In 1958, Mao remarked "They say he [Shi Huang-ti; the legendary "first emperor"] buried 400 scholars alive. We've buried 40,000. So please don't compare us to Shi Huang-ti. We've outdone him a hundredfold." Now, and I thought the hundred flowers campaign wasnt as bad as cultural revolution.
The Cultural Revolution was in full swing by then, and at the celebrations that November, one Soviet politician remarked "What's going on now in China is neither Marxist, cultural, or revolutionary." That is so very true. Unless revolutionary is defined as mindlessly killing people.
The hapless Liu was imprisoned and allowed to slowly waste away from untreated pneumonia and diabetes. He finally died in November 1969, but the outside world was not aware of this until a Hong Kong newspaper reported his death in 1974. Dude, you arent talking about a commoner here, hes the freaking chariman of the PRC. Like, supposedly the most powerful man in the whole country.
However, Mao stated that in a few years a new Cultural Revolution might be necessary and added "No one should think everything will be all right after one, or two, or even three Cultural Revolutions, for socialist society occupies a considerably long historical period." After economic growth completely halted, after a huge chunk of people died, after what is regarded in history as one of the most destructive movements, yea its not enough.
In the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution, all independence of thought in China was stamped out. The major cities became grim places where everyone wore matching blue, green, white, black or gray suits. No ornamentation was allowed, and even bicycles all had to be painted black. Art and culture were reduced to Jiang Qing's handful of revolutionary plays, movies, and operas. Mao's personality cult remained prominent, although it was toned down somewhat after Lin Biao's death. In 1965, China had had a large, complex state bureaucracy, most of which had been destroyed during the chaos of 1966-1968. Only a small central core remained of the government in Peking. Despite this, during the visit of President Nixon in 1972, Mao Zedong told him "We haven't even begun to establish socialism. All we've really done so far are change a few localities in Beijing." Well I dont really want to know what you think about socialism do I?
In the aftermath of the Lin Biao incident, many officials criticized and dismissed during 1966-1969 were reinstated. Mao abruptly summoned a party congress in August 1973. The 10th Congress formally rehabilitated Deng Xiaoping. This move was suggested by Zhou Enlai, and Mao agreed, deciding that Deng was "70% correct, 30% wrong". Lin Biao was also posthumously expelled from the party. HES A DEAD MAN.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_People%27s_Republic_of_China_%281949%E2%80%931976%29
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Day 11 - a song from your favorite band
But my favourite vine band songs arent on youtube =(.
Well theres ashes to beauty but I posted that so many times before. Oh well heres another nice one =).
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