Historical Background

The Cultural Revolution started in 1958 when communist leader Mao Zedong created the Great Leap
Forward to strengthen his power and enforce communism all throughout China. After the Great Leap Forward was created Mao in fear of his enemies have youth become red guards/radical officials to help enforce his vision on communism. The Red Guards would do this by beating, publicly humiliating, torturing, spitting on people who tried to resist or disagreed with the communist view. Citizens were forced into communal farms. This however caused a famine among China. In 1967 the red guards and radical officials took down leaders and beat them up because Mao Zedong was afraid of his power being taken away. Another reason why the leaders were removed is because they had different views on government then Mao. One of the leaders Liu Shaoqi believed in capitalism and described the famine as “man made disaster”. The disagreement between Mao and Liu Shaoqi caused Liu to be was removed from the office because Mao feared that Liu and Deng’s belief on how to run the government would ruin his political status. After the removal of Liu Shaoqi, Liu became a constant targets under the Red Guards. Propaganda about removing Liu created by the red guard started going around .

The english translation for this propaganda: 把叛徒內奸工賊劉少奇永遠開除出黨/把叛徒内奸工贼刘少奇永远开除出党 (bǎ pàntú nèijiān gōngzéi Liú Shàoqí yǒngyuǎn kāichú chū dǎng) Expel Liu Shaoqi from the communist party.

The Red Guards had a job of going around and criticizing and humiliating those who didn't believe in communism or who had or wore "fourold" style. The Fourolds was old ideas, and political habits that were looked down upon in the socialist society. Fourolds were also used as an excuse to damage ones property, and publicly humiliate a family or an individual. Since Mao Zedong controlled everything everyone was so brainwashed nobody knew what a mess China had become.

The Tragedy

The tragedy was that according to a study done, a graph showed that before 1960 an average of 40 million people died each year but in 1960 the graph had a major incline, increasing up to 20 million people dying each year over a course of three years 1959-1961. On top of millions of people who died. On top of a large famine caused, many people who were teachers, bourgeois, or didn't have a high class status were criticized. Class status during the Cultural Revolution meant that their status was determined by their political behavior and thinking, and was usually determined on the dads side. If you had a "red" status it meant that people would see you as revolutionary and who would end up being successful. However if you had the "black" you were considered unreliable. People who had the "black" status were often criticized, which meant that they were humiliated and physically punished. Being criticized also meant being forced into "struggle meetings". Struggle meetings is were you would meet in a work unit to be publicly humiliated. Aside from millions of people dying in the famine and public humiliation, Mao controlled the way people thought. The people of China were so brainwashed that they didn't realize the terrible things chairman Mao has caused for the country. However the people who did know typically the ones who were constantly criticized, many of them had suicidal thoughts, and ended up killing themselves. The dead bodies were cremated and burned.

The Triumph

Many of the Chinese people did not hate chairman Mao because they were all brainwashed. Chairman controlled everything, their education, things they read, and heard, they only heard good things about Mao. To the Chinese people Mao was like god. However after Mao died, China's society realized that the Cultural Revolution was all about power struggle. They realized that chairman Mao took advantage of the country's trust and loyalty to manipulate the country.  The lesson learned from the Cultural Revolution was that without a legal system like the U.S. a person or group of people can easily take control of a country. This is what lead China to embrace Capitalism in the 80s.

Personal Experiences

Gui Lee's Personal Experience:

After researching about the cultural Revolution, I got an opportunity to interview a person who got to experience what the Cultural Revolution was. She was a school teacher, until the Cultural Revolution was launched and all the school teachers were replaced by the Central Committee of the Communist Party. After being replaced she became the janitor of the school She continued to work as a janitor throughought the duration of the Cultural Revolution, because if she told people she was a school teacher the Red Guards would have most likely would have transferred to a communal farm.
Note: There is no personal opinions on the Cultural Revolution from the interviewee.


Jiang Ji Li's Personal Experience:

Jiang Ji Li was a very smart kid in school, had excellent grades and was well liked among her teachers. She had many hopes for a bright future, such as attending a prestigious college in China, however when the Cultural Revolution was launched by chairman Mao, her world started to crumble. It all started when a someone from the Central Liberation Army Arts Academy wanted to test her flexibility and asked her how high can she lift her leg, then asked her to bend backwards as far as she could. She successfully did since she studied martial arts since the second grade, so she was invited to audition for the Central Liberation Army Arts Academy. However the auditions were hyper competitive and were hard to get into, and impossible to get into if you didn't have a high class status. Which Jiang Ji Li's family did not have. Since she wasn't able to audition some classmates found out about her terrible class status. Shortly after this situation, chairman Mao launched a campaign "Destroy the Fourolds", which was a campaign that promoted getting rid of old ideas, culture, and habits. The fourolds was considered harmful to the modern socialist society. Which her parents did not agree with that campaign, since they had different political backgrounds. Having a different political background was strongly looked down upon during the Cultural Revolution. Fourold stores were taken down and replaced with a red flags indicating government property. As of for schools, teachers were removed and replaced by the Central Committee of the Communist Party. Students were forced to paint da-zi-baos (大字報) about teachers at the school. Da-zi-baos were posters used to insult and criticize, and humiliate people. Students were forced to hang them up around school and bourgeois homes. Bourgeois people were considered people who liked living the luxurious life of a capitalist. From Jiang Ji Li's experience she talked about how she remembered having to go to her aunts house with a group of kids to hang up a da-zi-bao on her door and force her to read her insult out loud. A day later a da-zi-bao went up about her relationship between a teacher. The da-zi-bao quoted “let’s look at the relationship between Ke Cheng Li and his favorite student Jiang Ji Li. Ke Cheng Li doesn’t like working class kids he only likes rich kids. He Jiang Ji Li the teacher assistant for math and gave her the higher grades and also let her win all the math contests and awarded her a lot of note books. We have a question to ask, what is the relationship between them after all?”. The humiliation was so bad that Jiang Ji Li got sick and had to stay home for awhile. However by the time she went back to school class resumed but instead of learning the standard, math, science, english, they had to learn documents and directives created by chairman Mao. By This time Red guards were everywhere after the Central Committee announced that Red guards could travel for free to other provinces to establish revolutionary ties with other Red Guards. 10 people from each class would be elected for that opportunity. Jiang Ji Li was on that election until she was asked for her class status and a classmate yelled out that her grandfather was a landlord and her dad was a rightist. Which being a landlord was looked down upon during that time because they were known for exploiting people who didn’t pay the rent; which was a crime. From then on she was humiliated by the classmates who were elected as red guards. Always having a target on her back by the red guards, her family became under attention for being disloyal to chairman Mao for having a different political view, her dad eventually was detained and under lots of struggle meetings. Jiang Ji Li was pressured into saying her dad was a rightist but she refused so the Red Guards destroyed their property, and took away almost all their things, and threatened them. The red guards shared this family situation with her entire class. Encouraged to clean up the family situation she acquiescently did summer labor.
Nothing was revealed on whatever happened to her parents, and grandparents during the rest of the duration of the Cultural Revolution.

Works Cited

Works Cited

"The Cultural Revolution: all you need to know about China's political convulsion." The Guardian, 10 May 2016, www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/11/the-cultural-revolution-50-years-on-all-you-need-to-know-about-chinas-political-convulsion. Accessed 9 Dec. 2018. Orgin- This is a secondary source, written by the website editors. This article was distributed online.
Purpose- The purpose of this article was to provide a detailed explanation on the Cultural Revolution, and now it affected China afterwards.  The desired outcome of this article is to provide readers like me a historical background of the Cultural Revolution. Which means the article was intended for people who are learning about this era. This article has some meaningful and interesting facts about how it changed China forever.
Value- This source helped my understanding because it gave facts about the Cultural Revolution that my other sources didn’t cover. This was specifically helpful for my helpful to my project  because it provided a historical context. I used this source because it had facts I needed.
Limiations- doesn’t provide personal experiences from people during that time.
Editors of History.com, editor. "Cultural Revolution." HISTORY, A&E Television Networks, 21 Aug. 2018, www.history.com/topics/china/cultural-revolution. Accessed 28 Nov. 2018. Orgin- My main secondary source is HISTORY. An article on the Cultural Revolution written by the editors of History.com.
Purpose- The purpose is of the arictle according to the website is to provide accurate and fair information. This is article is meant for audience who want a quick review of the outline of the Cultural Revolution.
Value-I found this source very helpful to my project because it provided a lot of context. This source was good secondary source because it gave some information that my primary source did not cover. I liked how this source also had organized contents with plenty of information for each part of the Cultural Revolution. The dates and information on Lin Biao had really added important facts specifically for my project.
Limitation- This source is great but another source that may lack perspective on this historical event. Since the arcticle is relatively short, the source may be lacking more accurate dates, as well as some information may be missing because the article is written as a general outline of this historical event.
---, editor. "Cultural Revolution." HISTORY, A&E Television Networks, 21 Aug. 2018, www.history.com/topics/china/cultural-revolution. Accessed 28 Nov. 2018. Orgin- My main secondary source is HISTORY. An article on the Cultural Revolution written by the editors of History.com.
Purpose- The purpose is of the arictle according to the website is to provide accurate and fair information. This is article is meant for audience who want a quick review of the outline of the Cultural Revolution.
Value-I found this source very helpful to my project because it provided a lot of context. This source was good secondary source because it gave some information that my primary source did not cover. I liked how this source also had organized contents with plenty of information for each part of the Cultural Revolution. The dates and information on Lin Biao had really added important facts specifically for my project.
Limitation- This source is great but another source that may lack perspective on this historical event. Since the arcticle is relatively short, the source may be lacking more accurate dates, as well as some information may be missing because the article is written as a general outline of this historical event.
Jiang, David Henry. Red Scarf Girl. New York, Library of congress, 1997. Orgin- This is a primary source, I found this source from my parents who happened to have a book from someone who personally experienced what the Cultural Revolution was like. This book is called Red Scarf Girl by Ji-Li Jiang, foreword by David Henry Hwang.
Purpose-The purpose of this book is to provide the audience with detailed background information on the Cultural Revolution. By using someone’s personal experience it appeals to people who want to look deeper into the Cultural Revolution. This source is very benifical to whom ever is interested in the Cultural Revolution. However can be harmful to those who were in favor in communism. This is because the book talks about the Cultural Revolution negativity.
Value- This source was very helpful to understanding of the Cultural Revolution because it gave me a different perspective on the Cultural Revolution. It opened my eyes to how bad the Cultural Revolution was to many people. This source also had good supporting evidence on how life was before the Cultural Revolution and how people fought to survive during the famine caused.
Limitation- There are no limitations.
---. Red Scarf Girl. New York, Library of congress, 1997. Orgin- This is a primary source, I found this source from my parents who happened to have a book from someone who personally experienced what the Cultural Revolution was like. This book is called Red Scarf Girl by Ji-Li Jiang, foreword by David Henry Hwang.
Purpose-The purpose of this book is to provide the audience with detailed background information on the Cultural Revolution. By using someone’s personal experience it appeals to people who want to look deeper into the Cultural Revolution. This source is very benifical to whom ever is interested in the Cultural Revolution. However can be harmful to those who were in favor in communism. This is because the book talks about the Cultural Revolution negativity.
Value- This source was very helpful to understanding of the Cultural Revolution because it gave me a different perspective on the Cultural Revolution. It opened my eyes to how bad the Cultural Revolution was to many people. This source also had good supporting evidence on how life was before the Cultural Revolution and how people fought to survive during the famine caused.
Limitation- There are no limitations.
Lee, Gui. Interview. 28 Nov. 2018. Orgin- I found Gui in Hawaii. The Cultural Revolution effected her.
Purpose- The purpose of this interview was to better understand personal experiences, in order to better understand life during the Cultural Revolution. This interview would appeal to those who are trying to better understand the hardships of strict government. This would be very benifical to know to those who want to learn about some personal experiences during that time. However everyone has their own opinion on what they think what the reality was during the Cultural Revolution, so it may be a controversial topic.
Value- This interview gave me an idea of what it was like befofe the Cultural Revolution, having certain jobs. This also gave me a better understanding on how controlling the Red Guards were. This interview was pretty useful because I could use it as evidence.
Limitation- This interview was very short and didn’t provide a lot of historical context. Because she found an easy way out of being transferred to one of the communal farms, not a lot of information was able to be displayed.

---. Interview. 28 Nov. 2018. Orgin- I found Gui in Hawaii. The Cultural Revolution effected her.
Purpose- The purpose of this interview was to better understand personal experiences, in order to better understand life during the Cultural Revolution. This interview would appeal to those who are trying to better understand the hardships of strict government. This would be very benifical to know to those who want to learn about some personal experiences during that time. However everyone has their own opinion on what they think what the reality was during the Cultural Revolution, so it may be a controversial topic.
Value- This interview gave me an idea of what it was like befofe the Cultural Revolution, having certain jobs. This also gave me a better understanding on how controlling the Red Guards were. This interview was pretty useful because I could use it as evidence.
Limitation- This interview was very short and didn’t provide a lot of historical context. Because she found an easy way out of being transferred to one of the communal farms, not a lot of information was able to be displayed.

"Liu Shaoqi." Chinese Posters Net, chineseposters.net/themes/liushaoqi.php. Accessed 20 Aug. 2017. Orgin- One of my secondary sources was an article found chineseposters.net. However the author is not credible but was last updated on August 20, 2017.
Purpose- This article was provided because the website wanted to provide a simple description on Liu Shaoqi’s life. The audicene it attracts are most likely people studying historical events. This article is very benifical to those who want to better understand how Liu Shaoqi impacted the Cultural Revolution. However readers from that time may not agree about the conflict between Liu and Mao because everyone had their own opinions about Liu.
Value- Despite the controversy the article may have, this source was relevant to helping me understand the Cultural Revolution because it gave details about Liu’s role in the Revolution. The website also provided images such as proganda during the time of the Cultural Revolution. The propaganda and dates provided is what made me choose to use this website.
Limitation-This source may limited information because there might be some slight inaccurate information because the article is based on research the website used to write this article.

Ramzy, Austin. "China’s Cultural Revolution, Explained" ["回首文革动荡岁月：七个关键问题"]. The New York Times, 17 May 2016, www.nytimes.com/2016/05/15/world/asia/china-cultural-revolution-explainer.html. Orgin- My primary source is an article on the New York Times written by Austin Ramzy (2016).
Purpose- The purpose of the article, that the author intended was to provide a detailed explanation on the Cultural Revolution. The audience the article was aiming for is people learning about the Cultural Revolution. Such as how it affected China’s economy, how it changed China, or just as a general topic.  
Value: This article was very helpful to understanding the Cultural Revolution. Thus it is the article I got most of my information from. I found this source very credible because the website gave me important dates to remember followed by detailed explanations on each key date. This helped me organize my information.
Limitaion. Though I really appreciated using this source, this website article may be limited to perspectives on the Cultural Revolution. This source is primarily a information based article rather than one that gives perspectives from people who struggled through the times of the Revolution.
---. "China’s Cultural Revolution, Explained" ["回首文革动荡岁月：七个关键问题"]. The New York Times, 17 May 2016, www.nytimes.com/2016/05/15/world/asia/china-cultural-revolution-explainer.html. Orgin- My primary source is an article on the New York Times written by Austin Ramzy (2016).
Purpose- The purpose of the article, that the author intended was to provide a detailed explanation on the Cultural Revolution. The audience the article was aiming for is people learning about the Cultural Revolution. Such as how it affected China’s economy, how it changed China, or just as a general topic.  
Value: This article was very helpful to understanding the Cultural Revolution. Thus it is the article I got most of my information from. I found this source very credible because the website gave me important dates to remember followed by detailed explanations on each key date. This helped me organize my information.
Limitaion. Though I really appreciated using this source, this website article may be limited to perspectives on the Cultural Revolution. This source is primarily a information based article rather than one that gives perspectives from people who struggled through the times of the Revolution.