Theme 3 Topic 2: The Red Guards and Red Terror

What did Mao launch?

To restore his place at the political centre Mao launched a rectification campaign, the cultural revolution

Was Mao liked in the early years?

In the early years of the PRC Mao was lauded for his defeat of the nationalists and his establishment of the communist regime.

What was created for Mao during the cultural revolution?

During the cultural revolution this genuine appreciation for popular policies, such as land reform and success in the Korean War, was replaced by a state-sponsored personality cult perhaps unrivalled in history. Mao himself justified the cult.

What did Mao announce about his cult?

In the aftermath of the discussion over Soviet Russia’s leader Khrushchev’s denunciation of Stalin’s cult of personality Mao announced: “the question is not whether or not there should be a cult of the individual, but rather whether or not the individual concerned represents the truth. If he does, then he should be worshipped.”

Who were most likely to believe in the cult of Mao and why?

Young people. He encouraged them to attack his enemies while they were denounced as freaks and monsters. They played a key revolutionary role. They had been indoctrinated by his control of the education system. Many of the younger ones had little recollection of his failures during the Great Leap Forward, nor did they blame him for the famine that had followed.

What did young people read about Mao?

They read the Little Red Book, the collection of Mao’s comments that they recited. The Party’s propaganda told them to believe it as they would the word of God.

What did Mao tell young people?

They were excited when Mao told them: “the world is yours, as well as yours, but in the last analysis, it is yours. You young people, full of vigour and vitality, are in the bloom of life, like the sun at 8 or 9 in the morning. Our hope is placed on you … The world belongs to you. Chinas future belongs to you.”

What had Chinese tradition taught children?

China had always been a hierarchal society. Confucian thought, taught in schools, told children to be obedient to their parents and not question authority.

What did Mao tell children in 1965?

In May 1965 Mao called specifically to students: “dare to rebel against authority”. Here Mao was telling them to rise up and attack those in authority like their teachers, professors or Party cadres. The young people were excited and enthused and millions joined the revolution.

What is important to consider when understanding the motives for joining the Red Guards?

When attempting to understand motives of young people who joined the Red Guards it is important to note that the Red Guards weren’t a monolithic movement. Many young people joined for different reasons and participated with varying levels of ideological enthusiasm.

Who were Red Guards at first?

Kids of Party cadres and mobilised students of China’s elite middle schools that contained significant numbers of kids of Party leaders of far greater status than their teachers. They were a cohesive group, drawn from small catchment areas, and had studied together sine elementary schools thus ensuring peer pressure unified support for his violent aims. Having been regaled by their parents with stories of revolutionary heroism, Mao offered them a chance of glory.

Why else did the young join?

Pragmatic careerism undoubtedly played a part. Students whose employment opportunities were hindered by a lack of Party connections took the chance to remove senior communists from the hierarchy, of vital importance given that there was no established retirement system.

Who were not allowed to join at first?

At first the children of so-called Black Elements weren’t allowed to join.

When were the restrictions on who could join lifted?

In autumn 1966, the restrictions were lifted.

How enthusiastic were the previously excluded young people?

The young people who had been excluded were suddenly given the opportunity to prove their loyalty to Mao and they took their chance, throwing themselves into the campaign with frenzied revolutionary zeal, shouting slogans like “it is justified to rebel” and giving their groups names like the Protectors of MZT. They were the most violent and determined of all the Red Guards.

Why were the previously excluded young people so enthusiastic?

They were in effect, seeking to overcompensate for their family background.

What were the five red types?

People were categorised as members of the five red types: workers, poor and lower middle-class peasants, revolutionary cadres, revolutionary soldiers and dependents of revolutionary martyrs. They were acclaimed for their ideological purity.

Who were the five black elements?

To be categorised as one of the five black elements - landlords, rich peasants, counter-revolutionaries, bad elements and rightists - meant being ostracised. To be categories as a black element meant employment and education opportunities were reduced, while the threat of being sent down to do manual labour in the countryside was ever present.

What did one factory in Beijing do?

The cult reached bizarre degrees. One factory in Beijing created a ritual later known as asking for instructions in the morning and reported back in the evening. They wrote to Mao himself explaining how they organised their day.

What four acts was the ritual split into?

1) At the start of the workday, turn to a portrait of Mao and ask for instructions in order to see and think clearly and gain a sense of direction.

2) At work, study the quotation board featuring a selection of Maos proclamations in order to derive a mighty increase in working enthusiasm.

3) When changing shifts, exchange Mao-quotes with fellow workers as a way of showing concern and offering help.

4) At the end of the day, turn back to Mao’s portrait and report back to him reviewing ones work and thoughts critically in lights of his teachings.

What did Mao declare after reading the report?

“I’ve read this, and it is very good. Thank you, comrades!”

What happened to the report?

In an example of how ideas, if revolutionary enough, could spiral radically into policy, the report was immediately distributed nationwide by the CCP.

What did the regime urge?

Total and unthinking commitment to Maoist thought.

What happened in workplaces each morning?

People bowed to Mao’s portrait and asked for instructions for the day ahead.

What were Mao’s works called?

Were referred to as treasure books and special ceremonies were held to celebrate their sale.

What did switchboard operators do?

Greeted callers with the words Long Live Chairman Mao.

What did passengers at train stations do?

Had to perform a bizarre loyalty dance before they could board their trains.

What song was created?

Maos thoughts were revered as the word of god. The message of the cult, namely that Mao was a near-divine being worthy of worship, was a encapsulated in the song ‘The East is Red’ that became an unofficial national anthem during the Cultural Revolution.

What did Zhou Enlai say on MZT?

As Zhou Enlai put it simply, whatever accords with MZT thought is right, while whatever does not accord with MZT is wrong.

Where did Mao call the Red Guards to?

Mao built a propaganda cult that effectively placed him above all other Party leaders. Whipped into a frenzy of adulation, Mao called the Red Guards to Beijing to personally encourage them to attack his enemies.

Who commissioned the Little Red Book?

In 1964, head of the PLA, Lin Biao, commissioned a publication of collections of Mao’s most famous statements.

Who had to read the Little Red Book?

He ordered evert soldier to read and learn to adhere to every instruction. Soon it was not only the army reading the book. The young people in Red Guards, who had been at school to revere Mao, also tried to decipher and follow ideas, which took on near religious power.

What did some people believe the Little Red Book would do?

Some believed it could work miracles. Newspapers reported that doctors with the book had cured blind people. One disabled person declared MZT had enabled him to walk again. There was even a report that reading quotes from the book had raised a man from the dead.

What did the historian Roderick Macfarquhar observe>

That “the cult led to the transformation of the most banal utterances by Mao into holy writ”

What were big character posters?

A popular way of communicating popular ideas. They were used to level accusations at political enemies. They were easy and quick to make, requiring only ink, brush and paper. They could be anonymous and could be put up on walls and notice boards quickly and cheaply.

How were big character posers used in the cultural revolution?

During the cultural revolution they enabled radical groups to seize control of the political debate, allowing their views to be spread, rather than the control of political messages being monopolised by those in authority who were in charge of more established forms of political media and newspapers. They both represented and played a key aspect in generating exactly the kind of mass mobilisation that Mao hoped for.

What did Red Guards from Tsinghua University send Mao?

In July 1965 Red Guards from Tsinghua University in Beijing sent Mao a big character poster entitled ‘Long live the proletarian revolutionary spirt of rebellion!’ Mao replied to them personally, writing, ‘You say that it is right to rebel against reactionaries: I enthusiastically support you’. Mistrustful of the Party, Mao, recalled his secretary, consciously looking for backing among the students.

How did Mao heighten the revolutionary atmosphere?

On the 5th of August, Mao heightened the revolutionary atmosphere when he had his own bug character poster published in Beijing that urged the people to Bombard the headquarters. The message was clear: it was an encouragement to attack the leaders of the Communist Party who, in Mao’s words, had taken the reactionary stand of the bourgeoisie and enforced a bourgeois dictatorship. He was, writes MacFarquhar , giving the young students a blank cheque to attack his opponents.

What did Mao announce in August?

In August Mao announced, “let the rest of the country come to Beijing, or Beijing go to the rest of the country. Train transport is free isn’t it?”

Who invited students to the rallies?

Mao’s propaganda chief Chen Boda invited students to attend one of the 8 massive rallies, where they were whipped into a revolutionary fervour by Mao.

Where were most of the rallies held?

In Tiananmen Square between mid-August and late November.

Who aided Mao in organising the cultural revolution?

The Minister of Defence, Lin Biao, and the PLA. Lin Biao was Mao’s most loyal and subservient colleague. Lin Biao exalted Mao as our great teacher, great leader, great supreme commander and great helmsman. He also helped ensure Mao could always rely on the PLA to do this bidding.

How did the PLA help Mao with young people?

The PLA transported young people from across the country, erecting makeshift canteens and dorms in Beijing.

How did the children show up and what did they do?

They arrived wearing Mao badges (the more advanced ones included ones that glowed in the dark) and clutching their Little Red Books, singing Sailing the Seas Depends on the Helmsman. Ecstatic to be able catch a glimpse of their hero, and totally indoctrinated by Mao propaganda, they worshipped Mao.

What were the leaders like close up?

Were less impressive that the propaganda imagery had led them to expect. One confused teen recalled how Mao looked older than I imagined and that his face did not glow either, as it was supposed to. Lin Biao was a small, thin, weak man. Luckily for Mao, few in attendance got close enough to to notice such inconsistencies.

What was one student allowed to do at the first rally?

At the first rally, one of the student leaders, Song Binbin, was allowed to place a Red Guard armband on Mao himself. The exchange represented to the Red Guards Mao’s personal legitimisation of their radical movement.

What did Mao do to Song Binbin’s name?

When Mao learned that her name meant ‘suave’ he said that it should be changed to meant ‘be martial’, leading some to believe that he was implying that they had not been militaristic enough in their activities.

What did the youth do when ordered to attack traditional Chinese culture and ideas?

They rushed to obey.

What were other reasons for participating?

The Party ruled that anyone wearing the armband denoting them to be a Red Guard would be allowed to board a train. Many young people travelled to Beijing to cheer on Mao at vast rallies in Tiananmen Square, or visit the places that Mao had lived while he was fighting the civil war against the nationalists. Others simply took the chance, after years of control and repression, to travel across the country, moved more by curiosity and the opportunity to experience freedom as much as rev zeal.

Did all participate violently?

While some were committed enough to participate in the torture and intimidation of those denounced as class enemies, others simply chanted slogans and attended the rallies out of peer pressure.

What was the four olds campaign?

In August 1966 Mao launched the four olds campaign. The intention was to destroy old ideas, old culture, old customs and old habits, which, the P central Committee announced, were still being used by the exploiting classes to corrupt YFE masses, capture their minds and endeavour to stage a comeback.

What did the Party say about the old ideology?

The old ideology and culture,' declared the Party, 'have poisoned the minds of the people for thousands of years.' It was necessary to 'subject them to thorough going criticism' and instead create 'an entirely new ideology and culture and entirely new customs and habits: To destroy the old habits would hinder the ability of the bourgeois feudal classes to endure.

What had the Red Guards been told to do?

The Red Guards had been told to 'put daring above everything else' and 'boldly arouse the masses' but their frenzied actions went far beyond that expected by the pragmatic Party leaders like Liu Shaoqi, Deng Xiaoping and Zhou Enlai. The Red Guards ignored the orders to allow any who had made 'mistakes the chance to 'turn over a new leaf.

Who were attacked?

Places and objects representing old-fashioned ideas were attacked.

What were visitors to restaurants forced to do?

Complete questionnaires declaring their class origin before they were served.

What were surgeons forced to do?

Surgeons cancelled operations out of fear. If the procedure went badly they risked being accused of 'class revenge'.

What was a simple thing that could make someone a target of the Red Guard violence?

Owning a pet bird was enough. Bird keeping was a traditional past-time and therefore represented old-fashioned ideas.

What names were changed on shops?

Old 'feudal' shop signs were changed to read 'Defend MZ' or 'Permanent Revolution'.

What names were changed for children?

Children's names were changed to Red Glory or Face the East.

What road signs were altered?

Road signs were altered to read 'Anti-Revisionism Street' - the British embassy now stood on 'Anti-Imperialism Road', while Beijing Uni hospital became 'Anti-Imperialism hospital'.

What name changes did Zhou stop?

The Red Guards even changed the meaning of the traffic lights so that red meant 'Go' until, fearing chaos on the roads, Zhou stopped them. He also acted to prevent a move by 1 middle school Red Guard to rename Beijing 'East is Red City'.

When did the violence of the Red Guards spiral out of control?

During the autumn and winter of 1966 the violence of the Red Guards spiralled out of control. It became known as the Red Terror.

Who were targeted in the Red Terror?

Some victims were targeted many times by rival Red Guard factions. Party members, former businessmen and landlords were subjected to denunciation and intimidation by the frenzied Red Guards, desperate to prove their ideological commitment. What started as intimidation and denunciation gave way to brutality. 'Class enemies' were sent for 're-education' through physical labour in prison camps. Intellectuals associated with liberal thoughts were ruthlessly targeted. Some were kidnapped; others were killed.

What did many people do as a result of the Red Terror?

Many took their own lives, unable to stand the unremitting threats. One such example was the renowned playwright Lao She. His house was burned by middle school RGs and he was denounced at struggle meetings where he was made to wear a dunce's hat. To escape the constant harassment he drowned himself in Taiping Lake near Beijing in late August 1966.

How was Ding Ling targeted?

Ding Ling, who had been purged during the 100 Flowers Campaign , was once again targeted. She was denounced in struggle meetings and made to stand for hours in the painful 'airplane' position, her arms forced straight back behind her. At night she was made to sleep in a stable.

How was Zheng Peidi targeted?

Zheng Peidi, a teacher at Beijing University, was found guilty of criticising Jiang Qing. She was confined with her young baby in a building on the campus known as the 'cowshed'. 

Who did the movement change to include?

Although the movement started with the students, by the end of 1966 it had spread to encompass workers.

When and why did contract workers rise up?

On 25 December workers on short-term contracts, angry at their poor pay, rose up to criticise their managers and well-paid workers and seized the Ministry of Labour.

Who supported the rise up of contract workers?

Jiang Qing arrived the next day to support them. Describing the Ministry as the 'Ministry of Lords' she declared it 'unbelievable' that 'even though the country has been liberated for so many years the workers are still suffering'. She berated the Vice Minister for Labour and told him, 'You, too, should work as a contract worker,' before bursting into tears. Contract workers across the country rose up to demand better treatment.

Who did Red Guards start to fight?

Urged on by Mao indoctrination, rival groups of Red Guards began to fight and denounce each other. Red Guards of working class origin fought against different Red Guards with non-working class backgrounds. E.g. they included children of intellectuals or former business owners.

Why did the Red Guards fight each other?

This group were desperate to prove their ideological worth, or simply to protect themselves. They argued that the original Red Guards were abusing their position, becoming exactly what Mao didn’t want: a new privileged class. Radical groups sprang up in anarchic and unco-ordinated attempts to join the violent struggle.

What were they motivated by?

How far they were motivated by ideological commitment is hard to say. Political self-interest certainly played a part.

What are examples of political self interest influencing the Red Terror?

• In Heilongjiang province in Manchuria, one former opponent of the Great Leap Forward tried to seize power as a way to prove his revolutionary commitment to Mao.

• In Shanxi, the provincial vice governor joined the Red Guards as an attempt to purge rival Party leaders.

What did Mao say on the internal fighting of Red Guards?

'Everywhere people were fighting, dividing into two factions,' recalled M, 'there were two factions in every factory, in every school, in every province.'

Who did violence also break out between?

Violence broke out between Red Guards and farmers who resented idealistic young people arriving at their village or factory, telling them what to do and demanding food and lodging, without any real idea about practical realities.

What did China stand on the edge of?

A civil war.

Why was the anarchy difficult to control?

Even Mao found it difficult to control the anarchy because he had done so much to encourage it. 'It could not be controlled,' writes historian Shaun Breslin, 'because attempting to control it would undermine the movement's raison d'etre ... what had been unleashed could not easily be re-leashed.’

What could Mao not stop until?

Mao couldn’t stop until he had purged the Party with his revolution from below. Indeed, at times he appeared to revel in the violence.

What did Mao say at his birthday party?

At his birthday party on 26 December 1966, he proposed a toast "To the unfolding of nationwide all-round civil war!'

What did Mao later joke about the violence?

Although violence sometimes caused problems when 'good people beat up good people, on the whole it was positive because "they might otherwise not have got to know each other’.

What did Mao say about Shanghai?

For all Mao’s encouragement of the anarchy, 'In reality,' he said, 'there will always be "Heads"' He observed that in Shanghai, 'There are people who wave the Red Flag to bring down the Red Flag.' In this wave of 'ultra-democracy' the radicals were calling for the abolition of the Party itself and, he said, 'that won't do'. He demanded that the commune in Shanghai be closed down.

How did the January storm start?

The biggest example of the anarchy spiralling out of control was in Shanghai in early 1967, the so-Called January Storm: Encouraged by Mao's calls to attack the Party radical rebel Red Guard groups, made up of unprivileged workers in the city, destroyed the Party establishment and created their own form of control modelled on the Paris Commune of 1871 when the city's labourers had seized control and created a new social order with democratic elections.

Who were the scarlet guards and who destroyed them?

On 30 December 1966, 100,000 of these radical rebel Red Guards attacked and defeated 20,000 other Red Guards known as the Scarlet Guards. The Scarlet Guards had been mobilised by the local Communist Party.

What did the radical red guards then do?

The radical RGs declared that time is ripe to seize power from the counter-revolution party Committee and government and proceeded to mete out exactly the same kind of violence and torture that the original Red Guards had inflicted on them.

Who were the radical red guards doing it for?

The radical Red Guards believed that they were doing Mao's bidding. The 16 Points had declared, 'It is necessary to institute a system of general elections, like that of the Paris Commune, and at first Map applauded their 'seizure of power from below. It was anarchy.

Who had misunderstood Mao’s true motives?

The radicals and perhaps even members of his own Party.

What destruction did Mao actually want?

It was not the destruction of the Party itself, but only the leaders of the Party, particularly Liu and Deng, that he believed were preventing him from instigating the correct policies. ‘Bombard the Headquarters' did not mean the removal of the CCP from power, but rather only Mao's personal rivals.

What was the February adverse current?

When in February 1967 leaders of establishment including Zhu De, former Commander in chief of the PLA, and Chen Yi, the Foreign Minister, protested against Mao's policy of encouraging chaos, he criticised them and dismissed complaints as the February adverse current, meaning that they were 'flowing' against the correct 'tide' of revolutionary upheaval that Mao wanted to encourage.

When was further violence encouraged?

In April Mao encouraged further violence when he told the Red Guards, 'Have no fear of chaos. The more chaos you dish out the better. Disorder and chaos are always good things.’ This even led the RGs into battles with the PLA.

What is an example of the red guards going into battle with the PLA?

The biggest example was in Wuhan in summer 1967.

Who did the army side with in the Wuhan ‘67 battle?

The army had sided with the local party organisation and was trying to defend it from radical RGs.

What did the PLA do in the spring and what did it lead to?

In the spring the PLA had arrested 500 leaders of radical Red Guards and worker groups for attacking the Party. This led to public protests and hunger strikes. in the summer there were armed clashes between radicals and the army. The PLA killed 1000 protestors.

What did PLA members do to the government?

When members of the government flew to Wuhan and criticised the PLA for being too brutal in their suppression of the radicals, PLA supporters kidnapped them from the hotel while local soldiers did nothing to help them. They were only released when military reinforcements were sent.

Who else fought in Wuhan ‘67 battle?

Opposing worker and student radical groups, both claiming to be the true defenders of MZT, fought each other and the PLA, often raiding PLA depots to get hold of weapons.

What did rebels do in August ‘67?

In Aug 1967 rebels seized power over the Foreign Ministry in Beijing for two weeks, declaring the creation of 'proletarian internationalism' and appointing radical diplomats to represent China around the world. Only the PLA kept the RGs from seizing the military facilities where scientists were working on China's hydrogen bomb.

What concerned Mao about the anarchy?

By September 1967 Mao was concerned not to let the anarchy lead to a challenge to the legitimacy of the Party itself.

What did Mao call for to control the anarchy?

Instead of autonomous communes advocated by the radicals in Shanghai, Mao called for the creation in provinces of a new form of organisation called the revolutionary committee.

What was the revolutionary committee based on?

Based on a '3-way alliance, these merged the role of the Party, state and army. However, the Party remained dominant. Mass organisations and radicals were represented but they were never in control.

Who ran the committees?

The committees were actually run by smaller 'standing committees' and radicals only had token representation on these. Indeed, many previous personnel from the old power structures, who had been purged mere months before, now re-emerged to take control of the committees and re-establish their power.

When did Mao know he needed to curtail the violence?

By 1968 Mao knew he had to curtail the violence of the Red Guards. He was worried that if the anarchy continued, foreign nations might take advantage of it to attack China and seize some of its territory.