Timeline of 1966-1976

By joywong711

  • 1965 Setting the stage for the Cultural Revolution

    Mao and his wife, Jiang Qing asked Yao WenYuan to write a series of literary critics against Beijing's Mayor. It received a lot of publicity and after, Jiang Qing wrote a criticism targeting the bourgeoise.

  • 1968 Red Guards dismantled

    Mao commands the PLA to dismantle the Red Guards because it had become way too chaotic. Slowly, Mao and the CCP regain control again.

  • 1996 Unofficial beginning of the Cultural Revolution

    The Cultural Revolutions unofficially begins with the "May 16 Circular". Mao then rounds up students to hunt out revisionists. This soon became a national student movement.

  • 1966 First dazibao

    The first Marxist dazibao (character poster) was written by a young teacher. It was labeled "black, anti-Party gangsters". Soon, it become a trend among students to produce and display these character posters. These posters started appearing everywhere and damaged the reputation of those accused.

  • 1996 Red Guards at Beijing University

    Students joined the Red guard movement to express their dissatisfaction with the education system or to experience power. Girls sometimes joined to escape home life or marriage. Red Guards often misunderstood the ideology behind the CR and their actions.

  • 1996 Mao writes a dazibao

    Mao wrote a daziboa stating "Bombard the headquarters". This was an attack on Liu Shaoqi and to encourage people to criticize CCP leaders.

  • 1966 Sixteen point directive

    This sixteen point directive is a document stating that the Chinese government support's Mao and the formation of the Red Guards.

  • 1966 First Red Guard rally in Beijing

    Mao orders for the Red Guards to rebel at Tiananmen square and smash the "Four Olds". This rally became an essential image of the CR.

  • 1967 Chao escalates

    The Red Guards become more aggressive and violent. They abused their power but Mao still kept on praising them for their work.

  • 1968 Campaign to promote Mao's cult of personality.

    Lin Biao and Jiang Qing start displaying Mao's picture's everywhere. He was portrayed as a god-like figure and his "Little Red Book" was propaganda. He feared that the actions of the Red Guards would destroy the foundation of the CCP.

  • 1968 "Down to the countryside" movement

    Mao orders for former Red Guards and youth to the countryside to do manual labor and be re-educated by peasants. This eliminates the youth rebelling against the CCP.

  • 1969 Ninth congress of the CCP

    This ninth congress was formed during the height of the CR. Its main goal was to rebuild the party and stabilize the economy.

  • 1971 "The Lin Biao Affair"

    Lin Biao and a few loyal officers tried to stage a coup against Mao but failed. His reputation was gone afterwards. He and his family were killed in a plane crash with unknown reasons.

  • 1974 Criticize Lin Biao, Criticize Confucious

    This campaign's goal was to blame Lin for everything that went wrong with the CCP and is an indirect hit against Zhou Enlai, who believes in Confucius' writings.

  • 1976 Events leading to the end of the Cultural Revolution

    Den Xiaoping becomes the first vice premier and receives backlash from Jiang Qing. Mao is hospitalized in september and dies. Jiang Qing is arrested. The government blames Lin and the "Gang of Four", leading to the "ten years of turmoil"

  • 1976 Tiananmen Incident

    Zhou Enlai falls ill with cancer and people are saddened because he was a decent and moderate leader. People use this chance to criticize Jiang Qing and her allies, causing a riot.