Cultural Revolution was a political movement in China that began in 1966. Mao Zedong, head of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, launched the movement (see Mao Zedong ). He called it the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. Mao’s aim was to purge (rid) his party, the government, and the military of people he suspected were not totally committed to his political ideals. Mao also sought to eliminate much that was traditional or old in Chinese culture, and create in its place a new revolutionary culture.
To reach his goals, Mao enlisted idealistic young people who followed Maoist doctrines. They were organized into semimilitary groups called the Red Guards. The bible of their movement was Quotations from Chairman Mao (1964), sometimes called the “little red book.” Mao encouraged the Red Guards to disrupt government operations. As a result, during the first years of the Cultural Revolution, many parts of China fell into chaos. Many party and government officials were forced to step down. Most state institutions became paralyzed. Schools closed, and many factories and farms suspended normal operations. Many scientists and people in the arts were prevented from working. Intellectuals were severely criticized, and many were sent to work camps. Civil war broke out in many areas, causing tens of thousands and possibly hundreds of thousands of deaths.
Mao began to disband the Red Guards in 1968, when he sent the young people to the countryside to work with China’s farmers. Order was mostly restored by 1970, but purges of Mao’s political opponents continued until his death in 1976. After he died, his successors—many of whom had been victims of the Cultural Revolution—quickly brought the movement to a halt. They publicly criticized it as a mistake and held Mao responsible.
The Cultural Revolution had harmful effects on China’s economy. More importantly, it caused many Chinese to question their faith in Communism. As a result, the Cultural Revolution helped pave the way for greater openness toward Western-style economic and political development. This openness was exactly what Mao had hoped to prevent.
