History UsefulNotes / CulturalRevolution

The Cultural Revolution nominally lasted until 1971, but the economic stagnation continued with the continued dividation of the country into Counties and Communes, and cultural stagnancy was continually re-enforced by Mao's wife. This persevered until 1976, when Mao died. Jiang Qing and her three main lieutenants (Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wenyuan, and Wang Hongwen -- who, together with Jiang, became known as the Gang of Four) were overthrown by the intrigue of Deng Xiaoping, who took power from the shadows and reestablished capitalism. The physical legacy of the Cultural Revolution remains. Even today, signs of the Revolution are not hard to find: smashed and vandalized historic buildings, giant slogans praising Mao dotting the countryside, etc. Official sources places the death toll of the Revolution at 50,000, although some estimates go as high as 1.5 million. On cultural and social level, China managed to actively destroy its own heritage and the lasting damage is simply impossible to account. The education gap created by the revolution is haunting China to this day, half century later. Once people were allowed to return homes from rural hinterland in the 1980s, the divorce rate skyrocket - during reeducation, many [[MarriageOfConvenience married locally with random partners]] just to gain some form of stability in the hard times. Things that were once commonplace and part of day-to-day life, like teahouses or UsefulNotes/PekingOpera, virtually disappeared or the remnants had to be put under governmental patronage to survive at all.

Note that as far as we know there was no real plan or structure or even coherent vision for the Cultural Revolution as a whole. Mao was a visionary, not a bureaucrat, and so it appears to have been entirely [[WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants improvised at virtually every level]]. Even before 1966 Mao's supporters had conceded that he was no bureaucrat; after 1976, his remaining supporters could not defend even his vision as being anything but inhuman and unattainable. The problem had clearly not just been Mao's administrative competence, as in the Great Leap Forward, but his wisdom as a philosopher. This delivered [[UsefulNotes/ToGetRichIsGlorious the contest of ideas into the hands of Deng Xiaoping and, posthumously, Liu Shaoqi (died under suspicious circumstances aged 71, 1969).]]

The Cultural Revolution nominally lasted until 1971, but the economic stagnation continued with the continued dividation of the country into Counties and Communes, and cultural stagnancy was continually re-enforced by Mao's wife. This persevered until 1976, when Mao died. Jiang Qing and her three main lieutenants (Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wenyuan, and Wang Hongwen -- who, together with Jiang, became known as the Gang of Four) were overthrown by the intrigue of Deng Xiaoping, who took power from the shadows and reestablished capitalism. The physical legacy of the Cultural Revolution remains. Even today, signs of the Revolution are not hard to find: smashed and vandalized historic buildings, giant slogans praising Mao dotting the countryside, etc. Official sources places the death toll of the Revolution at 50,000, although some estimates go as high as 1.5 million.

The Cultural Revolution nominally lasted until 1971, but the economic stagnation continued with the continued dividation of the country into Counties and Communes, and cultural stagnancy was continually re-enforced by Mao's wife. This perservered until 1976, when Mao died. She and her three main lieutenants (Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wenyuan, and Wang Hongwen -- who, together with Jiang, became known as the Gang of Four) were overthrown by the intrigue of Deng Xiaoping, who took power from the shadows and reestablished capitalism. The physical legacy of the Cultural Revolution remains. Even today, signs of the Revolution are not hard to find: smashed and vandalized historic buildings, giant slogans praising Mao dotting the countryside, etc. Official sources places the death toll of the Revolution at 50,000, although some estimates go as high as 1.5 million.

-->--'''Simon Leys'''

The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (1966-1971) was an attempt to totally replace China's traditional [[UsefulNotes/{{Capitalism}} "feudal"-capitalist and foreign-"bourgeois"-capitalist]] cultures with [[UsefulNotes/{{Socialism}} pure "Socialist"]] culture that would enable the creation of [[{{Utopia}} "Full Communism"]]. This was done to forever eliminate the possibility of the country falling to Capitalism from within, preclude American-Capitalist or Soviet-Revisionist attempts to invade and restore the KMT or a different Socialist regime, and to restore the personal dictatorship of UsefulNotes/MaoZedong. It was [[GoneHorriblyRight so ideologically "necessary" if one accepted Maoist tenets]], and so [[EpicFail traumatic in its implementation]], that it completely discredited Maoist Socialism-as-a-pathway-to-full-Communism. This paved the way for [[UsefulNotes/ToGetRichIsGlorious a virtually-unquestioned restoration of]] a [[UsefulNotes/{{Capitalism}} 'State Capitalist' Socialist political economy]] which accepted a permanent role for privately owned capital.

In 1959 Mao was basically forced to resign leadership as President of the PRC after the full scale of the disaster caused by the unfolding "Great Leap Forward" (1958-62) became apparent, though he retained Chairmanship of the Communist Party. In 1958-60 total local-government control over all food supplies, a governmental hierarchy which rewarded favourable over accurate reporting, and gross bureaucratic incompetence led to about 35% of a total population of 500 million people dying of starvation-related diseases when they otherwise would not have, and perhaps another 20% dying when they would have anyway (old age, ordinary disease, accidents). The party and people started to favour the right-"Socialists" who accepted the permanent existence of (regulated, managed) Capitalism and existence of Capitalists, over the left-"Socialists" led by Mao who favoured the eventual total ''aufhebung'' (lit. 'transcendence') and elimination of capitalism. Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping led the rightist revival, the former as the new President of the PRC and the latter as an administrator and man with connections, they introduced economic reforms and became quite popular.

{{UsefulNotes/Mao|Zedong}} was upset on principle, and about the loss of his personal power. As a Marxist-Leninist ideologue he was ''not'' happy about China becoming ''de facto'' [[UsefulNotes/PoliticalIdeologies Fascist]], nor about losing his ability to prevent that, nor about the loss of face and control.

Mao was still respected and loved by the majority of Chinese people, but he felt that the revolution had become far too "bureaucratic" and "distant" from The People. While Mao didn't have a definitive vision of what exactly the Chinese state and Chinese society should be, he was ''very'' clear that it should not be anything like [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn the Soviet Union's government and society]], which he saw as being choked by bureaucracy and plagued by a lack of popular 'democratic' participation. Backed by the army, he started the Cultural Revolution (or the Great Proletarian Revolution, as it was called) to combat "bureaucracy" and "statism", ''de facto'' favouring a model of government in which China would not be governed by committee as a single entity -- but instead, [[BalkaniseMe as a series of many hundreds or even thousands of independent entities (counties) working towards the similar (but mutually contradictory) goals of "strength" and "prosperity"]]. His wife Jiang Qing also wanted to destroy all feudal and capitalist (traditional and foreign-bourgeois) culture and replace it with socialist ideas. Only by eliminating every vestige of Capitalism and its profit-seeking, exploitative narratives from society could China be innoculated against Capitalist restoration ''even if'' it were to be re-imposed by outside force.

-->--'''Mao''', directive of 18/05/1967

In 1966, groups of students independently began to attack their teachers at schools across urban China, under the umbrella name of "Red Guards". Soon, they gained official encouragement from Mao, and consolidated. These were young people, often students, who put up posters and banners praising Mao. Soon, they all carried a book containing quotes from Mao, and originally intended for distribution to the People's Liberation Army, called the "Thoughts of Chairman Mao" but much more famous as the Little Red Book, because of its colour. On 18 August 1966, more than a million Red Guards attended a mass rally in Tiananmen Square, where Mao called for an attack on the "Four Olds":

The Red Guards started to attack (verbally and physically) teachers, intellectuals, civil servants, doctors and scientists, labeling them "counter-revolutionaries", "capitalist-roaders" or "reactionaries". They were forced to publicly confess to (false) crimes, and forced to recite from the Little Red Book. First confessions were never accepted. All forms of traditional Chinese culture, such as buildings, statues, antiques, plays and art, were ridiculed and sometimes destroyed. Museum custodians would splash black paint over paintings to save them, then years later meticulously remove the paint by hand to expose the painting (if you go to see historical architecture in Beijing today, you will notice that all of the carvings and frescoes close to the ground have been destroyed, only those out of reach have survived). The only forms of new media allowed were those that glorified the revolution. Schools were closed for two years, and factories organized their own bands of workers to hunt down counter-revolutionaries. All ranks in the PLA were abolished, and all of Mao's opponents were arrested. Infighting was common between Red Guards as rival groups tried to prove who was more loyal.

The most striking feature of the Cultural Revolution was perhaps the Red Guards. In the beginning, these were mostly middle-schoolers (13 - 16) who were organized into revolutionary units and were given [[TeenageWasteland complete authority over adults]]. [[TeensAreMonsters You can guess how these kids would have reacted]]. Not only were they given power, they believed they were carrying out Mao's wishes, and Mao was tantamount to a god in their minds. Thousands of young Chinese participated in [[WitchHunt violent denounciations and accusations]], which sometimes ended with the death by torture of the victim involved. Street fights between different factions of Red Guards was a common sight. The Red Guards often made pilgrimages to Beijing in an attempt to get a glimpse of Mao.

By 1971, Lin Biao, Mao's heir apparent, was killed in an air crash in Mongolia, allegedly trying to defect to the Soviet Union after a failed coup attempt. It remains a mystery to this day whether Lin really ''was'' planning any such thing; if so it was one of the most incompetent coup plots of all time. While the official story goes unquestioned in China (at least publicly), among Western historians there are many other theories, including simply that Lin was framed for political reasons, or that his son Lin Liguo ineptly tried to manipulate his father into staging a coup.

The Cultural Revolution nominally lasted until 1971, but the economic stagnation continued with the continued dividation of the country into Counties and Communes, and cultural stagnancy was continually re-enforced by Mao's wife. This perservered until 1976, when Mao died. She and her three main lieutenants (Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wenyuan, and Wang Hongwen -- who, together with Jiang, became known as the Gang of Four) were overthrown by the intrigue of Deng Xiaoping, who took power from the shadows and reestablished capitalism. The physical legacy of the Cultural Revolution remains. Even today, signs of the Revolution are not hard to find: smashed and vandalized historic buildings, giant slogans praising Mao dotting the countryside, etc. Official sources places the death toll of the Revolution at 50 000, although some estimates go as high as 1.5 million.

The social and mental scars are astonishingly evident, as it is one of extremely few events in the post-1949 history of Mainland China to be openly admitted by the official Communist Party historians to have been a terrible mistake. Its negative portrayal is fairly common with little to no government censorship meddling with it. By comparison, even ''implying'' that the Great Leap Forward was anything other than an unfortunate and unavoidable series of natural disasters can seriously affect your chances of getting promoted within state-owned media - let alone the Government or Party. It's thus hardly surprising that a Cultural Revolution setting is a handy one for those who wish to convey some less than subtle TakeThat at the Communist Party without formally crossing any lines.

Note that as far as we know there was no real plan or structure or even coherent vision for the Cultural Revolution as a whole. Mao was a visionary, not a bureaucrat, and so it appears to have been entirely improvised at virtually every level. Even before 1966 Mao's supporters had conceded that he was no bureaucrat; after 1976, his remaining supporters could not defend even his vision as being anything but inhuman and unattainable. The problem had clearly not just been Mao's administrative competence, as in the Great Leap Forward, but his wisdom as a philosopher. This delivered [[UsefulNotes/ToGetRichIsGlorious the contest of ideas into the hands of Deng Xiaoping and, posthumously, Liu Shaoqi (died under suspicious circumstances aged 71, 1969).]]

Mao was still respected and loved by the majority of Chinese people, but he felt that the revolution had become far too "bureaucratic" and "distant" from The People. While Mao didn't have a definitive vision of what exactly the Chinese state and Chinese society should be, he was ''very'' clear that it should not be anything like [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn the Soviet Union's government and society]], which he saw as being choked by bureaucracy and plagued by a lack of popular 'democratic' participation. Backed by the army, he started the Cultural Revolution (or the Great Proletarian Revolution, as it was called) to combat "bureaucracy" and "statism", ''de facto'' favouring a model of government in which China would not be governed by committee as a single entity -- but instead, [[BalkaniseMe as a series of many hundreds or even thousands of independent entities (counties) working towards the similar (but mutually contradictory) goals. of "strength" and "prosperity"]]. His wife Jiang Qing also wanted to destroy all feudal and capitalist (traditional and foreign-bourgeois) culture and replace it with socialist ideas. Only by eliminating every vestige of Capitalism and its profit-seeking, exploitative narratives from society could China be innoculated against Capitalist restoration ''even if'' it were to be re-imposed by outside force.

In 1959 Mao was basically forced to resign leadership as President of the PRC after the full scale of the disaster caused by the unfolding "Great Leap Forward" (1958-62) became apparent, though he retained Chairmanship of the Communist Party. In 1958-60 total local-government control over all food supplies, a governmental hierarchy which rewarded favourable over accurate reporting, and gross bureaucratic incompetence led to about 35% of a total population of 500 million people dying of starvation-related diseases when they otherwise would not have, and perhaps another 20% dying when they would have anyway (old age, ordinary disease, accidents). The party and people started to favour the right-"Socialists" who accepted the permanent existence of (regulated, managed) Capitalism and existence of Capitalists, over the left-"Socialists led by Mao who favoured the eventual total ''aufhebung'' (lit. 'transcendence') and elimination of capitalism. Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping led the rightist revival, the former as the new President of the PRC and the latter as an administrator and man with connections, they introduced economic reforms and became quite popular.

The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (1966-1971) was an attempt to totally replace China's traditional [[UsefulNotes/{{Capitalism}} "feudal"-capitalist and foreign-"bourgeois"-capitalist]] cultures with [[UsefulNotes/{{Socialism}} pure "Socialist"]] culture that would enable the creation of [[{{Utopia}} "Full Communism"]]. This was done to forever eliminate the possibility of the country falling to Capitalism from within, preclude American-Capitalist or Soviet-Revisionist attempts to invade and restore the KMT or a different Socialist regime, and to restore the personal dictatorship of UsefulNotes/MaoZedong. It was [[GoneHorriblyRight so ideologically "necessary" if one accepted Maoist tenets]], and so [[EpicFail traumatic in its implementation]], that it completed discredited Maoist Socialism-as-a-pathway-to-full-Communism. This paved the way for [[UsefulNotes/ToGetRichIsGlorious a virtually-unquestioned restoration of]] a [[UsefulNotes/{{Capitalism}} 'State Capitalist' Socialist political economy]] which accepted a permanent role for privately owned Capital.

The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (1966-1971) was an attempt to totally replace China's traditional [[UsefulNotes/{{Capitalism}} "feudal"-capitalist and foreign-"bourgeois"-capitalist]] cultures with [[UsefulNotes/{{Socialism}} pure "Socialist"]] culture that would enable the creation of [[{{Utopia}} "Full Communism"]]. This was done to forever eliminate the possibility of the country falling to Capitalism from within, preclude American-Capitalist or Soviet-Revisionist attempts to invade and restore the KMT or a different Socialist regime, and to restore the personal dictatorship of UsefulNotes/MaoZedong. It was [[GoneHorriblyRight so ideologically "necessary" if one accepted Maoist tenets]], and so [[EpicFail traumatic in its implementation]], that it completed discredited Maoist Socialism-as-a-pathway-to-full-Communism. This paved the way for [[ToGetRichIsGlorious a virtually-unquestioned restoration of]] a [[UsefulNotes/{{Capitalism}} 'State Capitalist' Socialist political economy]] which accepted a permanent role for privately owned Capital.

The Cultural Revolution nominally lasted until 1971, but the economic stagnation continued with the continued dividation of the country into Counties and Communes, and cultural stagnancy was continually re-enforced by Mao's wife. This perservered until 1976, when Mao died. She and her three main lieutenants (Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wenyuan, and Wang Hongwen -- who, together with Jiang, became known known as the Gang of Four) were overthrown by the intrigue of Deng Xiaoping, who took power from the shadows and reestablished capitalism. The physical legacy of the Cultural Revolution remains. Even today, signs of the Revolution are not hard to find: smashed and vandalized historic buildings, giant slogans praising Mao dotting the countryside, etc. Official sources places the death toll of the Revolution at 50 000, although some estimates go as high as 1.5 million.

The Cultural Revolution nominally lasted until 1971 but the economic stagnation continued given the continued Balkanisation of the country into Counties and Communes, and cultural sterility was continually re-enforced by Mao's wife. This perservered until 1976, when Mao died. She and her three main lieutenants (The Gang of Four) were overthrown by the intrigue of Deng Xiaoping, who took power from the shadows and reestablished capitalism. The physical legacy of the Cultural Revolution remains. Even today, signs of the Revolution are not hard to find: smashed and vandalized historic buildings, giant slogans praising Mao dotting the countryside, etc. Official sources places the death toll of the Revolution at 50 000, although some estimates go as high as 1.5 million.

The Great Cultural Revolution (1966-1971) was an attempt to totally replace China's traditional [[UsefulNotes/{{Capitalism}} "feudal"-capitalist and foreign-"bourgeois"-capitalist]] cultures with [[UsefulNotes/{{Socialism}} pure "Socialist"]] culture that would enable the creation of [[{{Utopia}} "Full Communism"]]. This was done to forever eliminate the possibility of the country falling to Capitalism from within, preclude American-Capitalist or Soviet-Revisionist attempts to invade and restore the KMT or a different Socialist regime, and to restore the personal dictatorship of UsefulNotes/MaoZedong. It was [[GoneHorriblyRight so ideologically "necessary" if one accepted Maoist tenets]], and so [[EpicFail traumatic in its implementation]], that it completed discredited Maoist Socialism-as-a-pathway-to-full-Communism. This paved the way for [[ToGetRichIsGlorious a virtually-unquestioned restoration of]] a [[UsefulNotes/{{Capitalism}} 'State Capitalist' Socialist political economy]] which accepted a permanent role for privately owned Capital.

Mao was still respected and loved by the majority of Chinese people, but he felt that the revolution had become far too "bureaucratic" and "distant" from The People. While Mao didn't have a definitive vision of what exactly the Chinese state and Chinese society should be, he was ''very'' clear that it should not be anything like [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn the Soviet Union's government and society]], which he saw as being choked by bureaucracy and plagued by a lack of popular 'democratic' participation. Backed by the army, he started the Cultural Revolution (or the Great Proletarian Revolution, as it was called) to combat "bureaucracy" and "statism", ''de facto'' favouring a model of government in which China would not be governed by committee as a single entity -- but instead, [[BalkaniseMe as a series of many hundreds or even thousands of independent entities (counties) working towards the similar (but mutually contradictory) goals. of "strength" and 'prosperity']]. His wife Jiang Qing also wanted to destroy all feudal and capitalist (traditional and foreign-bourgeois) culture and replace it with socialist ideas. Only by eliminating every vestige of Capitalism and its profit-seeking, exploitative narratives from society could China be innoculated against Capitalist restoration ''even if'' it were to be re-imposed by outside force.

The Great Cultural Revolution (1966-1971) was an attempt to totally replace China's traditional [[UsefulNotes/{{Capitalism}} "feudal"-capitalist and foreign-"bourgeois"-capitalist]] cultures with [[UsefulNotes/{{Socialism}} pure "Socialist"]] culture that would enable the creation of [[{{Utopia}} "Full Communism"]]. This was done to forever eliminate the possibility of the country falling to Capitalism from within, preclude American-Capitalist or Soviet-Revisionist attempts to invade and restore the KMT or a different Socialist regime, and to restore the personal dictatorship of UsefulNotes/MaoZedong. It was [[GoneHorriblyRight so ideologically 'necessary' if one accepted Maoist tenets]], and so [[EpicFail traumatic in its implementation]], that it completed discredited Maoist Socialism-as-a-pathway-to-full-Communism. This paved the way for [[ToGetRichIsGlorious a virtually-unquestioned restoration of]] a [[UsefulNotes/{{Capitalism}} 'State Capitalist' Socialist political economy]] which accepted a permanent role for privately owned Capital.

Mao was still respected and loved by the majority of Chinese people, but he felt that the revolution had become far too 'bureaucratic' and 'distant' from The People. While Mao didn't have a definitive vision of what exactly the Chinese state and Chinese society should be, he was ''very'' clear that it should not be anything like [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn the Soviet Union's government and society]], which he saw as being choked by bureaucracy and plagued by a lack of popular 'democratic' participation. Backed by the army, he started the Cultural Revolution (or the Great Proletarian Revolution, as it was called) to combat 'bureaucracy' and 'statism', ''de facto'' favouring a model of government in which China would not be governed by committee as a single entity - but instead, [[BalkaniseMe as a series of many hundreds or even thousands of independent entities (counties) working towards the similar (but mutually contradictory) goals. of 'strength' and 'prosperity']]. His wife Jiang Qing also wanted to destroy all feudal and capitalist (traditional and foreign-bourgeois) culture and replace it with socialist ideas. Only by eliminating every vestige of Capitalism and its profit-seeking, exploitative narratives from society could China be innoculated against Capitalist restoration ''even if'' it were to be re-imposed by outside force.

In 1966, groups of students independently began to attack their teachers at schools across urban China, under the umbrella name of "Red Guards". Soon, they gained official encouragement from Mao, and consolidated. These were young people, often students, who put up posters and banners praising Mao. Soon, they all carried a book containing quotes from Mao, and originally intended for distribution to the People's Liberation Army, called the 'Thoughts of Chairman Mao' but much more famous as the Little Red Book, because of its colour. On 18 August 1966, more than a million Red Guards attended a mass rally in Tiananmen Square, where Mao called for an attack on the "Four Olds":

In 1959 Mao was basically forced to resign leadership as President of the PRC after the full scale of the disaster caused by the unfolding 'Great Leap Forward' (1958-62) became apparent, though he retained Chairmanship of the Communist Party. In 1958-60 total local-government control over all food supplies, a governmental hierarchy which rewarded favourable over accurate reporting, and gross bureaucratic incompetence led to about 35% of a total population of 500 million people dying of starvation-related diseases when they otherwise would not have, and perhaps another 20% dying when they would have anyway (old age, ordinary disease, accidents). The party and people started to favour the right-"Socialists" who accepted the permanent existence of (regulated, managed) Capitalism and existence of Capitalists, over the left-"Socialists led by Mao who favoured the eventual total ''aufhebung'' (lit. 'transcendence') and elimination of capitalism. Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping led the rightist revival, the former as the new President of the PRC and the latter as an administrator and man with connections, they introduced economic reforms and became quite popular.

The Great Cultural Revolution (1966-1971) was an attempt to totally replace China's traditional [[UsefulNotes/{{Capitalism}} 'feudal'-capitalist and foreign-'bourgeois'-capitalist]] cultures with [[UsefulNotes/{{Socialism}} pure 'Socialist']] culture that would enable the creation of [[{{Utopia}} 'Full Communism']]. This was done to forever eliminate the possibility of the country falling to Capitalism from within, preclude American-Capitalist or Soviet-Revisionist attempts to invade and restore the KMT or a different Socialist regime, and to restore the personal dictatorship of UsefulNotes/MaoZedong. It was [[GoneHorriblyRight so ideologically 'necessary' if one accepted Maoist tenets]], and so [[EpicFail traumatic in its implementation]], that it completed discredited Maoist Socialism-as-a-pathway-to-full-Communism. This paved the way for [[ToGetRichIsGlorious a virtually-unquestioned restoration of]] a [[UsefulNotes/{{Capitalism}} 'State Capitalist' Socialist political economy]] which accepted a permanent role for privately owned Capital.

In 1959 Mao was basically forced to resign leadership as President of the PRC after the full scale of the disaster caused by the unfolding 'Great Leap Forward' (1958-62) became apparent, though he retained Chairmanship of the Communist Party. In 1958-60 total local-government control over all food supplies, a governmental hierarchy which rewarded favourable over accurate reporting, and gross bureaucratic incompetence led to about 35 of a total population of 500 million people dying of starvation-related diseases when they otherwise would not have, and perhaps another 20 dying when they would have anyway (old age, ordinary disease, accidents). The party and people started to favour the right-"Socialists" who accepted the permanent existence of (regulated, managed) Capitalism and existence of Capitalists, over the left-"Socialists led by Mao who favoured the eventual total ''aufhebung'' (lit. 'transcendence') and elimination of capitalism. Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping led the rightist revival, the former as the new President of the PRC and the latter as an administrator and man with connections, they introduced economic reforms and became quite popular.

Mao was still respected and loved by the majority of Chinese people, but he felt that the revolution had become far too 'bureaucratic' and 'distant' from The People. While Mao didn't have a definitive vision of what exactly the Chinese state and Chinese society should be, he was ''very'' clear that it should not be anything like [[SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn the Soviet Union's government and society]], which he saw as being choked by bureaucracy and plagued by a lack of popular 'democratic' participation. Backed by the army, he started the Cultural Revolution (or the Great Proletarian Revolution, as it was called) to combat 'bureaucracy' and 'statism', ''de facto'' favouring a model of government in which China would not be governed by committee as a single entity - but instead, [[BalkaniseMe as a series of many hundreds or even thousands of independent entities (counties) working towards the similar (but mutually contradictory) goals. of 'strength' and 'prosperity']]. His wife Jiang Qing also wanted to destroy all feudal and capitalist (traditional and foreign-bourgeois) culture and replace it with socialist ideas. Only by eliminating every vestige of Capitalism and its profit-seeking, exploitative narratives from society could China be innoculated against Capitalist restoration ''even if'' it were to be re-imposed by outside force.

Note that as far as we know there was no real plan or structure or even coherent vision for the Cultural Revolution as a whole. Mao was a visionary, not a bureaucrat, and so it appears to have been entirely improvised at virtually every level. Even before 1966 Mao's supporters had conceded that he was no bureaucrat; after 1976, his remaining supporters could not defend even his vision as being anything but inhuman and unattainable. The problem had clearly not just been Mao's administrative competence, as in the Great Leap Forward, but his wisdom as a philosopher. This is delivered [[UsefulNotes/ToGetRichIsGlorious the contest of ideas into the hands of Deng Xiaoping and, posthumously, Liu Shaoqi (died under suspicious circumstances aged 71, 1969).]]

Note that as far as we know there was no real plan or structure or even coherent vision for the Cultural Revolution as a whole. Mao was a visionary, not a bureaucrat, and so it appears to have been entirely improvised at virtually every level. Even before 1966 Mao's supporters had conceded that he was no bureaucrat; after 1976, his remaining supporters could not defend even his vision as being anything but inhuman and unattainable. The problem had clearly not just been Mao's administrative competence, as in the Great Leap Forward, but his wisdom as a philosopher. This is delivered [[ToGetRichIsGlorious the contest of ideas into the hands of Deng Xiaoping and, posthumously, Liu Shaoqi (died under suspicious circumstances aged 71, 1969).]]

This could be taken as the start of the Cultural Revolution. What ensued could be charitably described as a cluster of epic proportions.

In 1959 Mao was basically forced to resign leadership as President of the PRC after the full scale of the disaster caused by the unfolding 'Great Leap Forward' (1958-62) became apparent, though he retained Chairmanship of the Communist Party. During the disaster total local-government control over all food supplies, a governmental hierarchy which rewarded favourable over accurate reporting, and gross bureaucratic incompetence led to about 35 of a total population of 500 million people dying of starvation-related diseases when they otherwise would not have, and perhaps another 20 dying when they would have anyway (old age, ordinary disease, accidents). The party and people started to favour the right-"Socialists" who accepted the permanent existence of (regulated, managed) Capitalism and existence of Capitalists, over the left-"Socialists led by Mao who favoured the eventual total ''aufhebung'' (lit. 'transcendence') and elimination of capitalism. Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping led the rightist revival, the former as the new President of the PRC and the latter as an administrator and man with connections, they introduced economic reforms and became quite popular.

Note that as far as we know there was no real plan or structure or even coherent vision for the Cultural Revolution as a whole. Mao was a visionary, not a bureaucrat, and so it appears to have been entirely improvised at virtually every level. Even before 1966 Mao's supporters had conceded that he was no bureaucrat; after 1976, his remaining supporters had no choice that his vision itself was inhuman and unattainable. The problem had clearly not just been Mao's administrative competence, as in the Great Leap Forward, but his foresight as a visionary. This is delivered [[ToGetRichIsGlorious the contest of ideas into the hands of Deng Xiaoping and, posthumously, Liu Shaoqi (died under suspicious circumstances aged 71, 1969).]]

The Great Cultural Revolution was a decade-long (1966-1976) attempt to totally replace China's traditional [[UsefulNotes/{{Capitalism}} 'feudal'-capitalist and foreign-'bourgeois'-capitalist]] cultures with [[UsefulNotes/{{Socialism}} pure 'Socialist']] culture that would enable the creation of [[{{Utopia}} 'Full Communism']]. This was done to forever eliminate the possibility of the country falling to Capitalism from within, preclude American-Capitalist or Soviet-Revisionist attempts to invade and restore the KMT or a different Socialist regime, and to restore the personal dictatorship of UsefulNotes/MaoZedong. It was [[GoneHorriblyRight so ideologically 'necessary' if one accepted Maoist tenets]], and so [[EpicFail traumatic in its implementation]], that it completed discredited Maoist Socialism-as-a-pathway-to-full-Communism. This paved the way for [[ToGetRichIsGlorious a virtually-unquestioned restoration of]] a [[UsefulNotes/{{Capitalism}} 'State Capitalist' Socialist political economy]] which accepted a permanent role for privately owned Capital.

Mao was still respected and loved by the majority of Chinese people, but he felt that the revolution had become far too 'bureaucratic' and 'distant' from The People. While Mao didn't have a definitive vision of what exactly the Chinese state and Chinese society should be, he was ''very'' clear that it should not be anything like [[SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn the Soviet Union's government and society]], which he saw as being choked by bureaucracy and plagued by a lack of popular 'democratic' participation. Backed by the army, he started the Cultural Revolution (or the Great Proletarian Revolution, as it was called) to combat 'bureaucracy' and 'statism', ''de facto'' favouring a model of government in which China would not be governed by committee as a single entity - but instead, [[WeAreStrugglingTogether as a series of many hundreds or even thousands of independent entities (counties) working towards the similar (but mutually contradictory) goals. of 'strength' and 'prosperity']]. His wife Jiang Qing also wanted to destroy all feudal and capitalist (traditional and foreign-bourgeois) culture and replace it with socialist ideas. Only by eliminating every vestige of Capitalism and its profit-seeking, exploitative narratives from society could China be innoculated against Capitalist restoration ''even if'' it were to be re-imposed by outside force.

The Cultural Revolution lasted until 1971, but art and culture remained under control of Mao's wife until 1976, when Mao died after which she and her three main lieutenants (The Gang of Four) were overthrown. Deng Xiaoping took over and reformed China, but the legacy of the Cultural Revolution remains. Even today, signs of the Revolution are not hard to find: smashed and vandalized historic buildings, giant slogans praising Mao dotting the countryside, etc. Official sources places the death toll of the Revolution at 50 000, although some estimates go as high as 1.5 million.

It remains notable as one of the extremely few events in the post-1949 history of Mainland China to be openly admitted by the official Communist Party historians to have been a terrible mistake and so its negative portrayal is fairly common with little to no government censorship meddling with it (whereas the likes of the Tiananmen Massacre are never even ''alluded to'' in the officially sanctioned media). It's thus hardly surprising that a Cultural Revolution setting is a handy one for those who wish to convey some less than subtle TakeThat at the Communist Party without formally crossing any lines.

Note that as far as we know there was no real plan or structure or even coherent vision for the Cultural Revolution as a whole. Mao was a visionary, not a bureaucrat, and so it appears to have been entirely improvised at virtually every level. Even before 1966 Mao's supporters had conceded that he was no bureaucrat; after 1976, his remaining supporters had no choice that the vision itself was inhuman and unsustainable. The problem had clearly not just been Mao's administrative competence, as in the Great Leap Forward, but his foresight as a visionary. This is delivered [[ToGetRichIsGlorious the contest of ideas into the hands of Deng Xiaoping and, posthumously, Liu Shaoqi (died under suspicious circumstances aged 71, 1969).]]

After the disaster called the [[RedChina Great Leap Forward]] - the result of total local-government control over all food supplies, a governmental hierarchy which rewarded favourable over accurate reporting, and simple bureaucratic incompetence - led to about 35 million people dying of starvation-related diseases when they otherwise would not have, and perhaps another 20 dying when they would have anyway (old age, ordinary disease, accidents) the party and people started to favour the "Socialists" who accepted the existence of (regulated, managed) Capitalism and existence of Capitalists. Led by Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping, they introduced economic reforms and became quite popular.

The Cultural Revolution was Mao's way of bypassing the structure of the Chinese Communist Party, instead speaking directly to the fanatical Red Guards. Many Communist officials were targeted because of the ''potential'' contact that their ideological leanings might lead them to establish with the Soviets, or the Americans, or the nationalist Guomindang (Kuomintang), or engaged in corruption, or anything else remotely criminal. Familial love was seen as contrary to the revolution; you were supposed to devote every waking hour to Mao and the Revolution. Married couples, if placed in different regions, were only allowed 12 "marriage leave" days a ''year'' to visit each other. Communes were to be the main unit of organization, and communal dining was often the only way to eat. The Revolution was often used as an excuse to settle personal scores, drawing ironic parallels to the years of corrupt Chinese imperial rule.

Note that the Cultural Revolution was not specifically a revolution ''in favor'' of anything. It was a constant revolution ''against'' whatever was troubling Mao -- or, frankly, whoever was holding the guns at the time.

The Great Cultural Revolution was a decade-long (1966-1976) attempt to totally replace China's traditional [[UsefulNotes/Capitalism 'feudal'-capitalist and foreign-'bourgeois'-capitalist]] cultures with [[UsefulNotes/Socialism pure 'Socialist']] culture that would enable the creation of a fully Communist {{Utopia}}. This was done to forever eliminate the possibility of the country falling to Capitalism from within, preclude American-Capitalist or Soviet-Revisionist attempts to invade and restore the KMT or a different Socialist regime, and to restore the personal dictatorship of UsefulNotes/MaoZedong. It was [[GoneHorriblyRight so ideologically 'necessary' if one accepted Maoist tenets]], and so [[EpicFail traumatic in its implementation]], that it completed discredited Maoist Socialism-as-a-pathway-to-full-Communism. This paved the way for [[ToGetRichIsGlorious a virtually-unquestioned restoration of]] a [[UsefulNotes/Capitalism 'State Capitalist' Socialist political economy]] which accepted a permanent role for privately owned Capital.

After the disaster called the [[RedChina Great Leap Forward]] - the result of total local-government control over all food supplies, a governmental hierarchy which rewarded favourable over accurate reporting, and simple bureaucratic incompetence - management led to about 35 million people dying of starvation-related diseases, the party and people started to favour the "Socialists" who accepted the existence of (regulated, managed) Capitalism and existence of Capitalists. Led by Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping, they introduced economic reforms and became quite popular.

After the disaster called the [[RedChina Great Leap Forward]] - the result of total local-government control over all food supplies, a governmental hierarchy which rewarded favourable over accurate reporting, and simple bureaucratic incompetence - management led to about 35 million people dying of starvation-related diseases, the party and people started to favour the "moderates" in the Chinese Communist Party. Led by Deng Xiaoping, they introduced economic reforms and became quite popular.

{{UsefulNotes/Mao|Zedong}} was not amused.

Mao was still respected and loved by the majority of Chinese people, but he felt that the revolution had become far too 'bureaucratic' and 'distant' from The People. While Mao didn't have a definitive vision of what exactly the Chinese state and Chinese society should be, he was ''very'' clear that it should not be anything like [[SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn the Soviet Union's government and society]], which he saw as being choked by bureaucracy and plagued by a lack of popular participation. Backed by the army, he started the Cultural Revolution (or the Great Proletarian Revolution, as it was called) to combat 'bureaucracy' and 'statism', ''de facto'' favouring a model of government in which China would not be governed by committee as a single entity - but instead, [[WeAreStrugglingTogether as a series of many hundreds or even thousands of independent entities (counties) working towards the similar (but mutually contradictory) goals. of 'strength' and 'prosperity']]. His wife Jiang Qing also wanted to destroy all traditional culture and replace it with socialist ideas.

The Cultural Revolution was Mao's way of bypassing the structure of the Chinese Communist Party, instead speaking directly to the fanatical Red Guards. Many Communist officials were targeted, even if they had no real connections to the nationalist Guomindang (Kuomintang) or, in fact, did anything remotely criminal. Familial love was seen as contrary to the revolution; you were supposed to devote every waking hour to Mao and the Revolution. Married couples, if placed in different regions, were only allowed 12 "marriage leave" days a ''year'' to visit each other. Communes were to be the main unit of organization, and communal dining was often the only way to eat. The Revolution was often used as an excuse to settle personal scores, drawing ironic parallels to the years of corrupt Chinese imperial rule.

This could be taken as the start of the Cultural Revolution. What ensued could be charitably described as a clusterfuck of epic proportions.