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

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DEBATING THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION were good for the poor people, and the first thing he said when he recovered from a hospital operation was ‘long live Chairman Mao’ (2006: 225). Another Tibetan says that at that time people believed that Mao was a living Buddha (2006: 268), and thinks that there are still many Tibetans who, having been liberated by Mao’s revolution, have the same feelings for Mao (2006: 271). A former serf declares that without the CCP there would not have been a life for serfs like him (2006: 292). Another interviewee, the son of a well-known living Buddha and the most outstanding Tibetan photographer, states he really believed in Mao and thought everything said by Mao was the universal truth. In the 1980s when he was received by His Holiness the Dalai Lama (outside China) he told his Holiness that it was the truth that the majority of the Tibetans supported the CCP because the CCP really liberated the serfs (2006: 329). The first interviewee, an ordinary Tibetan woman in Lhasa, states that Mao helped a lot of people, that the world cannot do without people like Mao, that Tibet used to be unfair when some were rich while some did not have enough to eat and that Mao’s revolution changed everything (2006: 21). Many of the interviewees hold that there was not much ethnic conflict in the era of Mao. One interviewee of Hui ethnic background states that the Hans and the Tibetans were the same in making revolution (Wei Se 2006: 181). Other interviewees affirm the idea that the dominant discourse was class struggle and the words on every one’s lips were qin bu qin jieji fen: whether one feels close to another depends on class (2006: 166, 190). A Tibetan interviewee who used to be a neighbourhood committee leader is very upset by the current Chinese policy of giving so much privilege to Tibetans who belonged to the former ruling class (2006: 229). Finally the majority of the interviewees, when questioned, affirm that it was the Tibetan activists of the neighbourhood committees, not the Red Guards, who did most of the damage in religious destruction. These activists were mostly from poor social backgrounds and some of them were considered by some interviewees to be rascals, thieves and thugs. The interview findings by Wei Se give support to scholars like Sautman who refutes the claims of cultural genocide in Tibet (Sautman 2001, 2006) that was supposedly carried out by the Chinese. It is on record that on 15 October 1966 the Chinese Premier Zhou tried to persuade a group of eleven Tibetan students to go slow in destroying the four olds because, he said, the wiping out of superstition requires a long-term transformation; he suggested that temples and monasteries should not be destroyed because they can be converted to schools or store houses (Ho 2006). One example illustrates the very delicate and yet complex situation at that time: when activists went to destroy the Juela Temple in the autumn of 1966, the resident lama [ 27 ]
THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Mimaciren refused to open the gates, but his own son Lobu climbed onto the wall and opened the main door from inside. (Ho 2006: 80) Cultural Revolution and cultural creativity The accusation of destruction of culture and tradition has overshadowed the achievements of cultural creativity during the Cultural Revolution. Take the example of the fine arts. During the Cultural Revolution years of 1972 to 1975 China held four national fine arts exhibitions, with more than 2,000 pieces of art selected from 12,800 works recommended from all over China. The exhibits in Beijing attracted an audience of 7.8 million, a scale never reached before the Cultural Revolution (Lu Hong 2002). According to Lu, the four exhibitions showed three characteristics: new ideological content, new subject matters and the rise of amateur artists (65 per cent of exhibited works were created by amateurs). These artworks included oil paintings, Chinese traditional paintings, print paintings, sculpture, Spring Festival paintings (nian hua), picture storybook paintings (lianhuan hua), charcoal drawings, watercolours and paper cuts. Among the educated youth sent down to the countryside were several accomplished artists who found inspiration in their lives and work in rural China. These include Liu Borong, Xu Qunzong, He Shaojiao, Shen Jiawei, Zhao Xiaomo, Li Jianguo, You Jingdong, Zhao Yanchao, Chen Xinmin, He Boyi and Xu Kuang. In addition to the much-publicized Rent Collection Courtyard (Shouzu yuan) – which was conceived before 1966 but finalized during the Cultural Revolution – large-scale group sculptures of revolutionary subject matter also reached its peak of artistic form during this period (Wang Mingxian and Yan Shechun 2001). Works of this type include Hongweibing zan (Song of praise of the Red Guard), Kongjun zhanshi jiashi (Family history of an Air Force soldier), Mao zhuxi wuchan jieji geming luxian shengli wansui (Long live the victory of Chairman Mao’s proletarian revolutionary line), and Nongnu fen (Anger of the slaves). One might hate the content of this kind of art, one might even hate its form: but to say that there was no artistic creativity during the Cultural Revolution is to create a myth. Another myth created and accepted, at least by the non-academic community, in the West is that during the Cultural Revolution people were forbidden to read anything except Mao’s little Red Book. This portrayal of China as a cultural wasteland is absolutely false. By 1976 there were 542 official magazines and journals and 182 newspapers in circulation throughout China; the number of cinemas or film units had increased from 20,363 in 1965 to 86,088 in 1976; cultural clubs had increased from 2,598 to 2,609; public libraries, from 577 to 768; and museums, from 214 to 263 (Qiu Desheng et al. 1993). Only theatre [ 28 ]
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Page 5 and 6: First published 2008 by Pluto Press
Page 8 and 9: Contents Acknowledgements xi Introd
Page 10 and 11: CONTENTS History as doctored by the
Page 12: Acknowledgements This book has been
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Page 17 and 18: THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST and
Page 19 and 20: THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST of s
Page 21 and 22: THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Thro
Page 23 and 24: THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Chap
Page 25 and 26: THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Anhu
Page 27 and 28: THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST ferm
Page 29 and 30: THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST More
Page 31 and 32: THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Cult
Page 33 and 34: THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST lead
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Page 37 and 38: THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST in E
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Page 43 and 44: memory? Who is able to tell her/his
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Page 47 and 48: THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Ther
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Page 51 and 52: literally means ‘beautiful countr
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Page 57 and 58: THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST It i
Page 59 and 60: THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST anti
Page 61 and 62: 3 Constructing history: memoirs, au
Page 63 and 64: THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Chin
Page 65 and 66: Lin Biao. Recently, however, Liu Yu
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Page 69 and 70: THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Zhou
Page 71 and 72: THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST only
Page 73 and 74: THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST acti
Page 75 and 76: THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST West
Page 77 and 78: THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST I be
Page 79 and 80: Whether it’s the news that Mao ne
Page 81 and 82: Mao even shed tears (Gong 1978: 550
Page 83 and 84: THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Chan
Page 85 and 86: THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST sour
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Page 89 and 90: Red Army let go by Chiang THE BATTL
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST pers
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST comp
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such a scale take place simply as a
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the Great Leap hype. By doing this
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST can
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST In 1
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST fini
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST has
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clergy, bourgeoisie, peasants, arti
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST But
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST does
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struggle that ultimately aimed at f
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was written by Li himself. In an Op
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Chin
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Cultural Revolution radicals in Bei
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Biao
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Mao
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST did
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST outp
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Zhis
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Medi
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Ma Y
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST incl
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Grea
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST up w
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST was
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST In o
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST pers
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the broad masses of people. The pro
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Beij
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was in a chaotic situation (hunluan
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Debates on comparisons Ever since t
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through him. It turned out that wha
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ibed by the American aviation indus
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST trie
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content of newspaper reports of tha
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prejudices against women. One accus
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an essay in English in praise of th
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would also argue that the increase
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST clim
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST •
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economically or both)? Obviously th
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Brutal taxes and levies The Ding st
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central government was to collect v
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST taki
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destruction of the collective syste
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five days was legal and people toil
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST tage
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST In t
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST on e
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST sign
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST priv
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST exte
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST the
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Social stratification THE BATTLE FO
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virtually impossible. Indeed, some
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Seei
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST that
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST unde
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST The
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documentation it was his decision t
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The fact that rural Chinese did not
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Notes Chapter 1 This chapter is an
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST 5. L
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Faxian (2006), appear occasionally
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST (whi
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST 6. T
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Chun
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Jian
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Ma Y
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST suzh
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST yi k
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Bibliography Ai Ming (2007), ‘Shi
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST the
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST save
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Chin
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Deng
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Feng
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST faes
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Tony
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Kahn
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST -- (
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Li Z
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST reco
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Mill
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Ping
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Schm
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Spen
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST are
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Cult
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST mile
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Yang
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST lunt
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Zhen
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Index agriculture, 14, 19, 24, 36,
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Halliday, Jon, 2, 4, 10, 11, 65-73,
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Vietnam War, 40, 145 Wang Dongxing,
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