China and the Chinese Cultural Revolution

Before researching, I did not know much at all about the Chinese Cultural Revolution. After reading it now, I cannot believe I did not learn about it in any of my high school history or global issues classes. From what I understood, Mao, who was a leader in the late 1950’s and on, made a movement in 1965 to stop any one that may have been smart enough to take on a leading role, lessening his power. In other words, he wanted to enforce communism. He had schools return to the basic revolutionary movements because educational establishments were seemed to be too academic, and therefore too elitist. He had the desire to create a classless society, where no one exceeded one another in any way. This to me is a way of thinking I personally do not understand. Without social classes and anyone wanting to succeed further in life, you have no drive and motivation for people wanting to do better. There isn’t a point for higher education, because everyone is going to be the same class no matter what. You wouldn’t have people striving to be doctors or lawyers spending eight years in school to do their dream profession and make a very good living for themselves. That idea is something I had been thinking about a lot lately in general, how neat it is to get together in a room full of people, and see what everyone is passionate about. Every person has a different dream and goal for their future, and that is what makes life so interesting.

Aside from my own thoughts and opinions on his way of thinking, from further research, it sounds like this was detrimental to China and their economy. Red Guards, who were groups of youths bonded together and criticized anyone who Mao deemed to be untrustworthy, ended up pushing China into a social turmoil. Schools and colleges were closed down, and Red Guard groups ended up fighting each other because each group had separate beliefs on how China should be operating. I read that in some areas, they took their anger out on foreigners and the British Embassy was burned down completely. While reading, I had to remind myself that these Red Groups were started in middle schools. That would be the age group of around 12 to 13 years old. I cannot believe that 12 and 13 year olds were banded together attacking. They don’t have the chance to form their own opinion about how society works yet, so they are extremely impressionable. That is setting them up for never having a chance to believe something different.

What I am still unsure about though is how the Cultural Revolution ended. I read that Mao officially declared it to have ended in 1969. Despite that though, the active phase lasted until the death of the military leader Lin Biao in 1971. I would have liked to have research more about that, and dig into how it ended. Overall, I am very surprised with what I read, and that I did not learn about this earlier.