

Citations:
Primary Sources:
Carrying out the Punishment of criminals. China. N.p, n.d, Web. October 29, 2013
(Support Paragraph 3)
Chinese Cultural Revolution Punahou. N.p, n.d. Web. October 19, 2013
(Support Paragraph 2)
Economic Growth, 1970 to 2007pg.6 The Globe Social Change Research
Project, Copyright May 2007, PDF September 2013 (Support Paragraph 1)
GDP growth in China 1952-2011 China Ability. N.p, 5 November, 2011, Web.
Novemberr 3, 2013 (Support Paragraph 1)
GDP. The World Bank. 2013 The World Bank Group, n.d. Web. November 1,
2013 (Impact Paragraph)
Maddison, Angus & Wu, Harry W., Measuring Chinas economic performance
Factcow. World Economics, April-June 2008. Web. October 21, 2013 (Support Paragraph
1)
Mao, Zedong, Quotations from Mao Tsu Tung Mao Tsu Tung internet Archive.
Peking Foreign Languages Press, 1966. Web. October 19, 2013 (Support paragraph 2)
Quote Worddetail Mao Zedong n.d Web. October 13, 2013 (Support Paragraph
2)
The renegade, traitor and scab Liu Shaoqi must forever be expelled from the
Party! 1968 1968 Libcom.org Web. October 28, 2013 (Support Paragraph 3)
Secondary Sources:
China. Xinhua News Agency. China increases subsistence allowance China:
China.org.cn, February 5, 2008, Web. November 2, 2013
Communist China Diploma History N.p, n.d. Web. October 28, 2013
CULTURAL REVOLUTION, CHINA Gordon State K.G.L n.d. Web.
September 29, 2013
Cultural Revolution HISTORY. 1996-2013, A&E Television Networks, n.d.
Web. November 14, 2013

Development-oriented Poverty Reduction Policies and Their Implementation

China. N.p, n.d. Web. November 18, 2013
Grover, Sam. Long term effect of Cultural Revolution. eHow. 1999-2013
Demand Media, Inc., n.d. Web. November 1, 2013
Impact on Economy Think Quest. N.d, n.p. Web October 19, 2013
, Jeff. Nominate Sun Wenguang for Nobel Peace Prize Daily Capitalist. N.p.
April 8th, 2009. Web. October 28, 2013I
Jeffery, Hays, Cultural RevolutionTHE END Facts and Details N.p August
2012 Web. October 20, 2013
Liu, Hainian. Freedom of Speech and Social Development, Chinas Human
rights. N.p. 1998. Web. October 28, 2013
Magistad, Mary Kay, ed. How Weibo Is Changing China Yale Global Online.
2012 Yale Center for the Study of Globalization. August 9, 2013. Web. October 29, 2013
Sayson, Mimi Milanie. Maos Last Attempt: The Cultural Revolution Marquette
University History Department, n.d. Web. November 14, 2013
Tania Branigan China's Cultural Revolution: son's guilt over the mother he sent
to her death The Guardians. N.p. March 27, 2013. Web. October 20, 2013
The Chinese People Have Gained Extensive Political Rights Human Rights
Reader, N.p, n.d. Web. November 1, 2013
Tsotsis, Alexia. 99% use Baidu for search Techcrunch. 2013 AOL Inc,
November 15, 2010. Web. November 10, 2013
Wang, Youqing. Ed. Student Attacks Against Teachers: The revolution of 1966 .
N.p n.d Web October 13, 2013
Zhao, Yan. Sixty Years: Pervasive Dictatorship Propaganda, Limited Press
Freedom HRIC. N.p. n.d. Web. October 28, 2013