UCLA Asia Institute
Today in Asian History
August 18
1849 China's Qing dynasty suppressed a rebellion in Minxian (Fujian), arresting and executing Lin Shi and other leaders.
1964 Mao Zedong gave a "Talk on Questions of Philosophy" arguing that intellectuals must go to the countryside to gain experience. Click here to read selections from this address.
1966 Massive gathering of Red Guards at Tiananmen Square, visited by Chairman Mao Zedong. This was the first of eight such gatherings, each of which is said to have attracted one million people to the square.
Here are some Cultural Revolution pages worth visiting:
Directives (from Mao Zedong) Regarding the Cultural Revolution
The Cultural Revolution in Literature (a bibliography from the Ohio State University Library)
Artifacts from the Cultural Revolution (a mini-museum with sample texts, badges, stamps, and songs)
The U.S. Army Handbook selection on the Cultural Revolution
Ezlink.com offers a page of images and texts from the Cultural Revolution
Bill Bishop's "Badges of Chairman Mao Zedong" discusses one manifestation of the cult of personality which peaked during the Cultural Revolution.
"The Chairman Smiles" is an online version of a poster exhibition on the personality cults built around Stalin, Mao, and Castro.1976 Two U.S. soldiers attempting to trim a tree in the demilitarized zone at the true village at Panmunjon were killed by hatchet-wielding North Korean soldiers.
1999 Chinese police arrested Zhao Delong and seven other people in a raid on a Christian "home church" service in Wugang city, Henan province. The eight are alleged to have ministered to others in neighboring cities in the Christian "home church" movement. According to a Hong Kong organization, The Information Center of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China, some 233 "home church" members were arrested in Henan between October 1998 and August 1999. Click here to read the section of the Chinese constitution concerning religious freedom.
Amnesty International's 1999 report on human rights in China discusses the persecution of Henan "home church" members. The U.S.-based organization Human Rights in China has a page devoted to religious freedom in China. In October 1997, China's State Council issued a white paper entitled "Freedom of Religious Belief in China." Click here to read the 1998 U.S. State Department's report on human rights in China. Section 2(c) addresses religious freedom.
Voices
Excerpts from Mao's "Talk on Questions of Philosophy"
Click here to read the full speech."It is only when there is class struggle that there can be philosophy. It is a waste of time to discuss epistemology apart from practice. The comrades who study philosophy should go down to the countryside. They should go down this winter or next spring to participate in the class struggle. Those whose health is not good should go too. Going down won't kill people. All they'll do is catch a cold, and if they just put on a few extra suits of clothes it'll be all right."
"The way they go about it in the universities at present is no good, going from book to book, from concept to concept. How can philosophy come from books? The three basic constituents of Marxism are scientific socialism, philosophy, and political economy. The foundation is social science, class struggle...
"University students should start going down this winter -- I am referring to the humanities. Students of natural science should not be moved now, though we can move them for a spell or two. All those studying the humanities -- history, political economy, literature, law -- must every one of them go. Professors, assistant professors, administrative workers, and student should all of them go down, for a limited period of five months. If they go to the countryside for five months, or to the factories for five months, they will acquire some perceptual knowledge. Horses, cows, sheep, chickens, dogs, pigs, rice, sorghum, beans, wheat, varieties of millet they can have a look at all these things. If they go in the winter, they will not see the harvest, but at least they can still see the land and the people. To get some experience of class struggle -- that's what I call a university. They argue about which university is better, Peking University or People's University. For my part I am a graduate of the university of the greenwoods, I learned a bit there...."
Selection from the Constitution of the People's Republic of China (1982)
Article 36. [Religion] Click here for a complete translation of China's constitution.(1) Citizens of the People's Republic of China enjoy freedom of religious belief.
(2) No state organ, public organization, or individual may compel citizens to believe in, or not to believe in, any religion; nor may they discriminate against citizens who believe in, or do not believe in, any religion.
(3) The state protects normal religious activities. No one may make use of religion to engage in activities that disrupt public order, impair the health of citizens or interfere with the educational system of the state.
(4) Religious bodies and religious affairs are not subject to any foreign domination.
The AI "Today in Asian History" page was compiled by Clayton Dube. He welcomes your comments and suggestions. Send them to <cdube@isop.ucla.edu>.
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