The Cultural Revolution

Question 1

When was the leadup to the Cultural Revolution?

Answer 1

1962-1966

Question 2

When was the Cultural Revolution launched?

Answer 2

1966-69

Question 3

Following Mao’s loss of influence, what did Mao think of Liu - according to Fenby?

Answer 3

“Liu became the epitome of all that the Chairman disliked and feared in the evolution of the regime: a cautious man set on bolstering bureaucracy rather than pursuing revolution pell-mell.”

Question 4

When was the Socialist Education Movement launched?

Answer 4

1962 - 1964

Question 5

What were the Mao’s aims for the Socialist Education Movement?

Answer 5

To help keep the cadres in touch with the people, he wanted peasants to take a revolutionary role and hold struggle sessions against corrupt cadres, who would then be allowed to return to work.

Misguided cadres should be struggled against by the people. The peasants would help ensure the cadres stayed honest.

Question 6

What did Liu and Deng actually do with the Socialist Education Movement?

Answer 6

Corrupt cadres should be purged and replaced with reliable ones. Which would cause minimal disruption.

Question 7

What did Mao say about his leadership following the SEM?

Answer 7

“I don’t like being treated like a dead ancestor.”

Question 8

How does the SEM show Mao’s beliefs?

Answer 8

Mao believed that:
> Liu and the CCP ignored Mao’s ideas
> Liu perverted the SEM for ‘bureaucratic’ or ‘bourgeois’ goals instead of revolutionary ones
> SEM failed to solve the problem of party cadres being out of touch with the masses

Question 9

When were emulation campaigns launched?

Answer 9

1962 - 1966

Question 10

What were some emulation campaigns launched?

Answer 10

> The ‘Learn from the PLA’ and ‘Learn from Lei Feng’ campaigns encouraged people to admire the PLA
‘Learn From Dazhai’ aimed at peasant farmers
‘Learn from Daqing’ aimed at industrial workers

Question 11

What are signs of of the growth of Mao’s cult of personality?

Answer 11

> 750 million copies of the Little Red Book printed by 1968

> 1.2 billion of portraits of Mao created

Question 12

What was the Wu Han Affair?

Answer 12

Mao enlisted Yao Wenyuan to write a review criticising ‘The Dismissal of Han Rui’ which can be seen as an allegorical criticism of Mao’s leadership.

Peng Zhen blocked the review, prompting Mao to created the May 16th Circular.

Question 13

When was the May 16th Circular published?

Answer 13

May 16th 1966

Question 14

What was the May 16th Circular?

Answer 14

> Warned that Peng was proof that the CCP was compromised by ‘bourgeois’ traitors who had ‘sneaked into the Party’.

> Called for a ‘cultural revolution’ to search out and destroy ‘bourgeois’ ideas in education, the arts and the media.

Question 15

Who was in teh Cultural Revolution Group?

Answer 15

Jiang Qing, Chen Boda, Kang Sheng, Shanghai Radicals

Question 16

What was the Cultural Revolution Group?

Answer 16

They were formed to help guard against the ‘bourgeois’ or ‘counter-revolutionary’ values.

Question 17

What was the Cultural Revolution Group’s purpose?

Answer 17

To help coordinate attacks on Mao Zedong’s enemies.

Question 18

When did student protests begin?

Answer 18

It was triggered on 24th May 1966 with the creation of the first first big-character poster that criticised the University’s president for opposing Mao’s revolutionary thinking.

In Jun 1966, protest movement gained momentum .

Question 19

How did Mao trigger the Red Guards?

Answer 19

On 5 August 1966, Mao wrote his own big-character poster calling for the people to “bombard the headquarters” to root out traitors in the party.

Question 20

When was Mao’s good swim?

Answer 20

17th July 1966

Question 21

What does Fairbank say about Mao’s good swim?

Answer 21

It was perceived that “he was obviously a paragon of athleticism, capable of superhuman feats.”

Question 22

Who were the Red Guards?

Answer 22

Young, educated city-dwellers who were strongly influenced by Mao’s cult of personality.

Question 23

What were the ‘weapons’ of the Red Guards?

Answer 23

> The Little Red Book
The loudhailer
The pen (to write criticisms and big-character posters)

Question 24

Why join the Red Guards?

Answer 24

> Newfound freedom
> An exciting movement
> Frustration
> Cultural change
> Empowerment

Question 25

When did the attack on the ‘Four Olds’ begin?

Answer 25

Lin Biao instructed the Red Guards to destroy the Four Olds from 18th August 1966.

Question 26

What were the ‘Four Olds’?

Answer 26

Old Customs, Old Culture, Old Habits, Old Ideas

Question 27

How many public heritage sites were destroyed in the ‘Four Olds’ campaign?

Answer 27

4,922 out of 6,843