Cultural Revolution in China - Case Study Example

Cultural Revolution in China Introduction People are defined by their social way of life that entails eating habit, dressing style, socio-political and economic activities and the history that is relevant to the social way of life of the people. It is thus agreeable that culture is a crucial aspect of defining people. An attempt to understand a particular class, group or a conglomeration of groups of people would necessitate understanding of their culture. Nevertheless, culture is a dynamic process that despite being passed on from generation to generation, it metamorphoses to suit to the economic and political situation at particular periods. It is thus not strange to find a divergent cultural orientation among the same category of people that is presumably sharing the same characteristics but exists in different generations1. Culture is an aspect of life that is affected by among other factors, the advancement in technology. Technological advancement prompts the adoption of new ways of living that may challenge the culturally accepted norms, thus resulting in a change in culture. Additionally, interaction between different groups of people leads to a change or adoption either fully or partially of a different culture. Through the process of assimilation, culture of one community could be assimilated by another community or there could result in an amalgamation of different cultural ways of life creating a new cultural orientation. The process of assimilation that results to adoption of a different culture could be evident during the European invasion of the continent Asia that resulted in most Asian communities adopting the European styles of dressing, eating, and even education thus affecting the culture of some Asian communities. Major events that affect a generation for a significant duration can equally affect cultural way if life of a people. Events like a war could result in the adoption of a living style that is not in conformation to the traditional culture of the people. An example of the second world war that saw the Japanese occupation of China and the Pacific region resulted in migrations and events like the long march which led to cultural interactions and adoption, creating a new breed of culture of war as opposed to the peaceful nature of life of the most Asian and Chinese communities2. It is thus evident that culture is an integral way of life that needs an intense analysis for one effectively to understand the cultural way of life of a particular people. In an attempt to intrinsically understand culture, this paper is purposed to give a vivid elaboration of the cultural revolution in China with respect to the definition of cultural revolution, the causes of cultural revolution in China, implications of the cultural revolution as well as the results of cultural revolution. Analysis of this topic is thus purposed to be achieved through a multivariate of approaches which in cooperate understanding of China as a people, China as a history and the socio-political and economic aspect of China that could potentiate Cultural Revolution. Cultural Revolution in China Cultural Revolution was a socio-political movement that occurred in the people’s republic of china between 1966 and 1976. Mao Zedong, who was the then chairman of the communist party of china, set the notion of Cultural Revolution that swept the whole country in motion. The immediate aim for the instigation of Cultural Revolution by the Communist party was for the preservation of the true ideologies of the communist party. Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, Cultural Revolution was to be achieved by extermination of the remnants of capitalism and the traditional elements of the Chinese society. The initiation of Cultural Revolution could be seen as a calculated scheme by Mao Zedong to resume a powerful position in China following the failure of the great leap forward movement. The great leap forward movement that was formed in the ideology of decentralization of the economy through a creation of small backyard industries as a replacement of the large industries saw the paralyzing of the country both politically and economically. The Cultural Revolution in China began with Mao Zedong declaring that a class of few wealthy people had infiltrated the Chinese political and social ranks that prevent the progress of the communist ideology. In response to these groups of the people, the Cultural Revolution demanded that the group of capitalists had to be removed from their ranks through violent means. The call of Mao Zedong for Cultural Revolution got an overwhelming response especially from the youths who formed the Red Guard groups throughout the country3. The call for the liberation of the country from the yoke of the capitalist and traditional ideologies of China spared in the military, communist party as well as among the urban workers thus sparkling widespread struggling between different factions of the Red Guard groups in all walks of life. In the leadership position, Cultural Revolution led to ousting of some of the key leaders in the government, notable among them is Deng Xiaoping and Liu Shaoqi. In the period of the Cultural Revolution, a cultic like movement grew around the personality of Mao Zedong with an immense proportion. The course of Cultural Revolution in China The course of the Cultural Revolution in China took dynamic twists that began with opposing relationships between the Soviet Union and China, who were former allies turned foes as a result of policy differences. By early 1950’s, the People’s Republic of China and the Soviet Union by standards were the largest and the most active communist republics in the world. Disagreement of between the communist party in China and the Soviet Union followed assent of Nikita Khrushchev to power. Khrushchev began by denouncing almost all the policies of Joseph Stalin, which were in agreement with the ideologies of the communist party of China. Mao Zedong and many leaders of the communist party of China were opposed to the economic reforms that were effected in the Soviet union thus sort for mechanisms of making the communist ideologies in China even stronger4. In a bid to set Cultural Revolution in China, Mao resorted to “cleansing” the party off the powerful politicians who were of questionable loyalty as a means of stabilizing the policies of the communist party. The art of cleansing the country from the purported pro-capitalist was masterminded through the work of newspaper articles, internal and boardroom meetings of the party as well as skillfully employing more loyal political allies to stem out the purported pro-capitalists. An “expanded session” of the Communist party politburo held in Beijing in 1966 was one of the initial steps taken by the loyalists of Mao Zedong to execute the policies of Cultural Revolution in China. The conference was turned to be a campaign organ for popularizing the policies of Mao’s political agenda. A resolution of the Politburo appeared to support the pro Mao agendas with the final decision declaring that the representatives of capitalist ideologies and the traditional practices of the Chinese society were to be exterminated to a achieve a socially fulfilling society. Mass rallies for popularizing Cultural Revolution Nie Yuanzi who was a philosophy lecturer at the University of Peking authored a big character poster (Dazibao) as well as other leaflets attacking the university administration and its leadership over their loyalty to the party and the ideologies of Cultural Revolution. Nie’s publications quickly attracted Mao’s endorsement of what became the “first Marxist big character poster in China”. The call to arm by Nie equally received personal endorsement of Mao as it was in line with his ideologies of popularizing Cultural Revolution. Students in schools were the original initiators of the Cultural Revolution by revolting against their school party establishment. The school programs in Beijing were the first to be affected with primary and secondary schools having sessions canceled following a deliberation for the nationwide cancelation of classes5. The communist party of China on 8 August 1966 declared a decision concerning the Cultural Revolution in what was later known as the sixteen point. The decision defined Cultural Revolution as “a great revolution that touches people to their souls and constitute a deeper and extensive stage in the development of the socialist revolution in the country”. The party declared that in as much as the pro-capitalist had been dethroned, they still used the old cultural structures in the country to infiltrate their ideologies, thus the party proposed an extermination of the old structural and traditional settings of the country. The implications of the sixteen points were elevated from what was initiated by the students’ revolution to a nationwide campaign that galvanized the farmers, the workers, soldiers as well as the lower level patriots of the party to rise and challenge the authority. Mao personally mingled with the Red Guard and donning a Red Guard arms band. Between August and November of 1966, eight major rallies were held drawing the participation of about 12 million people with the expenses of the of the Red Guard travelling being borne by the government to facilitate ideological sharing of the red guards from all over the country. In the major rallies, Lin Biao, who was a key party official, called for the masses to destroy the “four olds” that are responsible for derailing the progress of the communist ideologies. Destruction of the old customs, old culture, old habits and the old ideas. The speeches of Lin were heavy on rhetoric, but scanty of details with the masses were not told exactly what to destroy. Mao Zedong believed that creation of a great discord would enable the masses to think for themselves what to destroy. This later led to the Cultural Revolution spinning out of control. Some aspects of the Red Guard onslaught were far more destructive, like the destruction of culture and religion. Destruction of the old culture saw the ransacking of the historical centers most prominently in Beijing, a city that was flourishing with historical content concerning culture and religion. In the face of vandalism of the old culture, temples, churches, libraries, mosques and cemeteries were destroyed in the name of cleansing the country from cultural impurity. The Cultural Revolution viewed religion as a form of superstition and an avenue for hosting foreign infiltration (Ho, 2013). Impacts of Cultural Revolution The aim of Cultural Revolution was the creation of a more productive China that is independent of foreign interference and self-sufficient. Nevertheless, the policy resulted in great devastation both socially and economically to the country than its perceived benefits. The implications of Cultural Revolution were not only restricted to China but were also spilled to other foreign countries. Cultural Revolution caused an economic collapse in China. Agricultural sector was the first to be affected with the rice grain and cotton production in the country doping by more than 25%. Transportation sector was another key sector that was greatly hit by the Cultural Revolution. With a decrease in industrial production during the ten harsh years of Cultural Revolution, prices of fuel and transportation escalated beyond affordability of the locals thus hastening the already existence crisis. With the extermination of the old culture and the old habits that resulted from Cultural Revolution, most of the employees in China lost their jobs including landlords, lawyers, politicians and the high-class citizens. These people were associated with being capitalists and were thus the targets if the red guard cleansing mission. Massive destruction of property and a state of anarchy that was orchestrated by the action of the Red Guard nearly resulted in a complete economic meltdown in China6. Abandonment of the birth control program was an initiative of Cultural Revolution as a way of resisting foreign influence. Abandonment of birth control program resulted in an increment in birth rates thus pushing further the poverty index in the country. The poor living condition resorted to the country especially among the vulnerable low-class citizens in urban dwellings and among the peasants7. Impacts of Cultural Revolution in schools and students Because of the Cultural Revolution, many Chinese children were not able to study, majority of the children were forced to manual labor and farm workers. The government required that the values of Cultural Revolution be taught in schools. All the graduates of the University and colleges were forced to take courses on the ideas of Cultural Revolution before being permitted to the job market. As a way of enhancing the ideologies of Cultural Revolution, the move equally saw the graduates being sent to the countryside to be taught by peasants as Mao believed that it was necessary for the graduates to be taught by farmers. The students who were sent to the countryside following completion of education were met with a sheer amount of food scarcity, a housing problem and lack of money. The students were thus demoralized leading to underproduction of the farm produce as well as in the industrial sector. The ideologies that were projected to be significant for the progression of the ideologies of the party thus became the greatest setback for the progression of the party. Impact of Cultural Revolution on foreign countries Japan was one of the countries that greatly felt the impact of Cultural Revolution in China. China had the greatest control over the media in the Asian region. The course of Cultural Revolution and its effects were forbidden, and thus those who facilitated the course of Cultural Revolution in Japan were exiled. The government of China kept a tight seal of what went on in China through the control of media. This thus prohibited majority of trade that could occur between japan and china. Drop in trade levels between the two countries resulted in economic devastation in Japan as the foreign exchange level declined. The end of Cultural Revolution The purge of the Gang of Four and the death of Mao Zedong marked the end of Cultural Revolution. In 1977, the 11th party conference officially brought an end to Cultural Revolution. Throughout the ten years of Cultural Revolution, many people in China were left in poverty; majority of children equally missed educational opportunities as a result of educational reforms. The burden of Cultural Revolution infiltrated into the cultural setting of the country even post-cultural revolution era. The effects of Cultural Revolution took much longer to repair; the rectification of the impact of Cultural Revolution came as a result of moderate economic reforms that facilitated individualized production and specialization as opposed to communal performance of tasks as proposed by the ideologies of Cultural Revolution. During the course of Cultural Revolution, some 1.5 million people were killed with much more suffering imprisonment and public humiliation. The short term effects of Cultural Revolution were first to be felt in the cities especially in Beijing with the long term effects felt throughout the country. The scathing attack that Mao launched on the supposed pro-capitalist party organs resulted to effects that were in the opposite direction from the expected. The enthusiasts of the Red Guard nearly pushed China to the brink of social turmoil. Nevertheless, with the resolution of Cultural Revolution, the economy of China recovered with the economic changes taking more of pro-capitalist approaches. The infighting among the groups of red guards was the major causes of standstill in economy, which was driven more by ambition than deeds. From a socio-political and economic aspect, Cultural Revolution can be said to have been one of the greatest socio-political mistakes that were supported by the leadership of the communist party of China8. References Giles, J., & Park, A. (2008). The great proletarian cultural revolution, disruptions to education, and returns to schooling in urban China. World Bank Policy Research Working, 1–39. Ho, D. Y. (2013). review of A Continuous Revolution: Making Sense of Cultural Revolution Culture. Journal of Asian Studies, 72, 980–981. Manning, K. E. (2007). Mao’s Last Revolution. Pacific Affairs. Ngai, P. (2003). Subsumption or Consumption?  The Phantom of Consumer Revolution in “Globalizing” China. Cultural Anthropology, 18, 469–492. Smith, T. B., Rodríguez, M. D., & Bernal, G. (2011). Culture. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 67, 166–175. Song, L. (2009). The Effect of the Cultural Revolution on Educational Homogamy in Urban China. Social Forces, 88, 257–270. Zang, X. (2011). Rise of the Red Engineers: The Cultural Revolution and the Origins of China’s New Class. Contemporary Issues in Asia and the Pacific. Pacific Affairs. Zhang, J., Liu, P. W., & Yung, L. (2007). The Cultural Revolution and returns to schooling in China: Estimates based on twins. Journal of Development Economics, 84, 631–639. Read More