Culture of Cultural Revolution Generation in China

         The people who were born during 1950s and 1960s are unique generation in contemporary China. They happen to be the parents of the youth who were born during 1980s and 1990s. What is unique about them is that they are the only generation who has many siblings in one household. For example, my mother has five siblings and my father has four. The large population born during Chair Mao’s years was the reason leading China to a stunning population booming in the midst of last century. This generation’s life experiences shaped their exclusive characteristics that can stands for some parts of Chinese contemporary culture.

         Back then, their parents, who are the young people’s grandparents now, were encouraged to have more children even though they do not have the financial ability and the resources to raise them at all. The government persuaded them to do so because they had to guarantee that there would be enough solders that could be used to meet military needs if the third world war came. Imagine how does the parent generation’s childhood life look like: they were always living in starving and eager to grab food from anywhere they could fetch. Food shortage was the biggest problem at that time. They now still remember and retell the stories to us of how they survived during the three years famine. That historical event led them to a frugal lifestyle and the habit of saving money. Moreover, due to the jam-like lifestyle and messed-up working behaviors they experienced in their childhood, the parent generation can hardly respect other’s borders and meanwhile distain people’s privacy.

       

The "Red Guard Army" was marching in front of Tian'anmen Square.

        Another outstanding characteristic they shared is that they blindly adore Chinese government, which is the Communist Party in charge right now, in terms of ideology. This personality could be traced back to the specific events called Cultural Revolution happened in 1966 through 1976. Their childhood and adolescent years were overlapping with this historical event. Most of them at their children or teenager years could not regularly spend time on school and homework but reciting quotations from Chair Mao. Besides, their routine job was reporting any suspicious opinions and arguments against the government, torturing the cultural celebrities, and humiliating them in public until they confess that they were guilty of counter-revolution. Cultural Revolution forced many great scientists and artists to committee suicide and greatly affected the development of education in this country. When our parents’ generation grows up with such experience during teenage years, they seem to lack appreciation of beauty and the sense of scientific intellection. They can easily believe and be persuaded by the government propaganda or some random salesperson’s promotion. Sarcastically, our parents can suffer a very mean life but squander their life savings to stocks and political-related-fraud investment. Such spirit of “sacrifice for country” seems permeated through their blood and was deeply rooted in their subconscious. Most of them still think that those Cultural Revolution years are the most passionate, purest and idealist memory ever.

        Not only do they have a great passion of defending for country’s reputation, but they are afraid of the man in power too. When they got older as time went by and they were mature enough to propose their individual political ideals, the Tiananmen Square massacre occurred in June 4^th, 1989. The young generation at that time was harshly beaten by the political reality and never had the courage to say no to the government. Only thing they can do is to submit and be obedient to the authorities. They even do not have the courage to speak out their own political stand. What is more absurdly, they and their children spontaneously utter harsh words towards who courageously speak out the dissident commends, such as the recent news that tutor Wu Wei in University of Sydney was attacked by the overseas Chinese students because of Wu Wei’s commentary against Chinese rulers and their misbehaviors. Besides the politics, they even do not encouragement to explore the possibilities of career development, and they think only getting a job from government system is the most secure choice. The men in some kind of government position seems too dreadful to this generation as if the men the power can easily take over all your property and ruin your life in seconds.
        In summary, the generation who are in their middle adulthood now represents a particular culture. They are greatly affected by what had happened in history, and what they have been through have formed their government-depended personality.