1966: Cultural Revolution in China

The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution was a decade-long period of political and social chaos caused by Mao Zedong's bid to use the Chinese masses to reassert his control over the country's Communist Party. (From "The Cultural Revolution: all you need to know about China's political convulsion," linked below.)

     Daily summaries are from "Historical Dictionary of the Chinese Cultural Revolution" and "The New Cambridge History of Contemporary China" (linked below) unless otherwise noted.

     Texts from www.marxists.org and www.bannedthought.net unless otherwise noted.

February 12

The Chinese Communist Party Central Committee (CCPCC) issues the Outline Report within the party nationwide as a guiding document.

April 18: "Hold High the Great Red Banner of Mao Tse-Tung's Thought and Actively Participate in the Great Socialist Cultural Revolution"

* Text: @
* Image: "Hold high the great red banner of Mao Zedong to wage the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution to the end -- Revolution is no crime, to rebel is justified" (Image from chineseposters.net)

May 7 directive
* Summary (from en.people.cn): @
* Text (from "Turbulent Decade," linked below): @

May 16: "Circular of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, May 16, 1966: A Great Historic Document"
The Politburo announces its decision to set up the Cultural Revolution Group, and calls for attacks on "all representatives of the bourgeoisie who have infiltrated the Party, government, army and cultural world."
* Text: @

May 25: Dazibao
Dazibao, big character posters, were an object of political struggle that proliferated during the Cultural Revolution. They usually contained quotations of Mao, the name of the person being discussed in the poster, tangential evidence of him or her being counter-revolutionary, a call for action against the person, and more praises of Mao. ... The posters were usually pasted on walls or boards for the public to see and to discuss. ... On May 25, 1966, a big character poster written by Nie Yuanzi targeting the chancellor and officials of Peking University rekindled the flame of poster. Nie's was lauded by Mao as "China's first Marxist-Leninist big character poster." ... Big character posters soon spread beyond the campus. (from "The Cultural Revolution and Overacting: Dynamics between Politics and Performance," Tuo Wang, 2014: @)
* chineseposters.net: @
* "Chinese Posters: Art from the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution" (Lincoln Cushing and Ann Tompkins, 2007): @

May 29: Red Guards
A group of students at Tsinghua University Middle School -- mostly children of ranking officials -- forms in secrecy a paramilitary organization named “Red Guards” to help carry out Mao's campaign against the bourgeoisie.

June 1: "Sweeping away all the monsters and demons"
* Summary (from "Rhetoric of the Chinese Revolution," linked below): @

July 16: Yangtze River
Mao swims in the Yangzi River, demonstrating his good health and determination to carry out the Cultural Revolution. 
* "The Great Helmsman Goes Swimming" (www.historytoday.com): @

* From "100 Days in Photographs: Pivotal Events That Changed the World" (Nick Yapp, 2007): @

August 8: "Decision of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Concerning the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution" (aka the Sixteen Points)

The Eleventh Plenum of the Eighth CCPCC adopts its Sixteen Points, a decision in favor of the Cultural Revolution.
* Text: @

August 18: Tiananmen Square

In army uniform and wearing a Red Guard armband, Mao receives a million students (many of them Red Guards and teachers) at Tiananmen Square.
* "Song Binbin's Cultural Revolution apology sparks national remorse call" (South China Morning Post, 2016): @

1981: "Resolution on CPC History"
* Text: @

Other resources

* "The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in China" (www.bannedthought.net): @
* "Chinese Communism" (www.marxists.org): @
* Timeline (www.asianews.it): @
* Photos: @
* Photos: @
* "The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution" (www.islandnet.com; archived): @
* "Morning Sun: A film and website about Cultural Revolution": @
* Coverage from South China Morning Post: @
* "The Cultural Revolution: all you need to know about China's political convulsion" (The Guardian, 2016): @
* "China's Cultural Revolution, Explained" (New York Times, 2016): @
* "Readings in the Chinese Communist Cultural Revolution: A Manual for Students of the Chinese Language" (Wen Shun-Chi, 1971): @

* "Historic Lessons of China's Cultural Revolution" (Cynthia Lai, 1981-82): @

* "China's Cultural Revolution, 1966-1969: Not a Dinner Party" (Michael Schoenhauls, 1996): @
* "Turbulent Decade: A History of the Cultural Revolution" (Jiaqi Yan and Gao Gao, 1996): @
* "China: A Historical and Cultural Dictionary" (Michael Dillon, 1998): @

* "China During the Cultural Revolution: A Selected Bibliography of English Language Works" (Tony H. Chang, 1999): @
* "The New Cambridge Handbook of Contemporary China" (Colin McKerras, 2001): @
* "China's Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution: Master Narratives and Post-Mao Narratives" (Woei Lien Chong, 2002): @
* "Rhetoric of the Chinese Cultural Revolution: The Impact on Chinese Thought, Culture, and Communication" (Xing Lu, 2004): @
* "Mao's Last Revolution" (Roderick MacFarquhar and Michael Schoenhals, 2009): @

* "The Cultural Revolution: A Very Short Introduction" (Richard Curt Kraus, 2012): @

* "Historical Dictionary of the Chinese Cultural Revolution" (Guo Jian, Yongyi Song and Yuan Zhou, 2015): @

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Friday, October 16, 1964: China's first nuclear test

Communist China joined the world's atomic powers today with an announcement it has exploded its first bomb in the western region of China. The announcement, coming less than 24 hours after the ouster of Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, was sure to raise China's Mao Tse-Tung's stature among world Communist leaders. The official New China news agency statement said only: "China exploded an atom bomb at 1500 hours on Oct. 16, 1964, and thereby conducted successfully its first nuclear test."

     -- Associated Press (full story: @)

* Story from New York Times: @

* Summary from CTBTO Preparatory Commission: @

* Summary from Federation of American Scientists: @

* Summary from Nuclear Threat Initiative: @

* Summary and links from The National Security Archive: @ 

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May 1964: 'Quotations From Chairman Mao'

In December 1963, a department of the People's Liberation Army started work on a book of quotations by the Communist Party leader, Mao Zedong. It was to be used in drill sessions with recruits; short excerpts without context or analysis designed to be memorized and chanted. This was a difficult time for Mao. His Great Leap Forward, an attempt to propel a peasant society into the Industrial Age in a few years, had failed, resulting in mass famine. Mao had been criticized by his fellow leaders. By May 1964, under the guidance of Defence Minister, Lin Biao, the first edition appeared with the title "Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung." Over the next decade the book was to be printed in more than a billion official copies and countless other versions, becoming a symbol of revolution in China and youthful rebellion around the world.

     -- "Date with History ... Mao's Little Red Book, May 1964" (Chatham House: The Royal Institute of International Affairs)

On 16 May 1964, the first regular print edition of the "Quotations from Chairman Mao" appeared, classified as "internal" military reading. Its size, in accordance with feedback from study activists, had been reduced to neatly fit into the pockets of military uniforms. The "Quotations" appeared in two print versions: an ordinary edition with a white paper cover imprinted with red characters for the ordinary readership, and a special edition clad in a red plastic covering. 

     -- from "Mao Cult: Rhetoric and Ritual in China's Cultural Revolution" (Daniel Leese, 2011)

     

-- Image from International Institute of Social History

* PDF of Second Edition (December 1966; from www.marx2mao.com): @

* "Mao's Little Red Book: A Global History" (Alexander C. Cook, 2014): @

* "Mao's Way" (Edward E. Rice, 1974): @
* "Turbulent Decade: A History of the Cultural Revolution" (Jiaqi Yan and Gao Gao, 1996): @
* "The A to Z of the Chinese Cultural Revolution" (Jian Guo, Yongyi Song and Yuan Zhou, 2009): @
* "China After the Cultural Revolution" (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, February 1969): @
* "Sources and Early Printing History of Chairman Mao's 'Quotations' " (Oliver Lei Han, The Bibliographical Society of America): @ 

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Saturday, March 2, 1963: 'Learn from Comrade Lei Feng'

The slogan appears in the China Youth Daily newspaper as Communist Party chairman Mao Tse-Tung calls on his country to follow Lei Feng's example of selfless service to China -- and especially the Party. This would be the start of a major propaganda campaign holding up Lei Feng as a role model.

* Earlier post on the death of Lei Feng (August 15, 1962): @

* "Lei Feng Day -- Learn from Lei Feng" (from Show China): @

* "Lei Feng: Changing Role Models in China" (from China Daily): @

* Entry from "Modern China: An Encyclopedia of History, Culture and Nationalism" (Wang-Ke wen, 1998): @

* Excerpt from "The Origins of the Cultural Revolution" (Roderick MacFarquhar, 1997): @ 

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Wednesday, August 15, 1962: Lei Feng

The Chinese soldier, 22, dies after being struck by a falling telephone pole, which had been hit by a military truck.

From China Central Television (CCTV): "Lei Feng was characterized as a selfless and modest person who was devoted to the Communist Party. In the posthumous ' Learn from Comrade Lei Feng' campaign, initiated by Mao in 1963, Lei became the symbol of nationwide propaganda; the youth of the country were encouraged to follow his example."

This 1965 poster translates as "Uncle Lei Fing tells revolutionary stories." The red scarves indicate that the children are Young Pioneers, members of the Communist youth organization. (Image from chineseposters.net; link below.)

* More from CCTV: @

* Entry from "Dictionary of the Political Thought of the People's Republic of China" (Henry Yuhuai He, 2001): @

* Fushun Lei Feng Memorial Hall: @

* "When Lei Feng meets non-believers" (Global Times, March 2012): @

* "Chinese Heroism Effort Is Met With Cynicism" (New York Times, March 2012): @

* Collection of posters from chineseposters.net: @
* "The Good Soldier Lei Feng" (from iconicphotos.wordpress.com): @

* Links from www.morningsun.org: @

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