The Cultural Revolution

IIn the spring 1967, the government ordered students to go out and communicate with workers, and encouraged the students to partake in the Cultural Revolution. Many students, young and idealistic, did not like being told what to do. Instead attacks on the party organization and bloodshed became a norm in China, and consequently the confusion reached a peak in summer 1967.

In School

In October, the government demanded that the Cultural Revolution values be taught in schools. But most schools couldn't cope with this and control fighting, for graduates in 1966, 67 who filled high and senior schools now had to take courses on the Cultural Revolution-making the whole idea more of a stumbling block to the students than a means of creating a new society.

Manual Labor in the Countryside

It was an important issue to send graduates into society, but in those days society was in terrible chaos, which made it impossible. The Revolutionary Committees decided to allocate graduates to the countryside or a remote region according to Mao's instruction. Then Mao said; "It is necessary for intellectual students to go the countryside and be re-educated by poor or average peasants." That made students do manual labor in the countryside and the Red Guards campaign came to an end.

The exile was supported by Mao's unique method (a communist idea coming from the Soviet) which said, "The more books you read, the more stupid you become", "A school curriculum should be half", and "A normal school term should be short". The idea was that educational substance should be simpler and students should be reeducated practically.

In this way about four millions urban graduates were transferred to the countryside or wilderness. Youth faced various problems there. In the way of life, it was hard to adjust themselves to self-sufficiency. Above all there were many problems in terms of food, housing, and medicine.

Loss

What did the campaign for students bring in the end? First there was a lack of good talent. There were about a million college students who had neglected their studies, senior high school students were more than two millions. In some regions all the high school graduates were transferred to the countryside, and senior high schools closed completely.

More than sixteen million students were forced to do manual labor in the countryside all over China. Some students recommenced with their studies after the revolution, but most students' remained at high school level or below. Difference between the educational levels of China and that of the world grew with the campaign, consequently there remained many problems, as now China was in an educational dive.