The Chinese Cultural Revolution: A History

366 Pages·2008·9.548 MB·English

by  Paul Clark

THE CHINESE CULTURAL REVOLUTION
A groundbreaking study of culturaMife during a turbulent and formative
decade in contemporary China, this book seeks to explode several myths
about the Cultural Revolution (officially 1966-1976). Through national and
local examination of the full range of cultural forms (film, opera, dance,
other stage arts, music, fine arts, literature, and even architecture), Clark
argues against characterizing this decade as one of chaos and destruction.
Rather, he finds that innovation and creativity, promotion of participation in
cultural production, and a vigorous promotion of the modern were all typical
of the Cultural Revolution. Using a range of previously little-used materials,
Clark forces us to fundamentally reassess our understanding of the Cultural
Revolution, a period that he sees as the product of innovation in conflict with
the effort by political leaders to enforce a top-down modernity.
Paul Clark (born 1949) is Professor of Chinese at the University of Auckland,
New Zealand. He pioneered the study of Chinese films with his Chinese
Cinema: Culture and Politics since 1949 (Cambridge University Press, 1987)
and most recently updated this work with Reinventing China: A Generation
and Its Films (2.005), on Chinese cinema’s New Wave since the 1980s. He
received his PhD from Harvard University and was a researcher at the East-
West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. This present book draws on his experience
as an exchange student in Beijing from 1974 to 1976, the last two years of
the Cultural Revolution.

The Chinese Cultural
Revolution
A HISTORY
Paul Clark
The University of Auckland, New Zealand
gag Cambridge
UNIVERSITY PRESS
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, Sâo Paulo, Delhi
Cambridge University Press
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www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521697866
© Paul Clark 2008
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without
the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 2008
Printed in the United States of America
A catalog record for this publication is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Clark, Paul
The Chinese Cultural Revolution : a history / Paul Clark,
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-521-87515-8 (hardback) - isbn 978-0-521-69786-6 (pbk.)
i. China - History - Cultural Revolution, 1966-1976. 2. Arts, Chinese - 20th
century. I. Title.
DS778.7.C53 2008
95i.o576-dc22 2007037913
isbn 978-0-521-87515-8 hardback
isbn 978-0-521-69786-6 paperback
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for
the persistence or accuracy of urls for external or
third-party Internet Web sites referred to in<this publication
and does not guarantee that any content on such
Web sites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
Contents
Figures page vii
Acknowledgments ix
Chronology of Cultural and Political Developments,
1949-1980S xi
Introduction: A Revolution in Culture....................................1
1. Modelling a New Culture...............................................10
1. Modernizing Chinese Opera 11
2. The Start of the Cultural Revolution 18
3. The First Five Model Operas 2 6
4. The Art of the Model Operas 43
2. Spreading the New Models..............................................55
j. Proclaiming the Model Performances 56
2. Other Model Operas 62
3. Transplanting the Models 73
4. The Importance of the Model Performances 88
5., Reorganizing the Ranks 92
3. Fixing Culture on Rim .................................................109
1. Films Besieged 112
2. Cleansing the Ranks 116
3. Fixing the Model Performances on Film 123
4. New-Style Feature Films 134
3. Growing the Industry, Pleasing Audiences 145
VI CONTENTS
4. Elaborating Culture: Dance, Music, Stage,
and Fine Arts................................................................15 7
1. Dancing for the Revolution 158
2. Scoring the Revolution: Music 175
3. Staging Culture: Spoken Drama, Quyi,
and Other Performance Forms 192
4. Visualizing the Modern: Fine Arts
and Architecture 202
5. Writing Wrongs: Public and Private Fictions
and Resistance................................................................217
1. Models on the Page: Official Literature 218
2. Hidden Pleasures: Unofficial, Underground
Literature 226
3. Model Assertions: Criticizing Works 231
4. Screening Resistance: Films under Attack 240
6. Conclusion: Forcing Modernity....................................249
Notes 263
Bibliography
325
Index
339
Figures
1.1 Guo Jianguang and New Fourth Army men in the model
opera Shajiabang. page 34
1.2 The ‘three prominences’ from modern operas in a comic
book illustration from the Criticize Lin Biao and Confucius
campaign.
47
1-3 Fang Haizhen, the all-knowing Party secretary of the model
opera On the Docks.
51
2.1 Li Tiemei, heroine of The Red Lantern, as inspiration for a
young militia woman. 58
2.2 Performers and Jiang Qing: ‘The red lantern of the
revolution lights the stage.’ 60
2-3 The actor Li Guang and comrades in the modern Peking
opera Fighting on the Plain. 69
3-1 The dockworkers and Fang Haizhen in On the Docks. 127
The 1930s boy hero Pan Dongzi from the 1974 film
3-2.
Sparkling Red Star as an inspiration to contemporary
children. 143
3-3 A mobile projectionist shows The Red Lantern. 153
Qinghua, the heroine of The Red Detachment of Women,
leaps in defiance of her landlord captors. 167
4.2 A piano accordionist entertains waiting passengers. 181
4-3 Model peasant art gallery visitors admire The Old Party
Secretary. 210
4*4 A local farmer and a sent-down youth meet in the fields. 214
4-5 Reed Cliff Reception Room (Ludiyan jiedaishi), Guilin. 1*5
5*i Jiang Qing as revolutionary leader of cultural activities. 242
Vll

Acknowledgments
This book has sprung from two experiences: living as a student in Beijing
in 1974-1976 and writing about films in the Cultural Revolution and by a
generation that those years shaped. Over the course of the research, I have
been helped by many people and institutions. The people include Peter
Averi, Elizabeth Caffin, Chen Xin, James Kember, Richard King, Wayne
Lawrence, Ian Lilly, Pearl Picardo, and Paul Yee. Bonnie McDougall gave
encouragement and concrete advice on the manuscript. Geremie Barmé
commented thoughtfully on the book proposal. Chinese scholars and
artists, some of whom are identified in footnotes, have given generously
of their time and tried to correct my understanding. Research grants from
the University of Auckland Research Committee and from its Faculty of
Arts helped support several of my visits to China. A New Zealand Min­
istry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Historical Research Grant enabled me
to use archives of a 1975 orchestra tour to China. The East-West Center in
Honolulu provided space for two months of early writing. Four libraries
have been keys to this project. The holdings of the Universities Service
Centre for China Studies at The Chinese University of Hong Kong are a
treasure trove. The Peking University Library in Beijing is a pleasure to
work in, as are the National Library in Beijing and the Shanghai Library.
My colleagues and students at The University of Auckland have toler­
ated my distraction over many years. Eric Crahan and Lewis Bateman at
Cambridge in New York and Mary Paden and Andre Barnett at Aptara
Inc. have made concluding the project an enjoyable experience. Jeff Lau
has given more support than he realizes. All these people and places have
generously tried to make this a better book, and I thank them warmly.
The shortcomings are mine alone.