China and the Chinese Revolution

Quick Facts on China

China = People's Republic of China, PRC for short is actually the formal name of China.
Capital = Beijing
Population = world's most populated country!  There is roughly 1.3 billion people living in PRC.  The population density is roughly four times greater than that of the United States.
Religion = Most people practice Buddhism, but other religions found within PRC borders are:  Taoism, Islam, Catholicism, and Christianity.
Fun Facts- PRC is known for having the world's longest continuously used written language and longest continuous civilization.  One in every five people are Chinese. White is the Chinese symbol for mourning while red symbolizes happiness.

The Chinese Revolution in the Late 1900s

The Chinese Revolution began in 1966 and was launched by China's communist leader Mao Zedong.  His goal was to reaffirm his authority over the Chinese government.  The three main things that caused the uproar was The Great Leap Forward, The Great Chinese Famine, and The Four-Clean Ups Movement.  He used the youth to fight off the officials; this attack was later called the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution.  The students called themselves the Red Guard.  They tore down temples, denounced teachers, and rooted out traitors.  Mao in the meantime had closed down schools, encouraged students to join the Red Guard and help persecute teachers and intellectuals.  Torture became very common.  Mao had to disassemble the Red Guard in 1968 because the army was clashing with them and in 1969 he signed a peace treaty.  Although Mao signed the treaty it is said that the revolution didn't really end until Mao's death and the arrest of the Gang of Four.
Mao died in 1976.  Following his death was a power struggle, it was still controlled by the Communist Party, but it had started to adapt to capitalist economic policies.  The overall death cost of this short revolution was nearly 70 million people.
      The aftermath:  China is now afraid to become a democracy because of the authoritative challenges that have surfaced in the past.  During this revolution China ended its birth control plan and with that change population boomed and the economy fell.  The Chinese youth were denied education, and ended up suffering mental and physical damages.  Overall, China's culture greatly suffered from this revolution