In Our Time: History — “The Cultural Revolution”

BBC Radio 4 | December 17, 2020

Overview

This episode explores the origins, course, and profound impact of the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) in China, a period of intense ideological struggle, social upheaval, and violence instigated by Chairman Mao Zedong. Host Melvin Bragg leads a discussion with historians Julia Lovell, Rana Mitter, and Son Peidong, unpacking the event’s domestic and global repercussions, its legacy, and the paradoxes of Maoist rule.

Main Discussion Points

1. Background: The Great Leap Forward and Its Tragic Aftermath

[02:28–04:50]

• Great Leap Forward (1958–61): Mao’s campaign sought rapid industrialization and collectivization, underpinned by mass mobilization and communal living.
  • “Historians estimate that 30 to 40 million died in the nationwide famine that resulted.” (Julia Lovell, 03:42)
• Leadership Change: After the famine, Mao receded from daily power, ceding some authority to pragmatists Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping.
• Soviet Context: Fallout with the USSR from 1956 (Secret Speech, de-Stalinization) pushed Mao towards self-reliance and suspicion of ‘revisionism.’
  • “He called the Soviets revisionists.” (Julia Lovell, 06:26)

2. Mao’s Return and the Build-Up to Revolution

[06:26–10:47]

• Mao Sidelined: Post-Leap Forward, Mao felt marginalized by colleagues.
• Ideological Campaigns: Launched the Socialist Education Campaign (1962) and army-centered initiatives (1964, with Lin Biao’s support) to reawaken revolutionary values.
• Cult of Personality: The “Lei Feng” model worker myth exemplified propaganda efforts.
• Trigger Event: Publication of a critical review of the play “Hai Rui Dismissed from Office” in Shanghai (1965) signaled intent to purge ‘revisionism.’

“By taking up this play and doing a savagely negative review of it, Mao and his followers were saying that this kind of ideological revisionism would no longer be permitted.”
— Rana Mitter [09:40]

3. Mao’s Motives and the Paradoxes of Revolution

[10:47–12:58]

• Mao’s Aims: “Mao wanted to reassert his control... by launching mass campaign[s].” (Son Peidong, 10:54)
• Hypocrisy and Uncertainty: Anti-bourgeois rhetoric clashed with the leadership’s own privileged lifestyle (e.g., watching Hollywood films).
• Atmosphere of fear: “Uncertainties by design. Massive violence and terror are secret weapons...” (Son Peidong, 12:11)

4. The Red Guards: Origins, Violence, and Social Chaos

[12:58–20:21]

• Formation: Red Guards emerged from students in Beijing, sanctioned by Mao as shock troops against “bourgeois” forces.
  • “Mao’s political message... is the party is full of traitors at the highest level, and the only person you can trust is Mao...” (Julia Lovell, 13:05)
• Actions: Public denunciations, violence, and attacks on teachers, intellectuals, and perceived enemies.
• Destruction of the ‘Four Olds’: Old ideas, culture, customs, and habits targeted for eradication.
• Scale of Violence: Massive factional battles—e.g., “120,000 Red Guards from two rival factions battling for four hours for control of that part of [Shanghai].” (Rana Mitter, 16:09)
• Paradox: Youths of less “correct” class backgrounds were most zealous—an attempt at social redemption through revolutionary violence.

5. Purge and Dispersal: The “Sent Down” Movement

[18:28–21:24]

• Loss of Control: Mao eventually perceived the Red Guards as uncontrollable.
• “Rustification”: Up to 16.5 million urban youths sent to the countryside to be ‘re-educated’ through manual labor.
  • “Most of them actually ended up hating it. And most of them were not actually very good at any of the agricultural tasks they were sent to do.” (Rana Mitter, 20:01)
• Hardship and Corruption: City youths (e.g., the ‘Elsa’ scenario, 20:21) suffered from deprivation, and sometimes sexual or financial exploitation in rural areas.

6. Power Struggles, Factional Violence, and Failure to Rebuild

[21:24–23:37]

• Anarchic Phase: Mao could destroy the old order, but lacked a coherent plan for a new system.
• Shanghai Commune (1967): Mass rebellion established a short-lived, radical local government, which even Mao found alarming.

7. Global Impact and Perceptions

[23:37–25:51]

• International Fascination: The Cultural Revolution captured the imagination of radicals from Paris to Berkeley—though with little real understanding.
• Diplomatic Incidents: Foreign embassies in Beijing were besieged, and Soviet diplomats harassed.
  • “The rest of the world found it exciting or found it terrifying, but it found it above all baffling to interpret.” (Rana Mitter, 25:51)

8. The Fall of Lin Biao and the Revolution’s Decline

[25:51–29:17]

• Lin Biao’s Death (1971): Once trusted as Mao’s heir, Lin’s sudden death in a plane crash shattered public confidence.
  • “How could he have made such a mysterious mistake as to select as his heir a traitor and a would be murderer?” (Julia Lovell, 28:37)
• **Signaled diminishing credibility and contributed to loss of revolutionary zeal.

9. Nixon’s Visit and the Opening to the World

[29:17–31:18]

• US-China Rapprochement: Nixon’s 1972 visit, following UN admission in 1971, marked China’s re-entry to global diplomacy.
• Internal Dissent: Even as China opened up, figures like Jiang Qing resisted. Ironies highlighted—e.g., elite’s private screening of Western films.

10. Failure to Eliminate Bourgeois Practices and Rise of Corruption

[31:18–33:34]

• Inefficacy of Purges: Despite rhetoric, Western culture and corruption persisted.
  • “How could you ban capitalist clothing if people wore them under Mao suits or military uniforms...” (Son Peidong, 32:04)
• Corruption: ‘Guanxi’ (connections) and bribery thrived, especially regarding urban return quotas for sent-down youths, sometimes entailing sexual exploitation.

11. Broader Effects on the Cold War

[33:34–35:34]

• Global Communist Movement Splintered: Cultural Revolution drove a wedge between Chinese and Soviet camps, weakening communist solidarity worldwide.
  • “...when you have this... of communist superpowers fighting with each other and considering the leader of the capitalist world a lesser enemy, this inevitably devalues communism as a global ideology.” (Julia Lovell, 34:37)

12. Memory, Disillusion, and Neo-Maoism

[35:34–39:42]

• Official Rejection: The CCP denounced the Cultural Revolution in 1981.
• Ambivalence and Nostalgia: Collective memory among older generations is horrific, but some younger “neo-Maoists” romanticize its ideological purity, despite a lack of first-hand experience.
  • “Many people who are far too young to remember the Cultural Revolution have started to feel very nostalgic for that era because they've created a sort of invented version...” (Rana Mitter, 36:40)
• Lasting Trauma: The episode left deep scars—examples abound of families devastated by arbitrary violence.

13. Long-term Impact: Institutional, Spiritual, and Cultural “Castrations”

[37:44–39:42]

• Institutional: Power struggles left China without strong foundations for rights and the rule of law.

• Spiritual: Intellectuals and ordinary people were cowed and fearful; critical thinking suppressed.

• Cultural: Erosion of moral truth; what mattered became the dictates of the powerful.

  “It has become a new normalcy that right and wrong actually has no longer important. What's important [is] leaders or those who have power or big money.”
  — Son Peidong [39:15]

14. Did the Cultural Revolution “Energize” China’s Later Transformation?

[40:04–41:17]

• No “Energizer”: The destruction and suffering sapped, rather than vitalized, China's political or economic potential.

  • “If anything, I would say that the Cultural Revolution in the long term has been a damper of political energy. It has not been an enabler of it.” (Rana Mitter, 41:09)

• Negative Example for Reform: The catastrophe fueled support for reform and marketization after Mao, as the horrors of absolute equality and puritanism were driven home.

  • “The Cultural Revolution expressed to many Chinese people the bankruptcy of the idea of absolute political puritanism... told the Chinese people very plainly that they needed to walk a different road.” (Julia Lovell, 41:41)

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• Uncertainty by Design:

  “Uncertainties by design. Massive violence and terror are secret weapons of the Communist Revolution. No one is safe under authoritarian regimes.”
  — Son Peidong [12:11]

• Cult of Personality:

  “It doesn’t really take off in a major way... in which Mao moves from being, you know, first among equals... to being this towering, really religiously godlike figure.”
  — Rana Mitter [10:10]

• Ironies of the Revolution:

  “Mao himself and his wife, they watched Hollywood movies during the Cultural Revolution very frequently.”
  — Son Peidong [11:43]

• Descent into Anarchy:

  “Mao knows how to destroy, but he doesn’t necessarily know how to build something in the place of what he has destroyed.”
  — Julia Lovell [21:39]

• Scale of Violence:

  “In December of 1966... you would have seen 120,000 Red Guards from two rival factions battling for four hours for control of that part of the city...”
  — Rana Mitter [16:09]

• Destruction and the Market’s Return:

  “China’s market revolution... changes the world, actually begins during the Cultural Revolution itself.”
  — Rana Mitter [46:04] (Bonus section)

Key Segments (Timestamps)

• Introduction and Historical Context: 01:13–06:26
• Mao's Return and Early/Precursor Campaigns: 06:26–10:47
• Objectives and Contradictions of the Revolution: 10:47–12:58
• Rise and Actions of the Red Guards: 12:58–20:21
• Sending Down the Youth: 18:28–21:24
• Internal Chaos and Party Overthrow in Shanghai: 21:24–23:37
• Global Reaction and Diplomatic Fallout: 23:37–25:51
• Death of Lin Biao and Revolution’s Decline: 25:51–29:17
• Nixon Visit, Opening to the World: 29:17–31:18
• Persistence of Bourgeois Practices & Corruption: 31:18–33:34
• Effect on Cold War Dynamics: 33:34–35:34
• Present-day Memory and Neo-Maoism: 35:34–39:42
• Debating Long-term Impact and Reforms: 39:42–41:17
• Economy and “Third Front” (Bonus): 44:43–46:04

Bonus Insights (Post-Show Discussion)

• Death Toll in Later Period:

  • More deaths may have occurred from 1969–76 under army rule than during the Red Guard phase, including acts under Deng Xiaoping.
    (Rana Mitter, 43:24)

• Economic Impact:

  • The “Third Front” campaign diverted resources to inefficient inland factories, weakening China’s economy for decades.
    (Julia Lovell, 44:43)

• Western Radicalism:

  • European youth’s infatuation with Maoism in ‘68 was a projection: “Mirror, flower, water, water, moon—meaning flower in the mirror, moon underwater. You can feel the huge tension between imagined China and the real China.”
    (Son Peidong, 47:40)

Conclusion

The panelists agree that the Cultural Revolution was a period of immense destruction, characterized by violent purges, fervent but misguided idealism, and deep social trauma. Rather than propelling China forward, the event’s legacy is one of caution, institutional weakness, and caution about mass mobilization—a caution that still shapes Chinese politics today. The catastrophe of the Cultural Revolution directly motivated the reformist policies and economic openness of the post-Mao era.

Panel:

• Julia Lovell (Modern Chinese History and Literature, Birkbeck)
• Rana Mitter (History and Politics of Modern China, Oxford)
• Son Peidong (International Studies, Sciences Po, Paris)
• Host: Melvin Bragg (BBC)

[End of Summary]