Chinese Cultural Revolution

The Chinese Cultural Revolution has had a huge impact on China since this movement started in 1965. This social-political movement was started by Mao Zedong, who was then the chairmen of the communist party of China. The goal was to enforce communism by removing capitalist and traditional cultural movements in the Chinese society. This movement ruined China politically and affected the country economically and socially. Mao insisted that the revisionists be removed through violence and this resulted into the youth forming Red Guard groups. This affected the military, urban workers, and the communist people. This created chaos and uproar and leaded to people being persecuted and publically humiliated, tortured, and harassed. Mao eventually tried to put an end to this in 1969, but it still lingered on. On September 9, 1976, Mao Zedong died. To Mao's supporters, his death symbolized the loss of the revolutionary foundation of Communist China. When his death was announced on the afternoon of September 9, in a press release entitled “A Notice from the Central Committee, the NPC, State Council, and the CMC to the whole Party, the whole Army and to the people of all nationalities throughout the country” the nation descended into grief and mourning, with people weeping in the streets and public institutions closing for over a week. The effects of the Cultural Revolution directly or indirectly touched essentially all of China's population. This Cultural Revolution brought a lot of Red Guard to Beijing with everything paid for by the government. Buildings, artifacts, antiques, books, and paintings were destroyed by these Red Guards and quotes of Mao’s were printed instead. During this time, China’s education system didn’t exist anymore. Educated youths were sent to live and work in agrarian areas in order to understand the role of “manual labor” in Chinese society. So in other words, the educated youth were being punished for having an education and trying to better themselves. 

The People’s Republican of China (PRC) is a sovereign state located in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population of over 1.35 billion. The PRC is a single-party state governed by the Communist Party, with its seat of government in the capital city of Beijing. The PRC also claims Taiwan which is controlled by the Republic of China (ROC) a separate entity. China is the world’s second- largest country by land and area. Since the introduction of economic reforms in 1978, China has become one of the world's fastest-growing major economies. As of 2013, it is the world's second-largest economy and is also the world's largest exporter and importer of goods. China is a recognized nuclear weapons state and has the world's largest standing army, with the second-largest defense budget. China suffers from water shortages and overpopulation despite being a leading investor. China has been in many disputes involving land borders and undefined borders with India and Bhutan and is also involved in disputes over islands in the East and South China Seas. It seems like China has a lot of unresolved issues.