...Question: What Was the Cultural Revolution? Answer: Between 1966 and 1976, the young people of China rose up in an effort to purge the nation of the "Four Olds": old customs, old culture, old habits and old ideas. In August, 1966, Mao Zedong called for the start of a Cultural Revolution at the Plenum of the Communist Central Committee. He urged the creation of corps of "Red Guards" to punish party officials and any other persons who showed bourgeois tendencies. Mao likely was motivated to call for the so-called Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in order to rid the Chinese Communist Party of his opponents after the tragic failure of his Great Leap Forward policies. Mao knew that other party leaders were planning to marginalize him, so he appealed directly to his supporters among the people to join him in a Cultural Revolution. He also believed that communist revolution had to be a continuous process, in order to stave off capitalist-roader ideas. Mao's call was answered by the students, some as young as elementary school, who organized themselves into the first groups of Red Guards. They were joined later by workers and soldiers. The first targets of the Red Guards included Buddhist temples, churches and mosques, which were razed to the ground or converted to other uses. Sacred texts, as well as Confucian writings, were burned, along with religious statues and other artwork. Any object associated with China's pre-revolutionary past was liable to be destroyed. In their...
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...~Mao Zedong~ Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-Tung) was born in Chaochan, China, in 1893. At the 18 years of age, he served in the revolutionary army during the 1911 Chinese Revolution. Chinese was inspired by the Russian Revolution and therefore established the Chinese Communist Party in Shanghai in 1921. They were adapted by the ideas of Lenin. He and other members had joined the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party), which Mao worked as a political organizer in Shanghai. With the help of advisers from the Soviet Union the Kuomintang increased its power in China. Their new leader Chiang Kai-Shek eliminated the communists from the organization. The nationalist set a barrier and Mao Zedong decided to evacuate the area. In October 1934, Mao and some 100,000 men and their independents headed west through mountain areas. They experienced terrible hardships. They covered about 50 miles a day and reached Shensi on 20th October 1935. When the Japanese Army invaded China in 1937, Chiang Kai-Shek was forced to move his capital from Nanking to Chungking, and lost control of the coastal regions and most major cities of Japan. He then agreed to work together with Mao and his communist army. During the Second World War, Mao had well-organized guerrilla forces. The Japanese had surrendered and Communists began war against Nationalists. The communists win its control of the country and on 1 October, 1949, Mao announced the organization of People’s Republic of China. In 1958 Mao announced the Great...
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...Mao Zedong is considered to be one of the most controversial political leaders of the twentieth century. He has been known both as a savior and a tyrant to the Chinese people. From his strategic success of the Long March, to his humiliating failure of the Great Leap Forward, to the Cultural Revolution that shocked the country and took countless lives, Mao has significantly influenced the result of what China is today. From humble origins, Mao Zedong rose to absolute power, unifying with an iron fist a vast country torn apart by years of weak leadership, imperialism, and war. This astute and insightful account by Jonathan D. Spence brings to life this modern-day ruler and the tumultuous era that Mao Zedong did so much to shape. Mao Zedong was born on December 26, 1893 in Shaoshan village in Hunan. He experienced a middle peasant upbringing that was “rooted in long-standing rural Chinese patterns of expectation and behavior” (Mao, 10). Mao went to Shaoshan village school where he learned the customary Chinese curriculum as well as studied the “time-honored texts from the Confucian canon” (Mao, 11). At this time in his childhood, the whole country could foresee the fall of the previous dynasty, the Qing. Mao studied to be a teacher at The First Provincial Normal School, in Changsha, which influenced his future thinking and beliefs. He believed that the Chinese way of thinking needed reform, therefore fixated on younger people and peasants to build his political career. In 1912...
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...Mao’s philosophy on how to lead a revolution was bathed in Nationalism. It is Mao’s love for China’s independence coupled with agrarian reforms that put Mao on the road to power. After 1949, Nationalism would reappear in Mao’s cultural policies, his relationship with Moscow and underdeveloped countries. Mao feared nothing and no one. Using Marxism-Leninism as a framework, Mao proposed the use of peasants to create his revolutionary elite. His innovative thinking was unpopular among many of Mao’s Communist comrades; they believed the proletariat to be the key group (Cheek, 11). Mao also championed women’s liberation from masculine authority of husbands as well as clan, temple, and general religious oppression (Cheek, 11) also unacceptable position for a Communist to take. Mao’s breakdown of the rural classes into poor, middle and rich peasants demonstrated the Nationalist impulse rooted in his personality. His attachment to China led him to cooperate with the Guomindang, a nationalist group (Cheek, 10) and in the resistance war against Japan guided Mao to power (Cheek, 13). After standing up to his abusive father Mao said, “…I learned that when I defend my rights by open rebellion my father relented, but when I remained meek and submissive he only cursed and beat me the more” (Cheek, 1). During an interview with Snow, Mao adds, at the same time it probably benefited me. It made me most diligent in my work; it made me keep my books carefully, so that he should have no basis...
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...In 1964, Mao Zedong published “Selections from Quotations from Mao Tse-Tung” to justify his and his party’s actions and its place in China and the world. In the book, Mao Zedong focuses on his ideas of a revolution within China and in the world. In those ideas, he called for the Chinese people-- especially the lower class-- to join his party and to lead a revolution against the enemies of his party: the imperialists and the bourgeoisie of China. Mao advocated the Communists’ place in China and believed it will strengthen the unity of China. He strongly opposed the non-Communists and portrayed them as an “unhealthy manifestation” and “detrimental to the unity between the Party and the people” (Chapter 3: “While continuing to…”). Moreover, he...
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...changes that might’ve occurred during this phase Heart of a tiger Enlisting in a unit of the revolutionary army in Hunan, Mao spent six months as a soldier. While he probably had not yet clearly grasped the idea that, as he later put it, “political power grows out of the barrel of a gun,” his first brief military experience at least confirmed his boyhood admiration of military leaders and exploits. In primary school days, his heroes had included not only the great warrior-emperors of the Chinese past but Napoleon and George Washington as well. ASSERTIVE AND POSITIVTY Some words spoken by Mao which wins our heart. The world is ours, the nation is ours, society is ours. If we do not speak, who will speak? If we do not act, who will act? MAO AND COMMUNIST PARTY In September 1920 he became principal of the Lin Changsha primary school, and in October he organized a branch of the Socialist Youth League there. That winter he married Yang Kaihui (Yang K’ai-hui), the daughter of his former ethics teacher. In July 1921 he attended the First Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, together with representatives from the other communist groups in China and two delegates from the Moscow-based Comintern (Communist International). In 1923, when the young party entered into an alliance with Sun Yat-sen’s Nationalist Party (Kuomintang [Pinyin: Guomindang]), Mao was one of the first communists to join the Nationalist Party and to work within it. During the first half of 1924, he lived...
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...Mao Zedong: An Ultimate Influence The influence of Mao Zedong (1893-1976) can be linked to his unorthodox choice to use peasants, not workers, in his Communist Revolution. China, an unindustrialized country in the mid eighteenth century, did not have the working class required by Marxist theory to overthrow the state and begin Communism. That said, a large peasant and student population grasped to Mao’s leadership and started a new style of communist revolution. The creation of a cult of personality in which Mao Zedong was idealized as a supreme leader (and in some cases even a godlike emperor) enabled him to rule absolutely and extend his influence. After the Chinese Civil War (1927-1936), Mao and other Communist Party leaders moved to carry through a Marxist social revolution. However, Communism was expected to emerge out of the most industrialized stages of capitalism as a result of class struggle between worker and factory owner. That said, in China, factories and factory workers were not in abundance. Even so, Mao Zedong saw the revolutionary potential of peasants. In his report on the peasant movement in Hunan he stated, “The fact is that the broad peasant masses have risen to fulfill their historical mission, and that the democratic forces in the country side have risen to overthrow the forces of feudalism…” In another doctrine he remarks that the communist party must recognize the peasantry as a revolutionary body that before had not seen success only because...
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...Chairman Mao Zedong was a Marxist Chinese dictator from 1949 – 1976. His rule began with the development of the People’s Republic of China on September 30th 1949. This surge in power allowed Mao to employ his Marxist beliefs. In the eyes of Machiavelli, Mao failed as a leader in three ways. He wanted to be loved, he was not feared, and he welcomed rebellion. Mao’s army was openly cruel to people who resisted the People’s Republic of China and opposed Mao’s rule. Due to Mao’s Marxist policies, he seemed as if he wanted to be loved by his people. He also had propaganda posted and had children sing praises to him in schools. This is a blunder in the eyes of Machiavelli because in the book “The Prince” Machiavelli states, “Because this is to be asserted in general of men, that they are ungrateful, fickle, false, cowardly, covetous, as long as you succeed they are yours entirely;” According to Machiavelli, Mao should not be concerned with gifting political power to the proletariat. He should be constantly asserting his power and manipulating his people....
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...2009 Mao Zedong, Chinese solider • Early Life o Born 26 December 1893 o In Hunan, Qing Dynasty • Mao enlisted as a soldier in a local regiment and fought on the side of the revolutionaries o Once the Qing Dynasty had been effectively toppled, Mao left the army and returned to school o Graduated from the First Provincial Normal School of Hunan in 1918 • In 1923 was elected as one of the five commissars of the National Congress of the Communist Party of China in Shanghai • In 1927, communist started a revolution in China. o Civil War broke out between the Chaing’s conservative forces and Zedong’s communist forces. • Travled over 6000 miles to north western China o Thus ending in a failure to drive Zedong out of the Country • Zedong and Chaing called a truce to their civil war. • They united forces to defeat the Japanese who were taking over China. • The Japanese invasion began in 1937 o Despite China being united they could not withstand Japan’s full scale invasion. o After WWII Zedong and Chaing returned to their civil war. o Zedong and the communist drove out the nationalist party. o China officially became a Communist country. • After “winning” China o Zedong established a cruel dictatorship in China in 1949 • Launched great crusades to modernize and thoroughly revolutionize China • Planed to establish...
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...The responses from government officials and peasants shows an exploitative relationship between the two. Some documents regarding the peasant movement shows us the relationship between the peasants and their government was exploitative with the government using them as weapons. Some documents tell of the war between China and Japan and finally a couple other responses show us laws passed in the Republic of China. Documents 1, 5, 6, and 9 are all associated with the peasant movement. Mao Zedong (who would later become the dictator of China) talks in a way to motivate the people. He states the peasant movement will be unstoppable and they will be able to destroy Japan by using them in war. Mao Zedong lacks empathy due to his point of view being...
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...Emperor Mao Zedong's beliefs changed the way that China exists to this day. His ideas revolutionized Chinese culture and lifestyle for decades. His changes resulted in the deaths of millions of people, wasted time and brainwashed the people of China to follow his often misguided lead. A part of Mao's rise to power involved millions of people dying. Regularly land was taken from the landlords and given to the peasants who worked the land. This was a positive change in that it improved the lives of many Chinese people. Unfortunately, Mao also encouraged the public humiliation and murder of these landlords. Thousands of these men were put on stages, harassed and killed. Although the landlords made life miserable for the Chinese farmers and peasants,...
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...as the Great Proletariat Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement which occurred from 1966-1976. The revolution came to an end when the leader, Mao Zedong passed away, and the other communist leaders, known as the Gang of Four, all got arrested. Mao Zedong led the revolution in China because his position in the government was weakened after his failed attempt at “The Great Leap Forward” (History.com Staff). His way of trying to regain power was to convince everyone that the current leaders were taking China in the wrong direction and not is not going to improve their living situations, so he decided to change and get rid of many of the traditional aspects in Chinese life and tried a communist...
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...MAO ZEDONG There are several qualities that define an ethical leader. Some are more transparent others. Recognizing the best qualities of a leader is what compels one to admire and follow that leader, yet not all of these leaders are moral or ethical. To describe an ethical leader, one must first define what a leader is. Leaders have the ability to influence and motivate either a single person or group in order to achieve a goal or accomplish a task. When values or ideals are upheld by the leader, then they become a model ethical leader. The way one interprets leadership is not only formed by the world one lives in, but by the different situations one faces. With the world rapidly changing, the way one views a leader is changing as well. Several famous, well-known, individuals are thought of when one thinks of leadership. Oskar Schindler, a man who surrendered his reputation and money; who risked his own life in order to save lives of a people deemed his enemy is the perfect example of what an ethical leader is. A man, laden with faults and bad luck, rose above what was normal and did what was right. Oskar Schindler, recognizing the undeniable and horrific intentions of the Nazi Party, rebelled against the appalling acts that the Nazis committed during the Holocaust of World War II. He donated his entire income to save as many Jews as he could, experiencing greater achievement and prosperity compared to his failed business attempts as a factory owner. Due to...
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...very famous for his non-violence approach to overcoming the British imperialist. Mahatma Gandhi was born very privileged and studied in England to become a lawyer. He came back to India and wanted to see people free of economic and social change in his country. Gandhi’s method preached of nonviolence, and more of a civil disobedience to the British. In one quote he says “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” He wanted to have the sense of nationhood between the Hindu’s and Muslims against the British racial policies, and brutality to India’s local population become common ideas the common man could relate too. The revolutionary violence of Mao Zedong totally conflicts against Gandhi’s struggle for Independence. As Gandhi was contrary to using violence, Mao...
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...At the turn of the 20th century China was the world's oldest continuously extant civilization, being four thousand years old, but, a mere twenty years later that bastion of civilization was thrown into turmoil and discord by the arrival of western civilizations who brought with them a new ethos and dictum on the structure of society that, would open the eyes of the insular Chinese people and awaken the great sleeping dragon, that would propel them into modernity. A number of factors were present in China at the turn of the century that would led to the gradual establishment of Communist rule under the charismatic, enigmatic Mao Zedong. At the time of the CCP's inception in 1920 China was a deeply divided socially, economically and politically backward country ruled by self-serving, despotic war-lords and encumbered by foreign powers who held unequal treaties which entitled them to special economic and territorial privileges in China, a source of great discontent to the Chinese people. This great social upheaval gave rise to new and more radicalized schools of thought, led by disenchanted intellectuals who strove to unify China and rid her of her many tyrannical overlords.The Nationalist KMT Party were the Communists main contender for power; not only were they the public face of politics in China, they also had the backing of Soviet Russia, but, over time Chiang Kai-Shek and the KMT would come to represent consummate despotism; Siphoning of public funds, their brutality towards...
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