Initiator | Mao Zedong |
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Origin | Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan [1] |
Revolution is not a dinner party | |||||||||
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Simplified Chinese | 革命不是请客吃饭 | ||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 革命不是請客吃飯 | ||||||||
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Revolution is not a dinner party, [2] or making revolution is not inviting people over for dinner, [3] is a phrase coined by Mao Zedong. [4] It is taken from Mao's essay titled Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan written in 1927 during the Land Revolution. [5] It means that a revolution should not be gentle and soft,but determined and thorough,and it is a violent and bloody action of one class overthrowing another class. [6]
In this report,Mao stated that "A revolution is not a dinner party,or writing an essay,or painting a picture,or doing embroidery;it cannot be so refined,so leisurely and gentle,so temperate,kind,courteous,restrained and magnanimous. A revolution is an insurrection,an act of violence by which one class overthrows another." [7]
Based on this view,historian Zhang Ming further pointed out that "a revolution is not a dinner party,a revolution is a petition to eat". [8] The saying is also the basis of a political joke:"for many cadres Geming bushi qingke jiushi chifan 'Revolution is not entertaining guests,just eating dinner [at public expense or at the cost of the nouveaux riches]." [9]
Mao Zedong,also known as Chairman Mao,was a Chinese politician,Marxist theorist,military strategist,poet,and revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC). He led the country from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1976,while also serving as the chairman of the Chinese Communist Party during that time. His theories,military strategies and policies are known as Maoism.
The Cultural Revolution,formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution,was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his death in 1976. Its stated goal was to preserve Chinese communism by purging remnants of capitalist and traditional elements from Chinese society. Though it failed to achieve its main objectives,the Cultural Revolution marked the effective return of Mao to the center of power in China after his political sidelining,in the aftermath of the Great Leap Forward and the Great Chinese Famine.
Maoism,officially Mao Zedong Thought,is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed while trying to realize a socialist revolution in the agricultural,pre-industrial society of the Republic of China and later the People's Republic of China. A difference between Maoism and traditional Marxism–Leninism is that a united front of progressive forces in class society would lead the revolutionary vanguard in pre-industrial societies rather than communist revolutionaries alone. This theory,in which revolutionary praxis is primary and ideological orthodoxy is secondary,represents urban Marxism–Leninism adapted to pre-industrial China. Later theoreticians expanded on the idea that Mao had adapted Marxism–Leninism to Chinese conditions,arguing that he had in fact updated it fundamentally and that Maoism could be applied universally throughout the world. This ideology is often referred to as Marxism–Leninism–Maoism to distinguish it from the original ideas of Mao.
The Gang of Four was a Maoist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and were later charged with a series of treasonous crimes due to their responsibility for the excesses and failures in the Cultural Revolution. The gang's leading figure was Jiang Qing. The other members were Zhang Chunqiao,Yao Wenyuan,and Wang Hongwen.
Zhang Chunqiao was a prominent Chinese political theorist,writer,and politician. He came to the national spotlight during the late stages of the Cultural Revolution,and was a member of the ultra-Maoist group dubbed the "Gang of Four".
From November 1978 to December 1979,thousands of people put up "big character posters" on a long brick wall of Xidan Street,Xicheng District of Beijing,to protest about the political and social issues of China;the wall became known as the Democracy Wall. Under acquiescence of the Chinese government,other kinds of protest activities,such as unofficial journals,petitions,and demonstrations,were also soon spreading out in major cities of China. This movement can be seen as the beginning of the Chinese Democracy Movement. It is also known as the "Democracy Wall Movement". This short period of political liberation was known as the "Beijing Spring".
In the People's Republic of China since 1967,the terms "ultra-left" and "left communist" refers to political theory and practice self-defined as further "left" than that of the central Maoist leaders at the height of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (GPCR). The terms are also used retroactively to describe some early 20th century Chinese anarchist orientations. As a slur,the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has used the term "ultra-left" more broadly to denounce any orientation it considers further "left" than the party line. According to the latter usage,the CCP Central Committee denounced in 1978 as "ultra-left" the line of Mao Zedong from 1956 until his death in 1976. This article refers only to 1) the self-defined ultra-left of the GPCR;and 2) more recent theoretical trends drawing inspiration from the GPCR ultra-left,China's anarchist legacy and international "left communist" traditions.
Hai Rui Dismissed from Office (Chinese:海瑞罢官;pinyin:Hǎi Ruìbàguān;Wade–Giles:Hai3 Jui4 Pa4-kuan1) is a theatre play,written by Wu Han (1909-1969),notable for its involvement in Chinese politics during the Cultural Revolution. The play itself focused on a loyal Ming Dynasty minister named Hai Rui,who was portrayed as a savior to passive peasants for whom he reversed unjust land confiscations. The play became a center of scholarly and political controversy because of its implications for debates within the communist party,including at the Lushan Conference,regarding the political role of peasants going forward in light of the failures during the Great Leap Forward.
New Democracy,or the New Democratic Revolution,is a type of democracy in Marxism,based on Mao Zedong's Bloc of Four Social Classes theory in post-revolutionary China which argued originally that democracy in China would take a path that was decisively distinct from that in any other country. He also said every colonial or semi-colonial country would have its own unique path to democracy,given that particular country's own social and material conditions. Mao labeled representative democracy in the Western nations as Old Democracy,characterizing parliamentarianism as just an instrument to promote the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie/land-owning class through manufacturing consent. He also found his concept of New Democracy not in contrast with the Soviet-style dictatorship of the proletariat which he assumed would be the dominant political structure of a post-capitalist world. Mao spoke about how he wanted to create a New China,a country freed from the feudal and semi-feudal aspects of its old culture as well as Japanese imperialism.
The Up to the Mountains and Down to the Countryside Movement,often known simply as the Down to the Countryside Movement,was a policy instituted in the People's Republic of China between the mid-1950s and 1978. As a result of what he perceived to be pro-bourgeois thinking prevalent during the Cultural Revolution,Chairman Mao Zedong declared certain privileged urban youth would be sent to mountainous areas or farming villages to learn from the workers and farmers there. In total,approximately 17 million youth were sent to rural areas as a result of the movement. Usually only the oldest child had to go,but younger siblings could volunteer to go instead.
The "Learn from Dazhai in agriculture" Campaign was a campaign organized by Mao Zedong in 1963. The campaign encouraged peasants from all over China to follow from the example of the farmers of the village Dazhai in Shanxi by practicing self-sacrifice and upright political activity.
Struggle sessions,or denunciation rallies or struggle meetings,were violent public spectacles in Maoist China where people accused of being "class enemies" were publicly humiliated,accused,beaten and tortured,sometimes to death,often by people with whom they were close. These public rallies were most popular in the mass campaigns immediately before and after the establishment of the People's Republic of China,and peaked during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976),when they were used to instill a crusading spirit among crowds to promote Maoist thought reform.
Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun is a phrase which was coined by Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong. The phrase was originally used by Mao during an emergency meeting of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on 7 August 1927,at the beginning of the Chinese Civil War.
Liu Shaoqi was a Chinese revolutionary and politician. He was the chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from 1954 to 1959,first-ranking vice chairman of the Chinese Communist Party from 1956 to 1966,and the chairman of the People's Republic of China,the head of state from 1959 to 1968. He was considered to be a possible successor to Mao Zedong,but was purged during the Cultural Revolution.
The 16 May Notification or Circular of 16 May,originally titled simply Notification,was the initial political declaration of the Cultural Revolution. Initially a secret inner-party document,it was issued at a May 1966 expanded session of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party. The notification ended a political dispute within the CCP stemming from the Beijing Opera play Hai Rui Dismissed from Office by dissolving the top level of the party's cultural apparatus and encouraging mass political movement to oppose rightists within the party. The result was a political victory for Mao Zedong. The Notification is often viewed as the beginning of the Cultural Revolution and would be declassified and published in People's Daily on 17 May 1967.
Ying Chang Compestine is a Chinese American author,speaker,television host and chef. She has written over twenty-seven books including Revolution Is Not a Dinner Party (novel),based on her life growing up during the Chinese Cultural Revolution.,and a middle grade novel,Morning Sun in Wuhan,set in Wuhan,China.
Mao Zedong's cult of personality was a prominent part of Chairman Mao Zedong's rule over the People's Republic of China from the state's founding in 1949 until his death in 1976. Mass media,propaganda and a series of other techniques were used by the state to elevate Mao Zedong's status to that of an infallible heroic leader,who could stand up against the West,and guide China to become a beacon of communism.
Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan or Inquiry into the Peasant Movement of Hunan of March 1927,often called the Hunan Report,is one of Mao Zedong's most famous and influential essays. The Report is based on a several month visit to his home countryside around Changsha,capital of Hunan in early 1927. The Report endorses the violence that had broken out spontaneously in the wake of the Northern Expedition,makes a class analysis of the struggle,and enthusiastically reports the "Fourteen Great Achievements" of the peasant associations (农民协会).
The Violent Struggle,also known as Wudou or Factional Conflicts,refers to the violent conflicts between different factions during the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966–1976). The factional conflicts started in Shanghai and Chongqing in December 1966,and then spread to other areas of China in 1967 which brought the country to the state of civil war. Most violent struggles took place after the power seizure of rebel groups,and gradually grew out of control in 1968,forcing the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party as well as the Chinese government to take multiple interventions in the summer of 1968.
The Shengwulian or Sheng-wu-lien,derived from the Chinese acronym for the full name of Hunan Provincial Proletarian Revolutionary Great Alliance Committee,was a radical ultra-left group formed in 1967 during the Cultural Revolution. The rebel group became known for its opposition to local authorities installed by Beijing and for creatively re-interpreting the Cultural Revolution's official doctrine,becoming active during a period when the political trends of the Cultural Revolution were moving away from mass political mobilization.