IntroductionChange is inevitable but what changes can change many things? Mao was a revolutionary that changed the whole China, basically wiping all of the old culture and replacing the culture he wants. He wanted to be praised, the man who helped them through the toughest times but instead he became their god and the supreme controller of the whole china for more than a decade. To do this he manipulated many people to be his soldiers. These soldiers were the Red Guards. They wrecked havoc and killed many, many intellectuals. I was a professor living at that time and I experienced this revolution. This was The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. I would like to share to you about what happened and what I experienced with my journal entries during the revolution. This may give you a different perspective about this revolution.

Dazibao Posting

I teach Physics at Beida University in Beijing. I am very well known and am very happy. My parents were high class, very rich landlords. Personally I have been very sad these past 10 years. Many people died in the Great Leap Forward. As I walked through the University one day, I read the posters:

“Long Live Chairman Mao! Our professors are feeding us garbage! The road to capitalism is what our professors are going on! Those who teach against Chairman Mao are writists! Die for teaching us these things!”

These were called Dazibao’s I was heartbroken. I fled to the restroom and cried. The tears were swelling up my eyes and I walk out depressed and miserable. This was not cool, criticizing the hard working professors. Okay maybe my grandfather was rich but that doesn’t mean that I am a Capitalist or a writist! I am merely a young professor trying to teach people about physics. This was a very rude demonstration and Mao saw it. He says he might tell the whole China to do this, so he would get more power... Mao is making us victims of crimes that we did not do.

I am terrified and not knowing what to do, I go home and eat with my wife and young son. I sit on my bed and think of what I can do to stop this, what I can do to avoid it. What should I do? This is serious and everyone knows it. How will the future of China be like now? Kids saying adults suck and are worthless? How will this end? Will all the professors be exiled? Will they be killed? Will the government stop the young men and women? I really just want to teach so I can raise my family.

Mao greets the Red Guards at Tiananmen Square. The Red Guards gather in Tiananmen Square. They are millions of them. From the side I see the people buying into this

propaganda, Mao can’t fool me. I have experienced The Great Leap Forward and that failed. We all believed him but it back fired on the villages and farmers. They had no food and everyone that wasn’t in the city was starving. I’ve seen how terrible it can be, famine was the problem with the food. This time he wants to destroy people. If he couldn’t really control the food how can he control the officials? This going to start very soon and I want no part in it. I believe Mao will destroy big parts of China. They want to start The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, appealing for young people but actually a way that is bad. They brainwashed them. How would they think? I think there are two types of people here they are:

Mao! What a glorious character, full of spirit and righteousness. I have served my country well for embracing the thoughts of the quotations of Chairman Mao! Someday I will stand beside him like one of his officers. I really hope to destroy Capitalism because it is ruining all the Communism in China! Today we gather to experience revolution! Like a flying flock of crows attacking the worthless and the useless! XO

or maybe someone who was peer pressured into

Mao. He is strong and powerful, everyone is thinking he is great and the best. I don’t think so, I don’t like communism. It just doesn’t work out. Everyone is doing it though, if I don’t I might be humiliated or maybe even killed! We are here in Tiananmen Square today to show our love for our country and Mao but I just don’t feel it. I hope this ends soon so I can go back to work. :\

These are two perspectives that I think are important. They both show interest in supporting communism but both have different reasons. One is because he believes communism, the other that wants to live.

The January Storm

February 5th 1967

The communist party is very victorious. They have killed and exiled some of the government officials. This may sound weird out of context but because those communist party officials were on a road to capitalism. They were going to change the way the communist party work. Although they have some flaws my ancestors have worked very hard to help the communist party. Years of those men slowly bitting into the communist country. Why would they do that? When they do that that makes me mad. People criticized Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping they were doing wrong things and driving our country in the wrong way. The red guards were just as or maybe stronger than the People’s Liberation army. Mid January the Red Guards went back to their villages and cities and “destroyed” the injustice. They drove the government officials and intellectuals out. The Red Guards raided and looted anywhere they wanted and killed anyone they wanted. During this period this happened all across China. Many people died with humiliation. I felt sad for those people and tried hiding myself. All the schools and universities closed. All was shut down. I don’t even know we would live after this. Many people will be out of jobs and these red guards will just keep on killing.

Down to the countryside

Living in a reeducation camp is bad but going to the countryside? That is worse. During the 1970 Mao promoted going to the countryside and that it was good for the country. The people believed him and were sent to the countryside. I was lucky, I didn’t go but I have seen people go. The people left to the countryside but rarely came back, for 2 years this has been going on and I have only met 1 person that came back, they were the very fortunate ones. The unfortunate ones were working hard on a field in the countryside. This is all fake, I believe that even if Mao is helping us, the people are having the worst times of their lives. My sister went to the countryside and I haven’t seen her since, this makes me really sad and depressed. I haven’t even had a letter sent from her, for all I know she could be already dead. In the blazing sun people would be worked to death, some even were so tired after they worked they could not move, just siting on a chair waiting to die sooner. Everybody was happy at first of coarse and then it started again just like the red guards and the great leap forward, they all failed. If enthusiastic at first it doesn’t matter for 1 month, 1 week, 1 day it doesn’t help the future. It doesn’t help the people. They seem to appeal to the people but actually it is just for Mao to gain more power. Mao changed the people’s minds, he played with them and manipulated them. In my opinion he is merely a dictator but as a communist figure. I don’t know how he does it but after mistake and mistake people still listen and fight for him, I won’t, I know better not to do things for Mao unless it is mandatory.

The death of Mao

Mao’s death was the most significant event that happened in the whole Cultural Revolution. Mao was the center of the Cultural Revolution, he did nothing but wreck the Chinese society during this period. He encouraged killing people that you didn’t like, rob and loot the rich. Go to poor people places to get tired to death. Mao was god to these people, whatever Mao said went. It was very skilled of him to take control people and use them as pawns in his chess game. From the start, a young man that was with a few people starting a revolution then became a small party of a few hundred people, faster and faster the news spread and the word of communism started being recognized. The KMT were in trouble, the Communist party wanted to take over, luckily the KMT had america but because the Japanese starting attacking china in WWII the KMT had no other choice but to protect China. Soon they were alone, Mao and the KMT, Mao’s idea was of the people but the KMT’s were of the rich people. They fought and Mao won, he then became a Chairman of China and the superpower of China. He was the savior, he was the visionary, he was the one who reunited China, but after all of this he still was human, he had greed. He started the Great Leap Forward and failed then the started the Cultural Revolution to gain power, all of Mao’s life was a power struggle between him and anyone else. When Mao died everyone in China was sad, they were brainwashed to see Mao to be a genius god. Their god had died and they didn’t know what they should do. There was lost and were trying to find closure. I believe Mao changed China in 30% bad 70% good.

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