Mao Cultural Revolution

In my study of history in high school the revolution wasn’t broadly taught in class. We did a small study on the revolution but I never truly got an insight on the matter. In my recent traveling through china I discovered the great impact the revolution actually had on the country. Devastation, violence and great personal loss as well as social upheaval were key words to describe the revolution. All Chinese I spoke to were either direct or indirectly affected by the revolution, and often negatively. This arose questions to me: why was there the Cultural Revolution? And why was it so violent? Why did chairman Mao gave free way to the ruining of thousands of years of ancient Chinese culture and history? In this essay I will try to give an answer to the first two questions including my own perception of the matter. The great leap forward
For a better understanding of the Cultural Revolution, and its roots, I will give an insight to the events before the actual revolution: The Great Leap Forward.
In 1958 the great leap forward campaign was launched by the CCP(Chines Communist Party) under the new “General Line for Socialist Construction”. The great leap forward focussed on creating a new true form of socialism, rather than the dictatorial socialism as well as a vast growth of the Chinese economy. The leap forward borrowed a lot of elements from the history of the USSR, and more or less the Stalin approach: “big is beautiful”. However the great leap forward was slightly different in comparison to the Russian approach.
Although party leaders weren’t unhappy on the amount of socialism under the people, the general idea of increasing socialism via an economical road was introduced. If the people could be ideologically aroused, and resources could be used more efficiently, it would be good for the simultaneous development of industry and agriculture. These thoughts took the party to a stronger mobilization of the peasants and mass organizations. The