The Cultural Revolution

The Cultural Revolution was lead by Mao Zedong, chairman of the Chinese Communist Party. He wanted to renew the spirit of the Chinese Revolution. He feared that China would start developing along the thoughts of the Soviet models, and he was also concerned about his name in History. Therefore, he led the cities of China into a agitated situation, a land full of protest. Mao wanted China to have peasants, workers and educated people working together. Everyone was of equal class status, no one was better than anyone else.

The Cultural Revolution started in 1965, when Lin Piao made a speech encouraging students to criticize the liberals in the Chinese Communist Party, or those influenced by the thoughts of the USSR. They formed a group called the "Red Guards", who criticized the people that Mao disliked. Anyone who was known to be superior was considered an enemy of the group. One of his main enemies were Liu Shao-Qiu.

Mao created a cult for himself, and to clear and remove any members of the Communist Party who did not support him. He led youth to protest freely. In August 1966, Mao formally launched the Cultural Revolution. He shut down China's schools. The Red Guards started to tear down any form of traditional value, proceeded to violence, and even attacked foreign embassies. The country had gotten out of hand, and the economy was dropping.

Many elderly, intellectuals were physically abused. Many died.

Zhou Enlai wanted the country to return to normal. However, he realized that the CR had gotten too far, and out of control.

However, in 1971 after Lin Piao's *mysterious* death, Mao started to express regrets for the excesses of the cultural revolution. However, the gang of four (lead by Jiang Qing) still continued to restrict the arts and enforce ideology.

The CR had serious consequences for China as a whole. Short term, the political instability, and the shifts in economy. Since the education system was closed, this caused a large amount of inadequate, uneducated youth.

Nowadays, there is really no one in China who approves of the cultural revolution, except for a few peasants who feel the widening rich-poor gap in China. The Communist Party of China today believes that the Cultural Revolution is what happens when one person brainwashes a lot of people to destroy