Mao Zedong

1
Mao Zedong

• The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution
• 1965 - 1973

2
The Debate on Art and Literature

• Writers and artists increasingly ignoring Maos
  line - that art should promote the revolution
• Support for Mao from Shanghai
• Gang of Four
• Support of the military
• The party failed in its attempts to contain
  discussion

3
The Context Changes

• Mao used to disgrace right wing elements of the
  party leadership
• Issue changed
• Mao called for students and the masses to
  bombard the party headquarters

4
The Role of Youth

• Mass holidays were organised for young people
• Rallies extolled the virtues of Mao and the
  correctness of his ideas
• Young people told to denounce capitalists on
  return

5
The Red Guards

• 18 August 1966, the Red Guards made their first
  public appearance with a rally of a million in
  Beijing's Tiananmen Square
• Key role in Revolution

6
The Revolution gets out of hand

• Urban working class joined the youth
• Turned on the party
• Cultural Revolution became an attack on anything
  other than Maos vision of socialism
• Widened to an attack on anything and anybody who
  had any connection with Chinas past

7
The Revolution gets out of hand

• Confucian and Buddhist temples were destroyed
• Landlords or those who had worked for the GMD
  were attacked
• All western influences were denounced
• In particular, intellectuals were viciously
  attacked
• Mao had unleashed his attempt to totally
  obliterate Chinas cultural heritage

8
The Revolution gets out of hand

• Between August and November Mao greeted rallies
  of a million Red Guards eight times
• At any given time up to two million "visitors"
  added to Beijing's population
• About thirteen million youth in all during this
  period invaded the capital
• Mao's call "Let the rest of the country come to
  Beijing, or Beijing go to the rest of the
  country...."
• PLA instructed to facilitate the youth

9
Maos response

• The way Mao initiated the cultural revolution
  made the resulting chaos inevitable
• 1967 began to pull back the revolution
• Did not want to destroy the party, just wanted to
  get rid of those who stood in his way
• Collapse of country possible
• Growing tensions with Soviet Union
• Needed support Zhou Enlai

10
Blame?

• Mao did not accept responsibility for the
  Cultural Revolution
• Many youths sent to the countryside

11
Retreat from the Cultural Revolution

• Late 1969 Mao abolished the Cultural Revolution
  Small Group
• Lin Biao progressively isolated
• 1971 Lin was killed in a plane crash as he was on
  the way to the Soviet Union
• 1972 over 30 provincial leaders who were
  associated with Lin were purged
• 1973 Deng Xiaoping was rehabilitated