‘In the years 1966 to 1969 the Cultural Revolution had little impact on the lives of ordinary Chinese citizens.” Explain why you agree or disagree with this view.

Question 1

Disagree - Impact on Education

Answer 1

• Mao in 1965 remarked that ‘The more books you read, the more stupid you become’ justified the educational policies pursued during the Cultural Revolution.
• The closure of schools and universities for much of the period between 1966 and 1970 meant that the education of 130 million young people simply stopped. Even when the Red Guards stopped attacking the education system, they were still not receiving schooling as, since 1968, they were away in the countryside and mountains.
• When schools did reopen, it was difficult to restore belief in the system. Teachers had been attacked and ridiculed, the curriculum dismissed as a waste of time and the whole purpose of education undermined. Learning was not regarded as having any intrinsic use. After the Cultural Revolution, it still did not go back, with a greater emphasis on practical and vocational training over exams.

Question 2

Disagree - Impact on Culture/Intellectuals

Answer 2

• China became a cultural desert. Scholars, writers and teachers were persecuted, imprisoned or killed.
• Temples were desecrated, the sculptures, statues and artefacts defaced and burned because they represented unsocialistic religious beliefs.
• The homes of people known to have Western books, traditionally designed gardens. classical musical instruments or even just records of old-fashioned music were ransacked. Confucian texts were burned.
• By the end of the Cultural Revolution one-third of China’s 1100 libraries had been closed, and more than 7 million library books lost, stolen or destroyed.

Question 3

Disagree - Impact on Urban Life

Answer 3

• In 1967, food supplies in Shanghai fell to dangerously low levels as the city became filled with street fighting and strikes and was virtually cut off from other parts of China.
• It has been estimated that between a quarter and one third of all homes in Beijing were entered and searched by Red Guard units in the autumn of 1966. Urban factories and enterprises suffered as workers engaged in political activities rather than production.
• Many skilled professionals and managers were persecuted or sent to rural areas, leading to a lack of expertise in industries. Public transportation, schools, and hospitals often ceased functioning properly due to the chaos.

Question 4

Agree - Impact on Rural Life

Answer 4

• In contrast with the cities, much of China’s countryside was largely untouched by the violence and disruption of the Cultural Revolution. There was relatively little Red Guard activity and peasants were not drawn into the power struggles of the Cultural Revolution.
• The barefoot doctor program was launched in 1968 as part of the Chinese government’s effort to expand healthcare access to rural areas. Before the movement, many rural communities had little to no access to medical care, leading to high mortality rates from diseases, infections, and poor sanitation. Barefoot doctors played a key role in reducing the spread of infectious diseases, promoting basic hygiene, and improving maternal and child health.

Question 5

Agree - Didn’t impact ordinary people as it mostly targeted intellectuals and “black elements”

Answer 5

• During the autumn and winter of 1966 the violence of the Red Guards spiralled out of control. It became known as the Red Terror’. Party members, former businessmen and landlords were subjected to denunciation and intimidation by the frenzied Red Guards, desperate to prove their ideological commitment. ‘Class enemies’ were sent for ‘re-education’ through physical labour in prison camps. Intellectuals associated with liberal thoughts were ruthlessly targeted. Some were kidnapped; others were killed. Many took their own lives, unable to stand the unremitting threats.
• One such example was the renowned playwright Lao She. His house was burned by middle school Red Guards and he was denounced at struggle meetings where he was made to wear a dunce’s hat. To escape the constant harassment he drowned himself in Taiping Lake near Beijing in late August 1966.