The Cultural Revolution was a political and social movement launched by Mao Zedong (1893-1976), Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and founder of the People’s Republic of China, in 1966. The movement lasted a decade until Mao’s death in 1976 and was characterized by violent class warfare across China and a legacy of political and social turmoil. The decade of the Cultural Revolution is often referred to in China as “the decade of chaos/ havoc.”

Mao instigated the Cultural Revolution by asserting that counter-revolutionary elements had infiltrated Chinese society and party leadership, calling on his followers to weed out enemies of the state. The most dramatic response came from young people in urban centers, many of whom banded together into Red Guard militias looking to enforce martial law and vigilante justice in Mao’s name. With the explicit support of the CCP, these Red Guards targeted groups and individuals for persecution, torture, and murder, destroying many sites of historical or cultural value. An estimated 1-2 million people died as a direct result of the massacres, and in violent battles between rival factions of the Red Guard. Many urban centers descended into chaos; educational institutions were closed, industrial production plummeted, and the national economy floundered.