China Blog #79.

China Blog #79.

The Cultural Revolution.

Just over 50 years ago Mao Zedong launched the Cultural Revolution in China. In his time in the Communist Party, he had cracked many glass ceilings and set about ridding himself of his rivals. 

Chairman Mao called on young people (often as young as 9 or 10 years of age) They formed the "Red Guards" with a mission to take party leaders to task for embracing bourgeois values and for their lack of revolutionary spirit. Pretty soon the Red Guards were out of control and destroyed much of China's social fabric.

Mao also ordered them to destroy the "four olds" - Old ideas, customs, habits and culture. Religion was a prime target. Temples were ransacked and churches were destroyed. Religious leaders, university students and scholars were sent to factories and farms for 're-education' through forced labour. Religion was pretty much wiped out. In recent years, however, there has been a strong religious revival. Many of the temples I have walked past have been rebuilt. Some experts believe that by 2025 there will be more Christians in China than anywhere else in the world, despite the fact that religious freedom is still curtailed. 

It seems that religion is pretty much tolerated, in so far as those religious institutions are required to register. There are five recognised religions: Daoism which is the principal Chinese religion, Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam.  

Many clerics have a problem with signing paperwork which relegates their God to third place; that is after the Communist party and also Chinese loyalty. The Cultural Revolution all but ended in 1976 with Mao's death. I am sure he has turned in his grave at the sight of western capitalism, for it seems that there are more posters adorning KFC's Colonel Saunders, in Chinese cities than of the man with the red book.