The Emergence of Modern
China, 1911-76
Part Two: Communist China,
1949-76
Oxford Community School
Contents
How did Mao and the CCP establish
Control over China?
2
Agricultural Policies and Land Reform
4
The Five Year Plan
7
Let a Hundred Flowers Bloom
8
The Great Leap Forward
10
The Cultural Revolution
15
1
How did Mao and the CCP establish control over China?
From 1949, Mao was the undisputed leader of China. He was President of China and
Chairman of the CCP. China was renamed the „People‟s Republic of China‟. However, just
because he had become the leader, this did not mean that he had full control over the
whole of China. Therefore, the CCP put in place a number of policies to make sure they
could fully control China.
China immediately became a one-party state – all parties other than the CCP were
banned. Anyone who showed any opposition to communism was labelled a counterrevolutionary. Many Chinese people were afraid of being accused themselves and so
tried to prove their loyalty to the Party by accusing others.
Mao was especially keen to take control of the cities, where the GMD had been at its
strongest. He was determined to stamp out any remaining support for the GMD and
ordered massacres of anyone suspected of having anything to do with the GMD. Around
65,000 people were killed in Guangzhou and 28,000 in Shanghai. Also, all organisations
apart from the CCP were closed down to prevent groups of people meeting together.
Even churches were closed down and religions were attacked. Maoist slogans appeared
all over walls in China.
However, on the other hand, the CCP also introduced some reforms to try to make a
better society and win people‟s support. China had just suffered nearly 40 years of war
and the people were poor and illiterate. For example, the Marriage Law, 1950 banned
arranged marriages, the marriage of children, the killing of unwanted babies and
bigmany. All these things were meant to help women. In 1951, maternity benefits were
introduced, including nurseries in workplaces so that women could go back to work after
having children if they wanted. By the 1970s, almost 50% of doctors in China were
women and 30% of engineers and scientists (although the CCP itself was still dominated
by older men – there were only 2 female ministers out of 29). They also introduced the
Land Reform Law of 1950 (see next chapter). This gave peasants what they had
always dreamt of – land of their own.
Thought Reform
Another thing that the communists did to help them control China was to introduce
something called „thought reform‟. This meant that they wanted to change the way
people thought. They wanted to create a communist country where everything was
shared and everyone was equal. This meant people would have to be very unselfish and
work as hard as they could, but only receive the same amount as everyone else. Mao and
the CCP wanted people to „serve the people‟ before themselves.
Therefore, compulsory lessons and „struggle meetings‟ run by Party officials were held
in every school and workplace. In them, people had to study the thoughts of Mao and
2
were persuaded to get rid of any selfish thoughts they might have (e.g. they should not
wish to own anything themselves, however small). If necessary, they were bullied into
confessing their past „misdeeds‟ and „wrong‟ ideas. Each member of the group would
interrogate the others and be interrogated themselves. Each person would be made to
feel guilty, humiliated and ashamed of their past thoughts. They would have to admit to
it or face punishment, so many people simply pretended. Afterwards, each person was
„re-educated‟ in communist ideas and had to promise to „serve the people‟. People who
did not agree to do this were sent to labour camps or to spend time working with
peasants in the fields to be „re-educated‟.
The overall aim of the CCP‟s policies was that everyone should not only obey the
instructions of the Party, but should believe in their ideas.
3
Agricultural Policies and Land Reform
Peasants made up the vast majority of the population of China. Because of this, and the
fact that producing food for the huge numbers of people in the country, agriculture
(farming) was extremely important. The CCP put in place a programme of „land reform‟.
This can be split into 4 stages.
Stage 1: Peasants given land
Mao believed that landlords, who had controlled farming and the countryside for
thousands of years had to be destroyed. Peasants had always wanted to own their own
land, instead of being forced to live and work on the land of their landlords. Therefore,
the CCP passed the Land Reform Law of 1950. This meant that teams of CCP officials
were sent out to the villages to force landlords to give up their land and property and
share it out among the peasants. Everyone was classified as „rich‟, „middle‟ or „poor‟ and
the top two categories had to give up land to the bottom group. For many millions of
downtrodden peasants, land reform was the heart of the Chinese Revolution and they
supported the CCP as a result of it.
The CCP arranged thousands of „speak bitterness meetings‟ and „People‟s Courts‟,
where peasants were encouraged to spit out their pent-up hatred against their exlandlords. Often this ended up in the landlords being killed and up to one million died in
this way. The CCP officials did nothing to stop the violence – in fact they often
encouraged it.
A description of a typical „speak bitterness‟ meeting, written by Esther Cheo Ying, who was part of
a land reform team in 1950.
“Kuang, the local tyrant, was finally brought to be „struggled against‟ by the peasants. Even though he had
been humbled, people were still scared of him. Gradually, people got up and at first there were timid
requests that he return grain and possessions that he had taken from peasants who had not been able to
pay their rent. Then, as they saw that Kuang was now powerless to retaliate, they too plucked up the
courage and begand to accuse him.
I listened to peasants come forward and accuse old Kuang of cruelty and violence that I did not believe
possible of such a kindly looking old gentleman. But it was difficult not to believe crying women who tore
off their clothes to show terrible scars. One woman described how he had torn her new-born baby in half
because she would not sleep with old Kuang.
As the day wore on, the crowd became angrier and angrier until armed soldiers had to stop the crowd
from lynching old Kuang on the spot”.
Later, Esther was ordered to watch a public execution of 200 landlords, as part of her
„strengthening process‟
“I still have nightmares about it. The victims were kneeling down beside cheap wooden coffins, their
hands tied behind their backs with wire. About six policemen nonchalantly moved along, shooting them in
4
the back of the head. As they fell, some of their heads spilt open, some just fell with a neat little hole,
while others had their brains splattered all over the dusty ground and onto the clothes of the next
victims. Wan T‟ao, another CCP official who had come with me saw me turn away in disgust and he chased
after me. He grabbed my shoulders and shouted „Take a good look! This is what the revolution is all
about!‟
However, in many ways, this first stage of Land Reform went against the ideas of
communism (in which people are not supposed to own any land pr private property). The
long-term aim of the CCP was collectivisation. This meant peasants sharing land and
equipment and working together. So, land reform moved into different stages…
Stage 2: Mutual-aid teams
The government also knew that it was vital to improve farming methods. However, this
could only be achieved with bigger farms, where new machinery and methods could be
used. This meant that peasants would have to join their farms together, but Mao knew
they would not like this. Therefore, he had to introduce change slowly.
The next stage led to mutual-aid teams being formed. Here, seven to ten families
would share tools and animals, but still farm their own land separately.
Stage 3: Collectives
Later, lower stage co-operatives (sometimes called simple collectives) were formed,
where land was farmed collectively but still owned individually. This meant that families
worked together on each other‟s land and shared equipment and shared the profits out
between them. There would have been 30-40 families in the lower stage co-operatives.
These were expanded into higher stage co-operatives (or advanced collectives), with
300-400 families working on them. By 1956, nearly the whole of China was organised
into higher stage co-operatives.
Stage 4: People‟s Communes
Peasants working on a People‟s Commune in the
1960s
The final stage of land reform policy began in
the late 1950s. The problems being caused by
China‟s rapidly rising population were becoming
severe because food supplies were not
matching the increase. Mao‟s solution was to
bring the peasants under central control and
he ordered the creation of „People‟s
Communes‟. These often contained as many as
25,000 people. People in a commune did not
own their own tools and animals any more.
Everything was owned by the commune.
5
People now worked for the commune and not for themselves. The life of an individual
was controlled by the commune. Schools and nurseries were provided by the communes
so that all adults could work. Health care was provided and the elderly were moved into
"houses of happiness" so that they could be looked after and also so that families could
work and not have to worry about leaving their elderly relatives at home. The commune
provided all that was needed – including entertainment. Sometimes men and women had
to sleep in different areas of the commune. Soldiers worked alongside people. Party
members oversaw the work of a commune to ensure that decisions followed the correct
party line.
By the end of 1958, 700 million people had been placed
into 26,578 communes. The speed with which this was
achieved was astounding. However, the government did
all that it could to whip up enthusiasm for the
communes. Propaganda was everywhere – including in
the fields where the workers could listen to political
speeches as they worked as the communes provided
public address systems. Everybody involved in
A CCP propaganda poster
showing an ideal commune
communes was urged not only to meet set targets but
to beat them. If the communes lacked machinery, the
workers used their bare hands. Major constructions were built in record time – though
the quality of some was dubious.
6
The Five Year Plan
Why did Mao begin the first 5 year plan?
By 1949, the Chinese economy was in a very bad state after years of war. Inflation was
high, the Chinese currency was worth very little and the government was in serious
debt. The Chinese population was also growing very fast and Mao needed to tackle
these problems. Therefore, the first 5 year plan was introduced in 1952.
What were the aims of the first 5 year plan and was it a success?
The main aim of the plan was to improve Chinese industry very quickly – especially coal,
steel and oil. High targets were set for production of these things. A large amount of
money was spent on big industrial projects.
In many ways the plan was a success. A very high growth of 9% was achieved and most
of the production targets were met. Industry – especially heavy industry – significantly
improved over the 5 years between 1952 and 1957.
One of the main reasons why the 5 year plan was a success was because of the help
given by 10,000 Russian advisors sent by Stalin. These experts helped to build the large
industrial plants that China needed. Mao allowed this to happen even though he did not
trust technological experts and scientists (because they had specialised knowledge, he
was frightened of the power that gave them over him) and preferred to let the vast
numbers of people in China modernise their country without outside help. As you will see
later, when he did put these ideas into practice, it was a disaster.
7
“Let a hundred flowers bloom”
During the First Five Year Plan, there was a huge increase in the numbers of industrial
workers living in cities. This led to food and housing becoming very short and lots of
people began to criticise the plan. Apparently as a result of this criticism, In 1956, Mao
called for discussion to solve the problems faced by the CCP. He said „Let a hundred
flowers bloom, let a hundred schools of thought compete‟. This became known as the
„Hundred Flowers Campaign‟.
The Hundred Flowers campaign was most untypical of Mao, who normally resented
criticism and disliked experts and intellectuals. However, it may not have been a real
attempt to open up discussion, but simply an attempt to discover any potential
opponents so he could get rid of them forever.
Why did Mao begin the Hundred Flowers Campaign?
There are different reasons why Mao might have introduced the Hundred Flowers
campaign. Here of some of them.
Some historians believe that the campaign was the result of Mao‟s travels
throughout China during the early 1950‟s when he had always been greeted
with enthusiasm and warmth. He may have believed that it was now possible to
allow greater freedom of expression in China.
The campaign may well not have been sincere, but simply an attempt by Mao to
discover, and get rid of, any potential opponents. It has been said that, in
private, Mao referred to an attempt to „lure the snakes out of their lairs‟.
Mao also seems to have heard that local CCP officials had been accused of
acting in a heavy-handed way and wanted to hear other opinions.
Others argue that Mao was also worried in case China suffered from the
bureaucracy that had affected the USSR. Bureaucracy means layers and
layers of officials all with a say in decision-making. Mao seems to have wanted
produce a simpler, more direct party organisation. The Hundred Flowers
Campaign might have been an attempt to involve ordinary people in politics
instead of just Party officials.
8
What were the consequences of the Hundred Flowers?
Whatever Mao‟s motives were, the results of the Hundred Flowers were startling. Many
people openly criticised the Plan, especially middle class people such as university
lecturers, artists, writers and teachers. Party individuals and policies were attacked as
being corrupt, inefficient or unrealistic. Even Mao himself was criticised.
Faced by this criticism, Mao immediately ended the campaign and began an AntiRightist movement, which was directed by Deng Ziaoping. Most of the critics were
arrested, lost their jobs and were sent to labour camps for „re-education‟. Altogether,
about 500,000 people were punished.
Can you see what the message of this cartoon about the Hundred Flowers campaign is?
9
The Great Leap Forward
When the Second Five Year Plan was launched in 1957, Mao described it as the “Great
Leap Forward”. His aim was to speed up China‟s modernisation still further - he talked
of “making up 20 years in a day”. The most important part of the Great Leap Forward
was the „Industrialisation of the countryside”. Mao argued that the future for China
was not to develop big industrial cities, as in the West and in the USSR, but to develop
small-scale industries in the countryside. This was to be
achieved by setting up People‟s Communes.
The Great Leap Forward was an attempt to turn China
into an industrial superpower within fifteen years by using
China‟s greatest resource - its huge population. Mao had
great faith in manual labour. He thought an industrial
revolution - with its development of technology - was not
necessary in China. The peasants could do the work
instead of machines. The use of peasant labour would also
avoid the need to use experts (who Mao did not trust).
Another reason for the Great Leap Forward was the
problem of a quickly growing population which would need
much more food. Farms were not efficient enough to grow
enough food to feed everyone. Mao decided that the
government had to control the peasants and their farming
methods much more. To make China‟s land more
productive, massive schemes for irrigation and water
conservation were to be undertaken during the winter by
huge numbers of people.
Peasants working on the construction
of a dam during the Great Leap
Forward. Mao wanted China‟s huge
population to do the work instead of
using machines and experts.
People‟s Communes: Agriculture
In 1957, Mao ordered the
creation of thousands of
“People‟s Communes”. To
create a Commune, several
collective farms were joined
together into a huge unit of
up to 30,000 people. The
peasants had to give up
their land, animals and
equipment - everything was
now to be shared by all the
members of the Commune.
The Communes were meant
to challenge the traditional
family unit. Peasants no
longer lived in their own
homes, but in army-style
barracks. People were
This diagram shows how a People‟s Commune might be set
out. Remember, 1000s of people lived in them.
10
ordered to pull down their old homes. The sexes were sometimes separated and meals
were eaten in large canteens. Communes became self-supporting communities with their
own schools and health service, happy homes for the aged and nurseries for small
children. Private plots of land, where the peasants had previously raised pigs, poultry
and vegetables for sale in private markets, were abolished. Peasants were given a share
of the profits made by their Commune. The share was worked out on the basis of how
much the group they worked in produced.
Many peasants who had moved to the cities to find work during the First Five Year Plan
were now ordered to return to the countryside and to live in communes.
The members of a Commune were split up into
smaller production brigades of 1,000-3,000
people. These production brigades were
responsible for organising the small-scale
industries.
Industry
Members of a production brigade in a
People‟s Commune during the Great
Leap Forward.
To try to improve industry, Mao tried to
persuade the Chinese people to make steel in
their own backyards. All over China, people began
to set up small furnaces to produce steel. They
were called backyard blast furnaces and were a
disaster. The steel produced was often unusable
because it was very poor quality. Even worse,
peasants who were trying to make steel could not
look after their crops. All over China the harvest
was left to rot. On top of this, a lot of the land
that had been used for food production was used
for the small-scale industries, which made the
food problem even worse.
Managers and workers were expected also to meet unrealistic targets during the Great
Leap Forward.
A manager of a chemical factory explains how things went wrong because of the
unrealistic targets they had been set:
“Ours is the only chemical factory of its kind and the boiler is seventy years old. But
one day a Party official arrived and told me to increase the pressure in the boiler from
100 to 150 pounds per square inch so that the reactor process could be completed nine
times a day instead of six. When I told him he was turning it into a bomb, he accused
me of being a bourgeois (middle class) reactionary. So what was I to do? Great Leap
Forward? The connecting pipe burst when the pressure reached a hundred and twenty
pounds and we were out of production for a week while repairs were made”.
11
Apart from the disastrous failures of the steel project, what were the effects of
the Great Leap Forward?
Backyard blast furnaces like these were set up to make
steel, but the steel they produced was often very lowquality.
In 1958 China produced 200 million
tonnes of grain and 4.3 million tonnes
of wheat. By 1960 the Figures were
143 million and 1.3 million. Serious
famine broke out in many areas of
China. During the three bitter years
of 1959-1961, national income fell by
29% and inflation rose from 0.2% to
16.2%. The Great Leap Forward was a
total failure. It had been based on
deeply flawed (i.e. crazy!) ideas.
Developing industry needs money,
technology and planning and Mao did
not provide these things.
The view of the historian, E.Moise in „Modern China‟
“Mao was trying to achieve economic miracles by whipping people into a fever of
enthusiasm. Everyone was supposed to work very long hours under difficult conditions
to do things in months that would normally have taken years
The Great Leap Forward began with lots of enthusiasm and some genuinely spectacular
results. In the first eight months of 1958, agricultural production was well above levels
in 1957 and steel production was 50% up.
At this point, Mao and other leaders lost all sense of reality and began demanding even
higher rates of growth. The situation soon began to get worse. Reports of tremendous
success became compulsory and soon everyone was making them regardless of what was
really happening. These exaggerated production figures were then used as the basis for
further planning.
In 1959, the Great Leap became a disaster. Sheer fatigue (tiredness) took its roll.
Then peasants all over China were told to plough deep below the surface - the theory
was that the soil deep down would be more fertile. But the actual result was often to
bury the topsoil and bring worthless clay and sand to the surface The CCP also ordered
that seeds be planted more closely together. The result of this was that the seeds
either died or were stunted due to overcrowding. Bad weather made these problems
worse. The 1959 harvest was low. Hunger became widespread People began to starve
and to die from disease. During the "three bitter years” of 1959-61 the total number
of deaths was at least 16 million more than it would have been in three normal years of
food supply."
A Westerner living in Beijing recalls the years 1958-1961
"Food became scarce in Beijing and queues built up at the few vegetable stalls. Meat
was almost non-existent and the cat population rapidly declined. At a well-known
Chinese artist‟s home I had a very passable dinner once which turned out to be a
12
neighbour‟s ginger tom. With their basic needs supplied by the commune there was no
encouragement for the peasants to produce poultry and pigs which had brought in extra
income and helped food supplies in the cities."
Another ridiculous theory forced on the peasants was that it was
necessary to kill birds, especially sparrows, because they ate
crops. The whole population was called upon to carry out this plan.
At certain times, everyone came outside and, with anything they
could lay their hands on, made as much noise as possible. Clanging
plates, metal pots and pans, they kept up a continuous noise that
prevented the birds from landing, so that they eventually dropped
exhausted from the sky. The thousands of dead birds were then
publicly displayed as trophies. The outcome was catastrophic.
The killing of
With no birds now to thin their numbers, insects multiplied rapidly
sparrows was on of
and gorged themselves on the crops. The larger birds that would
the CCP‟s more stupid
have fed off the smaller ones were no longer around to prey on
policies during the
rats. Vermin also multiplied and destroyed stocks of grain.
Great Leap Forward.
Everyone realised how silly the bird-scaring was and how much
hunger it caused, but nobody dared say a critical word since in case they were punished
for criticizing Mao.
The famine caused by the Great Leap Forward mainly affected the countryside. The
suffering was appalling. Parents sold their children and husbands sold their wives for
food just as they had once done before the revolution. This account is typical of the
most extreme effects of the famine:
“A peasant woman, unable to stand the incessant crying for food of her two-year-old
daughter, and thinking perhaps to end her suffering, had strangled her. She had given
the girl‟s body to her husband, asking him to bury it. Instead, out of his mind with
hunger, he put the body in the cooking pot with what little food they had found. He had
forced his wife to eat a bowl of the resulting stew. His wife in a fit of remorse had
reported her husband‟s crime to the authorities. The fact that she came forward
voluntarily made no difference. Although there was no law against cannibalism in China,
the police treated such cases, which were all too common, with the utmost severity
Both husband and wife were arrested and executed.
(From “People‟s Republic of China since 1949” by M. Lynch)
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The effect on Mao of the failure of the Great Leap Forward
Mao‟s reputation was badly affected by the disasters of collectivisation
and the Great Leap Forward. Mao eventually admitted that he had made
a lot of mistakes, though at first he blamed officials for the disaster.
He was forced to resign as President of the People‟s Republic of China.
However, he stayed on as Chairman of the CCP.
Mao lost a lot of
power because of the
disaster of the Great
Leap Forward
In 1962 Mao handed over responsibility for the economy to Deng
Ziaoping. Deng and the the President, Liu Shaoqi, were more moderate
than Mao and realised that Mao's reforms had gone too far too quickly.
They allowed the peasants to have their individual plots of land back
and to sell the goods they produced. By 1962 about half the land in
China was farmed by individual families again and more food was grown.
Of course, this reversed many of Mao‟s ideas and reduced his influence.
But, although he had much less power in the government, Mao was still
greatly admired by the ordinary people.
Did the people of China get any benefits as a result of Communist rule?
Many of Mao‟s ideas failed, but there were also great improvements for the Chinese
people. Unemployment fell drastically. An eight-hour, six-day working week was
introduced (much better than it was before) and workers got a week's paid holiday a
year plus three weeks‟ family visiting. Women retired at between 50 and 55 and men
between 55 and 60. Good pensions were also introduced.
On the other hand, urban workers had no right to choose where they worked and were
told where to work by the CCP. The CCP often took no interest in an individual‟s abilities
so a person could end up doing a job they did not like and they could have to keep the
same job for their whole working life.
Health services and education were free and were improved by the communists. There
were not many doctors in China so 'barefoot doctors‟ visited remote rural areas to look
after the peasants, often using traditional Chinese medicine. In 1949 only 20% of the
Chinese people were literate; by 1980, 90% were - and those people who were still
illiterate were mostly the elderly.
Housing water, electricity and other services were all subsidized. Cities were cleaned
up. Residents had to form committees to tidy up the streets. In Shanghai, there was a
campaign against rats. Each family member had to produce one rat's tail a week as
evidence of his/her contribution.
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The Cultural Revolution
By 1963, Mao was really regretting his loss of power after the failure of the Great
Leap Forward. He complained of being treated as a „dead ancestor‟. He also complained
about the changes that were taking place in China. He did not like the fact that there
was a group of people (such as scientists, managers and some CCP members) who were
becoming more richer and more powerful than ordinary people. This went against Mao‟s
ideas of everyone being equal and he said Liu and Deng were taking China down a
„capitalist road‟.
Therefore, Mao began to build up a lot of support in the PLA (the Chinese army). He did
not have much support among the other party leaders but many of the ordinary people
of China loved him. He used this to launch something called the „Cultural Revolution‟.
Why did Mao launch the Cultural Revolution?
The reasons Mao gave in public were not the same as the real reasons for starting the
Cultural Revolution.
Public reasons
In public, Mao said that he launched the Cultural Revolution because;
There were too many experts and specialists in China, who were damaging the
economy and the party. (In fact, they were helping China recover after the Great
Leap Forward, but Mao wouldn‟t admit this).
The revolution was becoming too remote from the ordinary people – he said they
were not getting as many benefits as they should.
The children of families in the cities and members of the CCP were getting a
better education than the peasant‟s children. Mao said this was unfair and was
creating a new middle class, which he hated.
Real reasons
However, the real reasons for Mao starting the Cultural Revolution were as follows;
Mao wanted to regain his all-powerful position in China – he had been much less
powerful since 1959.
He wanted to undermine Liu and Deng, who had become more powerful since the
Great Leap Forward.
He was heavily influenced by his wife, Jiang Qing – she wanted to destroy all
traditional Chinese culture and replace it with socialist ideas. Everything „old‟ was
attacked in the Cultural Revolution.
He wanted to make sure all different types of workers were rewarded equally –
but this was almost completely forgotten in the chaos of the Cultural Revolution.
15
He also seemed to believe in something called „permanent revolution‟ – the idea
that there should be constant changes so that no one group or class could ever
take control of the country.
What happened during the Cultural Revolution?
Mao‟s main tactic during the Cultural
Revolution was to use the Red Guards to
carry it out. These were a group of students
and other young people set up by Mao in
1966. They put up posters all over China
praising Mao and the „Thoughts of Chairman
Mao‟, which were published in a „Little Red
Book‟. In August 1966, more than a million
Red Guards went to a mass rally in Beijing,
waved their Little Red Books and chanted
slogans.
Red Guards waving their „Little Red Books‟
containing the „Thoughts of Chairman Mao‟ at a
rally in 1966
The Red Guards attacked the following
things as part of the Cultural Revolution;
Traditional Chinese statues are burnt as part of an
attack on the „Four Olds‟ during the Cultural
Revolution.
1. The Four „Olds‟ – old culture, old
customs, old ideas and old habits.
Anything that represented old
China was attached. For example,
temples, shrines, works of art and
gardens were destroyed. Even tea
houses, where people would sit and
drink tea, were smashed. These
attacks were organised by Mao‟s
wife, Jiang Qing. While Mao tried
to regain his position in China, Jiang
aimed to destroy anything that had
existed before the Cultural
Revolution.
2. Foreign influences. Anything related to foreign countries was attacked. Shops
selling Western goods were smashed up. Western music, writing, poems, operas,
plays and paintings were banned. In their place, new ones that celebrated the
Communist Revolution of 1949 were produced.
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3. Teachers, intellectuals, scientists, doctors, civil
servants (in fact, anyone with any power or seen as
representing „old China‟) were attacked. They were
often humiliated by being tied up and forced to recite
from Mao‟s Little Red Book. They were then forced to
confess to their past „mistakes‟. But the first
confession was never accepted and the victims had to
stand in the „aeroplane‟ position, with head down,
knees bent and arms aloft. Some were forced to kneel
on broken glass, smeared with excrement, cut with
knives or were beaten to death. Some even killed
themselves after the humiliation. Mao had
photographs taken and watched films of these
sessions in his villa.
This poster showing how to
deal with „enemies of the
people‟ was displayed in
Beijing during the Cultural
Revolution
Ken Ling, in his book „Red Guard‟ describes what he saw during the Cultural
Revolution;
“I saw rows of teachers, about forty or fifty in all, with black ink poured all over their
heads… hanging round their necks were placards with words such as „reactionary
academic‟ or „class enemy‟… they all wore dunces caps. All were barefoot, hitting broken
gongs. Beatings and torture followed; electric shocks, being forced to kneel on broken
glass…”
The attacks went to the highest level and
were carried out with great bitterness.
Liu and Deng were both sacked. Liu was
arrested and died in prison in 1969. Deng
had to face public humiliation in front of
3000 Red Guards. His son was thrown
from a window and broke his spine.
People being humiliated by being forced to wear
dunces caps and slogans labelling them as „enemies
of the people‟ or „class enemies‟ or „reactionaries‟
____________________
It was almost impossible to criticise the Cultural Revolution or put any opposing ideas
forward because all the media was controlled by the Red Guards. They had also taken
over the public transport so that they could transport Red Guards around the
countryside to deal with any opposition. Some workers tried to refuse to accept the
orders of the Red Guards, but they were overwhelmed by the huge numbers.
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What were the effects of the Cultural Revolution?
1. Probably around a million people died during the Cultural Revolution.
2. All forms of authority were undermined, or even destroyed. Anyone who tried to
challenge the Red Guards or Mao was accused of being a „counter-revolutionary‟
and was attacked. This meant that;
a. The power of central government was seriously weakened which meant
industrial production came to a standstill.
b. Teachers were attacked so much that schools and universities were closed
for two years.
c. Even the CCP stopped working properly because so many members were
attacked and local organisations were closed down.
3. Mao gained full control of China again by the end of the Cultural Revolution. The
CCP had been drastically reduced in size and 80% of its leaders were new – and
loyal to Mao. The Party and the country now slavishly obeyed Mao.
4. The country fell into chaos between 1966-68.
a. Law and Order broke down almost completely.
b. The economy was in ruins. All the industrial and agricultural progress that
had been made after the end of the Great Leap Forward was destroyed
virtually overnight.
c. Many factories simply stopped and farming went back to using traditional
manual labour.
5. People began to fight one another.
a. Rival groups of Red Guards began to fight each other in their efforts to
prove who was most loyal to Mao. There were battles in the streets.
b. Factories set up groups of workers to hunt out „counter-revolutionaries‟
c. Individuals took advantage of the Cultural Revolution to get rid of rivals by
accusing them of being a „counter revolutionary‟.
6. Eventually, Mao called off the Red Guards in 1969.
a. He sent in the PLA to restore order, although the attacks still continued
for some time.
b. The Cultural Revolution was finally ended by Mao in 1971.
c. It was well into the 1970s before schools, factories and farms were really
back to normal.
Mao himself died in 1976, which led to a great period of uncertainty in China. While he
was mourned as the father of the Chinese revolution, there were many Chinese people
who were secretly glad to be rid of his outdated ideas and brutal tactics.
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