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!
u/Hot_Opportunity_2328 - originally from r/GenZhouIs this really the case with mainstream Maoists though? Do you have sources? I ask because Mao’s On Practice explicitly condemns idealism and dogmatism, and self-professed Maoist comrades around me aren’t hardline about People’s war and Cultural Revolution.
u/ROMEROoscar - originally from r/GenZhouHere is a modern Maoist book publishers kinda classics of Maoism:
https://foreignlanguages.press/works-of-maoism/
They are the works of Mao, the Shining Path of Peru and Jose Sison of the Philippines.
As an aside they also carry works by Lenin, Stalin, Marx, etc for about $6 USD a book. They are a great publisher regardless of if I agree with their ideology.