2016.05.17文化大革命在中国的遗产

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The Cultural Revolution’s Legacy in China
The Chinese government did not celebrate the 50th anniversary of the bloody period, but President Xi Jinping’s actions have drawn comparisons to the era.

By Matt Vasilogambros

Kim Kyung-Hoon / Reuters
MAY 17, 2016
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When the Cultural Revolution began in 1966, it didn’t matter that future Chinese President Xi Jinping’s father, Xi Zhongxun, was a veteran and leader in the Communist Revolution. He was a representative of the bourgeoisie that China needed to purge, Mao Zedong said. The elder Xi was jailed for 16 years, while the future president was sent to the countryside to grow up and perform hard labor, leaving his life as an intellectual to realize Mao’s revitalized vision of communism.

The 10-year period began May 16, 1966, as Mao inspired the country’s youth to turn on their parents and teachers, often violently. These so-called Red Guards targeted the elites who were driving the country toward capitalism. During that period, 16 million children, like Xi, were sent to the countryside, while top leaders who were perceived as being against the Communist Party were either jailed or killed.




While there is no official count for the number of people who died during that period, one scholar estimated the number as between 500,000 to 8 million, and the number of people persecuted in the tens of millions. As The New York Times describes:

During the Cultural Revolution, Red Guards targeted the authorities on campuses, then party officials and “class enemies” in society at large. They carried out mass killings in Beijing and other cities as the violence swept across the country. They also battled one another, sometimes with heavy weapons, such as in the city of Chongqing. The military joined the conflict, adding to the factional violence and killing of civilians. The pogroms even included cannibalization of victims in the southern region of Guangxi.

That period, which ended with Mao’s death in 1976, is a controversial part of China’s history, one that current top officials would rather look past than celebrate. Monday marks the 50th anniversary of that start of the Cultural Revolution and there is no official celebration or recognition from state media.

Xi, though rarely, has talked about the turbulent decade. Speaking to state-run CCTV in 2003, he said:

“In the past when we talked about beliefs, it was very abstract. I think the youth of my generation will be remembered for the fervor of the Red Guard era. But it was emotional. It was a mood. And when the ideals of the Cultural Revolution could not be realized, it proved an illusion.”

The anniversary leaves the Chinese government in a predicament. It clearly wants to look past what the Communist Party in 1981 said was “the most severe setback and the heaviest losses suffered by the party, the country, and the people.” It also wants to quell any concerns that China may be heading toward another Cultural Revolution.


That fear was highlighted earlier this month when a symphony played several “red songs” at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, celebrating the Communist’s Party’s socialist past. One of those songs was “Sailing the Seas Depends on the Helmsman,” the anthem of the Cultural Revolution. “Mao Zedong Thought is the sun that forever shines,” reads one line of the song.

Though the party’s Central Committee quickly distanced itself from the performance, critics still said a group inside the country wants a return of the repressive period.

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Xi has led a crackdown in recent years on dissent, censoring media and the Internet. He has also gone after civil society, giving security forces control over foreign non-governmental organizations that deal with human rights, public health, and education.

Like Mao during the Cultural Revolution, there’s also been an increase in Xi’s cult of personality, as his face dons the front page of newspapers and propaganda across the country. There are even pop songs that celebrate him.

Xi even gave himself a new title as Chinese military power grows and regional tensions increase with disputed islands in the South China Sea. In April, donning a camouflaged uniform, the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party also became the commander in chief of the joint battle command.

Meanwhile, Mao is still a celebrated as one of the key figures in Chinese history. On the 120th anniversary of Mao’s birth four years ago, Xi called him “a great patriot and national hero.” As The Sydney Morning Herald reports:

But 40 years on from his death, Mao remains central to the Communist Party's narrative of ruling legitimacy. His embalmed body lies in state in a mausoleum overlooking Tiananmen Square, while his portrait smiles over the Forbidden City and graces every Chinese banknote.

By Mao's own measure, the mass campaign was his greatest achievement after leading the Communists to victory over the Japanese and the Kuomintang government which was exiled to Taiwan.

The Chinese government’s actions today are eclipsed by the events of that 10-year period, but as Xi tightens his grip over the country, comparisons are being made with a dark period in China’s history.

Matt Vasilogambros is a former staff writer at The Atlantic.



文化大革命在中国的遗产
中国政府没有庆祝那段血腥时期的50周年，但习近平主席的行动已经引起了人们对那个时代的比较。

作者：Matt Vasilogambros

Kim Kyung-Hoon / Reuters
2016年5月17日

1966年文化大革命开始时，未来中国国家主席习近平的父亲习仲勋是共产主义革命的老兵和领导人，这并不重要。他是中国需要清洗的资产阶级的代表，毛泽东说。老一辈的习仲勋被关了16年，而未来的总统则被送到农村长大，从事艰苦的劳动，离开了作为知识分子的生活，以实现毛泽东振兴的共产主义愿景。

这10年始于1966年5月16日，毛泽东激励着全国的青年向他们的父母和老师反戈一击，往往是暴力的。这些所谓的红卫兵把目标对准了推动国家走向资本主义的精英们。在此期间，有1600万像习近平一样的儿童被送到农村，而被认为是反对共产党的最高领导人不是被监禁就是被杀害。




虽然没有官方统计在这一时期死亡的人数，但一位学者估计人数在50万到800万之间，被迫害的人数达数千万之多。正如《纽约时报》所描述的。

在文化大革命期间，红卫兵的目标是校园里的当局，然后是党的官员和整个社会的 "阶级敌人"。当暴力席卷全国时，他们在北京和其他城市进行了大规模杀戮。他们还相互争斗，有时使用重型武器，如在重庆市。军队加入了冲突，加剧了派系暴力和对平民的杀戮。大屠杀甚至包括在广西南部地区对受害者进行吃人。

这一时期随着毛泽东在1976年去世而结束，是中国历史上有争议的一部分，目前的高级官员宁愿看过去也不庆祝。周一是文化大革命开始50周年，国家媒体没有进行官方庆祝或表彰。

习近平虽然很少谈及那动荡的十年。2003年，他在接受国营的中央电视台采访时说。

"过去我们谈论信仰时，是非常抽象的。我认为我们这一代人的青年将因红卫兵时代的狂热而被记住。但那是一种情感。那是一种情绪。而当文化大革命的理想无法实现时，它被证明是一种幻觉。"

纪念日让中国政府陷入了困境。它显然想看清共产党在1981年所说的 "党、国家和人民遭受的最严重的挫折和最严重的损失"。它还想平息对中国可能正走向另一场文化大革命的任何担忧。


本月早些时候，当一个交响乐团在北京人民大会堂演奏了几首 "红歌"，庆祝共产党的社会主义历史时，这种担忧就显得尤为突出。其中一首是 "大海航行靠舵手"，这是文化大革命时期的颂歌。"毛泽东思想是永远照耀的太阳"，这首歌的一句话这样写道。

尽管党中央委员会很快就与演出保持了距离，但批评者仍然说国内有一个团体希望恢复镇压时期。

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近年来，习近平领导了对不同意见的镇压，对媒体和互联网进行审查。他还对公民社会下手，让安全部队控制处理人权、公共卫生和教育问题的外国非政府组织。

与文化大革命期间的毛泽东一样，习近平的个人崇拜也在增加，他的脸出现在全国各地报纸和宣传的头版。甚至还有歌颂他的流行歌曲。

随着中国军事力量的增长和南海争议岛屿的地区紧张局势加剧，习近平甚至给自己起了一个新头衔。4月，穿上迷彩服，这位中国共产党总书记还成为了联合作战司令部的总司令。

同时，毛泽东仍被誉为中国历史上的关键人物之一。在四年前的毛泽东诞辰120周年纪念日，习近平称他为 "伟大的爱国者和民族英雄"。正如《悉尼先驱晨报》报道的那样。

但在他去世40年后，毛泽东仍然是共产党执政合法性叙述的核心。他经过防腐处理的尸体躺在俯瞰天安门广场的陵墓中，而他的画像则在紫禁城上空微笑，并成为每张中国纸币的亮点。

按照毛泽东自己的标准，群众运动是他在领导共产党人战胜日本人和被流放到台湾的国民党政府之后的最大成就。

中国政府今天的行动在那十年间的事件面前黯然失色，但随着习近平对中国的控制越来越严，人们开始将其与中国历史上的一个黑暗时期进行比较。

Matt Vasilogambros是《大西洋》杂志的前工作人员。