Of Communist China Essay, Research Paper
The Red Book and the Power Structure of Communist China
Propaganda in China during the Cultural Revolution took on many forms;
there were mass Red Guard demonstrations in Tianamen Square in support of Mao
Zedong, pictures of Mao were put up in every conceivable location from
restaurants to the wallpaper in nurseries, and pamphlets and books of Mao’s
teachings were distributed to every Chinese citizen. One of these propaganda
publications Quotations from Chairman Mao which later became known as the Little
Red Book contained quotes from Mao Zedong and was distributed to every Chinese
citizen. The history of the Red Book provides one of the best ways in which to
analyze Chinese propaganda during the Cultural Revolution and see the ways in
which the Chinese government was able to produce and effectively indoctrinate
the Chinese people with Mao Zedong Thought. Official Chinese magazines from the
period of 1967 to 1970 are filled with many pictures of citizens holding,
reading, and memorizing the Red Book. This proposal will trace the rise and fall
of images of the Red Book in the official Chinese publication China
Reconstructs. This proposal will use a graphical analysis of pictures in this
publication from 1966 to 1973 to show that propaganda was not just a tool of the
Communist party but also a reflection of internal power struggles within the
party during the Cultural Revolution.
The Red Book was written several years before it became the object of
national adoration and a tool for the Cultivation of Mao’s personality Cult. The
history of the Red Book and its meteoric rise from a hand book for military
recruits to compulsory reading for all Chinese citizens, is closely tied to its
developer Lin Biao’s rise to power. Lin Biao was born in 1907 and was fourteen
years younger then Mao; he joined the communist party in 1925 and until the
communists captured control of China was at various times in charge of
resistance forces, and armies of communist soldiers. When the communists took
control in 1949 Lin Biao was behind Mao Zedong, Liu Shaoqi, Zhou Enlai, Chen Yun,
and Deng Xiaoping in rank (Yan and Gao, 1996: 179). But eighteen years later
during the height of the Cultural Revolution Lin Biao by winning favor with Mao
by publishing and championing the Red Book and the Cult of Mao became second
only to the Chairman in power and position (Ming-Le, 1983: 80).
In 1959 Peng Dehua was dismissed as minister of defense and Lin Biao was
appointed in his place. At an armed forces meeting for high cadres during
September of that year Lin Biao, energetically started promoting the Cult of Mao
saying, “Learning the writings of comrade Mao Zedong is the shortcut to learning
Marxism-Leninism. Chairman Mao’s writings are easy to learn and can be put to
use immediately. Diligent work will pay dividends many fold.” (Yan and Gao,
1996: 182) His references to “shortcut” and “quick dividends” in his speech went
unnoticed at the time as few foresaw the effects of creating a Cult around Mao.
But looking back on the Cultural Revolution and Lin Biao, we can see his using
the Cult of Mao was indeed a shortcut that produced huge dividends both for
himself and for Mao.
Mao to the Chinese people was a symbol sovereignty and the construction
of socialism; to them praise for Mao was fitting with his symbolic role in
society. Starting in 1959 Lin Biao in front of military audiences in order to
help buildup support for the Cult of Mao used such phrases as, “the dire
necessity of acquiring Mao Zedong’s thought,” “to study the writings of Mao
Zedong with questions in mind is to shoot arrows with target in sight,” “we must
arm our minds with Mao Zedong’s thought” (Yan an Gao, 1996: 181). Lin Biao’s
goal of building up both himself and the Cult of Mao lead him in September of
1960 to pass a resolution at the meeting of the Military Commission, which
called for more political education among the armed forces (Yan and Gao, 1996:
181)
Mao Zedong Thought is the compass for the Chinese people’s revolution
and socialist construction, the powerful ideological weapon against imperialism,
and the powerful ideological weapon against revisionism and dogmatism….. raise
high the red banner of Mao Zedong Thought, go further and mobilize the minds of
all officers and soldiers with Mao Zedong Thought, and resolve to make sure that
Mao Zedong Thought, and resolve to make sure that Mao Zedong Thought is in
command in all phases of work… Really learn by heart the Mao Zedong Thought!
Read Chairman Mao’s books, listen to Chairman Mao’s words, follow Chairman Mao’s
directives, and serve as Chairman Mao’s good soldiers!
Shortly after the passage of the resolution by Lin Biao, the fourth
volume of the selected works of Mao Zedong was published. On the occasion of it
being sold to the public Lin Biao wrote an article calling upon all people in
the military to read and study the works of Chairman Mao and dedicate to memory
Mao Zedong Thought (Yan and Gao, 1996: 183).
On April 1964 Lin Biao direct the military presses to publish a
selection of quotes from Mao in a Little Red Book. The book titled Quotations
From Chairman Mao was aimed at providing military recruits a shortened version
of Maoist thought (Yan and Gao, 1996: 183). Military recruits before the
publication of the Red Book were encouraged to study the Selected Works of Mao
Zedong. But this set of books had grown so large (it’s four volumes contained
over fifteen hundred pages) many of the military’s recruits who were from
peasant backgrounds were unable to read its complicated articles. The Little Red
Book in contrast with its hand picked quotes and introduction by Lin Biao was
short with easy to read quotes. Before the publishing of the Red Book the study
of the Selected Works of Mao Zedong greatly increased in the military this was
in large part due to the encouragement and directives issued by Lin Biao. In
1961 Lin Biao while inspecting a contingent of troops said that the works of
Chairman Mao Zed ong, were a guide to those in the military, “Every lesson in
political education must use the works of Chairman Mao Zedong as an ideological
guide.” (Yan and Gao, 1996: 183) Lin Biao also directed the military press to
publish sections from the Red Book in the Liberation Army Daily the official
publication of the PLA (People’s Liberation Army). The Red Book provided many of
the military recruits who were mostly uneducated peasants with a grounding in
Maoist thought. The quotes selected in the Red Book such as, ” Carry on the
workers struggle, down with rightist revisionism” were sufficient vague as to
allow recruits to draw from the Red Book what they wanted to. Lin Biao’s efforts
to promote the study of Maoist thought were done to win favor with Mao and
increase his position in the party (Tsou, 1986: 49).
Lin Biao’s cultivation of the Cult of Mao Zedong soon earned him Mao’s
notice. During a meeting in 1961 Mao applauded Lin Biao’s work in the armed
forces saying, “Recently comrade Lin Biao inspected the forces as far down as
the company level and showed understanding of a good many things, including the
problems of construction among our forces, and he made very good suggestions
about various tasks of construction.” (Yan and Gao, 1996: 182) Lin Biao feeling
that his work at publicizing Mao’s teachings was paying off redoubled his
efforts at promoting Mao Zedong Thought. He insisted that quotes from Mao Zedong
could be used to accomplish tasks within the military and made the Red Book
required reading for all in the military (Tsou, 1986:50).
In January of 1962 the Part Central held an enlarged work session called
a seven thousand person meeting. This meeting was aimed at rectifying the
mistakes of The Great Leap Forward, and to promote the economy. A large majority
at the meeting criticized Mao Zedong; but Lin Biao who believed that his future
was inextricably linked to that of Mao gave one of the lone speeches in support
of Mao (Yan and Gao, 1996: 182). Lin Biao said at the conference that the reason
The Great Leap Forward had not a success was because the dictates of Chairman
Mao had not been followed closely enough. After the economy started to improve
in 1963 and Mao gained back wide support Mao looked back and remembered that Lin
Biao was one of the few who had stood by him and did not criticize him during
the Party Central meeting. This event shows how Lin Biao was a shrewd political
thinker who saw that his future was connected with that of Mao and winning Mao’s
approval. By 1962 Lin Biao’s chief tool at achieving this objective was the
promotion of Mao Zedong Thought (Dutt and Dutt, 1970: 63).
After May of 1961 the Liberation Army Daily followed Lin Biao’s
directive and printed selection’s from the Selected Works of Mao Zedong. By May
of 1964 with a further directive from Lin Biao the general publication
department of the Liberation Army, edited and published the Red Book accompanied
by the publication of the selected reader of the workers of Mao suggested by Lin
Biao (Yan and Gao, 1996: 183). The Red Book had an inscription on its cover
written in calligraphy by Lin Biao that read, “Study Chairmen Mao’s writings,
follow his teachings, and act accordingly” (Kraus, 1991: 109). The fact that the
inscription on the Red Book was in Lin Biao’s handwriting was significant in
that it symbolized the connection between the Red Book, Lin Biao, and the Cult
of Mao. Both of these publications were published in large quantities and
distributed among the armed forces. There now was a fervor for the studying of
works by Mao in military ranks, illiterate soldiers were able to recite long
passages from memory and military troops studied the Red Book during their
breaks. With such a backdrop Lin Biao recognized that the time was right for
increasing his position within the party. The cultivation of the Cult of Mao had
support from Mao Zedong and when he started the Cultural Revolution in August of
1966 Mao saw that Lin Biao’s thought education in the military could be applied
to the whole nation (Rodzinski, 1988:96).
The period before the Cultural Revolution provides some very important
insights into the development of the Red Book and of Lin Biao’s connection to
the Red Book. In the period before August of 1966 the Red Book was not read by
those outside of the military. A graphical analysis of pictures before 1967
shows that the Red Book was not a widely used method of propaganda as it did not
appear in many pictures and the pictures it did appear in were of soldiers in
the PLA. Although studying Maoist thought was important during the period prior
to the Cultural Revolution in society as a whole it was not very important.
There are several reasons: First, there was no reason to Cultivate the Cult of
Mao Zedong Thought during this time, Mao prior to 1966 was not trying to lead
any mass movements in which he would need popular support. The Great Leap
Forward and the anti-rightist campaign’s came during times in which Mao was
powerful within the party so he did not need wide spread support outside of the
central command. Second, Mao prior to the Cultural Revolution was more
interested in promoting communist economics then ideology. Mao promoted The
Great Leap Forward which was not a ideological campaign but instead an economic
campaign to promote industrialization (Rodzinski, 1988:74). And in the period
from 1961 to 1965 Mao was chiefly concerned with getting the economy back on
track following the disastrous Great Leap Forward. But by 1966 the economy of
China was back on track and Mao had once more gained back the support of the
central leaders of the communist party.
The Cultural Revolution launched in 1966 lasted depending on the author
until 1971 or 1976 and was initiated by Mao Zedong to renew the spirit of the
Chinese Revolution. Fearing that China would develop along the lines of the
Soviet model and concerned about his own place in history, Mao threw China into
turmoil in a monumental effort to reverse what Mao saw as a rightist movement
within China.
During the 1960’s tensions with Russia increased and Mao became
convinced that the Russian Revolution had stalled and become rightist, Mao
feared that China was following the same path (Yan and Gao, 1996: 7). Mao
theorized that to keep China from becoming social stratified and elitist the
process of continuos revolution had to be initiated by the government. To Mao
the Cultural Revolution that he initiated had four goals: to replace party
members with leaders more faithful to his thinking; to reenergize the Chinese
Communist party and Purge the rightists; to provide China’s youth with a
revolutionary experience; and to change society such that specific systems such
as education, healthcare, and cultural systems such as opera and music became
less elitist (Mitchell and Kua, 1975: 465).
Mao launched the Cultural Revolution at the Eleventh Plenum of the
Eighth Central Committee in August 1966. In the following weeks Mao shut down
the schools in order to allow young people to take part in the revolution
(Mitchell and Kua, 1975: xii). Mao also established a national mobilization of
the countries youth. They were organized into Red Guard groups and encouraged to
attack all tradition values, symbols, and leaders who were rightist or bourgeois.
Mao believed that the attacks would both provide the youth with a revolutionary
experience thus continuing the cycle of continuos revolution and they would
strengthen the party by removing the rightist elements. Mao also saw the
Cultural Revolution as a way to strengthen his own political base because the
Red Guards acted to remove all who opposed Mao Zedong. The movement quickly
escalated; intellectuals party officials, teachers, and the elderly were both
physically attacked and verbally abused made to wear dunce caps in the streets
and to denounce themselves. Temples, restaurants, and all signs of old values
were ransacked by the Red Guard youths. The Cultural revolution put middle
school and high school students in charge of the nation and like a version of
Lord of the Flies the nation fell into anarchy and paralysis
The Cultural Revolution also lead to changes within the structure of the
communist party. Before the Cultural Revolution Liu Shaoqi was Mao Zedong’s
designated successor, but during the early stages of the Cultural Revolution
Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping and many others who Mao deemed as being rightists were
removed from the party. In their place Mao installed those who had been most
loyal to him in the past; one of those men was Lin Biao (Dutt and Dutt, 1970:
80).
Mao rightly saw that the best way to provide both direction for the Red
Guards and to make himself immune from their attacks upon party official would
be to foster a personality Cult. Thus under the guidance of Lin Biao who after
Liu Shaoqi was removed; become the successor to Mao Lin Biao helped foster a
personality Cult for Mao. Lin Biao used the same types of techniques that he
used in the army to help foster this Cult of Mao. Lin Biao used the same
organization to disseminate propaganda that he had devised for the Army. Lin
Biao continued to head the army till his death in 1971 but his role was expanded
as he became the high priest of the Cult of Mao (Yan and Gao, 1996: 334). The
reading of the Red Book was encouraged by both Mao, party directives written by
Lin Biao, Chen Boda, and Kang Sheng who during the Cultural Revolution became
Mao’s closest advisors. All three of these advisors worked tirelessly to promote
the Cult of Mao because they saw it as their way to curry favor with Mao Zedong
and their efforts met with whole hearted approval. Mao in an interview near the
end of the Cultural Revolution commented that Krushchev could have avoided
loosing his power if he had created an appropriate Cult for himself (Yan and Gao,
1996: 313).
Mao relied on the power of propaganda to enlarge his Cult during the
Cultural Revolution. The Red Book became his most powerful weapon. Quotations
from the Red Book replaced the usual front page section entitled today’s
important news in the People’s Daily. Various other newspapers and journals
increased their coverage of Mao Zedong printing his speeches, pictures, and
quotes. Some even retold stories of his days fighting the Japanese and the KMT