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"Why Don't We Arm the Left?" Mao's Culpability for the Cultural Revolution's "Great Chaos" of 1967

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Author

Summary, in English

This article sets out to describe and explain the events that led, in the summer of 1967, to political chaos and near civil war in many parts of China. It links the violence on the ground to statements and policies formulated at the highest levels of the CCP and sets out to show how and why Mao Zedong himself must bear direct personal responsibility for what stands out as one of the darkest chapters in the history of the PRC. Common assumptions about the involvement of senior CCP figures other than Mao, including Lin Biao and Zhou Enlai, are reassessed. Misimpressions that have influenced non-Chinese scholarship on the period are corrected and evasions and obfuscations on the part of establishment historians in China today are pinpointed.

Department/s

Publishing year

2005

Language

English

Pages

277-300

Publication/Series

The China Quarterly

Issue

182

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Topic

  • History and Archaeology

Keywords

  • Mao Zedong
  • Civil War
  • China
  • Cultural Revolution
  • Mass Movements

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1468-2648