Conflicting Visions: 1965-78

The Cultural Revolution was not a sudden event. It was the climax of a long-running conflict inside the Chinese Communist Party between two visions of what China should become. On one side stood Mao Zedong and his followers, who believed the revolution would die unless the people themselves were remade into a new kind of human being — the ‘Socialist Man’. On the other side stood those who argued that ideology alone could not build a modern nation; what China needed was technical skill, professional knowledge and expertise. When Mao felt his critics were gaining ground, he struck back with the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in 1965.

The weapon Mao chose was the Red Guards — bands of students, supported by the army. Their mission was to wage a campaign against old culture, old customs and old habits. Nothing from the past was to be spared. In the name of revolution, they attacked teachers, officials, intellectuals and anyone suspected of holding traditional or bourgeois views. Denunciations and slogans replaced rational debate. To accuse was to convict; to shout the right slogan was to prove one’s loyalty.

A central feature of this period was the belief that ideology mattered more than professional knowledge. Being a committed Communist was considered superior to being a skilled engineer, doctor or scientist. In practice, this meant that students and professionals were sent to the countryside to learn from the masses. The peasant, not the professor, was held up as the true teacher. Formal education was disrupted, and expertise was treated with suspicion.

The consequences were severe. The Cultural Revolution plunged China into a period of turmoil. It weakened the Party itself, disrupted the economy and shattered the educational system. For years, the country ran on revolutionary fervour rather than planning or production. …