Why did the Communists attempt to change Chinese culture?

What did intellectuals regard as the main obstacle to progress?

Confucian culture which was embedded in the land tenure system and the patriarchal nature of society

What was the May Fourth Movement of 1919?

Demonstrations held against the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. The movement also embraced much broader aims around the modernisation of China and became the driving force behind demands for change over the following decade.

What event in 1950 dealt a major blow to Confucian culture?

Land reform.

What was the CCP aims towards culture before the Cultural Revolution?

To undermine traditional peasant customs and to continue to discredit Confucianism.

What were agit-prop groups?

In the leisure time of peasants who were under the communes they would attend propaganda films put on by agit-prop touring groups who sold them new ideas in an entertaining way

When was a new tone towards culture set?

In June 1966 when Chen Boda’s editorial in the People’s Daily urged to the Red Guards to attack the ‘four olds’

Who did Mao place in charge of cultural policy?

His wife, Jiang Qing.