Ep. 83 | The Cultural Revolution (Part 1)
By popular demand, Laszlo begins to trace the history of The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution of 1966-1976, also referred to as China’s “Ten Years of Chaos”.
In this Part 1 episode Laszlo looks at the events leading up to the fateful moment in 1966 when Mao called for the people to Bombard the Headquarters and to tear down the government. Then in the episodes to follow we will look at how Chairman Mao did this.
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Terms in Episode
| Pinyin/Term | Chinese | English/Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Dazibao | 大字报 | Big Character Poster |
| Paoda Silingbu | 炮打司令部 | Bombard the headquarters |
| Dayuejin | 大跃进 | The Great Leap Forward |
| Liu Shaoqi | 刘少奇 | President of China – Primary target of Cultural Recvolution |
| Hai Rui | 海瑞 | Upright Ming Dynasty official remembered for his honesty and daring to speak up to the emperor |
| Jiajing | 嘉靖 | Emperor during the Ming Dynasty |
| Wu Han | 吴晗 | Vice Mayor of Beijing, man of letters, writer of the play Hai Rui Dismissed |
| Hai Rui baguan | 海瑞罢官 | Play written by Wu Han that helped spark the Cultural Revolution |
| Peng Dehuai | 彭德怀 | Military hero, defense minister, dismissed at Lushan Conference |
| Chen Yun | 陈云 | One of the Eight Immortals in the 80’s, noted economic planner |
| Yang Shangkun | 杨尚昆 | One of the Eight Immortals in the 80’s, President of China 1988-93, Vice-chairman of CMC |
| Lin Biao | 林彪 | Military hero and later Mao’s successor after the fall of Liu Shaoqi |
| Zhu De | 朱德 | One of the founders of the PLA, great military hero, Mao’s right hand man in the earliest days |
| Lushan Conference | 庐山会议 | July 1959 meeting in Lushan, Jiangxi province to discuss the Great Leap Forward and where Peng Dehuai was dismissed |
| Mao Zhuxi yulu | 毛主席语录 | The Little Red Book (Quotations from Chairman Mao) |
| Xuexi leifeng | 学习雷锋 | Study Lei Feng |
| Lei Feng | 雷锋 | PLA soldier whose early and tragic death was used for a political campaign before and during the Cultural Revolution |
| Jiang Qing | 江青 | Mao’s wife, Cultural Revolution villain and part of the Gang of Four |
| Kang Sheng | 康生 | Former Secret Police Chief and later considered the “godfather” of the Cultural Revolution |
| Mingzhou | 明州 | Former name of the historic and ancient city of Ningbo |
| Peng Zhen | 彭真 | One of the Eight Immortals in the 80’s, Beijing Mayor and Party boss. Later the first victim of the Cultural Revolution |
| Wu Lengxi | 吴冷西 | Part of the Five Man Group and in charge of People’s Daily |
| Lu Dingyi | 陆定一 | Part of the Five Man Group and Minister of Culture |
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Thanks everyone for listening to this History of Taiwan series. We'll conclude things here in Part 15.