Mao's+Economic,+social+and+religious+policies


 * Cultural Revolution ([|Cultural Revolution on Wikipedia]**)


 * -->Attack of the "Four Olds" (Old Culture, Old Customs, Old Habits, Old Ideas)**

Throughout the Cultural Revolution, the Red Guards traveled throughout China, going to schools, universities, and institutions, spreading the teachings of Mao. Some were criticized for using violence against people who were believed to be taking things back to capitalism. The role of Red Guard was mainly to attack the "[|Four Olds]" of society, that is what is believed to be old ideas, cultures, habits, and customs of China at the time. Red Guards in [|Beijing] and elsewhere in China had taken to the streets from their schools. They made posters, speeches, criticized Party leaders, and some committed violent acts in the name of the Cultural Revolution. Mao met a million Red Guards formally in [|Tiananmen Square] on August 18, 1966. Many people in realms of education, academic, media, literature and punishment were attacked and labeled by the Red Guards as "capitalist roaders" or "anti-revolutionaries". The Red Guards ransacked museums and destroyed old books and works of art throughout China. Many famous temples, shrines, and other heritage sites were destroyed. In total, 4,922 out of 6,843 were destroyed. Zhang Chengzhi attempted to control the violence by writing petitions to senior party officials, but The People's Daily responded by publishing a phrase of Mao's; //"Good, very Good"//, which originated from Mao's speech on peasant violence against landlords during the 1920's. Many top party officials, such as [|Liu Shaoqi], [|Deng Xiaoping] and [|Peng Dehuai] were attacked by the Red Guards.

[|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Guards_(China]

Abandonment of one's father (Mao was their God) "My father is the best person in the world. Teacher, you must have heard wrong," I said. My whole body trembled, and my voice quivered as well. He was remarkably patient with me, spelling it out slowly: "You know I am very fond of you. You msut listen to me. Your father used to be a good man, but he has changed. He has been obstructing the Revolution in his workplace. He would never let you know of his activities. Why? Because you are a good child, and he was afraid if you found out, you would turn against him. haven't you seen counterrevolutionarie in the movies? Some of them start out as revolutionaries, but then become traitors, real scoundrels. Do you understand? Yes, you understand. I dearly wish your father hadn't changed, but he has. And now you must make a clean break with him."
 * -->Personal Stories Regarding the Cultural Revolution**

Crying, I believed him. It was that simple. From that moment on, I completely severed relations with my father. From the time he was made a Rightist until the day he died, I never saw him again.

From Confessional, Female, age 19 in 1966 in Ten Years of Madness: Oral Histories of China's Cultural Revolution

Family woes My heart brightened: my brother is back, that's great, he's been released. But my mother's face darkened immediately, and she said, "He dead, let's go home!" When I arrived [home], my brother's body was laid out on a plank bed. His head wasn't much more than a skin-covered skull, and I had look long and hard before I could recognize him. My mother told me that when she touched my brother's stomach, she could feel his backbone. Where was his intestines, his stomach, all the stuff that was supposed to be in his gut?

--The narrator was labeled a Rightist. His brother was imprisoned for denying this, and starved to death. From It's Hard to Explain, Male, age 32 in 1966 in Ten Years of Madness: Oral Histories of China's Cultural Revolution