Changes

====Cultural Revolution====

====Cultural Revolution====

[[File:Li660912-1-b.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Self-criticism and public shaming is the core of Progressive rectification. The signs read, "Right-wing extremist."]]

[[File:Def01.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Poster from the Maoist Cultural Revolition.[http://web.archive.org/web/20121015190740/http://www2.okcu.edu/honors/colloquiums.pdf] ]]

:{{See also|Cultural Revolution}}

:{{See also|Cultural Revolution}}

In the early 1960s, State President Liu Shaoqi and his protégé, Party General Secretary Deng Xiaoping, took over direction of the party and adopted pragmatic economic policies at odds with Mao's revolutionary vision. Dissatisfied with China's new direction and his own reduced authority, Party Chairman Mao launched a massive political attack on Liu, Deng, and other pragmatists in the spring of 1966. The new movement, the "Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution," was unprecedented in communist history. For the first time, a section of the Chinese communist leadership sought to rally popular opposition against another leadership group. China was set on a course of political and social anarchy that lasted the better part of a decade.  

In the early 1960s, State President Liu Shaoqi and his protégé, Party General Secretary Deng Xiaoping, took over direction of the party and adopted pragmatic economic policies at odds with Mao's revolutionary vision. Dissatisfied with China's new direction and his own reduced authority, Party Chairman Mao launched a massive political attack on Liu, Deng, and other pragmatists in the spring of 1966. The new movement, the "Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution," was unprecedented in communist history. For the first time, a section of the Chinese communist leadership sought to rally popular opposition against another leadership group. China was set on a course of political and social anarchy that lasted the better part of a decade.  

Gradually, Red Guard and other radical activity subsided, and the Chinese political situation stabilized along complex factional lines. The leadership conflict came to a head in September 1971, when Party Vice Chairman and Defense Minister [[Lin Biao]] reportedly tried to stage a coup against Mao; Lin Biao later died in a plane crash in Mongolia.  

Gradually, Red Guard and other radical activity subsided, and the Chinese political situation stabilized along complex factional lines. The leadership conflict came to a head in September 1971, when Party Vice Chairman and Defense Minister [[Lin Biao]] reportedly tried to stage a coup against Mao; Lin Biao later died in a plane crash in Mongolia.  

 

Mao's regime imposed strict controls over everyday life and cost the lives of tens of millions of people. The [[Cultural Revolution]] of 1966-76 was inspired by Mao and devastated the intellectual class. Tens of thousands of intellectuals and teachers were educators were insulted, tortured, driven to suicide or executed by their students. Mobilized as members of the Red Guards, a new youth organization, the students attacked the educators as "capitalist intellectuals." From 1967 to 1978, the state "send-down" (rustication) policy 17 million urban youth to live and work in rural areas, with a permanent negative impact on their intellectual development and careers.<ref>Xueguang Zhou and Liren Hou, "Children of the Cultural Revolution: the State and the Life Course in the People's Republic of China." ''American Sociological Review'' 1999 64(1): 12-36. Issn: 0003-1224 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2657275 in Jstor ]</ref>  

Mao's regime imposed strict controls over everyday life and cost the lives of tens of millions of people. The [[Cultural Revolution]] of 1966-76 was inspired by Mao and devastated the intellectual class. Tens of thousands of intellectuals and teachers were educators were insulted, tortured, driven to suicide or executed by their students. Mobilized as members of the Red Guards, a new youth organization, the students attacked the educators as "capitalist intellectuals." From 1967 to 1978, the state "send-down" (rustication) policy 17 million urban youth to live and work in rural areas, with a permanent negative impact on their intellectual development and careers.<ref>Xueguang Zhou and Liren Hou, "Children of the Cultural Revolution: the State and the Life Course in the People's Republic of China." ''American Sociological Review'' 1999 64(1): 12-36. Issn: 0003-1224 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2657275 in Jstor ]</ref>