China Travel

gk1713

Junior Member
Registered Member
Honestly my travel to Xi an really opened my eyes and got me to rethink about the narrative of the Cultural Revolution. The narrative about Mao wanting to eliminate ancient Chinese cultural in my opinion is complete bullshit because I visited the Beilin Museum and Yellow Emperor Mausoleum and these sites aswell as others in Xi'an were never (Except for the Temple near the Masoleum) targeted for destruction during the cultural revolution because they're on the list called National Priority Protected Site (Est in 1961) meaning Mao actually cared about Chinese culture but he did what literally every dynasty does which is to destroy the old and replace it with new.
The paradox is if market is better than central plan, then the biggest factor cause of destruction of cultural legacy would be open and reform. Such as raider dig old graves and sale the loot to black market, or real estate guys destroy ancient buildings to build new house. Motivation of money should overwhelm the motivation of ideology as liberals claim.
 

PeoplesPoster

Junior Member
Honestly my travel to Xi an really opened my eyes and got me to rethink about the narrative of the Cultural Revolution. The narrative about Mao wanting to eliminate ancient Chinese cultural in my opinion is complete bullshit because I visited the Beilin Museum and Yellow Emperor Mausoleum and these sites aswell as others in Xi'an were never (Except for the Temple near the Masoleum) targeted for destruction during the cultural revolution because they're on the list called National Priority Protected Site (Est in 1961) meaning Mao actually cared about Chinese culture but he did what literally every dynasty does which is to destroy the old and replace it with new.
Nah, Mao and the cultural revolution absolutely destroyed a lot of the traditional culture, be it religion, architecture, art etc. The fact that some of it was preserved is a blessing for future generations.
 

A potato

Junior Member
Registered Member
Nah, Mao and the cultural revolution absolutely destroyed a lot of the traditional culture, be it religion, architecture, art etc. The fact that some of it was preserved is a blessing for future generations.
That's is true but also I fully believe that the narrative of wanting to completely eradicate Chinese culture is kmt propaganda
 

subotai1

Junior Member
Registered Member
Honestly my travel to Xi an really opened my eyes and got me to rethink about the narrative of the Cultural Revolution. The narrative about Mao wanting to eliminate ancient Chinese cultural in my opinion is complete bullshit because I visited the Beilin Museum and Yellow Emperor Mausoleum and these sites aswell as others in Xi'an were never (Except for the Temple near the Masoleum) targeted for destruction during the cultural revolution because they're on the list called National Priority Protected Site (Est in 1961) meaning Mao actually cared about Chinese culture but he did what literally every dynasty does which is to destroy the old and replace it with new.
Two things can be true at the same time. Was it "culture" that they were trying to destroy or restrictive ways of doing things, that could be better attributed to "customs" and "habits". "Culture" was the word that it was translated to in the West, but custom and habits is a better description. Remember the "4 Olds ( 四旧)"?

And yes, they really did try to erase examples of the past. Maybe not Mao himself, but the Red Guards did. Right across the street from Beilin is Wolong Temple (founded around 200AD). The Red Guards ransacked the temple and forced all the monks there to kill themselves.

And no, this was not like the past. Do you remember who and how the Red Guards and their extremism were finally stopped?
 

A potato

Junior Member
Registered Member
Two things can be true at the same time. Was it "culture" that they were trying to destroy or restrictive ways of doing things, that could be better attributed to "customs" and "habits". "Culture" was the word that it was translated to in the West, but custom and habits is a better description. Remember the "4 Olds ( 四旧)"?

And yes, they really did try to erase examples of the past. Maybe not Mao himself, but the Red Guards did. Right across the street from Beilin is Wolong Temple (founded around 200AD). The Red Guards ransacked the temple and forced all the monks there to kill themselves.

And no, this was not like the past. Do you remember who and how the Red Guards and their extremism were finally stopped?
When mao died and the new leader took over I guess. I know they did try to erase examples of the past but not all of it.
 

subotai1

Junior Member
Registered Member
When mao died and the new leader took over I guess. I know they did try to erase examples of the past but not all of it.
No. It happened under Mao as well. The Red Guards were too extreme for even the PLA. So the PLA started to suppress them, running from 1967 to 1968. So while the Red Guards (rallied by Mao) really did want to destroy things, it was increasingly the PLA that stopped them. Point being, there was no black and white here. But the Red Guard really was hell bent on destruction for a long time.
 

vincent

Grumpy Old Man
Staff member
Moderator - World Affairs
Last off-topic post from me. Based on what my parents told me, the Cultural Revolution period was like Lord of the Flies x 100000
 
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