Cultural Revolution

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'Criticize the old world and build a new world with Mao Zedong thought as a weapon.'

The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution was a political, social, and cultural movement espoused by Mao Zedong and embraced by urban Chinese teenagers. Though the 'official' record shows that the Cultural Revolution began in 1966 and ended in 1969, it did not truly end until 1976 with the death of Mao.

Created as a way to 'purify' Chinese arts and society, the Cultural Revolution targeted the Four Olds and conflicting political parties. The broad definition of what made something old or what made someone a Rightist were broad, and the bands of teenagers, known as Red Guards, often turned to violence.

As the Cultural Revolution continued, students were encouraged to travel around China in order to meet peasants. Red Guards' train fares were free, giving many youths their first chance to see the countryside. They were encouraged to, and later forced to, work on farms in order to live a peasant life. When the Cultural Revolution ended many of the students were unable to return to their cities of origin having registered their hukou, or registration, to the countryside.