Western Scholars' Study On Mao Zedong During The Period Of The Cultural Revolution

The Cultural Revolution of 1966-1976 taking place in China which has last 10 yeas was certainly one of the most peculiar , most important, and most complex historical events of the modern history of Chinese. The Great Revolution regarded as"touching people's soul"was not only affecting the entire Chinese nation, but also shaking the world, attracting more and more western scholars'attention and study on it. Western scholars'study on the Cultural Revolution started earlier than the Chinese academy. At the beginning of launching of the Cultural Revolution , western scholars published a number of papers and monographs in several leading academic journals on Chinese study abroad, such as"China Quarterly","Asian Survey"and"Problems of Communism". Western scholars'study on the Cultural Revolution focused their attention on such problems: What is the reason that Mao Zedong launched the Cultural Revolution ? What consequence and impact did the Cultural Revolution bring to China and how to evaluate Mao Zedong in the Cultural Revolution ?The purpose of the thesis lies in summing up and assessing western scholars'study on Mao Zedong during the period of the Cultural Revolution.First, the thesis respectively gives an introduction to the profiles of western scholars'study on Mao Zedong during the period of the Cultural Revolution from the major countries and the representatives and the main research methods.Secondly, the thesis gives an introduction to the six major problems about western scholars'study on Mao Zedong during the Cultural Revolution. Of the six problems, the study on the causes of the Cultural Revolution and the study on the consequence and impact that the Cultural Revolution brought to China is the emphasis of this thesis. There are three major perspectives about the western scholars'study on the causes that Mao Zedong launched the Cultural Revolution, first, the reason that Mao Zedong launched the Cultural Revolution is related to the Mao Zedong'revolutionary ideals. Second, the reason that Mao Zedong launched the Cultural Revolution results from the struggle of power. Third, the reason that Mao Zedong launched the Cultural Revolution is related to his personality. Western scholars'study on the consequence and impact of the Cultural Revolution laid emphasis on the negative impact and consequence that the Cultural Revolution has brought to China, at the same time, they pointed out the positive side that the Cultural Revolution had brought to China.Finally, there is a summary of western scholars'study on Mao Zedong during the period of the Cultural Revolution in terms of characteristics of their study and deficiencies in their study.