22
22
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ignored Chairman Mao. The more the Red Guards attacked that
foundation, the more the bureaucratic resistance to the Glorious
Chairman crumbled.14
The Red Guards did not let their enthusiasm stop there. Urged on
by Mao's speeches, they went on a campaign against "The Four
Olds"--the remnants of pre-revolutionary style. The students pulled
down store signs, renamed streets, slit the cloth legs of anyone wearing
tight pants, stopped women in the town gates to cut off their braids,
pulled down ancient monuments, broke into homes, and smashed
everything that carried the hated aura of tradition.
Then the Red Guards turned on each other. It started as a debate
over the true Maoist line. But behind the argument about Mao's thought
was another issue.
Class warfare is a central concept of Maoism. As a result, each
citizen of Mao's China was categorized according to the class from
which his parents or grandparents came. If your family in the distant
past had belonged to an unacceptable social category, you were a pariah.
What was acceptable? The poor peasants and soldiers. Middle peasants
and intellectuals were beneath contempt. Upper peasants, capitalists or
landlords were utterly beyond the pale. Just to keep things straight, the
descendants of these hated social strata were sometimes forced to wear
black armbands with white letters broadcasting their status.
In Gao Yuan's school, one student declared categorically that only
those whose class background was "pure," those whose parents had
come from the Red Categories--poor peasants and soldiers--should be
allowed in the Red Guard. And what of the children whose parents
came from the Black Categories--middle-class peasants, wealthy
peasants, landlords and capitalists? Said the snobbish student, keep
them out. A parent's class has nothing to do with children, protested
Gao Yuan. "All our classmates were born and brought up under the
five-star red flag. We all have a socialist education." Not true, snarled
the boy determined to keep the Red Guard an exclusive club. "A dragon
undation of support for the bureaucratic powers who not long ago had
<< < GO > >>
22
22
fo
ignored Chairman Mao. The more the Red Guards attacked that
foundation, the more the bureaucratic resistance to the Glorious
Chairman crumbled.14
The Red Guards did not let their enthusiasm stop there. Urged on
by Mao's speeches, they went on a campaign against "The Four
Olds"--the remnants of pre-revolutionary style. The students pulled
down store signs, renamed streets, slit the cloth legs of anyone wearing
tight pants, stopped women in the town gates to cut off their braids,
pulled down ancient monuments, broke into homes, and smashed
everything that carried the hated aura of tradition.
Then the Red Guards turned on each other. It started as a debate
over the true Maoist line. But behind the argument about Mao's thought
was another issue.
Class warfare is a central concept of Maoism. As a result, each
citizen of Mao's China was categorized according to the class from
which his parents or grandparents came. If your family in the distant
past had belonged to an unacceptable social category, you were a pariah.
What was acceptable? The poor peasants and soldiers. Middle peasants
and intellectuals were beneath contempt. Upper peasants, capitalists or
landlords were utterly beyond the pale. Just to keep things straight, the
descendants of these hated social strata were sometimes forced to wear
black armbands with white letters broadcasting their status.
In Gao Yuan's school, one student declared categorically that only
those whose class background was "pure," those whose parents had
come from the Red Categories--poor peasants and soldiers--should be
allowed in the Red Guard. And what of the children whose parents
came from the Black Categories--middle-class peasants, wealthy
peasants, landlords and capitalists? Said the snobbish student, keep
them out. A parent's class has nothing to do with children, protested
Gao Yuan. "All our classmates were born and brought up under the
five-star red flag. We all have a socialist education." Not true, snarled
the boy determined to keep the Red Guard an exclusive club. "A dragon
undation of support for the bureaucratic powers who not long ago had
<< < GO > >>