ipl-logo

How Did Mao Zedong Change During The Cultural Revolution

553 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Mao Zedongs policy of the great leap forward and the cultural revolution

During the Cultural Revolution (1966-76) art completely changed in style and purpose. More specifically when the Communist Party took over the minds and hearts of China in 1949, propaganda seen in art was used to influence them and further make Mao Zedong an icon and hero. This movement changed the art of China into a modernized art, an art that was no longer showing the spirit of the old China but a new spirit that sparked through Mao Zedong's teachings. Through the elimination of traditional-style artworks, its artist and of those not in favor of Mao Zedong’s ideals, China brutally metamorphosised into a modern nation. Through the articles by Julia Andrews “The of Cultural Revolution” and by Liu Chunhua, “Painting Pictures of Chairman Mao is Our Greatest Happiness” and “Art that Serves Proletarian Politics,” and the film “Making Mao” this essay will analyse the change in art and the new spirit that the new and modern artwork spoke and communicated to the people of China.
Chairman Mao’s teachings influenced young people, Red Guards, to celebrate this new spirit of art, essentially it was the elimination of the old that for them exploited classes to corrupt the masses. As a result, Mao Zedong became the icon in most artwork and he symbolized the hero that would save China. To explain, art during the Communist …show more content…

However, for Mao Zedong’s followers by eliminating the old spirit of China and through destroying traditional paintings and styles, Chairman Mao’s ideals allowed and gave way to the visual, performing and popular art in China. Art for the Red Guards needed to target political ideals, ideals that Chairman Mao believed would truly change China into a modern place. In other words, it was Chairman Mao who lit the spark of revolution but it was the duty of the Red Guards and the followers of Mao to do “their part of correcting the distortion of

Show More
Related

The Giver In Lois Lowry's Red Scarf Girl

821 Words | 4 Pages

Until reading Red Scarf Girl, I believed in that the ideal society could, no, would someday exist. But now I have been convinced otherwise. The youth of China believed that Mao’s purpose of the cultural revolution was to unify and strengthen their country. While this was later discovered to be untrue, they tried to accomplish that by bringing

Read More

Elizabeth Economy Chapter 2 Summary

1395 Words | 6 Pages

Any outspoken person of Mao was attacked. The Cultural revolution worked. After Mao Zedong’s death and Hua Guofeng, essentially a Mao fanboy, failed as his successor, Deng Xiaoping took over control of China and basically saved the country. Deng Xiaoping started to undo some of Mao’s policies and began to open up the country. Xiaoping wanted to shift away from Maoism and began to institute 4 modernization to help China grow.

Read More

Red Scarf Girl Sparknotes

615 Words | 3 Pages

“All political power comes from the barrel of a gun.” - Mao Zedong (Chairman Mao). Mao Zedong was Chairman Mao, the leader of China during the Cultural Revolution. The Cultural Revolution took place from 1966 to 1976. The memoir Red Scarf Girl by Ji-li Jiang was written about the life of a young girl, Ji-li, who lived through these hard times.

Read More

Joseph Stalin's Cult Of Personality

1757 Words | 8 Pages

Many works have been written on Stalin’s cult of personality, but none of them seemed to focus on the role of paintings specifically. This topic is thus worthy of investigation as it might shed a new light on Stalin’s cult of personality in terms of the visual arts. It is also worthy of investigation in general because his cult of personality was not an isolated phenomenon, but rather a phenomenon that has existed around many of the world leaders, and continues to exist around some today. Therefore, it is interesting to investigate the relative importance and influence of the visual arts, especially painting, in one of such cults as it may allow for the extrapolation of the conclusion to many others. Following the recommendation of Anita Pisch, Stalin’s image will be divided into three main parts that Pisch in her book The Personality Cult of Stalin in Soviet Posters refers to as archetypes.

Read More

Robespierre's Rebellion

984 Words | 4 Pages

The Cultural Revolution concluded in 1976 with Mao's death. Likewise, in 1974 the Reign of Terror ended with Robespierre's execution at the guillotine. Both Robespierre and Mao pledged to, as leaders in their government, to defend the underprivileged. But the type of government they sought to promote vastly differed- one a Republic and the other Communist. Nevertheless, both leaders of the Revolution evolved into harsh dictators and were instrumental in the mass killings of the people they originally sought to protect.

Read More

How Did Chairman Mao's Chinese Cultural Revolution Turn Against Other Intellectuals

1441 Words | 6 Pages

Why And How Chairman Mao’s Chinese Cultural Revolution Turn Against Some Intellectuals? Lao-She’s death In August 24th of 1966, one of the most famous Chinese Writer: Lao-She was discovered in Taiping Lake. A day before, he was criticized as a ‘monster’ and was sent by force to the Confucius Temple for criticism.

Read More

Was Mao Zedong A Hero Or A Tyrant?

1046 Words | 5 Pages

He, thus, decided to achieve his aim by mobilizing people to participate mass movement to change China to a socialist modernized nation. He then launched the Great Leap Forward and set unrealistic goals and ended up in 3 years economic hardship. Had Mao be considered as a hero only if he set realistic and progressive goals in most cases. Hence, he was not a hero. General view towards Mao was that the cultural and educational policy of Mao taught knowledge and skills needed for war and reamed national pride as he allocated students with work in army and military training.

Read More

Lao Tzu's Influence In Western Culture

145 Words | 1 Pages

Lao Tzu, also spelled Laozi, was a philosopher in China in the sixth century BCE. He is very influential in the East also has some influence in Western culture. Little is known about his life and history, but his writings that have survived the trials of time are insightful and provide humanity with extensive knowledge of his personal beliefs and intuitions. His writings have become so influential in Asia that an entire religion has been based off of them -- Taoism.

Read More

Relator Reflection

119 Words | 1 Pages

This was the first time taking this specific assessment. I was very excited and surprised in a good way by the results, they were very accurate in my case, I could not have expressed them better. My main top 5 themes are: Empathy, Learner, Achiever, Relator and Includer. The word Relator confused me at first, but after reading the Theme Description which says: "People who are especially talented in the Relator theme enjoy close relationships with others. They find deep satisfaction in working hard with friends to achieve a goal.

Read More

Mao Zedong Vs. Deng Xiaoping

1311 Words | 6 Pages

Mao Zedong v.s. Deng Xiaoping Mao Zedong, one of the most notable communist revolutionaries and the founding father of the People’s Republic of China, has played a significant role in the county’s evolution into a communist-led system. His philosophies along with the power he gained as Chairman of the communist party allowed his to exert great influence over the people of China throughout most of the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Mao took the ideas of Marx’s communism and applied them to China (Mao Zedong Thought), favoring the peasants and the idea of a peasant revolution, rather than the industrial workers (China was not completely industrialized at the time). He believed the peasant class would be the driving force behind a communist takeover

Read More

Kitsch Origin

1147 Words | 5 Pages

Some of the contributing factors are the rising of the middle class, urbanization and the arrival of peasant populations to the town, the decline of aristocracy, the disintegration of folk art and folk culture, increased literacy among the commoners, more time for leisure, mass production and technological progress. In comparison, to recent years dated as far as the nineteenth century, where the industrial revolution has a heavy influence in the development of kitsch, the fact that art back then was connected to religious, ethical or political subject matter, which made it in a way ‘absolute’, unchanging, eternal proves that there classical artist were not concerned about the aesthetic but rather the purpose it has. It is also the time of evolution and experimentation; art was a form of personal

Read More

Mao Zedong Impact

1319 Words | 6 Pages

Secondly, the Cultural Revolution and the chaos and disaster this had on the Chinese population, especially through the “Down to the Countryside movement” and finally, the Cult of Mao and what the idolisation and glorification of Mao meant for the future of China. Mao’s introduction of the Great Leap Forward policy and the impacts and effects this had on the Chinese population as well as its role in the introduction of the Cultural Revolution played a key role in shaping China into what it is today. The plan’s failure lead to Mao’s loss of power, which resulted in Mao introducing the Cultural Revolution in China. Unfortunately, Mao’s five-year plan was a disaster, and caused the death of an estimated twenty to forty

Read More

Examples Of Satire In The Handmaid's Tale

1472 Words | 6 Pages

Atwood parallels the Cultural Revolution in China to the how the Gilead government gains power and control over the United States. The Chinese communist leader, Mao Zedong launched the Cultural Revolution to assert his control over the Chinese government. Zedong ordered the nation to cleanse themselves of “impure” aspects of Chinese society. This was done by shutting down schools and a massive youth mobilization. The students formed groups called the Red Guards, they attacked and harassed members of China’s elderly and

Read More

Red Army Characteristics

1651 Words | 7 Pages

Kepimpinan Mao di dalam penubuhan dan organisasi Red Army tidak dinafikan, beliau merupakan seorang pemimpin yang berkaliber dan memastikan segala prinsip dan arahan yang ditetapkan oleh beliau perlu dipatuhi oleh anggota Red Army bagi memenangi hati rakyat. Mao’s belief in the revolutionary ability of the peasants. In order to make successful, Red Army soldiers are required to follow three main rules of discipline; obey orders in all conditions, don’t take a single needle or piece of threat from the people, and turn in everything captured. Beliau juga memperkenalkan Eight Points For Attention; Speak politely, pay fairly for what you buy, return everything you borrow, pay for anything you damage, do not hit or swear at people, do not damage crops, do not take liberties with women and do not ill-treat

Read More

Importance Of Art Essay

789 Words | 4 Pages

This research was carried out not to only show awareness toward the society but also why people should take art seriously. Often times, we can see lots of people debating whether art is important or not. This happened because the lack of exposure and knowledge that has been taught to them. Art can help to shape the society and affect the society to broaden their view of perspective in life by referring on the artworks because each work of art can give different meanings to life.

Read More

More about How Did Mao Zedong Change During The Cultural Revolution

Related Topics

Open Document