The Cultural Revolution Era

The Cultural Revolution Era, 1966 to 1976, was a decade of sweeping political and social upheaval in the People's Republic of China launched by Communist Party chairman Mao Zedong, officially to purge remaining capitalist and traditional elements from Chinese society and reassert his own authority after the catastrophic failure of the earlier Great Leap Forward had weakened his standing within the party. Mao mobilized millions of young Red Guards to attack the party establishment, intellectuals, teachers and traditional culture, closing schools and universities for years, sending urban youth and officials to the countryside for reeducation through labor, and destroying countless historical and religious sites in campaigns against the so-called "Four Olds." The period brought widespread political persecution, violence and social disorder across the country, with party leaders including Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping purged from power, the latter twice, and the national economy and education system badly disrupted for years. The era effectively ended with Mao's death and the arrest of the radical "Gang of Four" in 1976, after which Deng Xiaoping returned to power and began the market-oriented reforms that would remake China's economy.