Prelude for the Cultural Revolution

• 1. Hai Rui Baguan:

  • Mao's wife Jiang Qing asked Yao Wenyuan to write an article to comment on the historical play Hai Rui Baguan written by Wu Han which was about a mid-Ming official Hai Rui being dismissed after criticizing the emperor.
  • In the view of Mao, Wu Han made use of a historical allegory to satirize the current-day political landscape, implying that Mao was the emperor and Peng Dehuai was Hai Rui.
  • Therefore, Mao wanted to bring down first the Beijing Municipal Party Committee, then Liu Shaoqi and his group.
• 2. The issue of May 16 Notice/ May 16 Circular

  • On 16 May 1966, the May 16 notice, which was the ideological justification for the Cultural Revolution, was adopted at a meeting of the Politburo.
  • It marked the start of the Cultural Revolution, and stated clearly that the main target of the revolution was 'those within the party who are in authority and are taking the capitalist road'.
• 3. Formation of the Central Cultural Revolution Group

  • The CPC set up the Central Cultural Revolution Group who are responsible for carrying out the missions of the Cultural Revolution.
• 4. Mao writing his first big-character poster

  • In August 1966, Mao held a meeting.
  • It affirmed that the goal of the Cultural Revolution was to purge 'those within the party who are in authority and are taking the capitalist road' and the 'reactionary bourgeoisie academic authorities'.
  • During the meeting, Mao wrote his first big-character poster titled 'Bombard the Headquarters', in which he pointed out that Liu Shaoqi was the leader of the 'capitalist headquarters' within the party and Deng Xiaoping was involved as well.