Ritual, Culture, and Communication: Deification of Mao Zedong in China's Cultural Revolution Movement
Examines the ritual practices of the People's Republic of China's cultural revolution movement, drawing on data from published writing, official publications, Red Guard interviews with participants, & observations, 1966-1969. It is suggested that the cultural revolution movement was instigated by Mao Tse-tung in response to a loss of personal control over the party apparatus. To work around the party, Mao created a series of nationwide activities, eg, loyalty dances, public recitations of his speeches, & a daily study of his works, which paralyzed the bureaucracy & held up Mao's image as an omnipotent god & emperor. A movement designed to get the masses to rebel against party authority, the cultural revolution movement ended in developing a new cultural harmony on the basis of Mao's image. This new cultural consenus was possible only because the movement conformed to long-standing themes in Chinese culture & thus drew on the existing cultural expectations of the Chinese people. Thus, the movement is best understood as a strategic use of traditional cultural knowledge to achieve a new political environment. D. M. Smith
