Was the Cultural Revolution 'Mao's Revolution' - Essay Example

Was the Cultural Revolution 'Mao's Revolution'? The Cultural Revolution marks to be one of the most significant events in the Chinese history. This revolution brought with it many intense events that are still remembered in the history of the People’s Republic of China. This revolutionary phase struck the country for one decade starting from 1966 till 1976. Mao Zedong was the central figure to the Cultural Revolution of China and he took this major step for bringing about drastic progressive changes in China which was in its dark period of poverty and losses during most of the twentieth century. This revolution has been named sometimes as Mao’s Revolution owing to the fact that Mao Zedong was the initiator of this revolution and ruled the country through this period (Macfarquhar & Schoenhals 2006). The Cultural Revolution is correctly referred to as the Mao’s Revolution because it was Zedong who started this revolution and he used his tactics to commence this revolution to attain back his power and strength in the Chinese Communist Party. Mao rose to power mainly following the Second World War. He headed the Chinese Communist Party and he was a strict follower of Communism. Zedong was the one who declared the formation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. The failure of the Great Leap Forward which was a program put forward by Zedong persuaded him to come up with a better strategy to make his stand more powerful in the party. The Great Leap Forward was a step to improve the agricultural and industrial sector of China but it had rather produced a negative result by leading to famine and the loss of many lives. Losses were also faced in both the industrial and agricultural sector. This produced as a setback in the political career of Zedong. Liu Shaoqi and his lieutenant Deng Xiaoping were given greater importance in the party and this pushed Mao to come up with a new strategy which was the Cultural Revolution (Meisner 1999; Spence 1999). Mao Zedong was of the belief that the Chinese Communist Party had lost its original essence and its principles had been contaminated with the capitalist thoughts and acts. This was another factor which led him to push for the Cultural Revolution. Mao also argued that the society was also losing the communist path and capitalism had started to build its roots in the Chinese Society. He argued that the rich people were living their expensive lifestyles at the expense of the hard work of the poor farmers. He was of the opinion that China was moving back to its class system and thus he assessed that he had to target the younger generation for the commencement of this revolution. Mao believed that the younger generation had not been infiltrated with the capitalist thoughts and manipulation of their thinking in favour of communism would result in bringing about a change and a revolution. This led to the beginning of the Cultural Revolution by the youth in the year 1966. This revolution was thoroughly based on the thoughts and the opinions of Zedong. His personal as well as political motives convinced him to start this revolution and thus, it is correctly known as Mao’s Revolution (Meisner 1999; Spence 1999). The students formed groups in the year 1966 beginning from the Beijing University. They were referred to as the Red Guards. They asked for Mao’s signal and when he approved they started functioning on the national level. Millions of supporters joined the Red Guards and their main aim was to teach politicians as well as the other people to let go of capitalist policies. In 1966, a mass approval and supporting for Mao was shown in Beijing. This rally explained a very important fact that this revolution was more about Mao and his opinions and not about what the Chinese Communist Party considered as a whole. It was initially believed that the functioning of the Red Guards would stay peaceful but this route was not followed for long. Politicians and leaders who were believed to follow capitalism were openly disgraced. Many killings also took place in this time. The revolution took a path filled with blood following 1967 when the Red guards started taking weapons from the army and using them for killings a large number people. Mao granted the Red Guards a status above the army as well as the political members of the Chinese Communist Party. People who stood up against the Red Guards were forced into getting awareness of the cultural path of Mao and at the same time, they were also made to do work on the land. The Red Guards could choose their enemies as per their will and any individual or group that they considered as a threat to communism as per their own judgement was targeted. Thus the Red Guards were basically more of Mao Zedong’s personal force than the revolutionary force for bringing about change in the country (Balckburn et al 2008; Schoenhals 1996). Mao Zedong was known to be Chairman Mao Zedong and the following of his principles was marked to be the first priority of the Red Guards. A book which had the sayings of Mao Zedong which was known as the Mao Zhe Yiu was printed. 900 million copies of this “Little Red Book” which was the name given to it by the Western World was circulated within the locals. The purpose of this book as put forward by Mao as well as the Red Guards was the teaching of the people for the revolution that the country was undergoing. In truth, the book carried the thoughts of Mao in the form of 472 sayings of the Chairman. It was important that every local should be in possession of the Little Red Book. Furthermore, it was also a part of the teaching at the schools and supporters of Zedong were guided to gather groups of people and teach them from this book regarding the revolutionary principles. The book symbolized the Cultural Revolution. It was the word of Zedong and thus it was mainly a symbol of Mao’s Revolution (Balckburn et al 2008: Kwong 1988). Mao Zedong was the most important figure of this Cultural Revolution and the Red Guards were his staunch followers. His following was so great that people used to wait for long hours just to catch a glimpse of him. He was known to be the father of change in the country and his support was spread around with the assistance of the Red Guards. Such was his following that it was even considered an honour if one of the Red Guards shook hands with him. That particular Red Guard would go about shaking the same hand with other people to pass on the privilege. Hundreds of people would shake hands with that one member simply to gain this honour. An extreme example of his following was also seen when one of the Red Guards refused to make use of his right hand which he had shaken with Mao Zedong. He only started to use his left hand and even went to the extreme of covering his right hand with a glove. He embedded the date on which he had been honoured with the hand shake from Chairman Mao on his glove. One of the Red Guards who met Zedong said, “I am very lucky to have had such an experience….I have resolved to dedicate my whole life to Chairman Mao and the Great Proletarian Revolution. I will give every drop of blood in my body to work to liberate all of mankind.” These were the extreme emotions of the Red Guards for their leader and their following was more for the chairman than the revolution itself (Leese 2011; Lu 2004). Chairman Mao Zedong made it a compulsion that his remembrance and praise should make the commencement of the day for the people. This was his policy that he adopted during the Cultural Revolution. Political rituals became an important part of everyday life. These included reading the quotations from the Little Red Book of Zedong every morning in all public offices and schools. This used to go on for one hour every day. A student recalls this morning ritual by explaining that following the revolutionary period, educational institutions shut down for two years. When the schools reopened, the only thing that was taught to the students was regarding what Mao Zedong had to say and what his teachings symbolized. New directions that were put forward by Zedong were presented on the radio and people were supposed to remember these. Another ritual that took place was the formation of a gathering where people shared their good views regarding the teachings of Mao and explained each other the importance of these. Practices where large congregations were involved were also present. Public gatherings were organized often and a few people were selected for presenting in these gatherings. The purpose of these speakers was to come forward in these gatherings and describe the negativities that persisted in the society during the period of capitalism. These people had to explain to the gathering that capitalist perspectives did not bring any good to the society. The major aim of these speakers was then to throw light on the positive outcomes of Communism and the progress that had been achieved following the takeover by Mao Zedong and the Cultural Revolution. Thus, these political rituals were practiced every day to brainwash the common man and to embed in their minds positive views and opinions for Mao Zedong and his revolution (Chong 2002; Lu 2004). The Cultural Revolution left many negative effects on the People’s Republic of China. Over the years, the educational system was disrupted and it is believed that throughout the decade of this revolution, educational institutions could not operate in a proper manner in the country. The educated class was highly threatened owing to them being targeted as capitalists. It is believed that it was an era where technology was prevented from progressing. This period also provided for many economic drawbacks for the country and the country was thus pushed into darker times (Johnson, Antle & Sumner 1996; Jain 2006; Meng & Gregory 2002). The Cultural Revolution in the People’s Republic China was started and dominated by the principles and thinking of Mao Zedong and thus it is correctly known as Mao’s Revolution. Mao Zedong utilized this revolution for regaining his popularity and political say in the country. This revolution began in 1966 and went on for ten years which may be considered to be a difficult period for the citizens of the country as it hampered the economic as well as education situation of the country. The revolution was mainly propaganda for the promotion of Mao Zedong with the assistance of his young followers. Zedong correctly chose the youth for his revolution and manipulated them for his portrayal as a true leader of the country. He utilized different tactics and rituals to mould the revolution for the promotion of his laws and viewpoints. Bibliography BLACKBURN, A., FULLER, E. HANES, J. E., KAUL, S., KELLY, P., PARNWELL, M., & SKELDON R.(2008). World and its peoples: Eastern and southern Asia. 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