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The Cultural Revolution and Its Impact, 1965-76 » The Red Guards, Education and the Cult of Mao

What you'll learn this session

Study time: 30 minutes

Edexcel spec: Paper 2 Section B, Breadth study B4, Key topic 4

Who the Red Guards were and why they grew so fast in 1966
What the attack on the “Four Olds” meant in practice
What happened to schools, universities and teachers
How the “cult of Mao” was built

In 1966 Mao Zedong began the Cultural Revolution, the campaign you met in the last lesson, Mao's Motives for the Cultural Revolution. Mao wanted to attack the Communist Party leaders he distrusted, and he turned to China's young people to do it. This lesson looks at the key features of the years 1966-68: the Red Guards, the attack on old culture, the closing of schools and the worship of Mao himself.

Key terms:

Red Guards: groups of students and school pupils, mostly teenagers, who formed in 1966 to carry out Mao's wishes. They wore army-style clothes and a red armband.
Four Olds: old ideas, old culture, old customs and old habits, which Red Guards said had to be swept away.
Little Red Book: a small book of short quotations from Mao, called Quotations from Chairman Mao, which every citizen was expected to own and study.
Cult of Mao: a campaign to make people treat Mao almost like a god who was never wrong, through portraits, slogans, badges and constant praise.

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The Red Guards

The first Red Guard groups appeared in Beijing schools and universities in the summer of 1966. Young people had grown up on stories of the revolution and wanted to prove themselves. Mao encouraged them. In August 1966 he wrote in support of their rebellion, and the slogan “To rebel is justified” spread everywhere.

From August to November 1966 Mao appeared at eight huge rallies in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, in front of millions of Red Guards, and he wore a Red Guard armband himself. Red Guards were given free train travel to Beijing and around the country, so the movement spread quickly to every city.

Red Guards were told to look for “enemies” in the Party, schools and everyday life. Local groups soon began to fight each other, each claiming to be the truest follower of Mao. The army, led by Lin Biao, did not stop them at this stage.

The attack on the Four Olds

In August 1966 Red Guards launched a campaign against the “Four Olds”. They went into streets, shops and homes and did four main things:

📖 Destroyed culture

Old books, paintings, temples, statues and family treasures were smashed or burned because they belonged to China's past or to foreign countries.

🏡 Searched homes

Families thought to be rich, or to have “bad” backgrounds, had their homes searched. Possessions were taken or broken.

📝 Changed names

Streets, shops and even people were given new, revolutionary names. Fashions such as long hair and Western clothes were banned.

😥 Shamed people

Officials, writers and others were paraded in public, made to wear signs and forced to confess to “crimes”. Many were beaten, and some died.

Education under attack

Schools and universities were at the centre of the storm. In the summer of 1966 they were closed so that students could take part in the revolution. Primary and middle schools began to reopen in 1967-68, but many universities stayed shut for years and the old entrance exams were scrapped.

Teachers were attacked because they were seen as members of the old order, who taught old ideas and had easier lives than workers and peasants. Red Guards, often their own pupils, publicly humiliated them, forced them to confess, beat them and sometimes drove them to take their own lives. Intellectuals in general were treated as suspect.

The result was that millions of young people missed years of normal education. When lessons did restart, they included the study of Mao's writings.

The cult of Mao

As the Red Guards rose, Mao was turned into an almost holy figure. Lin Biao, the Minister of Defence, led the way in praising him.

📕 The Little Red Book

Hundreds of millions of copies were printed. People held it up at rallies, quoted it in daily life and studied it in groups.

🖼️ Portraits and badges

Pictures of Mao hung in homes, offices and schools, and millions wore a Mao badge. Statues and posters filled public places.

🎤 Slogans and songs

Songs such as “The East is Red” and slogans like “Long live Chairman Mao” were repeated at work and school.

The cult made it dangerous to disagree with Mao. A person who criticised him, or even damaged a portrait by accident, could be accused of being an enemy. In this way it helped Mao to win back control of the Party.

Change and continuity

What changed: before 1966 the Party ran campaigns through officials. In 1966 young people, and not officials, became the main force, and Party leaders were attacked. What stayed the same: as in the Hundred Flowers and Great Leap Forward campaigns, everything still depended on Mao's leadership, and ordinary people who stepped out of line were punished. The effects of all this, and how it ended, are in the next lesson, The Impact of the Cultural Revolution on China and on Mao.

Common mistakes

Saying the Red Guards were soldiers. They were students and pupils; the army was separate.
Thinking the Red Guards acted alone. Mao encouraged them, and his support is a key reason they grew.
Listing what was destroyed without saying why. Always link it to the “Four Olds” and to Mao's aims.
Mixing up the cult of Mao with the Little Red Book. The book was one part of the cult, along with portraits, badges and slogans.

Exam-style question

Explain TWO causes of the rapid growth of the Red Guard movement in 1966. [8 marks]

Remember: one cause alone cannot score more than half marks, so write two paragraphs.

Model answer

One cause was Mao's open encouragement. In August 1966 he wrote in support of the students' rebellion, and he appeared before millions of Red Guards at eight rallies in Tiananmen Square, wearing a Red Guard armband himself. This told young people that attacking teachers and officials was what the Chairman wanted, so new groups were formed across the country and others joined so as not to be left out.

A second cause was the closing of schools and universities in the summer of 1966. Students had no lessons to attend, so they had time and energy to join the movement. They had been brought up on stories of the revolution and wanted to show their loyalty. Free train travel then let them spread the movement to cities across China.

What lifts this to the top level: each cause has precise detail and explains how it led to the growth of the movement.

Exam tip

For each cause, finish with a link back to the question, such as “This made the movement grow because...”.

Recap

The Red Guards were teenage students and pupils who formed in 1966, encouraged by Mao at huge rallies.
They attacked the “Four Olds”: old ideas, culture, customs and habits.
Schools and universities closed, exams were scrapped, and teachers were publicly shamed and attacked.
The cult of Mao used the Little Red Book, portraits, badges and slogans to make him almost untouchable.

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