cultural revolution 1

Chinese Cultural Revolution

I saw Chairman Mao! Yes, the significant leader who created a new and consummated future. Yesterday, 1966, August 18, was the best day ever for Xin Yuan-Mei. That’s my name, a 17-year-old high schooler in Shunyang High school. I have a younger brother, Xin Jie-Jun, who is only 9 years old. We live in a small apartment, where we share the same room. Mom works in a newspaper office, and Dad works in an estate agency. We work as hard as we can, in order to earn a living and a normal life, which is school and some free time.

But suddenly our teacher brought us to Tiananmen Square. There were millions of people, all chatting happily and excitedly because the next minute, Chairman Mao appeared in front of us! It’s the most important and dignified event that I’ve ever seen in my life!

It was a winter morning. Cold, freezing air struck our faces. No one could feel their five sense organs anymore only after a ten-minute walk. Chairman Mao convened all the Chinese people from all over the country to Tiananmen square, for a significant event. It took at least three hours for us to walk from Shunyi to Tiananmen square. On the way, we saw thousands of people coming from different directions, but we were all heading to the same place. How exciting! Without the concept of time, millions of us, waited for the same person at Tiananmen Square. We were like innocent lambs in the slaughter house—we didn’t know what would happen the next second. With a round of rapturous applause, Chairman Mao showed up with an amiable smile. Following him were hundreds of

government agents, all suited in green army uniforms, with a red emblem on the right chest. We were shouting; we were singing; we were hugging each other; we were dancing, as if something more important than life had happened. Everyone started chanting, “Long live Chairman Mao!” I used all my energy to let him hear me. All over the square, Little Red books became the only things people could see. It’s the Quotations of Mao. Every single word he said was recorded in this book, and we were told to memorize it. The next following four hours, Mao gave a long speech about how we should start a new life as communists by smashing the Four Olds, and he also motivated the crowd to start a revolution. Definitely, everyone was listening. I gave my full attention to Mao. His every movement and action were under my sight. “Comrades…comrades…comrades…” It sounded so familiar. It even felt

like millions of us in this same square were a whole united family. We knew each since we were born, and were listening to our leader, Chairman Mao, giving out instructions about what we, as a united family should do. I felt a warmth inside, as if the sun was bright and warm, as if the place I was standing, was my home. On that


Figure 2 image source: Mao making his way through the crowd.

Figure 1: Mao's giving speech at the Tiananmen square

day, I promised myself that I would dedicate my whole life to Chairman Mao, and I would be loyal to him, no matter what happened.

1968

Red Guards. Looking at the red emblem on my left arm and the badge in the reflection, different feelings came to me. Happy, confused and a kind of emotion that even I couldn’t believe—suspicious. About the revolution, about how we are, China at this stage, as a scattered country.

After the speech that Chairman Mao gave, we all had new work and goals. Most important, a new occupation. We, students, were assigned to a new job—the Red Guards. In the words of the government, citizens should help the country to smash the Four Olds—old culture, ideas, clothes and habits. Everyday, we searched for people who continued with the olds around the country. We scolded them, mocked them, and even beat them. Happiness for helping great Chairman Mao and apologies for the people whom we scolded were the only two feelings I had. Whenever I wondered about the rightness of doing this and even stopped my classmates from doing the ‘wrong thing’, Mao’s speech always surrounded my ears, “Right to rebel!” No more than a second suspicion, I got back to work.

Dazibao was a poster criticizing people. We were assigned to create one Dazibao per day. At first, we only wrote about little things that happened every day. But slowly, after Mao’s first Dazibao was published in the newspaper, we started an even bigger series of Dazobao, criticizing teachers, parents and even some Party members. Mostly everyone enjoyed it. They humiliated those who spoke against it, and even made one for them. I was one of those who refused to create one. How could people criticized without evidence. In July, we got crazier and crueler; even our teacher,

couldn’t stop us. When I saw or heard someone who didn’t seem to follow Mao and the CCP, I’d be super mad, before I’d even realized what I was doing. I’d be holding his neckline, saying some really filthy words out loud. All of a sudden, everyone was looking at me. “Look at her! What kind of family is she in?” “Why did she do that? So rude!” Questing, they were questioning Chairman Mao! “Stop it!” I shouted and ran away. I wasn’t brave enough to tell my parents about it, but I thought I was brainwashed by someone. From whom did I hear what, I do not know. Mao’s pictures, portraits, and all the quotes he said were being posted in the newspaper, and even painted on the walls. His face, his quotes, and his speech motivated me. “We will create a new China!” he said. I believed that, too. But by the end of that year, urban Youth had started the “Down to the Countryside” movement, which meant all the educated urban youth had to leave their family and schools to be “reeducated” by the rural peasants.


Figure 3: Me waving the Red book with the other Red Guards.

Figure 4 image source: A Dazibao praised about Mao Zedong.

Whether I wanted to or not, I had to go. It was hard. During the day, we had be reeducated by the peasants. The house was as simple as you could imagine. It was hot during the summer, and cold during the winter. At night, we had to harvest the wheat, so the peasants would rest well. I had never experienced something like that, and suddenly, I felt homesick. I missed my life before 1966.

1969-1971

I was finally free from the reeducation by the peasants. But when I got back, more factories and schools were closed down, which caused a whole generation to be uneducated. Some people had suffered too much pressure from the government and the Red Guards, which led to suicide and psychotic disorders. I was part of “Down to the countryside” movement until the the early 1970s, when the government finally moved their attention onto something more important. Red Guards were fanatical during 1968-1970. We didn’t know why we got sent to those rural places. We were waving the signs we created, walking from one end of the street to another. The same red bolded words said, “Right to rebel! Revolution is not guilty!” That was a crazy and painful time until April 1969, when the Ninth Congress of CCP ended.

“The Ninth Congress was a community formed by CCP convenes and Party leaders, who’ve supported the purging of bourgeoisie, capitalists, revisionists and counterrevolutionaries. Lin Biao, was promoted to Vice Chairman and the CCP, so his name was written as Mao’s successor…Mao declared the official end of the Cultural Revolution…”

What?! So everything’s back to normal? That night, I suffered from insomnia. An unwanted news popped into my head just as I walked pass the study room that day when I came home. I don’t know how I went to bed. It’s just a mess. What do my parents think? How and when did Mao announced that? What else could I possibly missed when I was away? Looking at the sunrise and hearing the rooster crowed, what happened in the past 5 years appeared in front of me just like a flashback. Blood, violent, commands, obeys… I screamed and cried, silently. What was I supposed to do, why was I going through this? The reeducation was harsh enough to teach me what ever they wanted. I was supposed to live a life as a normal teenager, but why? Why did this happened? Even with the blankets around me, I felt cold, as if I’ve fell into an abyss, dark and cold. Even though it’s a mid-summer night.


Figure 5 image source: The Ninth congress.

As time passed by, my opinion towards the revolution changed. I started to pray, wishing Lin Biao could make us live with ease; wishing the announcement Mao made was true; wishing all the schools will be open; wishing less pressure for my family. I worked day and night without resting. Some times when I looked at the clock and it’s 1 a.m. Only at night when all the works were done, I could felt the value of living. My future was like the night, endless and utterly ignorant. Sep. 1971,

Lin along with some officers with Mao, as the reporter said, to assassinate Mao. Lin was punished. I was disappointed, wasn’t he the one to save us? Than how do you explain about this new? Before everything was clear, another shocking announcement appeared—Lin Biao and his family’s plane crushed over Mongolia on their trip to the Soviet Union. Unexpectedly, the cause of the crush was never mentioned by the government. Isn't that strange? He was such a successful successor of

Mao, but died in a plane accident? Did he do something wrong, or betrayed on Mao? Same as me, more people started to question about the rightness and main purpose of the revolution, and also our leader—Mao.

When will this end? Wouldn’t this be too hard for Chairman Mao since he was so old that his hair turned grayish white? Like daydreaming, I even started to think the way this revolution will end.

1972-1976No one talked about a single word of the people that were arrested

yesterday, and of the death of our Great Chairman of China—Mao, following with the end of this unreasonable revolution. One decade changes my life, not back to normal, but flipped it like a piece of paper, slowly towards the nadir of my life.

Jiang Qing, the head of the revolution conspiracy and the wife of Mao, also part of the “Gang of Four”. Who’d have thought that she’d started a “Criticize Lin Biao” Campaign in 1974, where she blamed Lin for all the mistakes of the revolution, and the decline on the country and economic support of the country. Just like the others Campaign started and ended before, it failed and ended pretty fast. Zhou Enlai died of cancer in January 8,1976. He was the second person I respect after Mao since he had served as a moderate leader. I was too tired to think about how he died, and even the memorial for his death in Tiananmen square on April 5. I could indistinctly hear crying and signing from the square, which is half a Beijing away from me. Adversity didn’t wait for us to accept the truth of Zhou’s death. Great Chairman Mao was hospitalized and died a year


Figure 6: Lin Biao and Mao Zedong.(left to right)

(Left to right: Yao WenYuan, Jiang Qing, Zhang Chunqiao, Wang Hongwen.

later on September 9, 1976. This was like a hammer, ruthlessly crushing the mainstay of China, leaving Hua Guofeng as the Chairman of CCP. Luckily, this was the end of Cultural Revolution. It was hard for me to descried my felling, even now if you ask me about it. Surely I felt sad, but I learned not to depend on Mao that much, because this decade of country decline was mainly his fault. He started it in the first place.

Comparing the life before the revolution and after the revolution, different things changed but some stayed the same. The education system was back, just like we did before 1966—High school, middle school and ES. All the adults, including me, go to their work unit everyday on time in order to receive their salary. I was happy, even though I need to work harder everyday. But my first job was after the revolution, so people got more united and amicable, which made my work easier. The Little Red Book—Quotations of Mao, was still something that we are required to read and memorize, but there is barely anyone checking on that. By the way, the Red Guards that was formed by students and young adults disappeared following the death of Mao. That was a release for teenagers and someone like me—young adults. After going through all those disaster and stress, I felt old, felt like I know a lot. The revolution really helped me developed more skills and know more about my country. The country changed, in the way it ruled over China. Communism became more of the way the government used. We got to be part of more volts and decision, and our opinions are getting more acceptation. Smashing the Four olds and Dazibao stopped as the revolution ended. We burned all the Dazibao we could find from the streets, forests and school. The ashes created a serious pollution for about a week, but it didn’t influence us most, it’s the joyfulness of ending the revolution mattered! Factories and technologies improved, which improved our living quality and more convenient. This is a memorable decade, and I will never forget about it. The feeling and angers I had when I was only a young adult; the admiration of love towards Chairman Mao and the feeling of being betrayed by him. Never, Ever.


Students studying in the school after the revolution.

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