3.2 The Red Guards and the Red Terror

Question 1

What was the Little Red Book and why was it significant?

Answer 1

750 Million copies of this book were spread around China. It included Mao’s thoughts and quotes on a range of subjects. It was put together by Lin Biao and Chen Boda. It was heavily encourage to memorise these quotes and closely follow his instructions.

Question 2

Why did Mao focus on the youth of China in the CR?

Answer 2

Plunging the younger generation into a revolutionary activity would ensure their long-term commitment to communism and therefore ensure communism in China could survive for longer.

Question 3

What was the Diary of Lei-Feng and why was it significant?

Answer 3

A fabricated diary that was created by the government from the point of view of a PLA lorry driver. The diary included many thoughts and actions that inspired a devotion to Mao. This was once again used in everyday life and in the school curriculum.

Question 4

Why was Mao’s personality cult so crucial by 1966?

Answer 4

It allowed young people to separate the image of Mao, the hero that freed China and lead a revolution to the communist party that repressed them.
Party was now portrayed as a threat as it had been infiltrated with revolutionaries.

Question 5

What message did Mao send to the youth in 1966 to win their support?

Answer 5

Mao told them to “Bombard the headquarters” and greeted them enthusiastically.
Mao’s words gave them motivation to go against the traditional respect for age and wisdom by together rising up.

Question 6

Why did young people join the CR and the Red Guards?

Answer 6

There was a lack of career opportunities at that time for students who had the “wrong” class label. If they were not from soldier’s, worker’s or peasant’s family or from party than most future prospects were restricted.

Question 7

What happened on the 18th August and why was it significant?

Answer 7

• The First Mass rally.
• Taking place in Beijing.
• 1 Million Red Guards crammed into Tiananmen Square.
• Symbolism: Allowed people to see Mao’s closeness to the PLA due to his army uniform. Lin Biao spoke for him, whilst Liu, Deng, Zhou stood further away on the same balcony.

Question 8

What happened following the 18th August rally?

Answer 8

Violence and chaos spread across the country. Red Guards completed Lin Biao’s bidding by removing the “4 olds” and anyone from the wrong background.

Question 9

How did the PLA assist the Cultural Revolution?

Answer 9

• Provided support to the Red Guards through helping transport the vast numbers of people across the province to access the rallies.
• Free rail passes also provided.

Question 10

What were the ‘four olds’?

Answer 10

• Old culture
• Old ideas
• Old customs
• Old habits
  These needed to be identified to remove any revisionism

Question 11

What did Lin Biao instruct the Red Guards to do?

Answer 11

In his speech on the 18th August rally, Lin instructed to attack the four olds. The categories were deliberately vague so they could cover any element that suited Mao

Question 12

How did the Red Guards respond to the calls to attack the ‘four olds’ in the initial stages?

Answer 12

• Quick to respond
• Targeted Western Influences in fashion including high heels and “western hairstyles” and clothing.
• Correction stations were set up on streetcorners for offenders to have their head shaved.
• People adopted new names such as “Red Hero” or “Militant”
• Attempted to change the colours of traffic lights to red as it was the revolutionary colour.

Question 13

What more damaging pursuits did the Red Guards carry out?

Answer 13

• Houses ransacked for bourgeois possessions including; instruments, jewellery, antiques, paintings and books.
• Books were burnt on the street
• Religion was attacked as it was deemed an “old”. No public worship allowed. Clergy were imprisoned.

Question 14

How was the family impacted by the CR?

Answer 14

• Traditional Nuclear family were attacked
• Young people urged to treat Mao and CCP as true parents and were obedient to only them. Children would often denounce their own parents

Question 15

What happened to cultural sites during the Cultural Revolution?

Answer 15

Many were physically destroyed

Question 16

Was the destruction of the ‘four olds’ completely successful?

Answer 16

Although it was intense, it was short lived. Many traditional views re-appeared quickly afterwards including the traditional attitudes of respecting the dead.

Question 17

Who did the Students/Red Guards attack?

Answer 17

Students turned on unpopular teachers and anyone who had a wealthy/privileged lifestyle. They had essentially been given free-reign by Mao.

Question 18

Who was Huang Xinting and what happened to him?

Answer 18

• The Military leader of the Chengdu region.
• He was treated cruelly at a struggle session for being seen as a barrier to Lin Biao’s achievement.

Question 19

What were Struggle Sessions?

Answer 19

Sessions where the accused were physically attacked, tortured and forced to confess to ‘crimes’ against the people.

Question 20

What were the ‘bad classes’ and how did they change the nature of the CR?

Answer 20

• landlords
• rich peasants
• reactionaries
• rightists
• “bad elements” (Broad)

Question 21

What figures are suggested for the amount killed during the CR?

Answer 21

• The Gang of Four are some of the ruthless killers of the revolution. (believed to be over half a million)
• Province of Guangxi had 67,000 killings recorded between 1966-76
• Sichuan, Tibet and Mongolia had hundreds of thousands.

Question 22

What happened as the movement widened?

Answer 22

• New Red Guard units were formed by factory and office workers which further escalated the violence.
• Non-party bourgeois backgrounds joined the Red Guards that were previously denied to participate.

Question 23

What was the January Storm and why was it significant in the CR?

Answer 23

The City of Shanghai, which had undergone fighting in January 1967 was locked down and put under control of the Shanghai Revolutionary Committee. This was made up of PLA, party officials and revolutionaries.

Question 24

Why was there a divide between the PLA and the CCRG?

Answer 24

PLA wanted to be exempted from struggle sessions whereas CCRG wanted the same criteria to apply to everyone. Looked like the CR would end by early 1967.

Question 25

When did Mao agree to authorise the PLA to crack down on radical groups?

Answer 25

Mao, who had previously been unclear, called for the CCRG to override the Politburo and the PLA in supressing radicals. In August 1967, Mao then realised that the PLA may be unequipped for defending the country and once again authorised the PLA to crack down on radical groups.

Question 26

What evidence is there of cultural destruction during the CR?

Answer 26

• The Red Guards destroyed cultural objects between AUG-SEPT 1966.
• 7,000 places of historical and cultural importance in Beijing were destroyed.
• 100,000 homes were broke into in search of the “old” artefacts.
• Zhou Enlai prevented them from attacking “the Forbidden City” and used the PLA to defend it. The FC was the best-known monument in the inner city in Beijing.