The Red Guards and the Chinese cultural revolution: An examination of violence and its effects on Chinese society and future policy

The Chinese Cultural Revolution has left a lasting effect on Chinese culture. An enduring and integral aspect of the Cultural Revolution involves the Red Guards, millions of Chinese youth, who at Mao Zedong's direction rampaged across China during the Cultural Revolution and wreaked havoc on fellow Chinese in an attempt to institute Mao's central tenets of the Cultural Revolution. One of those tenets was the concept of constant revolution. Mao believed that in order for Chinese society to fully eradicate itself from Western influences, it needed to be in a state of constant revolution. The Red Guards implemented the idea of constant revolution by waging brutal tactics and torture against fellow Chinese, the effects of which have permanently altered China's policies. In the decades since the end of the Cultural Revolution, China's leaders in the post-Mao era have adapted to modernization all the while cognizant of the devastating effects of the Red Guards and the Cultural Revolution. The very nature of the brutality employed by the Red Guards has deeply affected Chinese society, and as such China's leaders have attempted to avoid policies that would enable such violence again. Although China continues to deprive its citizens of basic human rights, its leaders are aware of the dangers of returning to policies that would enable such violence as perpetrated by the Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution.;Relying on firsthand accounts and historical texts, I will demonstrate the violence of the Red Guards and explain how the unique and brutal violence has left an indelible effect on Chinese society. My approach will attempt to provide the reader with a historical context of the Cultural Revolution, the Red Guards, and how Mao Zedong waged a psychological and torturous campaign against its own citizens. Further, I will demonstrate how the idea of constant revolution and an attempt of total eradication of Western influence during the Cultural Revolution have led to a deeply engrained mistrust of Chinese citizens towards its leaders. As a result, Chinese policies have dramatically changed and it is my contention that a return to similar policies is unlikely.