Essential Aspects of the Chinese Cultural Revolution - Essay Example

Re-Mediate the Chinese Cultural Revolution The Chinese Cultural Revolution is believed to have been started byMao Zedong, who was the Communist Party of China’s Chairman. Mao’s aim was to preserve what he termed as the ‘true’ Communists ideology in China through purging traditional elements and remnants capitalists from the Chinese society. In early 1960s, Mao had been was in semi-seclusion and on the political sidelines. However, he started an offensive move to purify the party, after growing increasingly uneasy regarding what he strongly believed were the creeping antisocialists and capitalist tendencies in China. Taking the role of a hardened veteran cultural revolutionary who had managed to overcome the most severe adversities, he continued believing that the material incentives which were restored to the peasants as well as others were counterrevolutionary and were also corrupting the masses. His approach covered aspects such as new-democratic revolution, socialists’ construction and socialists’ revolution, building of the military strategy and revolutionary army, on tactics and policy, political and ideological work and cultural work, and party building. Mao Zedong has been single out as to have played a significant role during the China’s socialist transformation and new-democratic resolution. Despite some of the mistakes he did later in his regime, his Marxist-Leninist theory is still applicable in the current situation and used in solving new issues. In an effort to arrest what he referred to as capitalist tend, Mao come up with the Socialists Education Movement between 1962 and 1965, in which its main emphasis was to restore ideological purity, and reinforce revolutionary fervor into the government and party bureaucracies, as well as intensify class struggle (Wikipedia 1). At that point, there were internal disagreements, however, not for the sake of the movement but on the means of carrying it out. Mao went ahead to re-impose Maoist idea considering it as the dominant ideology of the Party. This brings out the traditional method of governance and the policies used by political parties in the traditional Chinese system of governance. The revolution ensured that Mao Zedong returned to power following the Great Leap Forward (Wikipedia 1). The movement greatly paralyzed the political system in China and significantly affected the nations socially and economically. By mid-1966, the campaign by Mao had turned into what came to be referred to as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, the initial mass action to emerge against the CCP. Considering the intraparty Cultural Revolution opposition was evident. On the one side of the group led by Mao, receiving support from the PLA, and on the other side was another faction under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping and Liu Shaoqi, which received much support from the regular party machine. Premier Zhou Enlai, while trying to remain loyal to Mao, tried to reconcile or to mediate the two factions (Wikipedia 1). Mao claimed that the bourgeois elements are the ones which infiltrated the society and the government and he intended to restore capitalism. This position assumed by Mao brings out his ideologies. He insisted that the revisionists should be removed even if it meant through violent class struggle bringing out the dictator part of Mao and the approaches used by leaders in the traditional China. Mao states that “the armed struggle and the two fronts are the two basic weapons that can be used to defeat the enemy”. He goes a head to day that the two applied with Party building, the make up the “three magic weapons” of the revolution (Comrade Mao Zedongs 1). Mao was influential as the China’s youth responded to his appeal and formed the Red Guard groups across the country. The movement then spread into the urban workers, the military, and lastly to the Communists Party leadership. It led to the widespread factional struggles across the nation. In the top leadership in China, it resulted to a mass purge of even the senior officials, including Deng Xiaoping and Liu Shaoqi. It was during this period that the personality cult of Mao grew immensely. The activities of the Red Guard were promoted as a reflection of the policy of Mao of destroying the counterrevolutionary values and symbols that were outdated and rekindling revolutionary enthusiasm. The ideas of Mao formed the standard by which all efforts on revolutionary were to be judged. And despite the PLA being under the rallying call of Mao to support the left, the regional military commanders of the PLA ordered their forces to contain the leftist radicals, hence restoring order across China. They believed that they had to “wave the red flag to oppose the red flag” (Wikipedia 1) The PLA was also responsible for the early 1967 appearance of the revolutionary committees, a new local control form that replaced administrative bodies and local party committees. These committees were staffed with trusted cadres, military commanders, and Cultural Revolution activities with the military commanders holding the greatest power in most cases. During the violent struggles, millions of people were killed across the country, with an equally large number suffering from a wide variety of abuses that included arbitrary imprisonment, public humiliation, sustained harassment, torture, and seizure of property. A large population segment was displaced forcibly, most notably being the urban youth transfer to rural areas during the ‘Down to the Countryside Movement’. The struggles also involved the destruction of Chinese artifacts and relics. The above events show how religious and cultural sites, artifacts and relics came to be how they are now. The Chinese were so attached to Mao that they still consider him as being infallible, while at the same time the West did not have the chance to experience the attachment and brainwashing of Mao. The position of the two cultures results in a differing perspective and the Party Resolution stands out as a great way of bringing out the difference. ‘ the conflict between the Chinese traditions that are a thousand years old, and the modern political currents that can lurch from one extreme to the other, is seen to in more ways than in stories from Cultural Revolution’ (Jones 1) During the same period, a large number of people were accused wrongly of crimes they did not commit by the legal system. This is evident in the page of “Smash the Legal System” that showed how approximately 100 million people were wrongly accused following the lack of a legal system which had been irresponsibly smashed by Mao (Jones 1). The source highlights the state of the legal system in the traditional Chinese Culture before and after the visiting of the West and the effects and difference between the past and current situation. The army’s deputy chief of staff is seen claiming that “They are guilty of terrible crimes” without any hesitations when asked whether he thought the six principle defendants and the four leftists were guilty (Butterfield 1). Mao insisted that in the case that the revolutionary people fail to master the concept of ruling over counter-revolutionary, they will not be in a position to maintain their state of power, and that foreign and domestic reaction will consequently overthrow the power, restoring its own rule over China and that disaster will be upon the revolutionary people. The way the proletariat class seized power is brought out and how they took power away from the bourgeoisie. Mao insisted that “Strategically we should despise all our enemies, but tactically we should take them seriously” (“On the Proletarian Revolutionaries’ Struggle to Seize Power” 1). CCP rebuilding started in 1969 on a difficult note considering the faction tensions of the pervasiveness and the discord from the years of Cultural Revolution. Differences persisted in the party, among the military and left-dominated large organizations over a variety of policy issues, including the radical-moderate rivalry. The party committee had to wait until December 1970 before it could reestablish itself at the provincial level. Two developments stood out in the political reconstruction; as the only power institution for most areas were left untouched by the Cultural Revolution, the PLA was specifically important in the political reconstruction and transition. However, the PLA was not a homogeneous body. Between 1970 and 1971, Zhou Enlai managed to make a centrist-rightist alliance with a PLA regional military commanders group who were exceptional to certain policies of Lin Biao. This merger paved way for a more moderate government and party leadership in the 1970s up to 1980s. The Cultural Revolution activist phase regarded to be the first in a number of Cultural Revolution came to an end in 1969. Mao became the supreme leader while Lin Biao was given the vice chairman position of CCP and was named the successor of Mao. Other people who also rose to power as a result of Cultural Revolution machinations were also given positions in the Political Bureau. A good number of military commanders were given positions in the Central Committee. By 1970 Mao considered his role as more of a supreme elder statesman more than an activist in the process of making policies. This was because of the effects of his declining health as his argument that stabilizing influence had to be brought to bear on a nation that was divided. As Mao saw it, China needed both revolutionary and pragmatism enthusiasm, each serving as a check on the other. When he officially declared that Cultural Revolution had come to an end in 1969, the active phase of the revolution still continued until when Lin Biao, who was the military leader, died in 1971. After the death of Mao in 1976, followed by the Gang of Four being arrested, reformers gradually began to eliminate the Maoist policies that were associated with the Cultural Revolution (Comrade Mao Zedongs 1) The reforms were led by Deng Xiaoping. It was later declared that the Cultural Revolution in tradition China was the cause of most of severe setbacks witnessed by the Party during that time and the heaviest losses the Party faced, the people, and the country at large since the People’s Republic was founded. Even though the role of Mao Zedong in his political life has been shallow and sporadic in his later years, it still remained crucial. Regardless of Mao being accused of lack of mental acuity, his political influence in the last months before he died remained in a way that his orders to appoint Hua Guoefeng and to dismiss Deng, were generally accepted by the Political Bureau (Butterfield 1). The political system became polarized in the years before Mao died into increasingly irreconcilable and bitter factions. While Mao was still alive and playing such factions off against one another, the contending forces remained held in check. Mao’s death resolved only a few of the problems that had been intrinsic in the succession struggle. The radical clique that was most closely associated with Mao Zedong as well as Chinese Cultural Resolution was vulnerable following the death of Mao, as Deng was after the demise of Zhou Enlai. Annotated Bibliography Butterfield, Fox. "Trial Puts Spotlight on Chinas Emerging Legal System." The Lawrence Journal-World 23 November 1980: 3. Print. 22 December 2013. The journal article is on the Gang of Four trial and through the trials, the legal system of the traditional Chinese culture is brought out. The article was posted in the ‘Journal-World’ by Fox Butterfield N. Y Times News Service. This is primary source in my paper as the author; Mr. Butterfield was present in China at the start of the post-Mao era around 1980s. Comrade Mao Zedongs. Historical Role and Mao Zedong Thought. 27 June 1981. Web. 30 January 2014. . This source is a website page article from the News of the Communists Party of China. The article is on comments and historical resolution that covered the historical role of comrade Mao Zedong as well as his thought. Posted on June 14, 2006, the article addresses resolutions on certain questions in the history of the Communists Party of China since the People’s Republic of China was founded. Through this coverage, we are in a position to see Mao Zedong role in the revolution of the Chinese culture with his Marxism-Leninism approach of leadership. Jones, Edward. "Tales from The Cultural Revolution." The Free Lance-Star 25 August 1987: 7. Print. 22 December 2013. The ‘Tales from the Cultural Revolution’ is the fourth in a series of reports that were published by ‘Free Lance-Star on the Editorial Page by Editor Edward Jones while on a trip last spring to Taiwan, and Hong Kong, China. From the article, it is evident that the conflict between the traditions of the Chinese people thousands of years ago, and the modern political currents which can pitch from one extreme to another, comes out in more ways than in the Cultural Revolutions stories. "On the Proletarian Revolutionaries’ Struggle to Seize Power." Peking Review 3 February 1967: 10-15. Web. 24 December 2013. . This is a newspaper article which talks about the proletariat dictatorship. The article brings out Mao’s take on dictatorship. According to Mao, revolutionary dictatorship as well as counter-revolutionary dictatorship are opposite by nature, but the former emerges from the latter. Such emergence is very significant. The article highlights five major points that promoted the rise and prosperity of the proletariat as well what contributed to the downfall of the bourgeoisie. Wikipedia. “Cultural Revolution”. the free encyclopedia, 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Revolution This article is on the Chinese Cultural Revolution which is regarded as a social-political movement that occurred from 1966 until 1967 in the People’s Republic of China. The web article covers the background of the revolution including the Great Leap Forward, anti-revisionism and Sino-Soviet Split, and Precursor, the early stage of the revolution; mass movement and early mass rallies, Lin Biao phase; transition of power, PLA gains pre-eminent role, and Lin Biao flight, Gang of Four and their downfall; antagonism towards Deng and Zhou, Zhou Enlai death, Tiananmen incident and Mao death and the gang of four arrest, Aftermath, and then Policy and Effect. Read More