The chinese cultural revolution as history edited by. The cultural revolution is the name given to maos attempt to reassert his beliefs in china. The historiography of the cultural revolution is therefore diverse and often contentious. This collection of chinese revolution documents contains primary sources from the hundred days reforms in 1898 to the death of mao zedong in 1976. The most intriguing books draw out the continuities between contemporary. Selected titles on the history and politics of china. All aspects of arts and culture were to promote the peoples revolution and aid the state. Mao closed schools and encouraged students to join red guard units, which denounced and persecuted chinese teachers, intellectuals, writers, artists and other class enemies, engaged in widespread book burnings, facilitated mass relocations, and enforced maos cult of personality. After the economic disaster of the great leap forward that claimed tens of millions of lives between 1958 and 1962, an ageing mao launched an ambitious scheme to shore up his reputation and. Ruma bichara a royal council made of the noblest datus. May 05, 2016 the cultural revolution npr coverage of the cultural revolution.
Mao had been less than a dynamic leader from the late 1950s on, and feared others in the party might be taking on a leading role that weakened his power within the party and the country. Art, global maoism and the chinese cultural revolution. Frank dikotter uses this wealth of material to undermine the picture of complete conformity that is often supposed to have. The best books on the cultural revolution five books expert. I think if there are any casualty figures for the ancient purges, the stats would be even more unreliable than the cultural. The benignsounding moniker belies the destruction it unleashed upon the countrys population. The cultural revolution is among the worst of these incidents, not only because of the horrific human suffering inflicted but also because so many remnants of that countrys great and ancient culture were willfully destroyed. He thought it a shame that the youth of china had not had the opportunity to fight in the revolution.
A brief overview of chinas cultural revolution britannica. The cultural revolution and the history of totalitarianism the cultural revolution and the history of totalitarianism red guards at rally reading mao zedongs little red book, beijing, 1966. On may 14, 1967, the ccp central committee issued a document entitled several suggestions for the protection of cultural relics and books during the cultural revolution. Chinas cultural revolution in the heat of the sun books. There was a verdict in 1981, and an historical accounting that rendered mao zedong seventy percent good and thirty percent bad. The story of the philippines by fiske, university of michigan library digital collections. The cultural revolution and the origins of chinas new class by joel.
The chinese cultural revolution as history edited by joseph. List of books and articles about cultural revolution. List of books and articles about cultural revolution online. Online shopping from a great selection at books store. The fund is a 501c3 notforprofit organization, and a partner of revolution books. This monumental and beautiful bookthe first comprehensive cultural history of the period of the french revolutiondiscusses a vast array of cultural activities, from painting, music, fiction, theater, and festivals to philosophy, science, education, and religion. These chinese revolution documents have been selected and compiled by alpha history authors. Acclaimed by the daily mail as definitive and harrowing, this is the final volume of the peoples trilogy, begun by the samuel johnson prizewinning maos great famine. Postmao, however, the situation is highly ambiguous. In 1978, only a couple years after the end of the cultural revolution, hong yung lee attempted to write a balanced and comprehensive history of the cultural revolution in his doctoral study, the politics of the chinese cultural revolution. Your second book is the cultural revolution as history this book is coedited by two historians at uc san diego and the same old andrew walder. Based on a wide variety of unusual and only recently available sources, this book covers the entire cultural revolution decade 196676 and shows how the cultural revolution was experienced by ordinary chinese at the base of urban and rural society. The cultural revolution npr coverage of the cultural revolution. May 16, 2016 the cultural revolution and the history of totalitarianism the cultural revolution and the history of totalitarianism red guards at rally reading mao zedongs little red book, beijing, 1966.
After the army itself fell victim to the cultural revolution, ordinary people used the political chaos to resurrect the market and. The historical scope of the great proletarian cultural revolution, which raged in china from 1966 to 1976 with the force of a national nightmare, is still only vaguely understood. The stated goal of the cultural revolution was to purge the country of bourgeois, capitalist elements he claimed were threatening genuine communist ideology. May 05, 2016 newly released documents detail traumas of chinas cultural revolution historian frank dikotter says newly opened archives offer fresh details about the chaos china experienced in the 1960s, when. Mao closed schools and encouraged students to join red guard units, which denounced and persecuted chinese teachers, intellectuals, writers, artists and other class enemies, engaged in widespread book. The cultural revolution a peoples history, 19621976 by frank dikotter illustrated. Now comes frank dikotters the cultural revolution, the last in his trilogy of works on the mao era. For the chinese communist party, the cultural revolution is history in the sense that it is past. The cultural revolution in full, the great proletarian cultural revolution took place from 1966 to 1976 in china. A peoples history, 19621976 ebook written by frank dikotter.
Terrible mistakes and brutal violence mar the history of communist china. He has published ten books about the history of china, including maos great famine, which won the bbc samuel johnson prize for nonfiction in 2011, and the tragedy of liberation, which was shortlisted for the george orwell prize. Historiography of the cultural revolution alpha history. A peoples history, 19621976 draws for the first time on hundreds of previously classified party documents, from secret police reports to unexpurgated versions of leadership speeches. Joseph esherick and paul pickowicz started a yearlong seminar for their graduate students, which a number of us spoke at, and these graduate students were then encouraged to go off and do their own research projects. Newly released documents detail traumas of chinas cultural.
The cultural revolution and the origins of chinas new class. Chinas cultural revolution and a history of totalitarianism. Space, time and the embodied description of the past rethinking arts histories. Nov 03, 2016 he wanted to root out opposition and rid the country of any semblance of old chinese culture, social values and history. Together, these three books, which dikotter calls the people s trilogy. May 09, 2016 history books the cultural revolution. The chinese cultural revolution as history studies of the walter h. At the forefront of the cultural revolution were the red guards young.
Nevertheless, enormous damage was inflicted on chinas cultural heritage. But the chairman also used the cultural revolution to turn on his colleagues, some of them longstanding comradesinarms, subjecting them to public humiliation, imprisonment and torture. At the forefront of the cultural revolution were the red guards young, radical students and. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read the cultural revolution. He has published ten books about the history of china, including maos great famine, which won the bbc samuel johnson prize for nonfiction in 2011, and the. Countries do have to come to terms with their own history, and its unhealthy that china has not yet come to terms with the cultural revolution, argues the wests. Aug 09, 2019 the cultural revolution was a sociopolitical movement in china that began in 1966 with mao zedong, the leader of the chinese communist party, denouncing the old capitalistic and traditional ways. In 1966, chinas communist leader mao zedong launched what became known as the cultural revolution in order to reassert his authority over the chinese government. In the mid 1960s mao wanted to regain his position within the ccp, so the cultural revolution was in part motivated by a power struggle at the very top of the party.
He chooses the best five books on the cultural revolution. There are several different approaches to this subject. Chinas cultural revolution and its aftermath in fiction and. Parading with chairman maos portrait during the cultural revolution.
Countries do have to come to terms with their own history, and its unhealthy that china has not yet come to terms with the cultural revolution, argues the wests leading scholar of the period, roderick macfarquhar. And although substantial restrictions still exist on coverage of the cultural revolution in chinas public history industry especially in the mass media, there is greater, if still incomplete, freedom for fictional explorations of these events. This article appeared in the books and arts section of the print edition under the headline in the heat of the sun. The cultural revolution in practical terms 24 million died nationwide as a direct result.
The cultural revolution would thus give them a chance to experience revolution. Still ashamed of my part in maos cultural revolution. The best books on the cultural revolution five books. Read the fulltext online edition of the origins of the cultural revolution vol. I am finishing a class on chinese history which i enjoyed thoroughly and want to continue reading about the cultural revolution, but most of our sources were fairly negative about the revolution, and i was hoping to round out my perspective a bit. Balzac and the little chinese seamstress by dai sijie, wild swans. The cultural revolution was a sociopolitical movement in china that began in 1966 with mao zedong, the leader of the chinese communist party, denouncing the. While the disastrous famine of 195961 can be explained by policy failures and natural conditions, the cultural revolution was a human event with more contentious causes. Its worth remembering that as the cr moves farther away from us in temporal terms, the people who have firsthand recollections of. Cultural revolution, 196676, mass mobilization of urban chinese youth inaugurated by mao zedong in an attempt to prevent the development of a bureaucratized soviet style of communism. During the great leap forward and the cultural revolution, cultural restrictions were black and white.
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