Changes

Throughout most of the [[Cold War]] era, the United States and its allies adopted a Two-China policy, referring to Mainland China as [[Red China]], and the allied Taiwanese government as [[Free China]].  The government of Taiwan held the permanent seat assigned to China on the United Nations Security Council from the founding of the United Nations Charter in 1945, until Red China's accession to the post in 1971.  Since 1971, Red China, or the Peoples Republic of China, has insisted upon a One-China policy in all its diplomatic relations.  The common reference to Mainland China as "China" proper in American academia and media, in accordance with PRC propaganda and its foreign policy stance, is a relatively late development of more recent decades.

Throughout most of the [[Cold War]] era, the United States and its allies adopted a Two-China policy, referring to Mainland China as [[Red China]], and the allied Taiwanese government as [[Free China]].  The government of Taiwan held the permanent seat assigned to China on the United Nations Security Council from the founding of the United Nations Charter in 1945, until Red China's accession to the post in 1971.  Since 1971, Red China, or the Peoples Republic of China, has insisted upon a One-China policy in all its diplomatic relations.  The common reference to Mainland China as "China" proper in American academia and media, in accordance with PRC propaganda and its foreign policy stance, is a relatively late development of more recent decades.

===Great Leap Forward===

====Great Leap Forward====

The Great Leap Forward (1958–60) and the Cultural Revolution (1966–76) were the two worst periods of leftist domination in the history of China. Deng Xiaoping claimed the death toll to be 16 million, while the lowest estimate is 8 million <ref>Mao: The Real Story by Alexander P. Pantsov with Steven I. Levine, pg. 472</ref>  

The Great Leap Forward (1958–60) and the Cultural Revolution (1966–76) were the two worst periods of leftist domination in the history of China. Deng Xiaoping claimed the death toll to be 16 million, while the lowest estimate is 8 million <ref>Mao: The Real Story by Alexander P. Pantsov with Steven I. Levine, pg. 472</ref>  

Although the Great Leap Forward was much more disastrous in both human and economic terms, the Cultural Revolution receives the more negative assessment in China. This harsher review of the Cultural Revolution stems from the facts that it occurred more recently, was much longer in duration, and that many of its victims were cadres and intellectuals.<ref>William A. Joseph,  "A Tragedy of Good Intentions: Post-mao Views of the Great Leap Forward." ''Modern China'' 1986 12(4): 419-457. Issn: 0097-7004 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/189257 in Jstor ]</ref>  Mao said, {{quotebox|“What can Emperor [[Qin Shi Huang]] brag about? He only killed 460 [[Confucius|Confucian]] scholars, but we killed 46,000 intellectuals. There are people who accuse us of practicing dictatorship like Emperor Qin Shi Huang, and we admit to it all. It fits the reality. It is a pity that they did not give us enough credit, so we need to add to it.”<ref>http://www.ninecommentaries.com/english-3</ref>}}

Although the Great Leap Forward was much more disastrous in both human and economic terms, the Cultural Revolution receives the more negative assessment in China. This harsher review of the Cultural Revolution stems from the facts that it occurred more recently, was much longer in duration, and that many of its victims were cadres and intellectuals.<ref>William A. Joseph,  "A Tragedy of Good Intentions: Post-mao Views of the Great Leap Forward." ''Modern China'' 1986 12(4): 419-457. Issn: 0097-7004 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/189257 in Jstor ]</ref>  Mao said, {{quotebox|“What can Emperor [[Qin Shi Huang]] brag about? He only killed 460 [[Confucius|Confucian]] scholars, but we killed 46,000 intellectuals. There are people who accuse us of practicing dictatorship like Emperor Qin Shi Huang, and we admit to it all. It fits the reality. It is a pity that they did not give us enough credit, so we need to add to it.”<ref>http://www.ninecommentaries.com/english-3</ref>}}

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

====Cultural Revolution====

In the early stages of the Cultural Revolution, Mao and his "closest comrade in arms," National Defense Minister Lin Biao, charged Liu, Deng, and other top party leaders with dragging China back toward capitalism. Radical youth organizations, called Red Guards, attacked party and state organizations at all levels, seeking out leaders who would not bend to the radical wind. 

 

Mao was discredited by the failure of the Great Leap Forward, and power shifted to the party boss Liu Shaoqi and his prot&#233;g&#233;, Deng Xiaoping. Dissatisfied with China's new direction and his own reduced authority, Mao launched a massive political attack on Liu, Deng, and other pragmatists in the spring of 1966.

 

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>

 

The upheaval was not limited to the cities.  Maoist political ideology and teachings provided the catalyst for village conflicts that brought out traditional grievances and further escalated the conflicts. Some of the catalysts were student activists carrying out Mao's teachings, factional disputes, and the Four Clean-up campaigns that purged village officials and corruption. These conflicts spread to traditional grievances like lineage and hamlet hostilities and disputes over leadership and rights. Often, the conflicts caused by Party politics intersected traditional conflicts to the extent that the root causes of the conflicts were lost. This resulted in further escalation of the conflicts, which became more complex and widespread.

In the early stages of the Cultural Revolution, Mao and [[Lin Biao]] charged Liu, Deng, and other top party leaders with dragging China back toward capitalism. In 1971, Lin Biao was accused of plotting against Mao. He fled Beijing and died in a plane crash in Mongolia.  

In rural China an estimated 750,000 to 1.5 million people were killed, and about as many permanently injured; 36 million who suffered some form of political persecution. The vast majority of these casualties occurred from 1968 to 1971, after the end of the period of popular rebellion and factional conflict and the establishment of provisional organs of local state power.<ref>Jonathan Unger, "Cultural Revolution Conflict in the Villages." ''China Quarterly'' 1998 (153): 82-106. Issn: 0305-7410 [http://www.jstor.org/pss/655831 in Jstor] ; Andrew G. Walder, and Yang Su, "The Cultural Revolution in the Countryside: Scope, Timing and Human Impact." ''China Quarterly'' 2003 (173): 74-99. Issn: 0305-7410</ref> 

The ideological struggle between more pragmatic, veteran party officials and the radicals re-emerged with a vengeance in late 1975. Mao's wife, [[Jiang Qing]], and three close Cultural Revolution associates (later dubbed the "[[Gang of Four]]") launched a campaign against Deng, who was stripped of all official positions.

Mao's policies were illustrated in posters that used art for political purposes. The posters glorified Mao, criticized his opponents, urged cooperation among all revolutionary groups, and condemned capitalism and foreign imperialists.<ref>Patricia Powell, and Joseph Wong, "Propaganda Posters from the Chinese Cultural Revolution." ''Historian'' 1997 59(4): 776-793. Issn: 0018-2370 in [[EBSCO]]</ref>  Major leadership changes and purges occurred at the top, involving [[Lin Biao]], the [[Gang of Four]], and Deng Xiaoping.

===Deng and successors===

===Deng and successors===