Cultural Revolution Collection

The Cultural Revolution 1966-1976

The Cultural Revolution was launched in 1966 by Mao Zedong in order to reassert his authority over the Chinese Government. He mobilised the nation’s youth, in the form of the Red Guards, to purge impure elements of Chinese society and to revive the revolutionary spirit which had led to the formation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. A personality cult quickly sprang up around Mao, similar to that which had existed for Josef Stalin.

Factional fighting and years of power struggles ensued until Mao’s death in 1976, after which Deng Xiaoping established control for the next 20 years. The legacy of the Cultural Revolution resonated in Chinese politics and society for many decades.

This collection will place the Cultural Revolution within the historical context through the publications of the Foreign Languages Press, the main state publishing enterprise leading up to and following the period, and other related material.

Foreign Languages Press

The Foreign Languages Press was founded in Peking (Beijing) in 1952 after the Great Liberation of China. It was the prime book publisher during the entire Mao period, issuing many thousands of important titles in numerous languages, the most famous being the "Little Red Book" or the quotations of Mao Zhedong released in many millions of copies.

Other publications included works by Marx and Lenin, Communist party and government documents, foreign policies, descriptions of political and social conditions, children’s comics and propaganda posters.

Much of the collection consists of pamphlets and other ephemeral material donated by Professor Ching-hwang Yen in 2018, supplemented by Foreign Languages Press collections transferred from the Rare Books Collection.

Related items can be found in the Andrew Watson Rural China Collection.