The Cultural Revolution brought China's education system to a virtual halt for a long time. In the early months of the Cultural Revolution, schools and universities were closed. Primary and middle schools later gradually reopened, but all colleges and universities were closed until 1970, and most universities did not reopen until 1972.
Full Answer
What was the Cultural Revolution in China?
On May 16, 1966, Mao Zedong issued the first ideological salvo of the Cultural Revolution, a tumultuous political campaign that would go on to consume China in bloodshed, torture and chaos for almost a decade, and change the country forever.
Why did Mao Zedong launch the Cultural Revolution?
In 1966, China’s Communist leader Mao Zedong launched what became known as the Cultural Revolution in order to reassert his authority over the Chinese government. Believing that current Communist leaders were taking the party, and China itself, in the wrong direction, Mao called on the nation’s youth to purge...
How did the Cultural Revolution come to an end?
Cultural Revolution Comes to an End. Zhou acted to stabilize China by reviving educational system and restoring numerous former officials to power. In 1972, however, Mao suffered a stroke; in the same year, Zhou learned he had cancer.
How did the Cultural Revolution affect ethnic minorities in China?
Many of the Cultural Revolution's goals in minority areas were simply too unreasonable to be implemented. The return to pluralism, and therefore the end of the worst of the effects of the Cultural Revolution on ethnic minorities in China, coincides closely with Lin Biao's removal from power.
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What is the impact of cultural revolution in China?
The Revolution marked the return of Mao, who was Chairman of the Communist Party of China (CPC), to the central position of power after a period of less radical leadership to recover from the failures of the Great Leap Forward, which caused the Great Chinese Famine (1959–1961).
When was the Cultural Revolution in China?
1966 – 1976Cultural Revolution / Period
What impact did Mao Zedong have on China?
In 1958, he launched the Great Leap Forward that aimed to rapidly transform China's economy from agrarian to industrial, which led to the deadliest famine in history and the deaths of 15–55 million people between 1958 and 1962.
What was destroyed in the Cultural Revolution?
In later stages of the campaign, examples of Chinese architecture were destroyed, classical literature and Chinese paintings were torn apart, and Chinese temples were desecrated.
What was the effect of the Cultural Revolution quizlet?
The cultural Revolution also incorporated a Cult of Personality which venerated Mao. This had a large impact on towns and cities with developments being introduced that idolised Mao. This, of course, cost money and diverted funds from Industrial development: resulting in a decline in Industrial output.
What was the result of the Chinese revolution?
Militarily, the revolution culminated with the Chinese Civil War (1945-1949) as the People's Liberation Army decisively defeated the Republic of China Army, bringing an end to over two decades of intermittent warfare between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP, or Communists) and the Kuomintang (KMT, or Nationalists).
Which major change occurred in China after Mao Zedong's death?
In September 1976, after Chairman Mao Zedong's death, the People's Republic of China was left with no central authority figure, either symbolically or administratively. The Gang of Four was dismantled, but new Chairman Hua Guofeng continued to persist on Mao-era policies.
How many artifacts were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution?
According to the book Mao's Last Revolution, by the end of the Cultural Revolution, 4,922 of the 6,843 officially designated “historical interest” sites in Beijing had been destroyed. One might say it was a wonder that the Forbidden City escaped the mass chaos.
What was the objective of the Chinese Cultural Revolution quizlet?
The revolution's goal was to enforce communism and remove any foreign, capitalist, or traditional cultural elements from Chinese society.
Why did Chinese youth get swept up in the Cultural Revolution quizlet?
Why did Chinese youth get swept up in the Cultural Revolution? The youth were being given the power they never had before. They were encouraged to do things that all children love to do, resist authority and destroy things.
When did Mao take over China?
On October 1, 1949, Chairman Mao Zedong officially proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China at Tiananmen Square. Chiang Kai-shek, 600,000 Nationalist troops and about two million Nationalist-sympathizer refugees retreated to the island of Taiwan.
When did communism start in China?
The creation of the PRC also completed the long process of governmental upheaval in China begun by the Chinese Revolution of 1911. The “fall” of mainland China to communism in 1949 led the United States to suspend diplomatic ties with the PRC for decades. Communists entering Beijing in 1949.
What was the Great Leap Forward in China?
Great Leap Forward, in Chinese history, the campaign undertaken by the Chinese communists between 1958 and early 1960 to organize its vast population, especially in large-scale rural communes, to meet China's industrial and agricultural problems.
What was the Cultural Revolution?
The Cultural Revolution was an upheaval launched by Chinese Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong during his last decade in power (1966–1976) to rene...
Why was the Cultural Revolution launched?
Mao Zedong launched the Cultural Revolution because he feared that China would develop along the lines of the Soviet model, which he did not approv...
What were the goals of the Cultural Revolution?
Mao Zedong had four goals for the Cultural Revolution: to replace his designated successors with leaders more faithful to his current thinking; to...
When did the Cultural Revolution occur?
The Cultural Revolution took place from August 1966 to the autumn of 1976. It was officially ended by the Eleventh Party Congress in August 1977.
What happened in the Cultural Revolution?
During this early phase of the Cultural Revolution (1966-68), President Liu Shaoqi and other Communist leaders were removed from power. (Beaten and imprisoned, Liu died in prison in 1969.) With different factions of the Red Guard movement battling for dominance, many Chinese cities reached the brink of anarchy by September 1967, when Mao had Lin send army troops in to restore order. The army soon forced many urban members of the Red Guards into rural areas, where the movement declined. Amid the chaos, the Chinese economy plummeted, with industrial production for 1968 dropping 12 percent below that of 1966.
Why did Mao Zedong start the Cultural Revolution?
The Cultural Revolution was launched in China in 1966 by Communist leader Mao Zedong in order to reassert his authority over the Chinese government. Believing that current Communist leaders were taking the party, and China itself, in the wrong direction, Mao called on the nation’s youth to purge the “impure” elements of Chinese society ...
What was Mao Zedong's position in the 1960s?
In the 1960s, Chinese Communist Party leader Mao Zedong came to feel that the current party leadership in China, as in the Soviet Union, was moving too far in a revisionist direction, with an emphasis on expertise rather than on ideological purity. Mao’s own position in government had weakened after the failure of his “ Great Leap Forward ” (1958-60) and the economic crisis that followed. Chairman Mao Zedong gathered a group of radicals, including his wife Jiang Qing and defense minister Lin Biao, to help him attack current party leadership and reassert his authority.
What happened to Mao in 1972?
In 1972, however, Mao suffered a stroke; in the same year, Zhou learned he had cancer. The two leaders threw their support to Deng Xiaoping (who had been purged during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution), a development opposed by the more radical Jiang and her allies, who became known as the Gang of Four.
What was the cult of Mao?
A personality cult quickly sprang up around Mao, similar to that which existed for Josef Stalin, with different factions of the movement claiming the true interpretation of Maoist thought. The population was urged to rid itself of the “Four Olds”: Old customs, old culture, old habits, and old ideas.
How many people died in the Cultural Revolution?
Some 1.5 million people were killed during the Cultural Revolution, and millions of others suffered imprisonment, seizure of property, torture or general humiliation. The Cultural Revolution’s short-term effects may have been felt mainly in China’s cities, but its long-term effects would impact the entire country for decades to come.
Who was the Defense Minister of China during the Cultural Revolution?
Did you know? To encourage the personality cult that sprang up around Mao Zedong during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, Defense Minister Lin Biao saw that the now-famous "Little Red Book" of Mao's quotations was printed and distributed by the millions throughout China.
What were Mao's goals for the Cultural Revolution?
He especially feared urban social stratification in a society as traditionally elitist as China. Mao thus ultimately adopted four goals for the Cultural Revolution: to replace his designated successors with leaders more faithful to his current thinking; to rectify the Chinese Communist Party; to provide China’s youths with a revolutionary experience; and to achieve some specific policy changes so as to make the educational, health care, and cultural systems less elitist . He initially pursued these goals through a massive mobilization of the country’s urban youths. They were organized into groups called the Red Guards, and Mao ordered the party and the army not to suppress the movement.
Why did Mao want to rebuild China?
In 1968, after the country had been subject to several cycles of radicalism alternating with relative moderation, Mao decided to rebuild the Communist Party to gain greater control. The military dispatched officers and soldiers to take over schools, factories, and government agencies. The army simultaneously forced millions of urban Red Guards to move to the rural hinterland to live, thus scattering their forces and bringing some order to the cities. This particular action reflected Mao’s disillusionment with the Red Guards because of their inability to overcome their factional differences. Mao’s efforts to end the chaos were given added impetus by the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968, which greatly heightened China’s sense of insecurity.
How did the Red Guards affect the Maoist movement?
Many died. The Red Guards splintered into zealous rival factions , each purporting to be the true representative of Maoist thought. Mao’s own personality cult, encouraged so as to provide momentum to the movement, assumed religious proportions. The resulting anarchy, terror, and paralysis completely disrupted the urban economy. Industrial production for 1968 dipped 12 percent below that of 1966.
What were Mao's concerns about communism?
Mao’s concerns about “bourgeois” infiltrators in his party and government—those not sharing his vision of communism—were outlined in a Chinese Communist Party Central Committee document issued on May 16, 1966; this is considered by many historians to be the start of the Cultural Revolution, although Mao did not formally launch the Cultural Revolution until August 1966, at the Eleventh Plenum of the Eighth Central Committee. He shut down China’s schools, and during the following months he encouraged Red Guards to attack all traditional values and “bourgeois” things and to test party officials by publicly criticizing them. Mao believed that this measure would be beneficial both for the young people and for the party cadres that they attacked.
How did Mao pursue his goals?
He initially pursued these goals through a massive mobilization of the country’s urban youths. They were organized into groups called the Red Guards, and Mao ordered the party and the army not to suppress the movement. Mao also put together a coalition of associates to help him carry out the Cultural Revolution.
Who helped Mao carry out the Cultural Revolution?
Mao also put together a coalition of associates to help him carry out the Cultural Revolution. His wife, Jiang Qing, brought in a group of radical intellectuals to rule the cultural realm. Defense Minister Lin Biao made certain that the military remained Maoist.
What was the name of the army that Mao called on to step in on behalf of the Red Guards?
During 1967 Mao called on the army under Lin Biao to step in on behalf of the Red Guards.
How did the Cultural Revolution affect China?
The effects of the Cultural Revolution directly or indirectly touched essentially all of China's population. During the Cultural Revolution, much economic activity was halted, with "revolution", regardless of interpretation, being the primary objective of the country.
What was the Cultural Revolution?
The Cultural Revolution, formally the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a violent sociopolitical purge movement in China from 1966 until Mao Zedong 's death in 1976. Launched by Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and founder of the People's Republic of China ...
Why did Deng Xiaoping create Boluan Fanzheng?
Deng Xiaoping first proposed the idea of " Boluan Fanzheng " in September 1977 in order to correct the mistakes of Cultural Revolution. In May 1978, Deng seized the opportunity to elevate his protégé Hu Yaobang to power.
What was Mao's approach to the Cultural Revolution?
His approach was less than transparent, achieving this purge through newspaper articles, internal meetings, and by skillfully employing his network of political allies.
How many cultural sites were destroyed in Beijing?
Of the 80 cultural heritage sites in Beijing under municipal protection, 30 were destroyed, and of the 6,843 cultural sites under protection by Beijing government decision in 1958, 4,922 were damaged or destroyed. Numerous valuable old books, paintings, and other cultural relics were also burnt to ashes.
How many people died in the Cultural Revolution?
The Cultural Revolution damaged China's economy and traditional culture, with an estimated death toll ranging from hundreds of thousands to 20 million.
What was the Maoist movement intended to strengthen?
Maoist sociopolitical movement intended to strengthen Chinese communism (1966–76) This article is about the Chinese sociocultural movement. For the event in Libya, see Cultural Revolution (Libya). For the event in the Soviet Union, see Cultural Revolution in the Soviet Union. For the event in Iran, see Iranian Cultural Revolution.
Overview
Cultural impact and influence
The effects of the Cultural Revolution directly or indirectly touched essentially all of China's population. During the Cultural Revolution, much economic activity was halted, with "revolution", regardless of interpretation, being the primary objective of the country. Mao Zedong Thought became the central operative guide to all things in China. The authority of the Red Guards surpassed that of …
Background
In 1958, after China's first Five-Year Plan, Mao called for "grassroots socialism" in order to accelerate his plans for turning China into a modern industrialized state. In this spirit, Mao launched the Great Leap Forward, established People's Communes in the countryside, and began the mass mobilization of the people into collectives. Many communities were assigned production of a single co…
History
In May 1966, an "expanded session" of the Politburo was called in Beijing. The conference, rather than being a joint discussion on policy (as per the usual norms of party operations), was mainly a campaign to mobilize the Politburo into endorsing Mao's political agenda. The conference was heavily laden with Maoist political rhetoric on class struggle and filled with meticulously prepare…
Aftermath
Although Hua Guofeng publicly denounced the Gang of Four in 1976, he continued to invoke Mao's name to justify Mao-era policies. Hua spearheaded what became known as the Two Whatevers, namely, "Whatever policy originated from Chairman Mao, we must continue to support," and "Whatever directions were given to us from Chairman Mao, we must continue to follow." Like Deng, …
Humanitarian crisis
Death toll estimates from different sources vary greatly, ranging from hundreds of thousands to 20 million. In addition, the 1975 Banqiao Dam failure, considered by some as the world's greatest technological catastrophe in the 20th century, resulted in an estimated death toll between 26,600 and 240,000; the disaster, which took place during the Cultural Revolution, was covered up u…
Public views
To make sense of the mass chaos caused by Mao's leadership in the Cultural Revolution while preserving the CCP's authority and legitimacy, Mao's successors needed to lend the event a "proper" historical judgment. On June 27, 1981, the Central Committee adopted the "Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party Since the Founding of the People's Republic of China," …
See also
• Chinese Cultural Renaissance
• Iconoclasm
• July Theses, a mini–Cultural Revolution in Romania
• Cultural Revolution in the Soviet Union