The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution

The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution
Institution
Course
Name
Date
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, also known as the Chinese Revolution, marks the time of political and social chaos triggered by Mao Zedong’s bid to use masses to restore his control over the Communist Party in China[1]. The revolution was characterized by a prolonged, complicated, and chaotic incidences that caused great human suffering. China’s Great Helmsman Chairman Mao Zedong engineered the Cultural Revolution as a political campaign and retaliation against the communist revolution. Therefore, the revolution was meant to reinforce Mao’s ideologies among the masses and cripple his political opponents[2]. The main agenda in his campaigns focused on struggling against and crushing those in authority as well as their capitalist ideologies in order to pave the way for socialism in China. Apparently, it is argued that Mao used the masses with a hidden objective of reasserting control over the party he had lost during the Great Famine of the 1950s.
The Cultural Revolution began in mid-1966 when word spread that some revolutionists had infiltrated the anti-revolutionist who supported the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie. A few weeks later, the masses were mobilized and urged to eradicate the evil habits of the old society. College and university students heeded the word and organized Red Guard divisions across the country. Under Mao’s directives, the Red Guards were organized and urged to clear away old ideas, customs, habits, and culture by launching all-assault on individuals, groups, and institutions that subscribed to the ways of the “old society”. What followed was a series of the chaotic rampage that led to the closure of schools and universities as well as the destruction of property including private homes, shops, libraries, churches, and shrines. Gangs of teenagers filled the streets attacking or destroying anything perceived to be of the old ways of supporting imperialist ideologies[3]. Many teachers, intellectuals, religious leaders, and party officials were humiliated, while others lost their lives in the hands of the Red Guard[4]. The police force could not intervene because Mao had issues orders that protected the Red Guards as they roamed the streets of the cities of China.
A year later, workers had already joined the student-led terror groups. The chaotic behavior spread in different parts of the country creating a state of virtual civil war. Many lives were lost and a high number of properties destroyed across the country. In 1968, the situation worsened beyond Mao’s expectations. He could no longer control the revolution he started, and therefore issued a directive to have thousands of youths to be transferred from the cities for “re-education in the countryside. His directive was politically motivated in a bid to appear the hero. Additionally, he instructed the armed forces to take charge of restoring order making China a military dictatorship until 1971. Numerous deaths and casualties were reported during the militarized governance[5]. Normalcy returned to China after the Cultural Revolution was officially ended in 1976[6].
The Life Experiences of Ordinary Chinese People During the Mao Era
The portrayal of history in both fictional and documentary films is a common phenomenon. The actual historical scenes and moments cannot be accurately visualized through cinema, but it transforms historical records into a concrete form. As a result, this section attempts to use modern Chinese cinema to illustrate the lifestyle and life experiences of ordinary Chinese people during Mao’s reign. Farewell, My Concubine (1992) by Chen Kaige and The Blue Kite (1993) by Tian Zhuangzhuang are fifth-generation films that explicitly cover the history of China under Mao as well as the degree to which political campaigns influenced the lives of ordinary people. The people behind fifth generation films have a common and first-hand life experiences from the Cultural Revolution[7]. They were humiliated and sent to the countryside as laborers just because they were educated. Therefore, such experiences have a huge impact on their thoughts about the nature of Chinese politics and culture.
Farewell, My Concubine (1992) is a film about love and betrayal as well as faith and reality. The themes and structure of the film were inspired by the memories of Chen Kaige during Mao’s tenure in China[8]. The themes of the film revolve around the triangle love relationship between the characters Dieyi, Xiaolou, and Juxian. A conflict exists between the marital relation of Xiaolou and Juxian and Dieyi’s homosexual affection for Xiaolou. The climax of the conflict occurs when the characters were brought into the streets to openly disclose their past during the Cultural Revolution[9]. Most of the scenes in the film are symbolic. For example, the betrayal signifies how the cruelty of the revolution destroys the spiritual and secular life of people. The film depicts little about physical abuse but the drastic changes in families and their attitude towards the Cultural Revolution point out the challenges that people experienced.
The film, The Blue Kite (1993) by Tian Zhuangzhuang represents how the conscience of individuals remained intact even under the cruel and brutal treatment under Mao’s administration[10]. It depicts that political ideologies cannot easily separate family members. For example, when Shaolong is accused of being a rightist, the prime concern of his wife was being far apart from her husband. She does not bother about whether her husband is a rightist or not. Apparently, Shaolong was a victim of false accusation but he kept his calm and focused on being productive. He even prepared coal for the family to use during the winter before he was sent away. In this case, political intrusion acts as an agent of unity, perseverance, and tolerance among the ordinary people who were the main victims dur...