Cultural Revolution Documents

Essential Question: Why did Chinese youth get swept up in the Cultural Revolution?
Standard: 8.4 - Explain the causes and consequences of China’s adoption of communism
You may work with one partner on this assignment. Highlight a letter of HIPP in the document (Historical context, Intended Audience,
Purpose, or POV)
Document A: Mao’s “Little Red Book” Ajla
Mao’s “Little Red Book” is a collection of Mao Tse-Tung’s quotations that were used as a source of inspiration and guidance for members of the Red Guard during
the Cultural Revolution. These are two excerpts from the book.

The world is yours, as well as ours, but in the last analysis, it is yours. You young people, full of vigor and vitality, are in the bloom of life, like the sun at
eight or nine in the morning. Our hope is placed in you. The world belongs to you. China’s future belongs to you. Mao, 1957

We must help all our young people to understand that ours is still a very poor country, that we cannot change this situation radically in a short time,
and that only through the united efforts of our younger generation and all our people, working with their own hands, can China be made strong and
prosperous within a period of several decades. The establishment of our socialist system has opened the road leading to the ideal society of the
future, but to translate this ideal into reality needs hard work. Mao, 1957

Source: Mao Tse-Tung, Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung. 1964

What was the purpose of Mao’s Little Red Book? The purpose of Mao’s little red book was to inspire members of the red guard.

What are two reasons that Mao thought young people were Mao believed that young people were the future because they could make China better.
important to China’s future?

How might a young person living in 1964 have felt upon reading A young person in 1964 may have felt inspired and uplifted by the quotes.
these quotes?

Document B: Red Guard Song Ajla

Patriotic songs and slogans were common characteristics of the Cultural Revolution. This song was written by the People’s Liberation Army Songs Editorial
Department sometime around 1967.

Red Guards, Red Guards.

Burning with revolutionary zeal,
Tested by the storm of class struggle,
Tempered for battle our hearts are red,
Standing firm, direction clear, our vigor for revolution strong,
We follow the party with full devotion,
We are Chairman Mao’s Red Guards.
Red Guards, Red Guards.
We want to be the successors to Communism.
The revolutionary red banner passes on from generation to generation,
We want to try on the glorious tradition.
Loving the country, loving the people, loving the collective, loving to work.
Connecting with the workers and the peasants,
We are Chairman Mao’s Red Guards

Who wrote the song? Why do you think the song was written? The song was written by the People’s Liberation Army Songs Editorial Department. The
song was written as propaganda in order to encourage the Red Guards as well as spread the
message to China and its people that communism is good.

What is the main message of the song? The message of the song is that spreading communism is a loving and generous thing that is
correct to do in order to make China great.

Why might a young person in 1966 want to sing this song? The song may uplift the young person’s spirits and act as motivation to try spread and
utilize communism.

Document C: At the Center of the Storm Ajla

Rae Yang was a young girl in the spring of 1966, when she became a part of the Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution. In 1997, she published a memoir
retelling the story of her life and her family in China throughout the political turmoil of the 1950s through the 1980s. In this excerpt she writes about her early
experience in the Red Guards

When the Cultural Revolution broke out in late May 1966, I felt like the legendary monkey Sun Wukong, freed from the dungeon that had held him
under a huge mountain for five hundred years. It was Chairman Mao who set us free by allowing us to rebel against authorities. As a student, the first
authority I wanted to rebel against was Teacher Lin, our homeroom teacher. A big part of her duty was to make sure that we behaved and thought
correctly.

Now the time had come for the underdogs to speak up, to seek justice! Immediately I took up a brush pen, dipped it in black ink and wrote a long
dazibao. Using some of the rhetorical devices Teacher Lin had taught us, I accused her of lacking proletarian feeling toward her students, of treating
them as her enemies, of being high-handed, and of suppressing different opinions. My classmates supported me by signing their names to it. Next, we
took the dazibao to Teacher Lin’s home nearby and pasted it on the wall of her bedroom for her to read carefully day and night. This, of course, was not
personal revenge. It was answering Chairman Mao’s call to combat the revisionist educational line.

Within a few days, dazibao written by students, teachers, administrators, workers, and librarians, were popping up everywhere like bamboo shoots
after a spring rain. Secrets dark and dirty were exposed. Every day we made shocking discoveries. The sacred halo around the teachers’ heads that
dated back two thousand five hundred years to the time of Confucius disappeared. Now teachers must learn a few things from their students. Parents
would be taught by their kids instead of vice versa, as Chairman Mao pointed out. Government officials would have to wash their ears to listen to the
ordinary People….
Source: Rae Young, Spider Eaters: A Memoir, 1997.

dazibao –propaganda posters written to denounce counter-revolutionaries

proletarian –working class
revisionist—in this case, someone opposing Mao’s position

When was this source written? How might that impact the The source was written in 1997, which impacts its reliability because it was a retelling that
reliability of the source? was published 31 years after the event, so some details may be forgotten or changed.

Is the source critical or complimentary of the Cultural The source is complimentary of the Cultural Revolution because it shows that one of the
Revolution? Explain. elements of the revolution was a difference in cultural expectations and roles due to the
revolution.

Why might a student like Yang want to denounce her teacher? The revolution included teenagers and young adults rebelling against their elders.

Kanoa Document D: Under the Red Sun Memoir

Under the Red Sun is a memoir written by Fan Cao about her experiences during the Cultural Revolution published in 2005. Here is an excerpt from the memoir.

I was a 7th grader when the Great Cultural Revolution broke out. Growing up in the “New China” we were fed with revolutionary ideas bathed in the
red sunlight of Mao. We worshiped Mao the same way pious Christians worship their God, and we were completely devoted to him. I, myself, really
believed that we were working for a paradise on earth, and we were going to save the entire world. How glorious it was to have the great destiny of
liberating all humanity! In fact, we did not even understand what revolution was and how other people in the world really lived…

I was not allowed to join the Red Guards simply because my grandparents were rich before the communists took away their land, and my parents were
considered “intellectuals,” which automatically made them anti-revolutionists regardless of the fact that they had been following Mao’s idealism since
their early adulthood. As members of the university faculty, my parents were obviously in trouble. I, of course, was guilty by association. Only a
13-year-old girl, I became a target of the revolution. After that, I lost all my friends and lived in perpetual fear for several years. Despite this
unbearable life, I did not dare challenge my belief in the revolution. Instead, I wondered if it might be my parents who had done something wrong. I
wrote a dazibao denouncing them to show my loyalty to Mao. My naivety deeply wounded the feelings between my parents and me.

As I grew up, I slowly learned the truth behind the so-called “revolution.” I also realized that my family and I were relatively lucky compared with
hundreds and thousands of innocent people who died in the endless political movements. I am very remorseful, and I still feel shaken as I think back on
what happened during the Cultural Revolution.

dazibao –propaganda posters written to denounce counter-revolutionaries​

Source: Fan Cao, Under the Red Sun, 2005

When was this source written? How might that impact the 2005, events become clear with time, making it more reliable. This happens because people
reliability of the source? are no longer constantly influenced with propaganda and can take a look at the situation
from a different perspective

Is the source critical or complimentary of the Cultural Critical, she mentions how many innocent people died due to the political movement
Revolution? Explain.

Why might a young person like Fan want to denounce her Because at the time, she believed that it could prove her loyalty to her nation, that she was
parents? being excluded from.

Kanoa Document E: 让哲学变为群众手里的尖锐武器

Let philosophy become a sharp weapon in the hands of people

The head and upper body of a worker, shown in heroic, oversized scale, hover over the image, a Mao badge on his left chest, with the Little Red Book
opened in one hand and a red pencil in the other. Beneath the figure is an ocean of red flags. Among the flags are soldiers, peasants, and workers, one
of them behind a podium, holding either the Little Red Book or one of the Three Old Articles. In the background, an atomic bomb's mushroom cloud,
the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, and a large cargo carrier imply China's accomplishments. (1971)​

Source: https://library.ucsd.edu/dc/object/bb92162750
What is the main message of the poster? It emphasizes Mao’s achievements using his communist ideology

Why do you think this poster includes a “mushroom cloud” in To represent their military might
the background?

How might a young person living in 1967 have felt upon Pride and a sense of accomplishment, believing that their nation was going in the right
viewing this poster? direction

Document F: 一定要解放台湾!​
We are determined to liberate Taiwan!

Five foreground figures face to the right, over the ocean, across the Taiwan Strait. The central figure is a man in army uniform, holding a rifle. Behind
him stands a man holding up Mao's Little Red Book and to his right a woman holds a rifle. The right of the central figure a man in navy uniform holds his
hand out towards the water, while another man holds a large red flag which arcs over the foreground figures. They stand at the head of a group of army
soldiers carrying flags. Behind the main figures, warships and attack aircraft head out to sea from a mainland that is shown in red, covered with red
flags (1967)​

Source: https://library.ucsd.edu/dc/object/bb2799835k

What is the main message of the poster? Taiwan is being held against their will, and they belong to China
 Why do you think this poster includes multiple languages? To influence people abroad

How might a young person living in 1967 have felt upon If they were Chinese, they could have felt a sense of pride or a need to help Chinese
viewing this poster? people in Taiwan, maybe by joining the military

Complete this section individually

Develop a thesis statement that answers the prompt “Why did Chinese youth get swept up in the Cultural Revolution?”

;Kanoa: Chinese youth got swept up in the Cultural revolution because the government specifically targeted children to indoctrinate
them at a young age. They did this using propaganda such as posters and art, by popularizing songs and slogans, as well as educating them
with books that are meant to push their agenda.

Ajla: The Chinese youth became swept up in the Cultural Revolution because of propaganda, inspiration from the communist Mao
Zedong, a desire for social mobility from the youth as well as rebellion. These factors all inspired the youth to become involved in the
Cultural revolution because it gave them hope for many things like reform and a chance to get more power as well as peer influence
leading to the spread of the revolutionary ideas.