Red Guards (China)

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In the People's Republic of China, Red Guards (Simplified Chinese: 红卫兵; Traditional Chinese: 紅衛兵; pinyin: Hóng Wèi Bīng) were a mass movement of civilians, mostly students and other young people, who were mobilized by Mao Zedong during the Cultural Revolution, between 1966 and 1976.

[edit] The Red Guards Role in the Cultural Revolution

During the Cultural Revolution the Red Guard traveled throughout China going to schools, universities, and institutions spreading the teachings of Mao. They had a darker side however, as they were violent and oppressive to those who went against the teachings of Mao, or those who criticized him.[1]

The role of Red Guard was mainly to attack "the four olds" of society, that is the old ideas, cultures, manners, and customs of China at the time. Red Guards in Beijing and everywhere in China had taken to the streets from their schools. They made posters, speeches, and committed violent and indiscriminate acts in the name of the Cultural Revolution.

Mao met a million Red Guards formally in Tiananmen Square on August 18, 1966. Many people in realms of education, academic, media, literature and punishment were abused and labeled by the Red Guard as "Capitalist Roader" or "anti-revolutionaries". The Red Guards ransacked museums and destroyed old books and works of art throughout China. Many famous temples, shrines, and other heritage sites were destroyed. 4,922 out of a total 6,843 were destroyed.[2]

[edit] The Red Guard in popular culture

• In the film The Last Emperor, the Red Guard appeared near the end of the film humiliating the kind prison warden who treated Puyi nicely.

• In the film To Live Directed by Zhang Yimou, the Red Guards appear in a few scenes, showing their various types of activity.

• In the film Farewell my Concubine, the Red Guards brutally humiliate Cheng Dieyi and Duan Xiaolou as they try to overthrow the old society.

• Jung Chang's autobiography Wild Swans describes in detail the atrocities committed by the Red Guards.

• In Hong Kong, TVB and ATV often depicted the brutality of the Red Guards in films and television dramas. They are rarely portrayed in film and television programs produced in mainland China.

• The video game Command & Conquer: Generals misleadingly named the Chinese standard infantry unit the "Red Guard".

• The Red Guard Party (United States) were a Black Panther affiliated organization that advocated for Chinese rights in San Francisco in the 1960s and 1970s

[edit] See also

• Mao Zedong