Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T17:16:07.743Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Chinese Communist Party in the 1960s: Prelude to the Cultural Revolution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2009

Charles Neuhauser
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The recent events in China are surely drama of the highest order, but at times it has seemed that the actors themselves were not entirely sure who was writing the lines. In fact what we seem to be witnessing is a form of commedia dell'arte: improvisation within a certain tacitly understood framework. The cultural revolution appears to have taken new turns and to have broken into new channels precisely because the actors have been faced with new and unforeseen circumstances as it has run its course. No faction in the struggle has been able to impose its will on the Party or the country by fiat; new devices and stratagems have been brought into play in what has looked like desperate attempts to gain the upper hand. It has clearly been a battle of the utmost seriousness, but there appear to have been limitations on the resultant chaos. Economic disorganisation does not seem to have occurred on the scale of the later stages of the Great Leap Forward. Nor, despite the clashes, confusion and bitter infighting, have new centres of power, totally divorced from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) itself, arisen. The cultural revolution has been pre-eminently a struggle within the Party.

Type
Recent Developments: The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 32 , December 1967 , pp. 3 - 36
Copyright
Copyright © The China Quarterly 1967

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 See Survey of the China Mainland Press (SCMF) (Hong Kong: U.S. Consulate-General), no. 3761, p. 3Google Scholar.

2 Townsend, James R., Political Participation in Communist China (Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, 1967), p. 192Google Scholar.

3 For evidence see Collection of Documents Seized in Guerrilla Attack on Lien-Chiang Fukien (Taipei: Ministry of Defense), 1964 (Lien-Chiang Documents; in Chinese), P. 9Google Scholar.

4 Shao-ch'i, Liu, “Speech on the 40th Anniversary of the CCP,” in Current Background (CB) (Hong Kong: U.S. Consulate-General), No. 655, p. 1Google Scholar.

5 For an excellent discussion see Ezra Vogel, “From Revolutionary to Semi-Bureaucrat: the ‘Regularisation’ of Cadres,” The China Quarterly, No. 29 (01–03 1967), p. 36CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

6 Ibid. p. 39.

7 Schurmann, Franz, Ideology and Organization in Communist China (Berkeley, Cal.: University of California Press, 1966), p. 303Google Scholar.

8 Bridgham, Philip, “Mao's Cultural Revolution: Origin and Development,” The China Quarterly, No. 29 (01–03 1967), pp. 8–9CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

9 In the wider sense “basic-level cadres” can of course refer to non-Party as well as CCP personnel. The more restricted sense is generally employed here.

10 Jen-min Jih-pao (People's Dotty), 07 9, 1960 in SCMP, No. 2304, p. 11Google Scholar.

11 People's Daily, 10 31, 1960 in SCMP, No. 2379, p. 4Google Scholar.

12 Winckler, Edwin, “On Rectification,” manuscript in Harvard East Asian Research Center Library, p. 22Google Scholar.

13 Nan-fang Daily, 11 26, 1960 in SCMP, No. 2416, p. 1Google Scholar.

14 Ibid.

15 Nan-fang Daily, 11 7, 1960 in SCMP, No. 2380, p. 12Google Scholar.

16 People's Daily, 03 4, 1961 in SCMP, No. 2455, p. 10Google Scholar.

17 People's Daily, 01 25, 1961 in SCMP, No. 2424, p. 1Google Scholar.

18 Nan-fang Daily, October 7, 1960.

19 Szu-kai, Chin, “The Party, 1961,” in Communist China, 1961 (Hong Kong: Union Research Institute, 1962), p. 3Google Scholar.

20 Yang-ch'eng Wan-poo, Canton, 05 3, 1966 in SCMP, No. 3698, p. 5Google Scholar.

21 Shao-ch'i, Liu, “Self-Criticism,” in Malnichi Shimbun, 01 28, 1967Google Scholar.

22 Ibid.

23 The following discussion draws on materials from the Lien-Chiang Documents, op. cit.

24 Ibid. p. 233.

25 Ibid.

26 Ibid. p. 198.

27 Ibid. p. 229.

28 Ibid.

29 Kuan-yü Nung-ts'un Kung-tso-chung Jo-kan Wen-ti Chüeh-ting Ts'ao-an (Draft Decision on Several Questions Concerning Current Work in Rural Areas) (Taipei, n.d.).

30 Ibid.sec. 4.

31 Ibid.

32 Ibid.

33 Kuan-yü Nung-ts'un She-hui-chu-i Chiao-yü Yü-tung-chung I-hsieh Chü-t'i Chang-ts'e t'i Kuei-ting Ts'ao-an (Draft Regulations on Several Concrete Policies in the Rural Socialist Education Movement) (Taipei, n.d.)

34 Ibid. sec. 6.

35 Ibid. sec. 2.

36 Ibid. sec. 5.

37 Chung-hua Jen-min Kung-ho Kuo Ping Nung Hsia Chung Nung Hsieh-hui Tsu-chih T'iao-li Tsao-an (Draft Articles of the CPR for the Organization of Poor and Lower Middle Peasant Associations) (Taipei, n.d.).

38 Nung-ts'un She-hui-chu-i Chiao-yü Yün-tung-chung Mu-ch'ien T'i-ch'u ti l-hsieh Wen-t'i (Several Problems Currently Arising in the Course of the Rural Socialist Education Campaign) (Taipei, n.d.)

39 Ibid. sec. 1.

40 Ibid. sec. 2.

41 People's Daily, 07 21, 1961 in SCMP, No. 2550, p. 2Google Scholar.

42 People's Daily, 10 31, 1960 in SCMP, No. 2379, p. 1Google Scholar.

43 Nan-fang Daily, November 26, 1960.

44 Cocks, Paul, “The Historical and Institutional Role of the Party Control Commission in the CCP,” manuscript in Harvard East Asian Research Center Library, pp. 32–41Google Scholar.

45 Nan-fang Daily, 10 11, 1961 in SCMP, No. 2602, p. 5Google Scholar.

46 People's Daily, 11 15, 1961 in SCMP, No. 2630, p. 3Google Scholar.

47 Nan-fang Daily, 01 10, 1962 in SCMP, No. 2699, p. 1Google Scholar.

48 People's Daily, 02 6, 1962 in SCMP, No. 2680, p. 6Google Scholar.

49 Nan-fang Daily, 04 4, 1962 in SCMP, No. 2770, p. 3Google Scholar.

50 Hung Ch't (Red Flag), 07 16, 1962 in Selections From the China Mainland Magazines (SCMM) (Hong Kong: U.S. Consulate-General), No. 326, p. 11Google Scholar.

51 People's Daily, 09 20, 1961 in SCMP, No. 2591, p. 1Google Scholar.

52 CB, No. 691, p. 1.

53 Hung Wei Pao (Canton), 10 4, 1966 in SCMP, No. 3804, p. 4Google Scholar.

54 “Early 10 points,” op. cit. note 29 above, sec. 7.

55 “Later 10 points,” op. cit. note 35 above, sec. 4.

56 Ibid.

57 “23 Articles,” op. cit., note 38 above, sec. 22.

58 Bridgham, , “Mao's Cultural Revolution,” op. cit., p. 16Google Scholar.

59 “Cadres Both Old and New Must Be Educated Anew,” in SCMP, No. 3616, p. 4.

60 “The ‘Leap,’ Something to be Learned,” in SCMP, No. 3628, pp. 7–8.

61 “Correctly Sum Up Historical Experience, Wipe Out Individualistic Thoughts,” in SCMP, No. 3648, p. 8.

62 “23 Articles,” op. cit., sec. 3.

63 Ibid. sec. 11.

64 Yang-ch'eng Wan-pao, Canton, 02 1, 1966, in SCMP, No. 3635, p. 1Google Scholar.

65 Information from Mr. Morris Wills.

66 Information from Mr. Morris Wills.

67 Bridgham, , op. cit., p. 8Google Scholar.

68 See for example the speech by Ch'en Yi to the Peking Institute of Higher Learning in Kuang-ming Daily, September 3, 1961.

69 Shanghai, Wen-hsüeh, No. 5, 1962Google Scholar.

70 Yang-ch'eng Wan-pao, Canton, 07 17 1966 in SCMP, No. 3750, p. 1Google Scholar.

71 Wen-yi Pao, No. 8/9, 1964.

72 People's Daily, January 10, 1967 in SCMP, No. 3863, p. 1.

73 Yang-ch'eng Wan-pao, July 17, 1966.

74 New China News Agency (NCNA), May 27, 1967 in SCMP, No. 3905, p. 1.

75 Bridgham, , op. cit., p. 8Google Scholar.

76 See Goldman, Merle, “The Fall of Chou Yang,” The China Quarterly, No. 27 (07–09 1966), p. 132CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

77 NCNA, May 27, 1967 in SCMP, no. 3950, p. 14.

78 Red Flag, July 1964, treats the “reform” of the Peking opera as an event of major significance. That “Victory” in this limited sphere should be regarded as a major achievement is in itself a measure of the resistance within the Party.

79 Red Flag, May 1967.

80 Bridgham, , op. cit., p. 9Google Scholar.

81 Kelly, Maurice, “The Making of an Intellectual,” Current Scene, IV, No. 19, p. 11Google Scholar.

82 Ibid.

83 China News Analysis, No. 633, p. 2.

84 For one interpretation see ibid. pp. 1–7.

85 Cheng, J. Chester (ed.) PLA Kung-tso T'ung-hsün: The Politics of the Chinese Red Army (Stanford: Hoover Institution, 1966), p. 64Google Scholar.

86 Gittings, John, The Role of the Chinese Army (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1967), p. 256Google Scholar.

87 ibid. p. 257.

88 Ta Kung Pao, March 27, 1965 in SCMP, No. 3436, p. 1.

89 “Forever Bring Politics to the Fore,” in SCMP, No. 3644, p. 4.

90 “Politics Command Military Affairs, Politics Command Everything,” in SCMP, No. 3644, p. 6.

91 Gittings, , op. cit., p. 248Google Scholar.

92 Communist China 1955–1959: Policy Documents With Analysts (Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1965), pp. 38–42Google Scholar.

93 Liu Shao-ch'i, “Self-Criticism,” op. cit.

94 Ibid.

95 For a report of Mao's speech to an October 1966 meeting of the Central Committee, see Yomiuri, January 7, 1967.

96 See Liu, “Self-Criticism,” op. cit.

97 The “later 10 points” would appear to be an example of this.

98 Michael, Franz, “Struggle for Power,” Problems of Communism, 05–06 1967, p. 15Google Scholar.

99 Pao, Ta Kung, 10 27, 1961 in SCMP, No. 2620, p. 5Google Scholar.

100 Charles, David, “The Dismissal of Marshal P'eng Teh-huai,” The China Quarterly, No. 12 (10–12 1962), p. 63Google Scholar.

101 NCNA, 05 27, 1967 In SCMP, No. 3950, p. 13Google Scholar.

102 NCNA, 05 16, 1967 in SCMP, No. 3942, p. 1Google Scholar.

103 Ibid.

104 Bridgham, , op. cit., p. 8Google Scholar.

105 Mao, Yomiuri, op. cit.

106 Bridgham, , op. cit., p. 10Google Scholar.

107 Nihon Keizai, May 8, 1967.

108 Uhalley, Stephen Jr, “The Cultural Revolution and the Attack on the ‘Three Family Village,’” The China Quarterly, No. 27 (07–09 1966), p. 150CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

109 NCNA, 05 16, 1967 in SCMP, No. 3942, p. 1Google Scholar.

110 NCNA, 05 28, 1967 in SCMP, No. 3751, p. 10Google Scholar.

111 The first of these editorials was reprinted in People's Daily on February 4. See SCMP, No. 3644, p. 4.

112 Liu, “Self-Criticism,” op. cit.

113 Kelly, , op. cit., p. 13Google Scholar.

114 “The Early 10 Points and the 23 Articles are Sharp Weapons for Criticizing the Rightist Line of Liu Shao-ch'i,” Chao-fan Yu-li Pao, (There is Logic in Rebellion News) February 12, 1967.

115 The New York Times, December 27, 1966.

116 See Schwartz, Benjamin, “Chinese Ambitions and American Policy,” Commentary, 04 1966Google Scholar.

117 This appears to be a major issue in the fall of Lo Jui-ch'ing.