Chapter 8: The aims, origins and cource of the Cultural revolution Flashcards
When did Mao launch the |Great Proletarian Cultural revolution?
1966
What were the main aims of the Cultural revolution?
- A struggle to remould Chinese culture
- A power struggle within the CPC
- A rectification campaign
What did the cultural revolution attack?
All modes of thought and behaviour that did not conform to Mao’s vision of a socialist society.
What were the aims of the cultural revolution in terms of thought and ideology?
The aim was to make Mao’s thoughts the guiding principles of the Chinese people.
What did the first battle of the cultural revolution take place over?
A play called “Hai Rui dismissed from office” written by Wu Han. It was about an official from the Ming Dynasty who was dismissed after criticising the emperor for wasting resources on extravagance, while ordinary people starved.
What was Mao’s reaction to the “Hai Rui dismissed from office” play?
Mao gave his blessing for an article attacking the play for being anti-socialist. The article was written by a Shanghai radical called Yao Wenyuan
What was the problem with attacking the “Hai Rui dismissed from office” play?
By attacking the author of the play, they were attacking the communist party themselves. Because the boss of the author of the play was the mayor of Beijing. He was also the politburo member for culture. He was also very good friends with Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping. So by attacking the play they were indirectly attacking the party leadership.
What did the party do to defuse the situation about the anti-socialist play?
They decided to treat it as an academic rather than a political debate. They set up the Cultural Revolution Group to investigate the issues raised by the affair.
What did the Shanghai radicals do in 1966?
They issued a statement saying that China was under the dictatorship of a sinister anti-party and anti-socialist line which opposed chairman Mao’s thoughts.
As the communist revolution gathered momentum, what cultural policies of Jiang Qing and Mao became clear?
That hey were attempting to impose strict limits on culture to ensure it served the revolution and that anti-socialist poisonous weeds were eradicated from the arts .
What was Jiang Qing’s view on the purpose of art?
Art was not something to be valued for its own sake. All art reflects the society from which it springs and serves a political purpose. In a socialist society, feudal and bourgeois culture had no place.
What were “Mao’s four olds”?
- Old culture
- Old ideas
- Old customs
- Old habits
What did Jiang Qing do according to Mao’s four old’s?
He eradicated traditional Chinese culture:
- Traditional opera was replaced by revolutionary operas
- Literature, art, films and theatre were subjected to a strict censorship. Only those which promoted a revolutionary theme were allowed.
- Western music was banned as being bourgeois and decadent
- Wearing western-style clothing made you liable to being attacked.
How was the recruitment of youthful Red Guards a key part in Mao’s cultural revolution strategy?
In Mao’s eyes, young people would be untrained by the thoughts, habits and customs of old china. They could be mobilised in a campaign to eradicate the four olds from Chinese culture.
What was one of Mao’s greatest concerns about the party in 1966?
At 73 years of age he was increasingly concerned over who would succeed him when he died.
What was Mao’s view on Liu Shaoqi and Deny Xiaoping succeeding him after his death?
Mao decided that Liu Shaoqi and his allies could not be trusted to defend and extend the cultural revolution. He decided that they should be purged.
Why was attacking Liu and Deng directly unwise?
Both had shown themselves to be loyal to the Mao and the party in the past. They had support of most of the party politburo and they enjoyed considerable prestige among the party rank and file.
How did Mao decide to attack Liu and Deng?
Mao acted in a devious way to undermine them and attack them at their weakest points
What was Mao’s first step in attacking the party leadership?
The play by Wu Han, which signalled the beginning of the cultural revolution, was in fact an attack on the Party Leadership. The article which attacked Wu Han and the play with Mao’s blessing, was also attacking Peng Zhen, the politburo member of culture. The attack on Peng was also an attack on Liu and Ding. By doing nothing to stop the play they were seen as incompetent.
What was Mao’s second step in attacking the party leadership?
In March 1966, while Liu was away on a foreign tour, Mao made his first move. He removed Peng Zhen from office.
What was Mao’s third step in attacking the party leadership?
In May 1966 Mao took control of the Cultural revolution group, which was reformed with his allies occupying the key positions.
What was Mao’s fourth step in attacking the party leadership?
In May 1966 a large poster criticising the Beijing university was put up by a philosophy professor. This was all orchestrated by Mao’s ally Kang Sheng. Mao endorsed this poster and ordered its message to be broadcast on the radio. By the summer of 1966 university campuses were experiencing growing turmoil as students wearing Red Guard armbands attacked their teachers. Liu and Deng tried to control this which further confirmed to Mao that Liu and Deng were trying to frustrate his wishes.
What symbolic act did Mao do in July 1966?
Mao swam in the strong currents of the Yangzi river. This was a symbolic act designed to she that he still had the physical strength to fight revolutionary battles.
What was Liu Shaoqi forced to do in the Central Committee meeting in august 1966
He was made to make self-criticisms for his errors. However his words were not sufficient.
What did Mao do to Liu Shaoqi after his self-criticism in the Central Committee meeting in august 1966?
His words were not sufficient, so Mao demoted him from second place to eight place in the CPC hierarchy.
Who was promoted to second place in the CPC hierarchy after Liu Shaoqi’s demotion?
Lin Biao was promoted to second place and established as Mao’s chosen successor.
What happened to Deng Xiaoping in august of 1966?
Not much happened to him in August, he was spared from humiliation as Mao and his allies focused on Liu Shaoqi
What happened to Deng and Liu in a party conference in October 1966?
They were subjected to more criticism and they were forced to make self-criticisms. Although they both managed to retain their posts in the CPC their political career was over?
When and where did Liu Shaoqi die?
He died in prison in 1969
What happened to Deng Xiaoping after his humiliation?
Deng survived largely because he enjoyed support of Zhou Enlai and was rehabilitated in 1973
Which other party leaders were purged in 1966 and why?
Tao Zhu, Marshall He Long and Zhu De along with Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping were all purged, as they were seen, in Mao’s eyes as being tainted with the “old thinking”. They were purged as a warning to other party officials to show more enthusiasm towards the cultural revolution.
What were 6 main tools for Chinese propaganda?
- Rallies
- Posters
- Films
- Literature
- Mao’s personality cult
- Art
What was Mao’s main concerns in terms of how the communist party was developing in the mid 1960’s?
He became convinced that the party al all levels had become over-bureaucratic, corrupt and ineffective as a revolutionary force.
How did Mao criticise university officials?
He criticised university officials for behaving like “scholar-tyrants”
How did Mao criticise Party Cadres?
He believed that they had become accustomed to a privileged lifestyle which set them apart from the mass population
What did the reintroduction of incentives after the failure of the Great Leap Forward lead to?
It led to the re-emergence of inequalities among peasants and workers
After 1962 what did Mao entrust Lin Bio with doing?
He entrusted him with the task of ensuring that the PLA would support Mao in the struggles that lay ahead.
After 1962 what did Mao entrust Jiang Qing with doing?
He was entrusted with the task of mobilising radical intellectuals from Shanghai in an assault on the CPC’s cultural policies
In 1966 what third element did Mao add to his coalition of revolutionary forces?
He used the mobilisation of the youth. There were many young people who were born after the communist revolution and they had never experienced revolution. Mao believed that once these young people had gained revolutionary experience in killing in his name then they would be committed to the revolutionary cause. Mao was starting to continue revolution again, against “capitalist-readers”
