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U1A1 Social Change Events

Karisa Lee

Ontario Eschool

HSB4U

Miss Holly
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Social Change of the Cultural Revolution in China

Photograph:

Caption: The portrait in the centre of the photo is Chairman Mao Ze Dong, surrounded by

Chinese citizens and red guards waving the flag and slogans of the communist party, celebrating

their victory. The poster slogan is transliterated to “Follow Chairman Mao’s art and cultural

revolutionary path for victorious advancement”.

China endured the Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976, and it was also called the

Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. This movement was mainly driven by the Chinese

Communist Party Chairman Mao Ze Dong to reassert his authority over the Chinese government.

He started this event because he was afraid that the Chinese Communist party would develop

along the lines of the Soviet model, and he was worried that his own place in history would be

weakened. Mao Ze Dong had four goals for the movement, which were “to replace his

designated successors with leaders more faithful to his current thinking; to rectify the Chinese

Communist Party; to provide China’s youths with a revolutionary experience; and to achieve
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policy changes so as to make the educational, health care, and cultural systems less elitist.”

During the Cultural Revolution, Mao shut down schools and encouraged students to become

members of the party. The students were called the Red guards, and they were injected with the

cult belief of Mao to eliminate anyone whom he deemed as enemies of the party. They were told

to attack all the people associated with the “Four Olds”: old customs, old culture, old habits, and

old ideas”, which would very easily include parents and elderlies in the society. The movement

spread rapidly in China, causing at least 15 million people killed in the conflict.

The Cultural Revolution had a huge impact and made significant social changes in China.

The short-term impact was the economic loss due to the labour shortage, as workers and young

people were either busy in participating in the “critique campaign”, or they were being sent to

remote area in China for “correction through hard-labour”. Corruption of the Chinese political

party became more severe due to the economic collapse throughout the cultural revolution,

normal business activities were almost non-existent, and the society was facing a severe scarcity

of goods in all aspects. People either had no money to buy daily supplies and food, or they had to

rely on corruption or personal favours to obtain their refurbishments. The long term impact was

that as people tried to get rid of the “four olds”, social morals, values and beliefs were destroyed

at the same time. The Red Guards destroyed countless valuable artefacts, antiquities,

architectures, and ancestral sites during the Cultural revolution. Monetary loss was uncountable.

The event has also cost China the loss of numerous intangible cultures as many craftsmen and

artisans were killed during the events, and records were lost.

Most importantly, the cultural revolution has imposed tremendous destruction on

thousands of years of Chinese moral beliefs which were composed of Confucianism, Buddhism

and Taoism. None of these survived the massive criticism during the cultural revolution. Simple
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respect of parents and the elderly were dismissed. The Red Guards were encouraged to make up

accusations about people close to them and lied so that these accusations could attach to the

people they intended to criticize. Teenagers were encouraged to commit murders and all forms of

severe crime.

The anthropological impact on modern Chinese society was most obvious after the

Cultural Revolution. After the ten years halt due to Chairman Mao’s revolutionary ambition,

Chinese people’s thoughts and social values went through profound changes. Some of the Red

guards might have killed their parents or friends whom they accused for being associated with

the “four olds”, which deprived them basic humanity and morality and might contribute to

psychological distortion. No formal education existed during the Cultural Revolution, a whole

generation of young people wasted their time in violence, shouting slogans and destruction of

tangible and intangible culture. The social cost resulting from the Cultural revolution, the

interruption of social norms and values were tragic and cannot be reprimanded.

Photo source: https://www.britannica.com/event/Cultural-Revolution#ref283836

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References

China - Consequences of the Cultural Revolution | Britannica. (n.d.). Encyclopedia

Britannica. Retrieved April 4, 2022, from

https://www.britannica.com/place/China/Consequences-of-the-Cultural-Revolution

Cultural Revolution - Definition, Effects & Mao Zedong - HISTORY. (2020, April 3).

History.com. Retrieved April 4, 2022, from

https://www.history.com/topics/china/cultural-revolution

Lieberthal, K. G. (n.d.). Cultural Revolution | Definition, Facts, & Failure | Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved April 4, 2022, from

https://www.britannica.com/event/Cultural-Revolution#ref283836