Rejecting Revolution: The Disillusioned Masses During the Cultural Revolution
Abstract:
From 1966-1976 China was subjected to a political and cultural movement that was responsible for widespread chaos that cost the lives of an estimated 1.5 to 2 million Chinese. This project firstly examines the chaotic decade that would come to be known as the Cultural Revolution, by investigating the events that would initially provide the architect of the movement Mao Zedong with the impetus to launch a nationwide campaign to “revolutionize” China’s culture. Secondly, the project utilizes anonymous interviews, memoirs, and personal recollections from Chinese who lived through the movement to emphasize the destructive, harrowing, and dehumanizing nature of the Cultural Revolution. Thirdly, the project highlights the “proletarian” culture that was fostered by the Chinese Communist Party during the Cultural Revolution in an effort to stress the limiting, and inhuman social atmosphere that it cultivated. Ultimately, the project’s overall purpose is to highlight that an investigation of individual traumatic experiences and the “proletarian” culture during the Cultural Revolution provides the historian with a nuanced comprehension of why China turned towards democratic marketization following the death of the Chairman Mao Zedong in 1976.