From the Great Leap Forward to the Cultural Revolution

1959-1965

December 1958

• Mao steps down as Chairman of the COUNTRY, but remains Chairman of the PARTY.

• Liu Shaoqi becomes chairman of the COUNTRY – AKA President of China.

July 1959 Lushun Conference (AKA Lushan Conference)

• Peng Dehuai wrote a letter to Mao criticizing the Great Leap Forward.

• Mao circulated the letter to the whole Central Committee

• Mao accused Peng of being a rightist, of deviating from the general line and of echoing criticisms the USSR was making.

• Peng was dismissed as Defense Minister and placed under house arrest.

• Peng was replaced by Lin Biao

Peng Dehuai Lin Biao

Significance of Lushan Conference• 6 million other party members were forced to

make self-criticisms, and many were dismissed from the party.

• The Great Leap Forward continued (although the backyard steel campaign ended) and policies were slightly more sensible

• From this point, it was clear that even old comrades and members of the politburo couldn’t get away with open opposition to Mao.

• Incident inspired the 1961 play Hai Rui Dismissed from Office by Wu Han (Historian and Deputy Mayor of Beijing)

1961 CCP quietly begins to undo the policies of the Great Leap Forward

• Communal canteens abandoned. • Peasants allowed to cultivate private plots.• Financial incentives introduced for peasants and

industrial workers. • Several state run enterprises closed. • Rural markets permitted. • Communes gradually disbanded. • Many of the “rightists” purged in 1957-8 were

rehabilitated.

“China needs intellectuals, needs scientists. For all these years they have been unfairly treated. They should be restored to the position they deserve.”

- Vice President Chen Li

1961: Opera version of Wu Han’s Hai Rui Dismissed from Office comes out.

• This was a play about a Ming dynasty official who was dismissed (and sentenced to death) for giving honest criticism to the emperor. (The emperor died before the sentence could be carried out.) The opera was a hit in China, especially after Mao praised it.

• In 1965 Yao Wenyuan denounced the work, saying that it was an obvious allegory of the Peng Dehui dismissal. Wu Han was arrested and later died in prison at the age of 50 in 1969. He was posthumously rehabilitated in 1979. Yao Wenyuan and the other members of the Gang of Four launched the Cultural Revolution, aimed at purging Chinese culture of anti-communist influences.

1962: Beginning of Third Five Year Plan

• Designed by Chen Yun (a self-taught economist who had also criticized the Great Leap forward, but somehow avoided being lumped in with Peng Dehui), with the support of Deng Xiaoping, Liu Shaoqi, Zhou Enlai.

• Centralized planning instead of the decentralized planning of the communes

• Targets reviewed every year making them realistic and flexible.

• Continued with financial incentives for workers and peasants.

Results of the Third Five Year Plan

• By 1965, agricultural production had recovered to pre 1938 levels.

• Light indstry expanded 27%.• Heavy industry expanded by 17%. • Oil production increased 1000% and natural

gas by 4000%, meaning China no longer had to import oil and gas from the USSR, which was good, because the relationship with theUSSR had broken down.

January 1962: Mao calls a conference to warn against “revisionism”

• 7000 party members attended, but instead of agreeing with Mao that the party was in danger of drifting away from its socialist ideals, Liu Shaoqi made a speech praising Mao for his correct leadership, but adding that “It is necessary to point out that the primary responsibility for the shortcomings and errors in our work in these past few years lies with the Party centre.”

January 1962 conference (continued)• This forced Mao to make a somewhat self-critical speech:

“Any mistakes that the centre has made ought to be my direct responsibility, and I also have an indirect share of the blame because I am chairman of the Central Committee. I don’t want other people to shirk their responsibility. There are some other comrades who also bear responsibility, but the primary person responsible should be me.”

Mao did not get the support he wanted and he felt humiliated and threatened. He withdrew from public life for a few months.

June 1962 Deng Xiaoping’s famous quote:

“It doesn’t matter if the cat is black or white; so long as it catches the mouse, it is a good cat.”

1962 Liu Shaoqi advocates improving relations with the USA and USSR.

1962 Summer Conference: Mao makes a speech attacking the “capitalist road” being taken by Liu and Deng, calling it “revisionism”.

• Liu and Deng responded by agreeing with Mao, but continuing their economic policies quietly.

1964 Socialist Education Movement

AIMS1)Aimed at teaching everyone about the virtues

of Socialism2)Aimed at stamping out corruption in the

countryside – ie abuses by officials in charge of grain requisitioning, allocating labour, accounting, etc.

1964 Socialist Education Movement

METHODSMao had wanted “the masses” to conduct

nationwide struggle sessions against party officials. Instead, Lui sent thousands of party members form the cities were sent to the countryside to learn from the peasants about the virtues of manual labour and to investigate rural officials. Thousands of officials were executed and many more committed suicide.

1962-65 Mao works increasingly closely with Lin Biao

• 1963: Lin Biao compiles Mao’s Quotations in to the “Little Red Book” and distributes it to the armyhttp://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/works/red-book/

1962-65 Mao works increasingly closely with Lin Biao

• Number of party members in PLA increased.

• Political indoctrination, especially reverence for Mao emphasized.

• 1965 – Ranks abolished.

1963 Diary of Lei Feng published

• Lei Feng was a dedicated communist from childhood, completely selfless and devoted to the cause. He was a member of the Communist youth League, and he joined the PLA transportation corp at the age of 20. At the age of 22 in 1962, he tragically died in an accident. Lei Feng, Chinese propaganda poster. The

caption reads: Follow Lei Feng's example; Love the Party, Love Socialism, Love the People.

1963 Diary of Lei Feng published

• The Diary details Lei Feng’s many good deeds.

• Chinese people, especially the youth, were encouraged to follow Lei Feng’s example. This movement has outlasted Mao.

Lei Feng, Chinese propaganda poster. The caption reads: Follow Lei Feng's example; Love the Party, Love Socialism, Love the People.

Excerpts from the Diary of Lei

Feng21 October, 1960: "I found comrade Wang Yan

sitting apart watching everyone eat lunch. He answered, 'This morning I ate two boxes, so I didn't bring any food.' So I took my own lunch box and gave it to him to eat. Even though I was a little hungry, letting him eat his fill was my greatest happiness...'"

Excerpts from the Diary of Lei Feng "...I thought, a

newly-established people's commune will certainly have many problems. I am a PLA soldier, so I must use real actions to provide help. Thinking of these things, I went to the bank and withdrew 200 yuan...."

Excerpts from the Diary of Lei Feng

"Only by understanding revolutionary truth can one become a good soldier for Chairman Mao. I want to actively study Chairman Mao's works. Sometimes I won't put down my studying even in the bathroom. The army mandated lights-out at 9:00, so I bought a flashlight and study under my covers..."

Excerpts from the Diary of Lei Feng "I've studied all of the

documents from the 8th Plenary Session of the CPC 8th Central Committee, and I thought to myself, what can I do for the People's Commune? If I collect manure for fertilizer, I can collect more than 500 pounds in a month and send it to the commune. If the commune wants to figure the money, I'll say that I don't have any gift to give to the commune; this manure is my gift"

Excerpts from the Diary of Lei Feng "Our comrade Qiao Anshan is less educated than other people. He doesn't have enough confidence in his studies. His head hurts whenever he studies math. He doesn't bring a notebook to class, and sometimes skips classes. One day, I had him do homework, but he said his pencil had gotten lost. I gave him mine, and helped him staple together an homework notebook. This got to him - his enthusiasm for his studies gradually improved, and his test scores weren't that bad.”

November 1965

Yao Wenyuan (radical leftist theatre critic in Shanghai and member of the now infamous “Gang of Four”) criticizes Hai Rui Dismissed from Office. (Wu Han was jailed a few months later. He died in prison either from suicide, TB or the effects of beatings in 1969.)

Mao moves to Shanghai

Dramatis Personae

Mao’s Wives

1) Liu Yixiu (1889-1910) A marriage arranged by Mao’s father in 1907 when she was 18 and Mao was 14. Mao never acknowledged it. He left for university and lived as a single man.

Mao’s Wives2) Yang Kaihiu (1901-1930): Daughter of

Mao’s favourite professor at teaching college. Married Mao in 1920 when Mao was 27. Captured by the GMD in 1930 and tortured to death in front of her eight-year-old son, refusing to denounce her husband and the CCP. She bore Mao three sons, one of whom was lost in the civil war, the eldest killed in the Korean War and the middle one was afflicted with mental illness and died in 2007.

Mao’s Wives3) He Zizhen (1909-1984) Mao’s third wife.

She married him in 1930 when she was 21 and Mao was 37. (I get the impression he was already living with her when the news of his second wife’s death came). She was an expert on guerrilla warfare. She was part of the Long March, during which she had to abandon most of her children to be raised by peasants. This, combined with her husband’s frequent affairs seems to have affected her badly. In 1937 she was sent to Moscow to be hospitalized for mental illness. Mao remarried in 1938.

The Gang of Four: Jiang Qing 1914-1991

Mao’s fourth wife - a former film actress from Shanghai. She married him in Yan’an in 1939. In 1966, Lin Biao appointed her to coordinate the PLA’s cultural policies. She made it her goal to eradicate “feudal and bourgeois” art forms and replace them with Socialist art forms. For instance, she insisted that the entire canon of Chinese opera be replaced with the “Eight Model Operas”. She used her position as Mao’s wife to push through radical social policies on his behalf and to attack his enemies. After his death, she was arrested, blamed for the excesses of the Cultural Revolution and sentenced to death. The death sentence was commuted to life in prison. She committee suicide in 1991. During her trial, she refused to acknowledge the authority of the court. When the sentence was read , she yelled out “I was Mao’s dog. Whoever he told me to bite I bit.”

The Gang of Four: Zhang Chunqiao1917-2005

Shanghai writer and journalist whose radical articles helped publicize the ideology of the Cultural Revolution. He led the Shanghai revolutionary committee during the Cultural Revolution. In 1969 he was appointed to the Politburo. In 1975 he was appointed second deputy Prime Minister. After Mao’s death, he was arrested and sentenced to death (commuted to life in prison).

The Gang of Four: Yao Wenyuan1931-2005

Shanghai literary critic who criticized the play Hai Rui Dismissed from Office in a Shanghai newspaper in November 1965, kicking off the Cultural Revolution. During the Cultural Revolution, he was an active member of “Proletarian Writers for Purity” and he edited the “Liberation Daily” newspaper in Shanghai. In 1969 he was appointed to the Politburo. After Mao’s death in 1976 he was arrested and sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment.

The Gang of Four: Wang Hongwen1935-1992

Born in Manchuria (then Manchukuo). He served in the Chinese army during the Korean war and then was sent to Shanghai to work as a security guard There he met Zhang Chunqiao and became one of the first Red Guards. He was appointed to the Politburo in 1969 and became Vice Chairman of the party in 1973, third in rank after Mao and Lin Biao.

Lin Biao (1907-1971)One of the top generals in the PLA. He was the son of a small landlord, but joined the Socialist Youth League in 1925. He attended Whampoa Military Academy, where he became a protégé of Zhou Enlai. He graduated in 1927 at the age of 18 and was immediately pressed into service in the Northern Expedition. By 1927, he was a colonel . After the Shanghai massacre, he joined Mao and Zhu De in Jiangxi. He performed brilliantly during both phases of the Civil War and during the war against the Japanese. After thepurge of Peng Dehui in 1959, he became defense minister of China. He worked closely with Mao. He compiled Mao’s quotations into the “Little Red Book” and made all soldiers study them. After the purge of Liu Shaoqi, he was appointed Mao’s second in command and successor.

Lin Biao (1907-1971) contnuedMao’s physician believed that Lin was mentally unbalanced. He seems to have spent some time in some sort of medical treatment in the 1950s. In 1971 Mao hinted that he thought Lin was getting too power-hungry. It seems that at that point Lin decided to try to overthrow Mao. The plot was discovered and Lin tried to flee in a ‘plane. The ‘plane went down inMongolia because it ran out of fuel. Lin Biao’s defection was so embarrassing for the CCP that they waited nearly a year before announcing it. They the launched a “Criticize Lin Biao and Confucius” campaign. This abrupt about-face disillusioned a lot of Chinese people about the Cultural Revolution and the CCP.

The Cultural Revolution

1966-76

Zhu De 1886-1976Son of wealthy landlord in Sichuan, he participated in the 1911 revolution. When Yuan Shikai suppressed the GMD, he was forced into exile. From 1916-1922 Zhue De became a warlord and struggled with drug addiction. In 1922, he travelled to Europe where he met Zhou Enlai. He returned to China in 1926. After 1927 he was the military commander of the Jiangzi Soviet. He played an important role in coming up with the tactics of guerrilla warfare. He was so important that he and Mao were collectively known as “Zhu Mao”. He was one of the leaders of the Long March and led the PLA until 1954. From 1954 to 1967 he was deputy chairman of the People’s Republic of China and Chairman of the National People’s Congress. In 1967 he was denounced by Red Guards and dismissed from his positions, but he was not harmed or imprisoned. He seems to have been protected by Zhou Enlai. In 1971, he was restored to his positions.

Zhou Enlai (1898-1976)Born into a wealthy well educated family that fell on hard times, Zhou won scholarships to study in Japan, China and Paris. He was active in the anti-Japanese campaign during the May Fourth movement. He joined the Communist Party in Paris in 1922 and was active in organizing his fellow Chinese students studying in Europe to support the CCP. In 1924, he returned to China and was put in charge of the CCP military affairs. During the United Front, he was on the staff at the Whampoa Military Academy under the command of Chiang Kaishek. Zhou never

seems to have trusted the GMD. He set about recruiting as many soldiers and officers as possible to the CCP, keeping their enrollments secret. When Chiang dismissed the known communists from the army, Zhou set about organizing labourers in Shanghai. He managed to escape the Shanghai terror in 1927. From 1928-29 he was in the USSR. In 1931 he moved to Jiangxi and, with the support of the Comintern largely displaced Mao as leader of that base and the party.

Zhou Enlai (continued)In 1935 at the Zunyi conference, he threw his support behind Mao and thereafter deferred to him as leader of the party. He negotiated the Second United Front with Chiang Kaishek in 1937. From 1949-1976 he served as China’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister. During the Cultural Revolution, he is credited with protecting relics like the Forbidden City and individuals like Deng Xiaoping and Zhu De from the worst excesses of the Red Guards. In 1975, the Gang of Four began to direct their sights on him, but he died in January 1976, before they could do any serious damage. Therewas a huge outpouring of mourning, with thousands of wreaths being placed in Tiananmen Square. This was interpreted as a veiled protest against the government.

Deng Xiaoping (1904-1997)In 1919, at the age of 15, Deng was sent with a group of students to study in France. He ended up working in factories in Paris, where he converted to Socialism and met Zhou Enlai. He became a leading member of the CCP youth branch in Europe. In 1926 he studied in the USSR and then returned to China. He attempted an uprising against the GMD in Guangxi province and then moved to the Jiangxi Soviet. He held important positions during the Long March, the war against Japan and the Civil War. He supported Mao in the anti-Rightist Campaign. During the Great Leap Forward, he served as General Secretary of the Secretariat, working closely with Liu Shaoqi. From 1959 onwards he and Liu quietly undid most of the impractical policies of the Great Leap Forward. When Mao

Deng Xiaoping (continued)launched the Cultural Revolution, Deng was denounced as a capitalist roader and forced to resign his offices and move to Jiangxi to work as a labourer in a tractor factory. In the meantime, his son, a student at Beida was targeted by Red Guards, tortured and thrown (or driven to jump) from a fourth floor window. He is now a parapalegic. When Lin Biao died in 1971, Deng became the most respected surviving former military leader, which increased his influence.

When Zhou Enlai became ill with cancer in 1974, he talked Mao into bringing Deng back and making him deputy Prime Minister. Deng worked to restore the economy while being careful to express loyalty to Mao Zedong thought. In 1975, he was targeted along with Zhou Enlai. After Zhou’s death, Deng was blamed for the Tiananmen incident and withdrew from public life. He was

Deng Xiaoping (Continued)saved further persecution by Mao’s death in 1976. Over the next few weeks, he emerged as the de facto leader of China (although his position was unofficial). He ended the Cultural Revolution, and opened China to the west and to capitalistic economic policies. On the other hand, he was also the leader during the Tiananmen Incident of June 4 1989.

Peng Dehuai