Red Guards Actions example essay topic

The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, beginning as a campaign targeted at removing Chairman Mao Zedong's political opponents, was a time when practically every aspect of Chinese society was in pandemonium. From 1966 through 1969, Mao encouraged revolutionary committees, including the red guards, to take power from the Chinese Communist party authorities of the state. The Red Guards, the majority being young adults, rose up against their teachers, parents, and neighbors. Following Mao and his ideas, The Red Guard's main goal was to eliminate all remnants of the old culture in China. They were the "frontline implementers" who produced havoc, used bloody force, punished supposed "counter revolutionists", and overthrew government officials, all in order to support their "beloved leader."Red Guards" was a title given to people belonging to many different social groups: workers, peasants, demobilized soldiers and students. A vast majority of the people in this group were youngsters in their mid-teens, who were summoned at their middle schools by Mao.

The Red Guard youth soon turned from obedient to rebellious students. Red Scarf Girl is a novel based on truth, terror and courage during the Cultural Revolution. The following excerpt discusses about the hundreds of wall posters the young Red Guard's wrote, which discriminated against teachers, and members of their community". Sheet after sheet, article after article, each da-zi-bad was a bitter accusation. One was titled, "Teacher Li, Abuser of the Young". The student had failed to hand in her homework on time, and Teacher Li had told her to copy the assignment over five times as punishment.

Another student said his teacher had deliberately ruined his students' eyesight by making them read a lot, so they could not join the Liberation Army. Still another accused Teacher Wang of attempting to corrupt a young revolutionary by buying her some bread when he learned that she had not eaten lunch". (42) With the incentive of being promoted, the youth set out to change the whole educational system. The students denounced the old curriculum and lessons, which taught abstract ideas not pertaining to the revolution. They vilified respectable administrators, whose only intentions were to educate children and turn them into intelligent young adults.

This disruption in the education system set back China's development, and encouraged a new generation of ignoramus people. The youth soon moved from their school to the streets, by making posters, speeches, and committing violent acts in the name of the Cultural Revolution. The role of Red Guard was mainly to attack the "four olds" of society, as well as purging all bourgeois elements within the government. The following excerpt, from an interview between an ex-red guard father and his daughter, explains what the four olds were:" We were told to destroy four types of things: 1 ~ anything of the old feudal culture (relics, statues, monuments); 2 ~ anything connected to capitalism; 3 ~ anything related to the development of the mind (libraries, old university buildings, art, classical musical instruments); 4 ~ traditional Confucian customs, symbols, philosophy and education". (Interview with Mr. Nie) The Red Guards used the four olds as a basic guideline on what to attack and not to attack.

Another standard, which all revolutionary efforts were to be judged by, was from Mao's ideas found in his little red book of quotations. The little red book was a collection of quotations taken from Mao's past speeches and publications. The Red Guards' actions were a reflection of Mao's policy of revamping passion, and destroying counter-revolutionary symbols. "They named and renamed street signs and buildings, and ransacked museums and destroyed old books and works of art.

Many famous buildings like temples and shrines and heritages were destroyed. 4,922 out of a total 6,843 were destroyed". (Encarta). Squads of Red Guards formed, and began to go from house to house, searching for any possible example of corruption, which sometimes included the homes of teachers, relatives, and even their own families.

When the houses were raided and ransacked, anything that was considered "contraband" was destroyed -- at all costs. The Red Guards' allegations against their victims were becoming more and more outrageous and ridiculous. One example of this was that a person could be charged and punished if they didn't own an extra volume of Mao's publications. Along with ransacking houses, they also held public executions for supposed "counter revolutionists" and killed and tortured their relatives. In one of Mao's teachings, he expressed the vitality of everyone being equal in society. "We would never wear anything bright except the [red] armband and tried to look all the same in dress" (interview with Mr. Nie).

This showed how Mao wanted everyone to look uniform, and if anyone wore any "foreign" style of clothing or bold colors, they were considered upper class, and labeled a counter revolutionist. Mao stressed the importance of eliminating all bourgeois elements. In the novel "Life and Death in Shanghai", a young woman was thrown into jail, because she was under suspicion of being a spy for a foreign government. These charges were outrageous, because the only reasoning they had was because she had friends from work that were from a different country. But, since she was considered a "threat", she was imprisoned, and spent 7 years in an execrable prison. This was just one example of the millions of people who were imprisoned during this time.

Mao also introduced the concept of being considered rich a shameful act. People wearing or showing any sort of rich item was considered bad, and a counter-revolutionist. Anyone owning any sort of valuables was also seen as rich and cruel. According to Ji Li Jiang in the novel "Red Scarf Girl", her family had to destroy their precious family heirlooms by painting over them. They also had to throw away priceless silk dresses, or be faced with awful punishments. The Red Guards used many different methods of punishment to "teach" the criminals of society not to make the same mistake again.

One form of punishment was to throw the prosecutor in prison. As mentioned in the novel Life and Death in Shanghai, by Nien Cheng, the prisoners were beaten, malnourished, disease-stricken, and few survived the experience. There were also many other cruel punishments. Some victims were forced to chew on shattered glass, while others were forced to strip naked and march in town. More punishments range from being forced to climb factory chimneys that were scalding hot, to public torture and hangings. Many were beaten, some to the extent of death, and an estimated total of more than a million people perished during the Cultural Revolution.

Everyone was affected during this time, in a way that couldn't be easily healed. Because most people had to live through fear and terror, and see death looming through the streets day after day, their morale was extremely damaged. As Nien Cheng recollects in her epilogue", The death of my daughter and my own painful experience during the Cultural Revolution can never be forgotten; even writing about it was traumatic. Often I had to put the manuscript away to regain my piece of mind. But I persisted in my effort".

(538). This quote shows that even after all this time, after her wounds have healed, she is still left with a deep inner scar. This scar may never be able to heal. This also applies to the thousands of others, who were mentally damaged after this horrible time.

By early 1967, certain Red Guard divisions were successfully overthrowing government representatives, such as "party authorities in towns, cities, and entire provinces". (Britannica) These Red Guard units even started battling each other for power. The government believed that the blame for a decrease in industrial production and Chinese urban life was to be placed on the Red Guards. Their activities had also been becoming more violent, and widespread persecution was becoming a major problem. Red Guards were the foremost authority in China, and even the police were no longer an effective force. The Chinese government believed that they were starting to lose influence over the Red Guards, and wanted to try to curb, and control their influence.

So, the government decided to urge the Red Guards to move into the country, and retire. The People's Liberation army was also called in, in order to help restore the country. Because of these actions by the government, the Red Guard movement eventually decreased. After Mao's death, the Cultural Revolution officially ended. "Between the 1970's and early 1980's, many ex-red guards who had been identified as committing serious crimes against humanity, got the punishment they deserved".

(Wikipedia). They were tried and sentenced to prison, and some were even executed. Even the ex-Red guards who were never accused of crimes, or officially punished, still got what they deserved; Because they missed their chance to receive a decent education, they were considered to be on the lower end of the social ladder, and are considered to be the lost generation. Although we can try to prosecute every guilty ex-red guard, it still won't justify for the horrible gashes both physically and mentally inflicted on their victims.

During the time of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, mayhem was a part of everyday life. Mao Zedong encouraged rebellious actions from the Red Guards, and rewarded those who shone as leaders. He also targeted his political rivals by provoking the Red Guards to follow his ideas, and annihilate all remnants of china's old culture. After the revolution ended, the Red guards received the disciplinary actions they deserved, and the tortured victims finally inadvertently received the vengeance they deserved.

Bibliography

Cheng, Nien. Life and Death in Shanghai. New York, New York: The Penguin Group, 1986.
Hoobler, Dorothy, Thomas Hoobler, and Michael Kort, comps. China: Regional Studies Series. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Globe Fearon, 1993.
174-177. Interview Mr. Nien with His Daughter. The Harbinger. 27 Mar. 2001.
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Jiang, Ji Li. Red Scarf Girl. N. p. : Harper Trophy, n. d. Mr, Nie. Interview with His Daughter. The Harbinger. Nie, Mr... The Harbinger. 'Red Guards. ' Brittania. 'Red Guards. ' Wikipedia. 20 May 2004.
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