__NOTOC__ The Socialist Education Movement (, abbreviated 社教运动 or 社教運動), also known as the Four Cleanups Movement () was a 1963–1965 movement launched by

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...

in the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. Mao sought to remove reactionary elements within the bureaucracy of the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

(CCP), saying that "governance is also a process of socialist education."

Goals

During the 1960s, Mao's view of

class struggle In political science, the term class conflict, class struggle, or class war refers to the economic antagonism and political tension that exist among social classes because of clashing interests, competition for limited resources, and inequali ...

focused on two distinct dimensions. One level was class struggle within society to avoid revisionism, a process which required socialist education. The second level was struggle within the Party itself to address

bureaucratism Bureaucracy ( ) is a system of organization where laws or regulatory authority are implemented by civil servants or non-elected officials (most of the time). Historically, a bureaucracy was a government administration managed by departments ...

and the fear that Party bureaucrats might become a new bourgeoisie. Thus, the goal of the socialist education movement was to "purify politics, purify economics, purify the organization, and purify thought" in opposition to revisionism. Mao sought to make Communist Party cadres closer to the people and to increase revolutionary consciousness among younger people who had grown up after the founding of the People's Republic of China.'''' He described the movement as "lifting the lid" on class struggle in rural China and exposing the ox-demons and snake-spirits working against socialism.

Course

During the Socialist Education Movement, higher level cadres were sent around the country to investigate the relationships between local cadres and the people. Urban young people were also encouraged to visit rural areas during breaks from school to learn about the conditions of rural people. Approximately 3.5 million officials and students were sent into rural China to implement the movement. In rural China, mobile film projectionist units showed

films A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of Visual arts, visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are gen ...

and slideshows that emphasized

and encouraged audience members to discuss bitter experiences onstage. Films termed "emphasis films" were released to support the aims of the Socialist Education Movement, and the film version of ''

The White-Haired Girl ''The White-Haired Girl'' () is a Chinese contemporary classical opera by Yan Jinxuan to a Chinese libretto by He Jingzhi and Ding Yi. It was later adapted to a ballet, a Peking opera, and a film. The ballet adaptation was regarded as a revolu ...

'' was re-released to coincide with the campaign as well. The campaign had immediate difficulties. Higher level cadres often did not want to be sent to rural areas of China. In a technique described as "turning away the spearpoint," local cadres often sought to blame problems on former

landlords A landlord is the owner of property such as a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate that is rented or leased to an individual or business, known as a tenant (also called a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). The term landlord applies ...

or those who had been criticized during the 1957

Anti-Rightist Campaign The Anti-Rightist Campaign () in the People's Republic of China, which lasted from 1957 to roughly 1959, was a political campaign to purge alleged " Rightists" within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the country as a whole. The campaign w ...

Aftermath

The Socialist Education Movement is regarded as the precursor of the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

. Mao became frustrated with resistance to the Socialist Education Movement and the experience further developed his view that the relationship between cadres and the people needed to be improved. When the Cultural Revolution began, rural regions had not yet completed the Socialist Education Movement, and the committees in charge of it converted into Cultural Revolution leading groups. Following the Socialist Education Movement, the relationship between Mao and Chinese President

Liu Shaoqi Liu Shaoqi ( ; 24 November 189812 November 1969) was a Chinese revolutionary and politician. He was the chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from 1954 to 1959, first-ranking Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communis ...

, Chairman Mao's potential successor, deteriorated. Some Chinese sources state that the Socialist Education Movement resulted in 77,560 deaths, with 5,327,350 people being persecuted. A positive outcome of the campaign was that urban youth gained greater experience with the conditions of life in rural China.

References

{{Cultural Revolution Political repression in China Campaigns of the Chinese Communist Party Maoist terminology Cold War history of China Maoist China Persecution of intellectuals in China Liu Shaoqi

Goals

Course

Aftermath

See also

References