Red Guards (paramilitary)

The Red Guards was a paramilitary unit in China that operated in the early stages of the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976). The ranks of the Red Guards consisted of Chinese youths from high schools and colleges who were empowered to carry out the plans of Chinese leader Mao Zedong. According to Mao's Communist ideology, society was locked in a class struggle, and the working classes were destined for victory. This victory could only be achieved by overturning all conventions of society that hindered communism. The Red Guards used harassment and violence to oust educators, administrators, politicians, and intellectuals who posed a perceived threat to Mao's goals. As many as one million people died in China during the Red Guards' reign of terror, which faded after the Guards were banished from cities around 1968.

Background

The Cultural Revolution in China took place from 1966 to 1976. Chinese leader Mao incited this movement. Mao, an ardent Communist, saw the dynamics of modern society as a struggle between socioeconomic classes. He felt that the so-called bourgeois classes, the middle- and upper-class citizens who owned most property and businesses, were consistently exploiting the poor and working classes. He thought this social structure was symptomatic of capitalism, which was fundamentally at odds with Communist principles.

Mao and his followers believed that the poor and working classes were destined to gain control over the country—and then the world—and build a Communist utopia in which all property becomes collective. The only way to do this, he felt, was through struggle and revolution. This revolution would involve a complete upheaval of all parts of society that did not strictly conform to Communist standards. All traces of capitalism and Western influence were to be destroyed.

Adherents to Mao's communism set out to reinvent China. They censored mainstream and Western art, music, writing, and film. They also attempted to erase all vestiges of traditional Chinese culture that could pose an obstacle to the present and future Communist. They disposed of ancient philosophies such as those of Confucius, replacing them with the teachings of Mao, some of which were printed in "little red books" (red being the symbolic color of communism) to be carried and studied by the faithful.

A generation of Chinese youths became swept up in the atmosphere of the Cultural Revolution. Many of them viewed Mao as a godlike figure whose brilliance was unquestionable and whose victory was assured. The most ardent among these young people would form a rebellion intent on destroying all traditional, capitalistic, or Westernized elements in Chinese society to clear the way for Mao's grand vision to be executed. These youths would be known as the Red Guards or hong (red) weibing (soldiers fighting in defense).

Overview

In 1966, Mao launched the Cultural Revolution that he hoped would remove impurities from Chinese communism and would cement his control over the ruling party. One of the main arms of his revolutionary force was the Red Guards, a huge group of Chinese youths from high schools and colleges who Mao empowered to carry out the goals of the revolution on many levels of society. The millions of young people who answered his call were dedicated to Mao and felt that they were cultural warriors destined to reshape the country.

Throughout 1966, millions of Red Guards traveled to Beijing for an audience with their leader. Many of the Guards wore green military-style jackets resembling those of the Chinese army and red armbands symbolizing their dedication to Mao's communism. Mao spoke to the massive crowds—numbering about eleven million—and reinforced their mission to purge society. The Red Guards were told to report social enemies or oust them with violence. A report in Beijing Daily attests to the frenzied work of the Guards, who contributed to the 1,772 people killed in the city alone in August and September of 1966.

The main mission of the Red Guards was to bring corrections to the area they knew best—China's school system. Mao believed that many educators were promoting capitalist and Western thought or were members of the upper classes themselves. These educators were to be considered enemies of the state and threats to the revolution. In many cases, Red Guards criticized, harassed, or physically attacked teachers and school administrators. Observers noted how this behavior showed the sharp turn taken away from Confucian tradition in which teachers were revered.

Many other groups in society became targets of the Red Guards' antagonism. These included all traces of foreign influence, particularly that of the United States and the West, and a wide variety of political opponents. The Red Guards targeted politicians who were opposed to Communist ideals or who had fallen into disfavor for other reasons. Other targets were the old regime of the Kuomintang political party and non-Chinese Soviets who had lost sight of core Communist ideals.

The Red Guards began a reign of terror and attacked teachers, politicians, intellectuals, property owners, and anyone else perceived as offensive. Reports surfaced of Red Guards attacking people on the street for wearing clothes or hairstyles deemed contrary to Communist ways or reading books that were not officially sanctioned. The Red Guards brought near-anarchy to Chinese cities and industries, and infighting began between groups of Guards over which was most correctly following Mao's laws.

By 1968, the government viewed the Guards as a liability and ordered them to leave urban areas and move to the countryside, where they could do less damage. Mao mobilized the Chinese armed forces to return law and order to the ravaged cities. In time, the Red Guards faded into obscurity, with the government unwilling to discuss them. Their legacy, however, created indelible changes in Chinese culture.

As many as one million Chinese people were killed due to the Red Guards and their influence. Additionally, due to the disruption of the school system in the 1960s, an entire generation of Chinese people missed valuable education. In the 2010s, several former members of the Red Guards went public with their reflections of and apologies for their deeds. Although many people doubted the sincerity and value of such apologies, they created public discourse about a dark time in history that the Chinese government attempted to conceal.

Bibliography

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Jiang, Yarong, and David Ashley. Mao's Children in the New China: Voices from the Red Guard Generation. Routledge, 2000.

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Kuhn, Anthony. "Chinese Red Guards Apologize, Reopening a Dark Chapter." NPR, 4 Feb. 2014, www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2014/01/23/265228870/chinese-red-guards-apologize-reopening-a-dark-chapter. Accessed 13 June 2017.

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