How Did The Cultural Revolution Affect Society?

My father, a chef who now lives in Australia, as a child witnessed when the movement began. It was around the time we had just begun kindergarten when the cultural revolution broke out. I was very young back then. We didn’t understand what was happening. One day it was fine, the next everyone suddenly turned into enemies. The middle school on the street near us became a nightmare. Students would drag the teachers and elderly out into the streets and beat them. They gave propaganda speeches about the greatness of Chairman Mao and marched down the street inspecting everyone. It was complete chaos. At that time, people were separated into two factions; the good and the bad. Anyone who was wealthy or had an intellectual family background was considered …show more content…
Often students from different school would dispute and fight. Houses nearby would be set on fire and passer byers would be dragged into the chaos. I will never forget the brutality of that world. “Where exactly were the police when all of this was happening?” Scoff, the police. The police were pretty much non existent at that stage. Usually they would come out and watch the scene, but that was it. They wouldn’t do anything since they didn’t know which side was wrong or right. It was complete mayhem. Even the work system was affected. My mothers factory halted for some time because the red guards had imprisoned the bosses. With no one to conduct the workers, no work was done. Luckily she was still being paid during that time, however she was still forced look for another job. Even before the cultural revolution, there were divisions within the city over family background. The cultural revolution only made that more obvious. Students from poor backgrounds like were looked down upon from the children of officials. The fact is that they were much smarter than us and had the authoritative power we could never …show more content…
Students like me, who lived in poverty, didn’t have a chance to join simply because we were not born ‘red’. They would imprison innocent people without food and water, beat someone to death, and give lectures to us children as if they were the heroes of China. However it was the not the red guards who were the main culprits of the cultural revolution. People who did not experience the movement don’t know that it was power holders who steered the reins. They think that only Chairman Mao and his gang of four supported the cultural revolution, however many of the senior officials also supported the cultural revolution for some time. It was only after Chairman Mao’s death in 1976, when the cultural revolution came to an end. Sadly, the people who had incited the beatings and rallies did everything in their power to cover up their mistakes. They would give excuses like ‘Chairman Mao told me to beat him up’ or ‘f I hadn’t I would have been killed’. Even now, people still do that. They ignore their past mistakes and glorify their success. The cultural revolution left a large wreck on China. Students who had attended middle school during that decade did not get the education they