u/The-MT-Sant - originally from r/GenZhou
Taking a modern Chinese History class right now and a lot of it can be your typical weird, Western, propagandistic gobbley gook that amounts to “communism bad China bad”. However, we’re currently on the section regarding the Cultural Revolution and it seems like something that even the modern Communist Party acknowledges as a mistake, with the rehabilitation of many figures under Deng Xiapoing in the 80s. It also (at least form how it is being taught) seems like something that was simply objectively bad and used as a crackdown on individual rights. We are also required to read “Son of A Revolution” by Liang Heng and Judith Shapiro. Is this a reliable book? Also Do communists typically just look at this era as a mistake made by Mao? Were there any salvageable aspects of this time period? Or should it be looked at as nothing more than a stain on the Party’s record and something that needs to be learned from? Furthermore, do you think that the Cultural Revolution was motivated by genuine fear of external pressure attempting to destabilize China or more so the party and Mao’s paranoia that a youynger generation wouldn’t hold the same fervor for revolution that the generation that actively participated in it did? Lots of questions I know (haha) but any information about Chinese historians, communists, or the CCP views this era would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

  • archive_botOPB
    2·
    4 年前

    u/cbaltmackie - originally from r/GenZhou
    The official position of the Communist Party of China regarding the Cultural Revolution:

    Regrettably, the correct line adopted at the Party’s Eighth National Congress was not fully upheld. Mistakes were made such as the Great Leap Forward and the people’s commune movement, and the scope of the struggle against Rightists was also made far too broad. Confronted with a grave and complex external environment at the time, the Party was extremely concerned about consolidating China’s socialist state power, and made a wide range of efforts in this regard. However, Comrade Mao Zedong’s theoretical and practical errors concerning class struggle in a socialist society became increasingly serious, and the Central Committee failed to rectify these mistakes in good time. Under a completely erroneous appraisal of the prevailing class relations and the political situation in the Party and the country, Comrade Mao Zedong launched and led the Cultural Revolution. The counter-revolutionary cliques of Lin Biao and Jiang Qing took advantage of Comrade Mao Zedong’s mistakes, and committed many crimes that brought disaster to the country and the people, resulting in ten years of domestic turmoil which caused the Party, the country, and the people to suffer the most serious losses and setbacks since the founding of the People’s Republic. This was an extremely bitter lesson. Acting on the will of the Party and the people, the Political Bureau of the Central Committee resolutely smashed the Gang of Four in October 1976, putting an end to the catastrophic Cultural Revolution.

    https://english.www.gov.cn/policies/latestreleases/202111/16/content_WS6193a935c6d0df57f98e50b0.html

    • archive_botOPB
      0·
      4 年前

      u/AngelMCastillo - originally from r/GenZhou
      Imagine any US government body actually using the word “mistakes” to refer to the actions of its own historical figures, and being frank and honest about its own history in any way like this.