Battle for China's Past : Mao and the Cultural Revolution

2. For instance on 6 August 1956 the Ministry of Health issued guidelines
for contraception; on 5 March 1957 the People’s Daily published an
editorial advocating population control; on 18 December 1962 the CCP
Central Committee and the State Council jointly issued instructions
for the relevant authorities to take serious measures to control population.
In 1964 the State Council set up what was called the Population
Control Commission. From 1962 to 1964 all the provincial and municipality
governments established their own population control offices
(http://www.wyzxsx.com/Article/Class14/200708/23342.html,
accessed on 31 August 2007).
3. The poetic beauty of the punchy headline is more obvious for those
who can read Chinese: 错批一人, 误增三亿.
4. According to Huang Yunsheng (2007), Li’s claim was eagerly received
both in and outside China. Li Rui made this claim in his paper ‘Ruhe
kandai Mao Zedong’ (How to regard Mao Zedong), which was read at
Harvard University in November 2003, and appears as the first
chapter of a book published in 2005 in Hong Kong titled Li Rui on Mao
Zedong. In 2006 Li Rui made the same claim to a German journalist.
5. Zhang Qian was Chen Yi’s wife.
6. Zhang Wentian was one of the important CCP leaders accused of
being a member of the so-called Peng Dehuai anti-party clique.
7. Thanks to Wang Shaoguang who posted this source to me.
8. Wei Yan is a character in the historical novel Romance of Three Kingdoms.
He is often cited as an example of people who are not loyal to
their superiors.
9. Feng was first a warlord and then a Nationalist army general who
often changed sides in alliances.
10. Wang Li was Mao’s theoretical secretary during the Cultural Revolution
and drafted many influential theoretical articles and CCP policy
documents. It was Wang who articulated Mao’s idea of ‘continuous
revolution’. From 1964 until 1967 Wang was allowed to attend all the
important meetings held by the Standing Committee of the Politburo
of the CCP, where many of the important decisions were made. He
was a leading member of the Cultural Revolution Group and during
late 1966 and early 1967 had almost daily contacts with Mao.
11. Ji Xianlin is a prominent professor at Beijing University and Ba Jin was
a prominent novelist.
12. Liu Yuan is a son of Liu Shaoqi and Bo Xicheng is a son of Bo Yibo.
Chapter 8
NOTES
1. For instance in Wanwei tianxia luntan, http://www4.bbsland.com/
forums/ politics/ messages/5137.html.
2. During the cold war, most Western countries refused to recognize the
existence of the PRC and imposed economic sanctions against China.
Though China received technical support from the Soviet Union
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