Preview

Mao's Cultural Revolution

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2584 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Mao's Cultural Revolution
Modern History Research Essay Isobel Stone 30/4/13

Question: To what extent did Mao’s Cultural Revolution impact the people of China during the period of 1966-1968?

Mao’s Cultural Revolution impacted the people of China during the period of 1966-1968 to a great extent as China was brought to near anarchy. This was essentially due to the creation of the Red Guards from the youth of China. They brought detrimental chaos to the country, through schools, colleges and on the streets. The Cultural Revolution also known as The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution lasted from 1966 to 1976, but its most intense stage was the from 1966 to 1968. This was because the Red Guards started with a sudden and passionate out burst of radicalism. The mass mobilization of the youth of China into the Red Guard units had a widespread negative impact on the population of China. This negative impact was furthered by the lack of an education. The youth were also adversely affected psychologically. Finally the downward spiral of the Chinese economy had a profound effect on China in its entirety.

Through the mass mobilization of the youth of China into what were known as Red Guards, Mao’s Cultural Revolution had an enormous negative impact on the people of China. As the Red Guard Demonstrations became more frequent and violent, China’s people began to conform and join the side of Mao and his followers to avoid humiliation or death. These rebelling youths tore through streets, houses, and cultural heritages destroying all deemed ‘suspicious’. This greatly affected China’s population as the people lived in fear while China was losing control of its youth and spiraling into social turmoil. Mao’s Cultural Revolution called for all the youth of China to band together and rebel against the ‘capitalist roaders’, which resulted in the creation of the so-called Red Guards. These were groups of students that generally came from



Bibliography: Asia Research Centre (1968) The Great Cultural Revolution in China, Charles E. Tuttle Company Inc., Tokyo Bandyopadhyaya, J (1973) MaoTse-tung and Gandhi – perspectives on social transformation, Allied Publishers, India Buell, H (1967) The World Of Red China, Dodd Mead and Company, New York Bullard, R Chan, H. P (1973) Radicals and Radical Ideology in China’s Cultural Revolution, Columbia University, USA Cheek, T (2002) Mao Zedong and China’s Revolutions – A brief histroy with documents, Bedfords/St Martins, USA Chen, J (1975) Inside the Cultural Revolution, Macmillian Publishing Co., Inc., New York Chen, P Cultural Revolution (2013) The History Channel website, http://history.com/topics/cultural-revolution (15/04/13) The Cultural Revolution – Red Guards, http://library.thinkquest.oorg/26469/cultural-revolution/redguards.html (17/04/13) Faulkner, A (2003), Mao Zedong 1893-1976, Fraklin Watts, London Hay, J (2012) Perspectives on Modern World History – The Chinese Cultural Revolution, Greenhaven Press, USA Kraus, C. (2012) The Cultural Revolution – A very short introduction, Oxford University Press, New York Lin, J (1991) The Red Guards Path to Violence – Political, Educational and Psychological factors, Praeger Publishers, New York Morton, S et al (2005), China: It’s history and culture, McGraw-Hill, USA Phillips, J et al Robinson, J (1969-1970) The Cultural Revolution in China, Penguin Books, Great Britain Stewart, G (2006), China 1900-76, Heinemann Educational Publishers, Oxford London Trueman, C (2000) The Cultural Revolution, http://historylearningsite.co.uk/cultural-revolution.htm (14/02/13) Werts, R Wu, G (2011) China 1966-1976 – Cultural Revolution Revisited – Can it happen again? Nova Science Publishers, Inc., New York

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution or the Cultural Revolution (1966 -1976) was one of the most dramatic and bleakest periods in the history of the People’s Republic of China. The roots of the Cultural Revolution date back to the late 1950s to the early 1960s when the Great Leap Forward ended in catastrophe. The leader, Mao Zedong lost a lot of his influence among his revolutionary comrades, supporters and eventually, he was removed from actual powers by the members of the party. During his eradication, Deng Xiaoping and Liu Shaoqi came to power. They introduced China to “economic reforms based on individual incentives where families are allowed to cultivate their own plots of land - as an attempt to revive the crippled economy. Mao detested such policies, believing that the CCP was becoming too bureaucratic and the Party officials shied away from the values of Communism and revolution.” (Spence, 1990)…

    • 429 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In Jan Wong’s entrancing expose Red China Blues, she details her plight to take part in a system of “harmony and perfection” (12) that was Maoist China. Wong discloses her trials and tribulations over a course of three decades that sees her searching for her roots and her transformation of ideologies that span over two distinctive forms of Communist governments. This tale is so enticing in due part to the events the author encountered that radically changed her very existence and more importantly, her personal quest for self-discovery.…

    • 1587 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Chinese revolution

    • 552 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Mao could have used positive sanctions instead of negative ones in order to promote social change. Instead of destroying culture and hurting civilians, Mao could have worked to promote his ideal culture. He could have provided reward to those who weren’t corrupt or fighting against his plans as opposed to punishing those who were. He could have demonstrated why it would be better if the country were to change so that people would do so willingly instead of out of force. For example, propaganda…

    • 552 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Chinese Revolution

    • 990 Words
    • 4 Pages

    What specific development in Hunan Province reinforced Mao’s convictions about the peasantry as a revolutionary force?…

    • 990 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    This memoir of Ma Bo’s sent shock waves throughout China when it was published and was even first banned by the Communist Government. This passionate story paints a clear picture for what the Great Chinese Cultural Revolution was really like. Many Chinese living today can attest to similar if not identical ordeals as expressed in Ma Bo’s story. The toils of being a young Red Guard in inner China were experienced by many if not millions. The horrors and atrocities were wide spread throughout the country, not just in Inner Mongolia. The experiences illustrated in Blood Red Sunset uniquely belong to Ma Bo’s entire generation of mislead Chinese. As expressed in the books dedication the Cultural Revolution produced victims, people who suffered from unspeakable wrongs, not limited by any criteria but all segments of society. All parts of China were turned completely upside down. Along with the turmoil came more than just suffering, but pure tragedy. Even the strongest unit throughout all of China’s millennia’s of history, the tight knit family unit, was broken. Particularly profound is the exhibited brutality, victimizing, and sheer loss of humanity that the common people of China subjected each other to during this tumultuous period. This sad theme was seen over and over again throughout the memoir. The devastation Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution inflicted on China has the country still in recovery today. The oldest still standing civilization in history became lawless and un-secure for an entire decade. This resulted in millions of atrocities and injustices taking place throughout the country. Injustice ran rampant everywhere and humanity itself struggled to survive. It awakened the most malicious side of mankind ever seen on such a large scale. To truly appreciate the Communist China 1966-1976 national aberration known as the Great Cultural revolution it is necessary to read an account of a person who actually lived in…

    • 1499 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Marxism and Mao

    • 981 Words
    • 4 Pages

    1. What specific development in Hunan province reinforced Mao’s convictions about the peasantry as a revolutionary force?…

    • 981 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    What effect did the culture revolution had on china? The culture revolution happened in the mid-1900s and lasted a full decade and had a lot of impact on the Chinese people. The main goal was to preserve communism ideology by purging against the “evil” of capitalism in the tradition Chinese society. The book Red Azalea comes from at that particular time period. Red azalea was in the center of the culture revolution. The culture revolution affected the Chinese citizens in many ways. The citizens did not enjoy the Cultural Revolution and lived in constant fear of communist party and the people lacked the freedom to express themselves.…

    • 1032 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In this chapter, Chen describes the effects that the Cultural Revolution had on education. These effects were mainly put in place by Chairman Mao, under his idea that a leaf needed to be turned over in Chinese society. He wanted to forget the past and move on to the future. At this time, religion was banned, many historic relics were destroyed, and many educational institution were either restricted or shut down as a work mentality was promoted. “Fifth grade classes were made up of three categories: labor, politics, and self-study. We dug up the playground and turned it into vegetable plots so that young kids could labor under the scorching sun and have empty but healthy minds” (Chapter 11) This shows the effects of Mao’s rule on even the youngest of people. It reveals how Mao wanted people to work to support the country, this was under the communist ideal Mao followed. Many people were either denied school or trained in something useful for the country. I decided to put this under the political organization Universal because I thought that this showed Mao’s direction and implementation of his ideas, which led the…

    • 819 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Cultural Revolution, formally the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 until 1976. Set into motion by Mao Zedong, then Chairman of the Communist Party of China, its stated goal was to preserve 'true' Communist ideology in the country by purging remnants of capitalist and traditional elements from Chinese society, and to re-impose Maoist thought as the dominant ideology within the Party. The Revolution marked the return of Mao Zedong to a position of power after the Great Leap Forward. The movement paralyzed China politically and significantly negatively affected the country's economy and society.…

    • 1656 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Red Scarf Girl Summary

    • 1011 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Cultural Revolution that took place in the 1960’s and 70’s had a major impact on the citizens of China, and is represented throughout literature in a multitude of ways, as shown in the passages Red Scarf Girl and China’s Cultural Revolution. With these differentiating ideas used in both passages, people who learn about this topic can thoroughly understand these facts on deep emotional levels if there are ways to get a full picture of the historical events that took place. In other words, since there are different points of view, different attitudes towards the alteration, and different displays of how the authors describe these developments in history, readers can fully grasp the concept that is the Chinese Cultural Revolution.…

    • 1011 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The book “The Red Scarf Girl” is a memoir written by author Ji Li Jiang recounting what it was like to grow up during the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, taking place in China from 1965 to 1968. During this time, a political leader named Mao Zedong convinced the people of China that the “four olds", or the old ways of China, were wrong and that the only way for their country to move forward was to completely revamp their beliefs and ways of life; basically creating a whole new culture for the Chinese. By ways of torture as well as basically brainwashing the people into thinking whatever he said was true, Chairman Mao single handedly shaped China’s culture by removing all anti-communist beliefs.…

    • 1113 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Great Proletariat Cultural Revolution[1] was a political and ideological struggle spanning the decade from 1966-1976. More implicitly, it was a struggle spurned into motion by Mao Zedong to reinstitute his mass line and turn China back to the ‘Socialist Road.’ Mao urged the Chinese to undergo a ‘class struggle’ whereby those truly on the path to Communism would rise against the new bureaucracy who were implementing ideology inconsistent with the main tenets of Maoism. However, what ensued was catastrophic and referred to by Feng Jicai as “Ten Years of Madness.”[2] While the class structure of post-revolutionary Chinese society had effectively eradicated the feudal class structure, a new, elite bureaucratic class had emerged. Indeed, these new elite and the remnants of the old bourgeois class bore the brunt of the violent onslaught of Mao’s Red Guards during the CR. In this essay, I argue that class struggle, and struggle under socialism in the CR was paradoxical as “most radicals in the revolutionary campaign against revisionism were representatives not of the proletariat…but of the bourgeoisie itself.”[3] While many joined Mao in is his crusade for utilitarian reasons, many also joined seeking to revenge ill-treatment and denigration at the hands of the elite due to their ‘bad class backgrounds.’ Furthermore, this period demonstrates through the factional plight of the Red Guards and the persecution of party cadres and intelligentsia, that class struggle is not always initiated from unprivileged or discontented classes, but also from those aspiring to retain their new elitist position in society.…

    • 3355 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Bell, Daniel "From Marx to Confucius: Changing Discourses on China 's Political Future." Discourse. Spring 2007. 24 Nov. 2007.…

    • 1230 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    publication from 1966 to 1973 to show that propaganda was not just a tool of the…

    • 5951 Words
    • 24 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Bibliography: arnett, A. (1965), 'Multiple factors ', in Pichon Loh (ed.) 'The Kuomintang Debacle of 1949: Conquest or Collapse? ' D.C. Heath & Company, BostonBianco, Lucien. (1971), 'Origins of the Chinese Revolution, 1915-1949 ' Stanford University Press, StanfordChang, Carsun. (1965), 'Chiang Kai-shek and Kuomintang dictatorship ', in PichonLoh (ed.) 'The Kuomintang Debacle of 1949: Conquest or Collapse? ' D.C. Heath& Company, BostonChang, Kia-Ngua. (1965) 'War and Inflation ' in Pichon Loh (ed.) 'The Kuomintang Debacle of 1949: Conquest or Collapse? ' D.C. Heath & Company, BostonEbrey, Patricia. (1996), Cambridge Illustrated History: China, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, EnglandFielding, Mark & Morcombe, Margot. (1999), 'The Spirit of Change - China in Revolution ' McGraw Hill Book Company, Roseville, NSWHsu, Immanuel C.Y. (1990), 'The Rise of Modern China ' Oxford University Press, New YorkKai-shek, Chiang 1965, 'Communist designs and Kuomintang blunders ', inPichon Loh (ed.) The Kuomintang Debacle of 1949: Conquest or Collapse?, D.C.…

    • 2874 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays