Turbulent Decade: A History of the Cultural RevolutionThe Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution occurred in the second decade after Mao Zedong and his comrades came to power in 1949. A comprehensive narrative account of this colossal event, written by Yan Jiaqi, one of the principal leaders of China's pro-democracy movement, and his wife, Gao Gao, a noted sociologist, appeared in Hong Kong in 1986 and was quickly banned by the Communist government. Not surprisingly, censorship and restricted circulation in China resulted in underground reproduction and serialization. The work was thus widely read, coveted, and appreciated by a populace who had just freed itself from the cultural drought and political dread of the event. Yan and Gao later spent two years revising and expanding their work. The present volume, Turbulent Decade: A History of the Cultural Revolution, is based on the revised edition and has been masterfully edited and translated by D. W. Y. Kwok in consultation with the authors. Following Professor Kwok's eloquent introduction and a short foreword in which the authors analyze the basic causes of the Cultural Revolution, Part One of the narrative focuses on the years 1965-1967. In two short years, Mao managed to turn public opinion against Liu Shaoqi, president of the Republic, and launch the Cultural Revolution. The reader is introduced to the Red Guards and encounters the cult of personality, the first resistance to the Cultural Revolution, the attack on Zhou Enlai, and the persecution and death of Liu Shaoqi. Part Two examines the rise and fall of Lin Biao during the years 1959-1971. Lin's bid for power, which began with the consolidation of his personal clique in the army and mass-level persecution in the late stages of theCultural Revolution, ended in a failed coup and his death in an air crash. Part Three follows Jiang Qing from 1966 to her arrest in 1976 for her part in instigating mass violence and the persecution of key figures, including Zhou Enlai. During this period, the political fortunes of Deng Xiaoping rose and fell for a second time, the first protest at Tiananmen Square in 1976 ended in a bloody suppression, and that same year the Gang of Four were arrested. Unlike social scientific treatments of political phenomena, Turbulent Decade includes little discussion of economics, still less of international relations, and no institutional analysis. Instead, the authors' fervent belief in the truthful telling of history through its leading personalities pervades the work. |
Contents
The Genesis of the Cultural Revolution | 1 |
Criticizing Hai Rui Dismissed from Office | 23 |
The Struggle around the Question of the Work Groups | 39 |
The Rise of the Red Guards and the Cult of the Individual | 56 |
Declaring War on the Old World | 65 |
Nationwide Networking | 85 |
Bombarding the Command Post | 93 |
Currents of Boycott and Resistance | 101 |
The Failure of the Lin Biao Coup | 318 |
The September 13 Incident and Death of Lin Biao | 327 |
Jiang Qing and the Politics of the Cultural Revolution | 337 |
New Life Created by the Cultural Revolution | 351 |
Special Cases Forced Confessions Fabricated Proof | 356 |
Erasing the Stains of the 1930s | 366 |
Escalation of Armed Struggle | 375 |
Arts Criticism and the Revolution of Beijing Opera | 396 |
From Down with Tao Zhu to Retaliating against | 116 |
Drowning amidst Struggles | 133 |
The Last Days of Liu Shaoqi | 152 |
A Shortcut to the Peak of Power | 179 |
Climbing the Leadership Ladder | 193 |
The Frenzy of False Accusations and Persecutions | 197 |
Shackling Attacking and Oppressing the People | 248 |
Lin Biaos Rein on the Armed Forces | 285 |
The Lushan Conference 1970 | 302 |
The United Flotilla and the 571 Project | 310 |
The September 13 Incident and the Trough | 403 |
Criticize Lin Biao Confucius and the Duke of Zhou | 430 |
Deng Xiaopings Overall Rectification | 453 |
The Tiananmen Square Incident 1976 | 482 |
The Downfall of the Gang of Four | 504 |
Concluding Remarks | 529 |
Glossary | 563 |
579 | |
Selected Further Readings | 611 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
action air force anti-Party armed forces asked attack August became Beijing University Biao's big-character poster cadres capitalist reactionary line capitalist-roaders Central Committee Central Small Group Chairman Mao Chen Boda Chen Yi China chubanshe clique Command Post Comrade Confucius counterrevolutionary criticism Cultural Revolution Deng Xiaoping Deputy Chairman Faxian February Gang of Four Huang Yongsheng insurrectionists January Jiang Qing Kang Sheng leaders Lin Biao Lin Liguo Liu Shaoqi Luo Ruiqing Mao Zedong Thought Mao's masses meeting Middle School Military Commission movement Nanjing organizations Party Central Party Congress Peng Dehuai Peng Zhen People's Daily person Plenum Politburo political premier Proletarian Qing's Qinghua University Qiu Huizuo Red Flag Red Guards Renmin revolutionary ribao September Shanghai slogans struggle Tao Zhu tion Wang Guangmei Wang Hongwen workers wrote Wu Faxian Wuhan Yao Wenyuan Ye Jianying Ye Qun Zhang Chunqiao Zhongnanhai Zhou Enlai Zhou Yuchi Zuopeng
Popular passages
Page 626 - China three-stage development strategy the three main rules of discipline and the eight points for attention...