Did the people who fought for the CCP feel betrayal during the Cultural Revolution when they were prosecuted?
Statistically, most of them were not. My parents were among them, I know they never have the feeling of betrayal. They know something went wrong, yet they have the confidence that the normal order will resume again.
The language of “fought for the CCP” is a misunderstanding. None fought for CCP. Those who joined CCP were fighting for the People, not for the CCP. During the mob rule of the Great Cultural Revolution, the violence against the revolutionary generation was limited and done by some radical activists. Those activists were far from representative of the People.
Most of those who committed suicides were not from the revolution generation, but the intellectuals such as professors or specialist professionals. The intellectuals suffered the same level of “prosecution” as the revolutionary generation, but they can not endure it and lost confidence in the future of the country.
The chaos of the Great Cultural Revolution lasted less than one year. The Great Cultural Revolution began in the middle of 1966. by the end of 1968, the youths went to the countryside. Many things happened between 1966 to 1968, among them was Da Chuan Lian. Da Chuan Lian was the free accommodations and transport for millions of Red Guard traveling everywhere in China. I join the Da Chuan Lian myself and I got free accommodations. I also volunteered to serve in a free canteen for Red Guard from other provinces. Some red guards even went to Vietnam and Myanmar to join guerrillas during Da Chuan Lian. Violence was conducted by some Red Guards. Most high school and university students could claim him or themselves as a red guard without any regulation. Most violence against intellectuals and the revolution generation happened in universities and high schools. Red Guards at the beginning were occupied with Big Character Posts, and Da Chuan Lian later, then Down to the Countryside at the end of 1968. Chaos happens should be less than one year when much violence committed. My parents were victims of the violence.
School resumed in 1968 when I was in grade 8. By the end of 1968, I was living by myself. My brother and sisters were down in the countryside, and my parents were also in the Cadre’s School of Countryside. That’s the “prosecution”. Life in the countryside was a much low living standard compared to that in cities. But 80% of the population was in the countryside. The so-called “prosecution” of the youth and intellectuals were living at most as “terrible” as 80% of the Chinese people. People were ruling. The ruling class was asking the being ruled to live a life as their lives. That’s the so-called “prosecution”. If those being ruled were forced to live a life as the ruling class had, I think this kind of “prosecution” should be welcome.
My parents consider the “prosecution” was nothing compared to their life during the revolution wartime. They just changed office life to countryside field life. That’s it. In wartime in guerrillas, they had nothing to eat, no place to hide, and took life-threatening risks. They still had confidence in the Mass during the Great Cultural Revolution. The mass of the people are whom they fought for since they join the revolution, and the guerrilla relied on the mass of the people from the very beginning.
After a hundred years of humiliation, Chinese people were poor before the Reform and Open. Forcing the urban elites to live a life in the countryside is horrible for many, but that’s the life of 80% of the population. It was perfectly humane to live a life as 80% of the population.
Xi is one of the intellectual youths Down to the Countryside.
It was a decade of a poor life for Xi during the Great Cultural Revolution. The Chinese people in the countryside are very reasonable. They know it was tough for the intellectual youth from the cities to live the poor life, and they allow them to live a life better than themselves if the condition permits.
Does Xi feel prosecuted and betrayed? Definitely not. Did Deng feel prosecuted and betrayed? Definitely not. Deng and Xi are the leaders who were “prosecuted” during the Great Cultural Revolution, and they make China great again. In fact, Xi proclaimed “Don’t forget the initial mission (of the revolution)”. If it is not for the “prosecution” of Mao during the Great Cultural Revolution, China would have derailed as Russia did. It is exactly that the leaders who were “prosecuted” in the Great Cultural Revolution had the best understanding of China and made China great again.
Xi went to the poor countryside and lived a poor life with 80% of Chinese people. He understands what the Chinese people need. The 80% is the silent mass, who have no voice in the Western Mainstream Media. The Western Medea portrays the life of some urban youths during the Great Cultural Revolution as a “prosecution”. Xi understands that those are bullshit. The Western Media just voice those who lost their privileges after 1949 because the western imperialism powers lost their privileges in China too after 1949. After 1949, Chinese People take rein of China. They made many mistakes, and they had some failed policies, but they are the master themselves of the country. The worse time after 1949 was still much better than the best time before 1949 for Chinese people, just as the worst time for a master is still much better than the best time for a slave. Before 1949, Chinese People had not said about their country. The economy and politics were under the influence of the Western powers before 1949.
For some Westerners, please don’t sweet the crocodile tear at China. After a hundred years of humiliation, the West has no credibility to post itself as a protector of the Human rights of the Chinese People. It just projects itself as imperialism to gain influence in China for their national interest at the expense of the interest of the Chinese People.
