Red Guards (China) - Books - Famous Chinese Shopping City

March 8, 2014


		1 Introduction 2 Cultural Revolution 3 Rebels and Loyalists 4 Idealism and savagery 5 Resolution 6 Mao 7 Red Guard depicted in fiction 8 See also

Famous Chinese Shopping City Books

Red Guards (China)

Wikipedia

In the People's Republic of China, the Red Guards (紅衛兵) were civilians who were the frontline implementers of the History of the People's Republic of China|Chinese Cultural Revolution (1960s-1970s).

Most Red Guards were youngsters in their mid-teens summoned by Mao Zedong|Chairman Mao Zedong to protect the forward progression of the Chinese Communist Party against "evil forces" such as imperialism and Political corruption|corruption, including those within the Communist Party who were identified as deviationists.

Red Guards could be found in all aspects of Chinese society from the Foreign Ministry down to supervision of siblings. The Red Guards sat in the Foreign Ministry supervising officials while briefly seizing power from Chen Yi (communist)|Chen Yi to conduct foreign affairs. Many Red Guards used their freedom to carry out personal vendettas.

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Cultural Revolution

At the outset the goal of the Cultural Revolution was to remove capitalists from state power and prevent the restoration of capitalism as was felt to have occurred in the Soviet Union. Mao believed that by keeping political struggle inside the confines of the Communist Party, the full power of the exploited would not come to bear on the question of capitalism versus socialism. Hence, Mao sanctioned the Red Guards to operate outside the party.

At the time, Mao's thesis that Khrushchev had put the Soviet Union on the road to capitalism was controversial.

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Rebels and Loyalists

As time went on, the Red Guards crystallized into "rebels" and "loyalists." Loyalists started out with the theory that those of good class background were good Red Guards. Loyalist Red Guard organizations often started with leaders whose parents were officials in the Communist Party, especially those aligned with Liu Shaoqi or Deng Xiaoping or were more respectful of Khrushchev and the Soviet Union. Loyalist Red Guards sought to convert the movement into one criticizing peers and those of bad class background as determined by the class struggle prior to 1949. Precedent was on the side of the loyalists.

In contrast, the rebels put up posters criticizing deans of colleges and authority figures generally and the city and party officials who protected them. Rebels put the emphasis on people with power who might be new bourgeoisie, not those whose family members had been landlords or capitalists before 1949. Rebel organizations accepted members from "bad class backgrounds" and had the sanction of Jiang Qing to do so.

After two years, the Red Guards' ideological differences developed further. The "rebels" split into pro-Jiang Qing and anti-Jiang Qing factions, including those who considered Mao a "red capitalist." One study of the ideological differences and underlying social background differences among Red Guards is Hong Yung Lee's The Politics of the Chinese Cultural Revolution.

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Idealism and savagery

Many young Chinese were enthusiastic about the prospect of "being politically influential at such young age." With Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong|Little Red Books in their hands, squads of Red Guards formed and began to go from house to house looking for potential elements of corruption, which sometimes included teachers, relatives, and then their own families. The accusations against their victims were becoming more and more ridiculous as well. Someone might be punished for not owning an "extra set" of the Chairman's publications. These punishments could be exceptionally cruel. Some victims were forced to chew on shattered glass, while others were forced to strip naked and march through town. The number of people who perished during the period was estimated by some to be in the millions.

There were cases where particular members would start by targeting their parents (Pavlik Morozov-style) in order to demonstrate uncompromising fairness and absolute obedience to Mao. Then others were required to measure up or even surpass these efforts, resulting in a vicious cycle of competition.

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Resolution

By 1969, the Red Guard factions were dismantled entirely; Mao feared that the chaos they caused and could still cause might harm the very foundation of the Chinese Communist Party.

Following Mao's death and the Gang of Four (China)|Gang of Four's demise in 1976, the Cultural Revolution officially ended. During the late-1970s and early-1980s, numerous ex-Red Guards who were identified as having committed serious crimes against humanity during the revolution were finally tried and sentenced to prison; some were even executed. However, the physical and psychological scars they inflicted on their victims may never heal. Those ex-Red Guards who escaped punishment are not rejoicing either, as most have missed their chance for education; they are now left helplessly at the bottom of the food-chain despite mainland China's booming economy. In retrospect, the ex-Red Guards who were celebrated so early in their lives, are now collectively referred to as the Lost Generation.

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Mao

Authoritarianism|Authoritarian pro-capitalist Chinese critics of Mao say that Mao was aware of the increasing ideological differentiation and the petty struggles occurring in the air of the "si da," the four big freedoms, so he should have shut down the Red Guards and the entire Cultural Revolution earlier. Oddly this suited Western Liberalism|Liberals who objected to keeping China off the capitalist road.

Critics, especially those criticizing Mao for totalitarianism argue that Mao was able to manipulate the entire Chinese people by dividing up the people and creating Red Guard factions, which he used for his own purposes. Theorists of totalitarianism tend to see each conflict between Red Guards and the government as perfuming Mao's choice of new officials in various posts.

Participant-observers at the time including David and Nancy Milton who wrote The Wind Will Not Subside said it was clear to them that certain Red Guard factions intentionally created a poor image of the Cultural Revolution in order to undermine Mao and the fight against capitalists in state power. Mao himself commented that Red Guards had dispersed their targets too much, with resulting anarchism|anarchist tendencies. David and Nancy Milton at the time and subsequent Maoists hold that Mao wanted a well-understood and deeply ideological struggle regarding top officials on the capitalist-road. By aiming the spear to attack everywhere else, the rightist and ultra-leftist Red Guards aided those seeking the restoration of capitalism. After the Cultural Revolution, the number two target of the Cultural Revolution Deng Xiaoping did return to power and according to many inside and outside China, restored capitalism.

Regardless of if Mao obtained what he wanted through the red guards, the primary question is whether the tumult he unleashed was worth it. Some Maoist|Maoists would say there was no alternative to accepting the bad with the good to create a genuine political consciousness among the Chinese people, and not just another party instruction to oust a particular capitalist. Most others would call the "cultural revolution" a human rights disaster of almost unprecedented proportions, and a strong warning against anarchist tendencies within socialism.

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Red Guard depicted in fiction

In the movie The Last Emperor the red guard appeared during the near end of the film parading the kind prison warden who treated Pu Yi nicely.

Only in Hong Kong TVB and ATV depicted the cruelty and barbarism of red guard in movies and TV dramas. While they appear rare in mainland Chinese movies.

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