As a major political event and a crucial turning point in the history of the People's Republic of China, the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) marked the zenith as well as the nadir of Mao Zedong's ultra-leftist politics. Reacting in part to the Soviet Union's "revisionism" that he regarded as a threat to the future of socialism, Mao mobilized the masses in a battle against what he called "bourgeois" forces within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). This ten-year-long class struggle on a massive scale devastated traditional Chinese culture as well as the nation's economy. Yang makes a crucial contribution to understanding those years' lasting influence today. -- adapted from jacket

Originally published in Chinese by Cosmos Books, Hong Kong, 2016.

Major events preceding the Cultural Revolution --Lighting the fuse -- Removing obstructions -- The May Conference : formal launch of the Cultural Revolution -- Liu Shaoqi's Anti-Rightist Movement -- Major incidents during the eleventh plenum -- The Red Guards and Red August -- Denouncing the bourgeois reactionary line -- The rise : actions, and demise of mass organizations -- The "Workers Command Post" and Shanghai's "January Storm" -- The "February Countercurrent" and the "February suppression of counterrevolutionaries" -- The armed formed forces and the "three supports and two militaries" -- "Red through every hill and vale" -- The Wuhan incident and Mao's strategic shift -- The baffling "May 16" investigation -- The cleansing of the class ranks -- The one strilke and three antis campaign -- Mass killings carried out by those in power -- The twelfth plenum of the Eighth Central Committe eliminating Liu Shaoqi -- The Ninth National Party Congress: from unity to division -- Fogged in on Lushan : the second plenum of the Ninth Central Committee -- Chen Boda's denunciation and Lin Biao -- as a leftist or rightist? -- Internal struggle during the campaign to criticize Lin Biao and Confucius -- From general overhaul to the campaign against Deng and right-deviating verdict-reversal -- The April Fifth Movement -- The curtain falls on the Cultural Revolution -- China's foreign relations during the Cultural Revolution -- Reform and opening under the bureaucratic system -- Major events preceding the Cultural Revolution -- Lighting the fuse -- Removing obstructions -- The May Conference: formal launch of the Cultural Revolution -- Liu Shaoqi's Anti-Rightist Movement -- Major incidents during the eleventh plenum -- The Red Guards and Red August -- Denouncing the bourgeois reactionary line -- The rise, actions, and demise of mass organizations -- The "Workers Command Post" and Shanghai's "January Storm" -- The "February Countercurrent" and the "February suppression of counterrevolutionaries" -- The armed forces and the "three supports and two militaries" -- "Red through every hill and vale" -- The Wuhan incident and Mao's strategic shift -- The baffling "May 16" investigation -- The cleansing of the class ranks -- The one strilke and three antis campaign -- Mass killings carried out by those in power -- The twelfth plenum of the Eighth Central Committe: eliminating Liu Shaoqi -- The Ninth National Party Congress: from unity to division -- Fogged in on Lushan: the second plenum of the Ninth Central Committee -- Chen Boda's denunciation and Lin Biao's escape attempt -- Critizing Lin Biao--as a leftist or rightist? -- Internal struggle during the campaign to criticize Lin Biao and Confucius -- From general overhaul to the campaign against Deng and right-deviating verdict-reversal -- The April Fifth Movement -- The curtain falls on the Cultural Revolution -- China's foreign relations during the Cultural Revolution -- Reform and opening under the bureaucratic system.