Remembering the 50th Anniversary of China’s Cultural Revolution
On its 50th anniversary, China’s Cultural Revolution may have come full circle.
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- A tourist poses in front of a giant portrait of Mao Zedong at the gate of the Forbidden City in Beijing on May 16, 2016. Official Chinese media stayed largely silent about Monday’s 50th anniversary of the start of the bloody Cultural Revolution, with discussion of the tumultuous decade still controlled on the mainland. (AFP PHOTO / FRED DUFOUR)
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- This file photo taken late in 1966 shows a poster displayed in Beijing featuring how to deal with a so-called “enemy of the people” during the “Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution”. Launched by Mao in 1966 to topple his political enemies after the failure of the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution saw a decade of violence and destruction nationwide as party-led class conflict devolved into social chaos. (AFP PHOTO / JEAN VINCENT)
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- This file photo taken in June 1966 shows Red Guards, high school and university students, waving copies of Chairman Mao Zedong’s “Little Red Book” as they parade in Beijing’s streets at the beginning of the “Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution”. Launched by Mao in 1966 to topple his political enemies after the failure of the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution saw a decade of violence and destruction nationwide as party-led class conflict devolved into social chaos. (AFP PHOTO/ JEAN VINCENT)
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- This file photo taken in June 1966 shows a propaganda squad of Red Guards, high school and university students, carrying a portrait of Chairman Mao Zedong as they parade on Chang’an avenue in Beijing to spread Mao’s thought during the “Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution.” Launched by Mao in 1966 to topple his political enemies after the failure of the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution saw a decade of violence and destruction nationwide as party-led class conflict devolved into social chaos. (AFP PHOTO / JEAN VINCENT)
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- A vendor eats noodles next to a poster of late Chinese chairman Mao Zedong (L) at a market in Beijing on May 15, 2016. Fifty years after the Cultural Revolution spread bloodshed and turmoil across China, the Communist-ruled country is driving firmly down the capitalist road, but Mao Zedong’s legacy remains — like the embalmed leader himself — far from buried. (AFP PHOTO / NICOLAS ASFOURI)
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- This picture taken on April 21, 2016 in Shaoshan shows a Mao statue in a backyard of a factory specialized in Mao memorabilia. Shaoshan in central China’s province Hunan is the hometown of former communist leader Mao Zedong. The small village is a hotspot for ‘red tourism’. Millions of Mao devotees from all over the country come to Shaoshan every year. (AFP PHOTO / JOHANNES EISELE)
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- In this file photo taken Aug. 27, 1966, a buddha statue is covered with signs reading “Destroy the old world,” and “Establish a new world,” by ultra-patriotic Red Guard who reject ancient Chinese traditions at Lin Yin temple in Hangzhou, eastern China’s Zhejiang province. Monday, May 16, 2016 marks the 50th anniversary of a 1966 party meeting that spearheaded the 10-year Cultural Revolution, a violent and frequently chaotic attempt by Mao to reassert his power and revive his party’s egalitarian ideals. (AP Photo, File)
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- Vendors unfurl a banner from 1969 depicting former Chinese leader Mao Zedong as he “inspects the great army of the Cultural Revolution” and the slogan “Navigating the seas depends on the helmsman” at a curio market in Beijing, China, Monday, May 16, 2016. Exactly 50 years ago, China embarked on what was formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, a decade of tumult launched by Mao Zedong to revive communist goals and enforce a radical egalitarianism. The milestone was largely ignored Monday in the Chinese media, reflecting continuing sensitivities about a period that was later declared a “catastrophe.” (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
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- In this file photo taken Nov. 1, 1967, Chinese citizens view writings and slogans emblazoned on a wall at the height of the decade-long Cultural Revolution initiated a year earlier by Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong in Beijing. On May 16, 1966, the Communist Party’s Politburo produced a document announcing the start of what was formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution to pursue class warfare and enlist the population in mass political movements. Launched by leader Mao Zedong, it set off a decade of tumult to revive communist goals and enforce a radical egalitarianism. (AP Photo, File)
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- In this file photo taken Dec. 5, 1980, Mao Zedong’s widow Jiang Qing sits in the defendant’s box during her trial for various crimes committed during China’s violent 1966-76 Cultural Revolution. Jiang claimed she was being scapegoated for implementing Mao’s directives that resulted in the persecution of millions. On May 16, 1966, the Communist Party’s Politburo produced a document announcing the start of what was formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution to pursue class warfare and enlist the population in mass political movements. Launched by leader Mao Zedong, it set off a decade of tumult to revive communist goals and enforce a radical egalitarianism. (AP Photo, File)
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- In this file photo taken May 27, 1967, a child plays with a bamboo pole near government posters that attacks then Chinese president Liu Shaoqi as anti-Maoist during the cultural revolution in Shanghai, China. Poster at right urges support of the revolution. Monday, May 16, 2016 marks the 50th anniversary of a 1966 party meeting that spearheaded the 10-year Cultural Revolution, a violent and frequently chaotic attempt by Mao to reassert his power and revive his party’s egalitarian ideals. (AP Photo, File )
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- In this file photo taken Sept. 14, 1966, youths are seen at a rally during the height of the Red Guard upheaval waving copies of the collected writings of Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong, often referred to as Mao’s Little Red Book and carrying a poster of Karl Marx. On May 16, 1966, the Communist Party’s Politburo produced a document announcing the start of what was formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution to pursue class warfare and enlist the population in mass political movements. Launched by leader Mao Zedong, it set off a decade of tumult to revive communist goals and enforce a radical egalitarianism. (AP Photo, File)
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- In this file photo taken Aug. 1966, religious sculptures lean against the wall of a suburban Beijing Buddhist temple after being ripped from their pedestals by youthful Red Guards infused by Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong’s calls to root out vestiges of old Chinese culture. Monday, May 16, 2016 marks the 50th anniversary of a 1966 party meeting that spearheaded the 10-year Cultural Revolution, a violent and frequently chaotic attempt by Mao to reassert his power and revive his party’s egalitarian ideals. (AP Photo, File)
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- In this file photo from 1966, former Chinese leader Mao Zedong observes Cultural Revolution inspired Red Guards assembled in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. On May 16, 1966, the Communist Party’s Politburo produced a document announcing the start of what was formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution to pursue class warfare and enlist the population in mass political movements. Launched by leader Mao Zedong, it set off a decade of tumult to revive communist goals and enforce a radical egalitarianism. (AP Photo, File)
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- In this file photo taken Aug. 10, 1966, a young woman identified only as Ms. Zhou calls out to embolden her fellow Red Guards in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square at the start of the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution. On May 16, 1966, the Communist Party’s Politburo produced a document announcing the start of what was formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution to pursue class warfare and enlist the population in mass political movements. Launched by leader Mao Zedong, it set off a decade of tumult to revive communist goals and enforce a radical egalitarianism. (AP Photo, File)
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- In this file photo taken Aug. 27, 1966, youthful members of the radical Red Guard movement stand at the entrance of a Buddhist temple near Beijing adorned with a portrait of their hero, Communist Party leader Mao Zedong. During the start of the violent Cultural Revolution, religious institutions and aspects of traditional Chinese culture were relentlessly attacked. Monday, May 16, 2016 marks the 50th anniversary of a May 16, 1966 party meeting that spearheaded the 10-year Cultural Revolution, a violent and frequently chaotic attempt by Mao to reassert his power and revive his party’s egalitarian ideals. (AP Photo, File)
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- In this Jan. 23, 1967 photo, young Chinese gathered outside a factory wave copies of the collected writings of Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong, often referred to as Mao’s Little Red Book. Monday, May 16, 2016 marks the 50th anniversary of a 1966 party meeting that spearheaded the 10-year Cultural Revolution, a violent and frequently chaotic attempt by Mao to reassert his power and revive his party’s egalitarian ideals. (AP Photo, File)
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- In this photo taken Sunday, May 1, 2016, men read essays pinned on a clothesline, condemning the past 30 years of liberalization or positively reappraising the Cultural Revolution at Zhouwangcheng Plaza in Luoyang in central China’s Henan province. In the ancient city of Luoyang, the old, the poor and the marginalized gather daily in the main public square to profess nostalgia for the decade-long political movement, while downplaying that period’s violent excesses. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
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- In this file photo taken Aug. 29, 1966, drummers raise their cymbals and sticks as others hold up small booklets containing the writings of then Chairman Mao Zedong during a demonstration by Red Guard youth groups in front of the Soviet Embassy in Beijing. On May 16, 1966, the Communist Party’s Politburo produced a document announcing the start of what was formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution to pursue class warfare and enlist the population in mass political movements. Launched by leader Mao Zedong, it set off a decade of tumult to revive communist goals and enforce a radical egalitarianism. (AP Photo, File)
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- In this file photo taken Jan. 8, 1967, two men with placards around their necks are declared anti-revolutionary elements and paraded through the streets of Beijing by members of the Red Guard during the early days of the Cultural Revolution launched by Mao Zedong. Monday, May 16, 2016 marks the 50th anniversary of a May 16, 1966 party meeting that spearheaded the 10-year Cultural Revolution, a violent and frequently chaotic attempt by Mao to reassert his power and revive his party’s egalitarian ideals. (AP Photo, File)
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- In this file photo taken in 1966, Mao Zedong waves at the beginning of China’s Cultural Revolution. On May 16, 1966, the Communist Party’s Politburo produced a document announcing the start of what was formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution to pursue class warfare and enlist the population in mass political movements. Launched by leader Mao Zedong, it set off a decade of tumult to revive communist goals and enforce a radical egalitarianism. (AP Photo, File)
On May 16, 1966, Mao Zedong launched the Cultural Revolution to purge capitalist elements from China and to enforce a radical egalitarianism in China. Formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, it began a decade of violence and destruction of religious and traditional cultural elements deemed counterrevolutionary.
50 years of reforms later, China is today still Communist in name but heading toward capitalism. The Chinese government today regards the Cultural Revolution as a catastrophe, and little mention was made of the milestone in the official press. Still, as AFP reports, “Mao Zedong’s legacy remains — like the embalmed leader himself — far from buried.”
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