Sentiments on the Cultural Revolution in Post-Mao China

[PigmerikanMao]

I've been reading Mobo Gao's Battle for China's Past. It's pretty obvious that in the western world, the great proletarian cultural revolution is frowned upon as a sort of Chinese holocaust where Mao directed a highly trained group of students who terrorized the people of China for over ten years. The government of the PRC officially denounces the movement as 10 years of calamities yet maintains appreciation for Mao by saying that "Mao deviated from Mao Tse Tung Thought (wtf?)." My question is, does anyone know of any publications which seriously look into memoirs or reminisences of the cultural revolution from a proletarian standpoint, as opposed to one from the government or the cooperative bourgeoisie? I can't find any for some reason. Am I overlooking a serious publication here?

[Hiero]

What are your thoughts on Mobo Gao's book?

[BobKKKindle$]

This is well worth a look:

Some of Us: Chinese Women growing up in the Mao Era

It's a set of memoirs on experiences during the cultural revolution, mainly by youth who were sent to work in the countryside, with a special focus on female identity. MSH did a review on it here (http://monkeysmashesheaven.wordpress.com/2008/02/14/book-review-part-1-some-of-us-chinese-women-growing-up-in-the-mao-era/).

[PigmerikanMao]

So far I've liked Mobo Gao's approach to the cultural revolution, this is one of the few instances I've read where a historian actually looks at the positives of the GPCR and what it meant to the people in general. I'm not saying the book is perfect, it has some things I dislike, but I'm not going to complain- its just such a welcome change from Jung Chang and other staunch anti-Maoist authors.

Thanks for the info, BobK. I'll be sure to look into that one. :)

[synthesis]

The Cultural Revolution was nearly identical to Stalin's purges, in substance if not in form.

I'm not saying that as a condemnation. Historically, the fact of the matter is that pre-socialist society and culture did not simply evaporate with the revolution, no matter how much the revolutionaries wanted to believe it would be so.

Both the Cultural Revolution and the Purges were intended to correct this shortcoming, but it's pretty hard to do that without force. That's where this "Holocaust" talk comes from. When you have whole communities that are perceived to be "reactionary" - especially when "reactionary" might just mean "critics or opponents of the government" - you're bound to have some stuff happen that looks like democide.

[PigmerikanMao]

The Cultural Revolution was nearly identical to Stalin's purges, in substance if not in form.

I'm not saying that as a condemnation. Historically, the fact of the matter is that pre-socialist society and culture did not simply evaporate with the revolution, no matter how much the revolutionaries wanted to believe it would be so.

Both the Cultural Revolution and the Purges were intended to correct this shortcoming...
I'd agree with you in that the GPCR and Stalin's purges both shared elements of "correcting shortcomings," but as to call them identical (or nearly so) goes a little to far. First of all, the GPCR was encouraged by the government, not dictated so much as with Stalin's purges- furthermore, the government in the PRC tried to keep these attacks nonviolent and verbal only. Also, Stalin's purges were based more on political correctiveness and adherance to the general line. This was important in the cultural revolution, no doubt, but the GPCR also put a high focus on narrowing the gap between the cities and countryside, promoting womens rights and gender equality, modifying and improving China's infastructure, and so on.
...:mellow:

[synthesis]

Okay. My point was that you can't have a real revolution of culture that's implemented and enforced from the top down. I'm not arguing that they were bad people for trying to do it, I'm saying it just doesn't work, never has, never will - it will fail, force will be introduced, and it will fail again, with lethal consequences.

The PDPA tried to do some good things, too, but the population was simply not ready for it.

[PigmerikanMao]

:crying: