Imagining Life During the Cultural Revolution

Date: July 1967





My name is Mei Ching, and I am a 21 year old woman living in an apartment in Mao's great city of Beijing. This morning I woke up to the smiling image of Mao's face. For my breakfast, I ate a modest of grains and fruit. While I ate, I listened to the radio. As the songs praising Mao filled my room, I felt joyous and blessed to be living in a country as great as China. My occupation is a teacher at a local school for young children. I strive everyday to instill my love of learning, reading and writing, and revolution in my students' hearts, while constantly commending the gifts that Mao has given us. Even though I am only one person, I believe that I am doing my part to preach Mao's goal of literacy and revolutionary ideas to children, the future of our great country. Whenever there is a problem in school, I whip out my trusted copy of the Little Red Book and use the wisdom inside these pages to settle any kind of issues that need resolving. When students are not interested in learning, I remind them from the book that Mao states, "Some people have read a few Marxist books and think themselves quite learned, but what they have read has not penetrated has not struck root in their minds, so that they do not know how to use it and their class feelings remain as old." This drives them to work and study harder, using the book as their guide. When students fight, I remind them of Mao's words, "Guard against arrogance." Being a peasant, I believe that Mao's cause particularly speaks to me. I also am happy to be educating students, the majority of whom are peasants as well. Every lesson that I teach is one step closer to freeing the peasants and uplifting them into the glory that Mao says we deserve.

Emma and Kira

花瓣 (Flower Petal)

I am a 12 year old girl living in Shanghai. I am a student and I go to a largely peasant school. My parents aren't especially wealthy, but we do have enough. My father manufactures military goods and my mother is a teacher. My parents have taught me the importance of hard work and constantly use beloved General Mao as an example of the success one can achieve through hard work. My home is comfortable and is large enough for my father, mother, brother, and me. In my home, there hands a photo of General Mao on every wall and in the study, there are several copies of Mao's Red Book of wisdom. All my friends are from a lower class than I am, most are peasants. However amongst us, despite our somewhat different backgrounds, we all share a mutual love and respect for General Mao. Everyday my parents sit in the living room with friends listening to the radio or watching TV. With their friends, my mother and father always engage in anxious discussion about how great Mao's principles are. My father who is a devoted follower of Mao appreciates the conversation because like Mao he accepts that men and women are equal. When I arrive at school, we salute the picture of General Mao that hangs on the wall. Then we go into our English lesson here we translate Mao's wise teachings into English. We love Mao!

Xun Ji Feng

July 1967, Beijing

My name is Xun Ji Feng, I am 27 years old, born into wealth in the city of Beijing. I am considered an enemy of Chairman Mao. People of my wealthy, bourgeoisie background are not in favor of the Chairman. Every day, I fear that I will, for some reason, be persecuted for a crime that I did not commit, solely for the reason of my class. Just the other day, a group of fellow wealthy people were blamed for the state of the deaf-mutes at a local school. I don't understand how this falls on our shoulders. I can assure you, I had nothing to do with it. My occupation is a as a musician. I play the chi, a traditional bamboo flute. For years I have been trying to get on the radio. However, my class seems to have forbid me from successfully doing so. The public radio broadcasts fall under the jurisdiction of Chairman Mao's wife, Jiang Ching. All music has to be approved by her, and under Mao's influence, favors the music of the revolutionaries. I am afraid to even play my instrument in the streets, for fear of being victimized by Mao's roving soldiers. Right now, I am not making any money, and find myself reliant on the wealth of my background. My quest for musical fame and liberation will continue, but for now I must pursue another career.
-Xuni















http://www.chinese-flute.com/dizi_store.php

Chinese responses to imperialism

What was the Chinese response to foreign imperialism, and how and why was it ineffective? Post your response in a comment.

China and Western Imperialism

How and why did China fall victim to European imperialism in the years 1800 to 1860? Post your answer in a comment.

Gandhi's Flaws

Mahatma Gandhi was certainly an extremely inspirational and idealistic leader; however, not all of his ideas wee truly fair or proactive enough for a revolution. The main questions are: Is violence necessary in a revolution? Should one stick to one’s ideals at the expense of efficiency in a revolution? Is compromise really fair?

To begin with, Gandhi’s concept of satyagrapha or non- violence is extremely admirable. Obviously, I advocate for as little violence as possible, for violence can never be justified in any circumstance. I also appreciate Gandhi’s belief that a ruler’s opinions should never be swayed in response to different circumstances. Instead, they should all be completely consistent no matter what problems the country may be dealing with. Therefore, when twenty- two policemen were killed in a village in Chauri Chaura, Gandhi immediately called for a halt in the campaign in order to present his completely non- violent approach to ruling. The consistency of his ideals and his actions is truly impeccable and inspirational.

However, is non- violence always the most efficient way to bring about change? Despite the virtue that Gandhi implements in all of his actions, some of them are not proactive at all. For example, the Spinning Wheel Movement was a way to rebuild the nation from within based on concepts such as dignity and equality. While India certainly needed reconstruction, the movement was not practical at all. Gandhi took the movement even further when he decided to make submission of 2000 yards of cotton per month a requirement for membership in the Congress. While this unified all of the people, it was an extremely odd way to do so, and it drew a lot of complaints from professional people. Gandhi’s modest ideas stem from his support of Jainism and self- control (otherwise known as brahmacharya or the “realization of Brahma”), which includes fasting and other extreme measures. This type of self- harm cases humility but does not necessarily produce an effective, strong leader. For example, in response to the unexpected violent incidents during the hartal against the Rowlatt (or Black) Acts, Gandhi fasted for three days. However, he needed a couple days to recover from the incident, for the fasts left him physically and mentally vulnerable. While fasting was very noble of him and made a statement, Gandhi was unprepared for the Massacre at Amritsar, because of his intensive fasting. Gandhi’s attempt to prove a point left the 400 dead people and 1200 wounded people completely defenseless. Finally, Gandhi firmly believed in “relativity to truth”, the concept that people can only make certain decisions because of limited viewpoints. Therefore, he was a strong advocate for compromise. Nevertheless, I believe that one person is always right and the other should be punished. In a criminal case, I certainly would not want to compromise with a murderer. This “compromise method” seems like merely a way to gain supporters not to be just. Over all, Gandhi proved to be an honorable and virtuous leader, but some of his methods were odd, convoluted, and not immediately effective.

Best blog post

What was your best blog post from the first semester? Post the link in a comment.