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AnonymousIn reading Gao, it is really unfortunate that Mao had so much of the history destroyed to create his "new China". I did not know that Japan was involved in the preservation (in a modified way) of saving some of the traditions of China. I also think it hypocritical that Mao had "unlimited creative powers" placed on a bus ticket, but yet monitored and censored everything that was going on in China. The irony of a dictator.
edited by kvillegas on 3/22/2017
edited by kvillegas on 3/22/2017
AnonymousWhen we rely solely on truth as defined by one individual, we miss the opportunity to find our place in relation to not only this one truth, but to the overall understanding of truth. In navigation, you cannot be certain of where you are based upon only one bearing and range from a fixed object. You need a minimum of three such bearings in order to have a relatively accurate idea of where your ship is. The process is ongoing as you advance up or down a channel. This constant measurement ensures your goal is reached with a high degree of accuracy. Understanding history, true history as opposed to history manufactured by the victors of one conflict or another, requires a similar triangulation based upon a variety of resources, ideas and testimony concerning the topic being studied. I am always a bit skeptical when anyone says they have the complete and total truth, and no other inputs are necessary aside from their own.
AnonymousHaving made a comment previously on the need to have multiple sources in evaluating one's position in history, I found it interesting that our guest speaker, Mr. Rittenberg, felt that one of the two positive effects of the Cultural Revolution was that the minds of the people of China were opened to the importance of questioning the word of their leaders. I also found it interesting that while the Cultural revolution was suppose to undo the Military revolution of 1949 which had established authority from the top down, it was itself undone and a new military take-over of the bureaucracy was required to dis-establish the bottom-up, and ineffective, authority of the Red Guard.
edited by jhayden on 3/25/2017
AnonymousTo prepare for today’s guest speakers, I read interviews between Mr. Rittenberg and The Atlantic as well as The Week. In talking about his first solitary confinement, Rittenberg said that the first year was the hardest, because it was in total darkness, and it wasn’t until the end of the first year when his jailors realized he was a good man. To get through the first year, Mr. Rittenberg remembered a poem from his childhood: “They drew a circle that shut me out/ Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout/ But love and I had the wit to win;/ We drew a circle that took them in.” (by Edwin Markham) I think the poem speaks for itself. One idea I immediately had upon reading the poem was to have my students select a short poem that they want to read during difficult times in their own lives. Maybe this can be a beginning of the year assignment for the upcoming school year…
AnonymousBefore listening to Mr. Rittenberg speak, I knew that he was subjected to slander, abuse, and solitary confinement. My first thought was, “I wonder if he has horrible PTSD.” However, when he started speaking, I was surprised by his light, humorous, and down-to-earth tone. By reading his interviews, I learned that he was aware of the impending PTSD, and actually took action while he was in prison to mitigate it. He said, “My recollections were strengthened by my lifetime habit-one encouraged by the Communists-of scrupulous notetaking. Every evening, I would write down the day's events to ponder.” His determination to remember all the bad things rather than suppress the memory was what helped him triumph over his obstacles and write about his experiences in his memoir. Notetaking, a skill I teach my students, is a way for my students to over
edited by cgao on 4/13/2017
AnonymousThe Rittenbergs account of the cultural revolution was at all times interesting, through-provoking and enlightening. Their shared experience of absolute freedom before absolute tyranny speaks volumes of the dangers of misguided or misdirected populism. It serves as a warning to all nations and a basis for discussion with students about Totalitarian regimes. Particularly, how dictators assume power, transmit their ideas/agendas, and deify themselves within the public consciousness. I'm grateful for having attended and thankful to the USC-China institute for putting on such an event.
AnonymousI agree. His light-hearted account of very serious events and their devotion to each through hardship was the proverbial 'spoonful of sugar' that helped the sour medicine of Mao's revolution go down. Great talk.
Anonymous
AnonymousBy Yulin Wang's testimonial of the persecution during the Cultural Revolution, I heard some similar bitter experience which I heard from my mother. My grandfather who was the head of a railway station that was close to China-North Korea border, was accused and jailed for being a Japanese spy since he was in charge from Japanese colonial period ( the ManChu period).
During that period, my grandmother was dragged to stand on the stage in front of the neighborhood with a big board hung on her chest from her neck, written on the board " Spy's family", she was forced to lift big logs, then split it into chopsticks. Her 5 kids had to face their mocking peers who stoned them on their way to deliver food to my grandfather who were in jail.
My mom's life as a spy's child were not a ease no matter how hard she tried to be elected as a communist party member. She cannot labor me in the city where she worked since everyone knows that she was from a Bad family background. Her plan to labor me in her mother house did not work well since there were constant strangers would come anytime to look for spying evidences. So she had to take train heading back then ended up laboring me in the middle of the transition in a small town.
edited by jshen on 3/25/2017
edited by jshen on 3/25/2017
AnonymousProfessor Guobin Yang’s lecture reminded me of the similarities and differences between revolutionary youth culture in 60s America and the revolutionary, trained youth of the Cultural Revolution. In both contexts, young people fought back against the values of older generations and explored true freedom of expression. Both the Cultural Revolution and the US Protests (Civil Rights Movement, Chicano Movement, and Vietnam War Protests) utilized songs and poetry to garner support and refocus revolutionary goals. As an English teacher, I would like to investigate the power of words and actions of the protest songs during the Cultural Revolution. The songs of the Cultural Revolution seem to be more celebratory, positive, and hopeful than American protest songs; the protest songs of 60s America are more critical, with artists/writers like Bob Dylan, Rodolfo Gonzalez, and Maya Angelou openly criticizing oppression with anger, sadness, and just a smidge of hope. How did the difference in tone (of songs and poetry) affect the outcome of these different protests?
AnonymousInfluence of the cultural revolution on Chinese children: Children played games like "who is my enemy?" , an example given by Prof. Yang. This exemplifies the traumatic effect of Revolution on children as well as adults. It destroys trust between people and the bond among family members.This is a lesson to be learned: do not let political views destroy friendship and family.
edited by Lin ZhaoDavison on 3/25/2017
edited by Lin ZD on 6/15/2017
AnonymousProfessor Yang's commentary on current attitudes towards the Cultural Revolution were very interesting, but what struck me was the development of cyber nationalism. The idea of the internet being used to continue to spread and revive the ideas of the Cultural Revolution, while not alarming, is worth a deeper examination. This is especially important in light of our own current concerns regarding how Russia may have hacked the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election. The greatest danger in this is perhaps the ability to express these ideas in anonymity. When you attach your name to an idea, you take responsibility for it. Should this idea of Cyber Nationalism be allowed without a corresponding level of responsibility?
edited by jhayden on 3/25/2017
AnonymousProf. Yang showed a video that lovely young children sang beautiful songs. It's hard to imagine they would be sent to farms to be reshaped in ideology and other ways. The hard reality would inflict so much pain on the innocent children. Spare them from political consequences.
edited by Lin ZhaoDavison on 3/25/2017
edited by Lin ZD on 6/15/2017
AnonymousA good question proposed to Professor Yang is about how can people live next door to those who persecuted their families and is it just “amnesia” as he stated or is it something else.? Do they want to forgive or are the younger people ignoring what happened to the older generation? Is it a coping mechanism because the Communist Party is still in power and they do not want what happened to happen again?
AnonymousProfessor Yang's lecture gave me a striking thought. Though Mao's cultural revolution was a complete failure politically in it's attempt to strength communist ideology, it was a success in breaking the government's control over the minds of the people while reinstating criticism for the party.