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Mao’s China, 1945–76

Cultural change, 1949–76

  • 2 things to know
  • Paper 3

Overview

Why the party attacked traditional culture, what was condemned in the cities and destroyed in the countryside, the purpose of art and literature, Jiang Qing and the model works, the attack on religion, and the treatment of Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Confucianism and ancestor worship.

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Key term

Why did the party attack traditional culture?

Key term

Which parts of city life were condemned as backward or bourgeois?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Why did the party attack traditional culture?

    Model answer

    Old customs and beliefs upheld the authority of landlords, elders and priests, and stood in the way of loyalty to the revolution.

  2. 2

    Which parts of city life were condemned as backward or bourgeois?

    Model answer

    Traditional opera, old novels and foreign films, along with western clothing and hairstyles, which were mocked or cut off in the street.

  3. 3

    What did the campaign against old customs destroy in the countryside?

    Model answer

    Temples and shrines were closed or pulled down, festivals and fortune telling were banned, and village elders lost their authority.

  4. 4

    What was art and literature supposed to do under communist rule?

    Model answer

    Serve the workers, peasants and soldiers by teaching revolutionary values, rather than entertain or explore private feelings.

  5. 5

    What did Jiang Qing do to the performing arts?

    Model answer

    Put in charge of culture, she banned almost the whole traditional repertoire and allowed only a handful of approved revolutionary works.

  6. 6

    What were the model works, and what were they like?

    Model answer

    About eight approved operas and ballets, such as The Red Detachment of Women, with heroic peasant and soldier characters and simple revolutionary plots.

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