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Cultural Revolution
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The present Cultural Revolution is the culmination of those very movements which the Communist Party of China had to conduct after the revolution embracing all spheres of cultural life of the society. The CPC had to conduct such movements in the ideological-cultural field even before the revolution — for revolutionary parties in all countries this is an indispensable task before the revolution. No revolutionary party can accomplish revolution by ignoring this most urgent task. At the Tenth Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the CPC, Comrade Mao Zedong said: “To overthrow political power it is always necessary, first of all, to create public opinion to do work in the ideological sphere”. By this he had precisely underlined the indispensable necessity of cultural revolution. This holds good for the revolutionary parties as well as for the counter-revolutionaries.
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At first, the main target of the Cultural Revolution was the realm of culture and education and the organization of the party and the government. The Cultural Revolution at factories, traffic, companies, and in the countryside, had to be carried out deliberately and gradually, for persons like Zhou Enlai feared that the Cultural Revolution would affect the economy. Of course the Cultural Revolution was important, but production was important as well, and above all production was needed for China. So the Party had been declared that "in fall, a peasant's energy should be absorbed in harvesting, sowing, and business. So the activity for the revolution might be stopped during that".
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While most of the radical excesses of the Cultural Revolution had diminished by the mid-1970s, some of its rhetoric and policies continued even after Mao’s death in 1976. Jiang Qing and the rest of the Gang of Four were arrested that year. Their arrest was declared the official end of the movement, but it was not until 1981 that the Gang of Four were convicted for their crimes and the Communist Party leadership under Deng Xiaoping officially condemned the Cultural Revolution.
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The Cultural Revolution ... affected citizens. The students attending universities were the first citizens to be affected by the revolution. (Chesneaux 141) The students question methods of teaching and learning, and the students wanted the school to be more accepting to the society by making peasants and workers feel welcome. (Chesneaux 141) Foreign affairs with other countries were also practically impossible during the Cultural Revolution because of the actions of the Red Guards. The Red Guards took over China’s Foreign Relation’s Ministry, and conquered the former Soviet Union Embassy. Furthermore, these young students invaded and set fire to the British Embassy.
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The effects of the Cultural Revolution directly or indirectly touched all of China's populace. During the Cultural Revolution most economic activity was halted, with "revolution" being the only objective; it ... cost a lot. The start of the Cultural Revolution brought gargantuan numbers of Red Guards to Beijing, with all of their expenses paid for by the government, and the railway system was in mere turmoil. The ancient buildings, artifacts, antiques, books, and paintings destroyed by Red Guards were countless. By December 1967 there were already 350 million copies of Mao's Quotations printed.
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The Cultural Revolution began to hit classical music around mid-1927 and was initiated from above. In the beginning, it concerned itself mainly with control over musical organizations. Its first stage was an attempt to resolve divisions and differences between performance organizations. Most of these were placed under the guidance of the arts administration organ "Glavisskustvo" (the "Chief Art Department"). Glavisskustvo worked to eliminate elitism: by exposing culturally illiterate workers and peasants to top-flight orchestras and performers; by strongly encouraging the development of Soviet compositions; and by encouraging mass participation in music performance. On the high side of musical culture, the better orchestras (including the Persymphans) and top performers began to do concerts outside the big central halls.
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Cultural Revolution