8 - Impact of the Cultural Revolution

Question 1

How many people were killed as a result of the Cultural Revolution?

Answer 1

500k official estimates, 850k in reality

Question 2

What happened to food supplies in 1967 in Shanghai?

Answer 2

Fell dangerously low, due to street fighting and strikes - Shanghai virtually cut off from the rest of China

Question 3

Whats did people do in the workplace with regard to Mao?

Answer 3

Bowed by his portrait three times in the morning, asking him for instructions for the day ahead, and repeated this after they had finished work

Question 4

What happened to industrial output in 1967?

Answer 4

Fell by 13%

Question 5

What happened to the economy 1968-71

Answer 5

Declined further in 1968, in 1969 level back to 1966 levels and in 1971 established steady growth that had been achieved in the mid 60s

Question 6

What fraction of homes in Beijing were searched by the Red Guards in the autumn of 1966?

Answer 6

1/4 to 1/3

Question 7

Which peasants were most likely to get involved with ‘revolutionary action’?

Answer 7

Those closest to cities

Question 8

What fraction of ‘rural disorder’ between 1966-68 was within 50km/30miled of cities?

Answer 8

2/3

Question 9

What happened to grain production 1966-69?

Answer 9

Fell in both 1966 and 1967, dropped even further in 1968 however by 1969 they had reached the 1966 levels and continued to grow into the 1970s

Question 10

How did Wang Su and Andrew Walder say the Cultural Revolution effected the countryside?

Answer 10

750k-1.25mil dead, 36 million suffered political persecution

Question 11

When did the emphasis of healthcare change?

Answer 11

In 1966, to the countryside

Question 12

When were barefoot doctors introduced and what were they?

Answer 12

1968. Paramedics with less training than qualified doctors eg Jung Chang

Question 13

What happened to many teachers at Beijing University on 18th August 1966?

Answer 13

Dragged out their classes, beaten, faces blackened and forced to wear dunce’s caps. Violence quickly spread to other cities

Question 14

When were all universities closed and when did they reopen?

Answer 14

Closed in summer 1966 and reopened in spring 1967

Question 15

How many young people were sent for rustication in 1968-76?

Answer 15

Over 12 million

Question 16

When did Mao say ‘the more books you read the more stupid you become?

Answer 16

1965

Question 17

Why did the disruption to education damage China in the long term?

Answer 17

Many of the youth became cynical, disillusioned and lacked ambition. Experiences in countryside made them unable to swallow idea of communist euphoria

Question 18

What reforms were made to schools after the Cultural Revolution?

Answer 18

Fewer examinations, focus on practical work and sciences rather than scholar content. Pupils required to undertake two months of labour per year to complete their courses

Question 19

Who was made authority over cultural life after the revolution and what did this mean?

Answer 19

Jiang Qing. Only allowed ‘revolutionary’ plays, traditional and foreign art and literature were banned. Libraries and museums were closed and had books and artefacts destroyed or dispersed

Question 20

Why did Jiang Qing single out targets?

Answer 20

Wanted to remove any evidence of her past, as an actress in the 1930s

Question 21

What did the CRG, led by Qing order Red Guards to do after travelling from Beijing to Shandong?

Answer 21

Desecrate the Confucius museum, it symbolised traditional culture in China. ‘Confucius and co’ became a label for everything that belonged to old Chinese culture

Question 22

Why was it a crime to show respect to your elders?

Answer 22

Due to attacks on Confucian principles

Question 23

How many people died at the hands of Kang Sheng?

Answer 23

14k in Yunnan, 350k arrested in Mongolia of which 89k beaten and further 16k killed

Question 24

What percentage of provincial and regional officials were purged?

Answer 24

70%, including 4 out of 6 Regional Party Firsr Secretaries

Question 25

What percentage of higher ranking officials lost their jobs at a national level?

Answer 25

60%

Question 26

How many of the 1966 Politburo survived the purges?

Answer 26

9 out of 23

Question 27

What percentage of party bureaucracy were labelled ‘revisionists’ or ‘taking capitalist roads’?

Answer 27

20%

Question 28

How many cadres were sent to May 7th Cadre Schools?

Answer 28

3 million

Question 29

When did Mao’s focus change from destruction of old old to creation of new?

Answer 29

In 1967-68

Question 30

What were conditions for old Red Guards being taken back into the CPC?

Answer 30

If they could demonstrate they were ‘worker peasant soldier’

Question 31

When were the changes to the party confirmed?

Answer 31

Central Committee in October 1968 and Party Congress 1969

Question 32

How many delegates to Congress were there and how many from them were from the PLA?

Answer 32

1,500 2/3 from PLA

Question 33

How much of the new Central Committee were former PLA members?

Answer 33

45%

Question 34

Why did Mao like the new Party and Committee members?

Answer 34

Unlikely to be independent thinkers, likely to be slavish adherents of Mao Zedong thought

Question 35

What was the Politburo replaced by?

Answer 35

Small Standing Committee consisting of Mao, Lin Biao, Zhou Enlai, Chen Boda and Kang Sheng

Question 36

How old was Mao in 1969?

Answer 36

76 years old

Question 37

What did Mao call the Cultural Revolution in 1969?

Answer 37

“A great and decisive victory”

Question 38

What were the factions and power groups after the Cultural Revolution?

Answer 38

Lin Biao and the PLA, Jiang Qing and the Shanghai Radicals, Zhou Enlai and the bureaucracy

Question 39

How many people died as a result of the Revolution in Mongolia?

Answer 39

67,000, Xizang and Sichuan saw many thousands dead also