The Cultural Revolution
After the Great Leap Forward there came a period of time called the Cultural Revolution, also called the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (Spence, 1998; “Timeline: China under,” 2012). This was a ten-year period from 1966 to 1976 in which Chairman Mao attempted to purge the country of every person who opposed or seemed to oppose the Communist beliefs and were therefore deemed enemies of the party (Butterfield, 1976; Lee, 2013; Spence, 1998; "Timeline: China under," 2012). Mao created mass groups of young students, called the Red Guards, who read his Little Red Book of quotes and fought for Mao’s beliefs (Butterfield, 1976; Lee, 2013; Spence, 1998; "Timeline: China under," 2012).
The Red Guards were responsible for either humiliating and ultimately exiling or killing citizens who were thought to have betrayed Chairman Mao in any circumstance (Lee, 2013). Lee (2013) describes the stories he heard as a boy, from his grandmother and mother who were alive during the Cultural Revolution:
“My mom’s neighbors were punished by being put in the ground and hit and yelled at. The Red Guards would say how crazy you are for going against Chairman Mao and would make the family treat him as a betrayer. The family must hit him too and if they did not then they would think you are on his side and then you would have to get on the ground since you agree with him. My mom said that the Red Guard was crazy and that is why people hate those times. The father would kill his son just to prove that he is not on his side. A lot of bad things happened. My grandmother would also tell me a lot of stories about how the people get killed and go crazy, because once you are the betrayer, once the Red Guard said that, no one will help you not even your family. During those times you need to watch your mouth, even if you say his first name and something bad or a word that may mean the same as Chairman Mao’s name then you will get caught, it’s just so crazy, and it just depends on the Red Guard, because if they say you are a betrayer then you are, they did not need any proof” (Lee, 2013).
Since the core concepts of communism and socialism still existed during this time, people were now on food rations and it was illegal to have more of any product than someone else. The Chinese people believed that everything belonged to everyone and no one person should have more than another person (Lee, 2013).
One year before the death of Chairman Mao in 1976, the Cultural Revolution ended. The Communist Party and socialist society still remain in China today. Nevertheless, Chinese children are taught to respect and even adore Chairman Mao and his decisions as the greatest leader of the Chinese people. In fact, Lee remembers learning that the Cultural Revolution was the one, sole mistake that Chairman Mao ever made (Lee, 2013).
“My mom’s neighbors were punished by being put in the ground and hit and yelled at. The Red Guards would say how crazy you are for going against Chairman Mao and would make the family treat him as a betrayer. The family must hit him too and if they did not then they would think you are on his side and then you would have to get on the ground since you agree with him. My mom said that the Red Guard was crazy and that is why people hate those times. The father would kill his son just to prove that he is not on his side. A lot of bad things happened. My grandmother would also tell me a lot of stories about how the people get killed and go crazy, because once you are the betrayer, once the Red Guard said that, no one will help you not even your family. During those times you need to watch your mouth, even if you say his first name and something bad or a word that may mean the same as Chairman Mao’s name then you will get caught, it’s just so crazy, and it just depends on the Red Guard, because if they say you are a betrayer then you are, they did not need any proof” (Lee, 2013).
Since the core concepts of communism and socialism still existed during this time, people were now on food rations and it was illegal to have more of any product than someone else. The Chinese people believed that everything belonged to everyone and no one person should have more than another person (Lee, 2013).
One year before the death of Chairman Mao in 1976, the Cultural Revolution ended. The Communist Party and socialist society still remain in China today. Nevertheless, Chinese children are taught to respect and even adore Chairman Mao and his decisions as the greatest leader of the Chinese people. In fact, Lee remembers learning that the Cultural Revolution was the one, sole mistake that Chairman Mao ever made (Lee, 2013).
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