Violence In The Great Leap Forward '

The cultural revolution is a strange period in Chinese history laced with intense struggle and anguish. The cultural revolution mobilized the all of society to compete for all opposing factions that they belonged to (Ong, 2016). Mao mobilized the young people of society during a background of political turmoil, which helped Mao to mobilize the students in order to enforce his political legitimacy and ideas (Ong, 2016). Mao’s charismatic authority created his personality cult and most defiantly leant a helping hand in mobilizing the red guard movement (Ong, 2016) (Weber, 1946) (Andreas, 2007). No matter which faction of the red guard they belonged to, they all mobilized against their common enemy; the better off, upper class. (Ong, 2016). Multiple ideologies within the youth led red guard movement explain why the movement gained momentum and became incredibly powerful (Walder, 2009).

“As one of the Red Guards in the middle school, I was given power through Mao to torture and humiliate our teachers, headmaster or anyone we didn’t like. I didn’t know it was wrong. I thought I was doing the right thing to continue the revolution, to fight and win the class struggle”- Zhao, Lin Qing. As a teenager Zhao was a Red Guard in Guangzhou during the Cultural Revolution. When asked what her impression was a member of the Red Guards, Zhao answered with two words: “naïve and senseless”. She refused answering anything more about her experience. She said, “The memories are still too painful to recall.”

The launch of the Chinese Cultural Revolution in 1966 was due to a culmination of political and ideological struggles that had divided the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since the end of the Great Leap Forward. As said by Che Guevara, “A revolution is not an apple that falls when it is ripe. You have to make it fall”. Che Guevara’s statement is accurate to an extent in relation to the causes of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Although China was vulnerable during the twentieth century and Mao Tse-Tung, Chairman of the CCP, took control of this susceptibility, the Chinese Cultural Revolution was already ‘ripe’, someone just had to provoke it to ‘fall’. The Chinese Cultural Revolution can be considered a power struggle between Mao and his rivals. Mao needed to regain the control that he had lost after the failure of ‘The Great Leap Forward’ and the Chinese Cultural Revolution was a means for him to do so. Mao genuinely believed in an equal society and went about this belief in a very severe manner. Che Guevara’s statement is not entirely accurate as the Chinese Cultural Revolution was just part of a progression that was taking place and although Mao provoked it to fall, China was ultimately ripe for a revolution.

One of the first effects, that was shown in the book brought by the revolution was shown through her fellow student’s attitudes in which they quickly embraced the idea of criticizing their teachers as well as other individuals in hopes to impress others or even get into higher positions such as a redguard this is evident where even Ji-Li has thoughts such as “We were proud of our precious red scarves, which, like the national flag, were dyed red with the blood of our revolutionary martyrs. We had often been sorry that we were too young to have fought with Chairman Mao against the Japanese invaders, who tried to conquer China.” (2.44). I believe due to thoughts such as these it leads to actions such as the da zi-bao. In relation to current events in our current timeline, I see many attributes from the revolution in our country currently, such attributes would parental influence as well as societal influence. When a parent influences their child they lead through example which is based on what they knew and what they believe, for example if the parents were to be more conservative it is likely for the child to conform to those beliefs. When societal influence happens the individual is witness to other people’s emotions, opinions, or behaviors. By following this the individual can be molded into someone of certain beliefs, for example when you go to university you are met with many worldviews and opinions which can take affect of how you view certain aspects of life, whether or not these turn to something of immoral is up to you. When influences are held wrongly the outcome can often become immoral which can lead to such events with high

The Cultural Revolution, which affected China from 1965 to 1968, is the name given to Mao's endeavor to proclaim his convictions in China. Mao Zedong was a Chinese Communist progressive and the establishing father of the People's Republic of China. He had a Marxist-Leninist hypothesis, military procedures, and political approaches which were known as the Mao Zedong Thought. Mao was worried about the traits of post 1959 China. He commented that the unrest had supplanted the old respectability with over again one and expected that these individuals taking in a main part would debilitate Mao's energy inside the gathering and nation. Mao trusted that with the begin of the Cultural Revolution, it would disrupt the decision class and get China to a more equivalent condition of being. August 1966 at a meeting of the Plenum of the Central Committee was the initiation of the Cultural Revolution development.

The majority of the book looks deep into Mao’s Cultural Revolution, the main focus was Mao’s campaign was created with the simple means to destroy China’s history of hopes of a free and pure culture that would separate itself from the old Chinese culture which existed before during 1949. We will mainly focus on Liang’s treacherous life, and the obstacles he endured in spite of Mao’s Cultural Revolution, we look at the different events in which led up to the Cultural Revolution and the purpose of Mao’s culture Revolution.

Perhaps it is in human nature to turn to violence in turbulent times. We often overlook the violence that goes hand in hand with great historical change. And, as the victors write history, often the violence that acts as the cornerstone of societies are toned down and forgotten. During the Cultural Revolution in China, violence forced its way into the everyday life of the people. Everyday people— peaceful farmers, city folk— became the vehicle for immense violence in both a severe and widespread scope. This violence, while operating within the bounds of human nature, is motivated by a social requirement to prove one’s dedication to the CCP, “soldiers” who become carried away with newfound power and government encouragement, forcing ideology by brute force, retaliation, personal pride or protection, and human instinct to resort to violence; and can occur in any society.

The first key to conducting a successful revolutionary insurgency is understanding that the laws of war are developmental. Comrade Mao, felt that leaders must take a progressive approach to understand war in general, the revolutionary aspect of war, and the aspects of China’s revolutionary war in particular.

Mao’s Cultural Revolution was an attempt to create a new culture for China. Through education reforms and readjustments, Mao hoped to create a new generation of Chinese people - a generation of mindless Communists. By eliminating intellectuals via the Down to the Countryside movement, Mao hoped to eliminate elements of traditional Chinese culture and create a new form Chinese culture. He knew that dumbing down the masses would give him more power so his regime would be more stable. This dramatic reform affected youth especially as they were targeted by Mao’s propaganda and influence. Drawing from his experiences as an Educated Youth who was sent down to the countryside Down to the Countryside movement, Ah Cheng wrote The King of

reform naturally removed some of the assumptions for revolution and impeded its progress. This helped to sharpen the already intense conflicts that occurred between the reformists and the revolutionaries. In efforts to check this unfavorable tide, the Chinese student revolutionaries in Tokyo extended their war of words to physical combat. Unfortunately the revolutionaries victory over the reformists in Tokyo was not equal to (5=Zhaoxing, Li, “Seeking Common Ground,”

The Wuchang Rebellion can be seen as having a pivotal role in the creation of modern China, overthrowing two millennia of dynastic rule and sowing the seeds of revolution in the minds of the people. However there was a lack of major de facto change from Qing dynasty governance, and May 4th has a questionable impact on modern China. Furthermore, the Warlord Era that stemmed from Wuchang was a greatly regressive period. Considering these weaknesses, to describe it as the most significant turning point would be misleading. Wuchang shares claim to that title with myriad events including the Third Plenum, the Civil War and resulting proclamation of the PRC, and the Hundred Flowers campaign. In this essay, a modern China will be defined as a politically

It is clear that Mao’s initial goal was to gain power in China, which is demonstrated by his determination to overthrow Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang (KMT) via his idiosyncratic version of communist revolution. In order to do so, Mao utilised methods he deemed most suitable for the communists and, more broadly, Chinese society. For example, unlike his Marxist predecessors, Mao believed that peasants, not urban workers, were the key to rebellion in China. Subsequently, in 1926, he organised peasant unions

The Communist fervor that gripped mainland China under Mao Zedong’s rule had lasting effects on the economy and culture. In particular, the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution devastated rural and peasant populations, leading to fatal consequences for a large portion of the chinese demographic. The Great Leap Forward was an attempt at socializing the chinese economy almost ten years after the People's Republic of China was established in 1949. Property and businesses were stripped from private owners by the government and given to community leaders to run with the help of community members. Unfortunately, revolutionary passion blinded community leaders and the government. The former over reported food production while the latter continued to support a failing economic structure and policy. This lead to the Great Chinese Famine, and a decline in economic productivity and revolutionary zeal. The Great Cultural Revolution was meant to reinvigorate the revolutionary spirit. Launched several years after the failure of the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution targeted the youth. A successful propaganda campaign mobilized groups of mostly disadvantaged youth (red guards) and the working class to purge those antithetical to the movement. Millions were killed in the resulting class warfare which targeted capitalists, rightists, and landlords. The effects of these influential events are still explored in modern chinese cinema many years after their occurrence. An

Cultural Revolution, refers to a political movement that leads by Mao Zedong during May 1966 to October 1976. The original intention for Cultural Revolution is to prevent the restoration of capitalism. Mao want to clean the force who block the development. However, because of the failure leadership, this movement goes to a wrong way and become out of control. This ten years revolution seriously impact Chinese economic and development, it gives Communist Party and its people a big damage: school closed, factories shut down; students recruit for the “Red Guard”, they took to the streets to against democracy; millions of people involved into this revolution. It is a painful memories to Chinese. Today, some people prefer to call this revolution “Civil War”. Its influence until now. It is a war between Mao Zedong and Liu Shaoqi. Their struggle for power makes Chinese culture remains stagnant and fell far behind the world, and even go backwards.

There are two historical event scholars believes can be treated as milestone: 1911 revolution, which brings an end to the two thousand year of monarchy and the May fourth movement which were carried out by students in Beijing protesting against the unfair treatment. This paper will make the argument that the May fourth movement was more important than the 1911 revolution. The May fourth movement is the defining event that marked the passage from a tradition based society to modernity in twentieth century Chinese history. The May Fourth Movements was a significant turning point in Chinese history challenging traditional Chinese values.