Still ashamed of my part in Mao's Cultural Revolution - BBC News

In an effort to head off challenges to his leadership, Chairman Mao unleashed a wave of unrest that swept across China in the 1960s.
He wanted to root out opposition and rid the country of any semblance of old Chinese culture, social values and history.
At the forefront of the Cultural Revolution were the Red Guards - young, radical students and fanatical supporters of Mao and his circle. Parents and teachers were vilified and in some cases beaten and killed. Old temples, architecture and literature were destroyed too. Saul Yeung was a member of the Red Guards. He spoke to Witness about his memories of that time and the guilt he still carries.
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[@gladwinbabu8030]

Damn man, pain in his eyes shows how ashamed he was, he is

[@yg6484]

Yeah. That’s shows that he has moved on and worthy of forgiveness.

[@useyournogos6845]

@Rickest Rick They were. It's the hardest part to admit, but they were people doing a job. People get a thrill from power and revolution, and people are also feel less guilty when they are told to do terrible things from someone, else, especially if that figure is charismatic, powerful and even god-like.

[@germandavidurdaneta4034]

are we really feeling bad for a murder who killed God knows how many people? He shouldn't have been allowed to enter America in the first place, murders here are punished by the death penalty, why do we treat a muderer from China different?

[@sublimesense7761]

You can’t look at someone’s eyes and see pain

[@weipu93]

Rickest Rick go rot elsewhere vermin waste

[@Warkillable]

I'm grateful there are people like this that are able to tell their tale and explain the consequences of these movements.

[@GizmoMaltese]

It doesn't matter. People forget and repeat the past.

[@weathforjr]

Most people are incapable of existential introspection; this man is an exceptional case to actually admit regret and on media even. People need his example.

[@larshofler8298]

🙄 Meh, no thanks. Choosing general corruption over revolution isn't the right thing to do.

[@CC-pi4rq]

@@larshofler8298 What do you mean by that?

[@goodj111]

@@larshofler8298 lol, as if the Maoist party state wasn’t corrupt.

[@BloodAndGutsTV]

Yeah but it's always in hindsight unfortunately.

[@cyborgchicken3502]

​@@larshofler8298 and when the revolution is won how do you know the new system won't be corrupt as well?? You "revolutionary" lot sure are delusional and do not understand the vices of human nature

[@Langlang2024]

My family went through this, my grandfather got paraded but he was tough enough to survive that.

[@exvo-]

@HeyitsLina That's sad...

[@suloea]

and my grandfather managed to escape but lost most of his family

[@s5zi9e]

@Dan Future generation is nothing difference than before, it's spreading around the world rn

[@user-fc9hs2hg2n]

My great grandfather died from this

[@mogznwaz]

Shows me you have to fight to defend your values or an aggressor will destroy them and you

[@jasperwasper5955]

My father was born right around the time it had started. Thankfully, he never joined and focused on his studies and when he turned 30, moved out of china. It was truly a horrible time

[@kkkk6179]

Towards the end of Qing dynasty, these people were called Yi He Tuan. During the cultural revolution, they were called Red Guard. Now they are called Wolf Warrior. The mentality and mindset haven’t changed much, just the name changes

[@deathgamer8086]

wolf warriors a fictional special ops task force in a Chinese film. it doesn't exist in real life

[@alexwu358]

Boxers = Red-Guards

[@kkkk6179]

@Igor Senkin Yi he tuan is about freedom of the country? Hahaha🤣🤣🤣 Who taught you history? 😂

[@kkkk6179]

@Igor Senkin Apparently you only read the surface of the book, or your teacher learned from CCP textbook. On paper it sounds like they were fighting foreigners, which they called “fu qing mie yang”. But that is just the surface. Long story short. The Yi He Tuan first came from some group of people who thought they could be invulnerable from weapons through learning some sort of spiritual kungfu. They eventually turned into extreme nationalists (or you could call them local terrorists using today standard) while burning churches and civilian houses, killing foreigners at will, burning local properties like train station and bridge, robbing and kidnapping people, and even killing own Chinese people (including women and children) who they believed were related to churches. In fact Yi He Tuan were arrested for their malicious and criminal activities on multiple occasions by the Qing armies and both parties fought each other numerous times. Nonetheless they were later “promoted” by Empress Ci Xi due to internal political fights in Qing dynasty. Ci Xi made Yi He Tuan as a puppet force to fight against the other side of the political spectrum that wanted to transform Qing into a modern society, as well as to fight against western influences. When Ci Xi declared war on 11 foreign countries, the fact was that many local officials went against her war order and even condemned the Yi He Tuan for their terrorist like activities. This piece of history was called “Dong Nan Hu Bao” during the eight country alliance war. The local officials made peace agreements with foreign countries and pointed fingers at Yi He Tuan for the mess, who continued to burn churches and kill foreigners. And because of their barbarian acts, some local Chinese actually went to help the foreign armies during the war. And ironically, after the eight country alliance war ended, Ci Xi declared war on Yi He Tuan because she thought they were the culprit of the eight country alliance war. So, it was never about freedom. It was about extreme nationalism, and sad to say, they were puppet of internal political fight. If they really care for freedom, they would have opposed and overturned the Qing dynasty that was based on imperial despotism. So, who taught you history?😂😂

[@ALETHES]

@Ziqi Zhu Superficial? No, his comment was 'super' bene'ficial' for us to understand modern and contemporary China

[@CDN1975]

Such sadness and pain when he spoke of his teacher. I hope more people his age realize the evil and horrors they committed during that period in China.

[@jingchengyang8957]

Everyone knows, if you have a history of being a red guard, no big companies or state firms would dare hire you.

[@jingchengyang8957]

@Winston Smith 红二代和红卫兵是一个东西吗？只要家庭背景有红卫兵，没有国企会要你。红卫兵只是些知青和学生而已，能大富大贵还是第一次听见。 你认识几个红二代呢？

[@jingchengyang8957]

@Winston Smith 文革是四人帮赢了还是邓派？就算大富大贵，那也是姓邓的走资派

[@jingchengyang8957]

@Winston Smith 红二代和红卫兵不是一个东西，红卫兵就是造反派这是个很简单的道理。在薄熙来放点红歌就被温家宝骂得头破血流的政治体制下，红卫兵还能嚣张起来？当时政府多穷，高层领导想贪污都没钱给你贪，一些知青就突然掌控全国财富了？

[@nolanholmberg311]

I mean, I can’t be the only one that sees the insane hypocrisy of a British news station Lecturing another country about their historical atrocities when you know… It’s the British… The biggest most vicious, violent empire that’s ever existed. I mean for crying out loud 80% of Africa’s antiquities and history is in the British national museum outside of Africa itself. Do you know how horrors have to be committed for them to get all of those artifacts? There’s no problem with calling out sins. I just think the biggest sinner in the world should not be the one to lecturing others on that virtue

[@web_devs]

If you don't learn from history... it tends to repeat itself

[@snipedotgenius]

Well said mate ..

[@marklloyd4087]

🤔 Hmmmmmmm interesting that.

[@zamonian9525]

It’s the human nature, shitty things will still happen as long as humans exist.

[@daniilzhukov2952]

@Cris Zapot proof that cod now is made by pussies

[@redram5150]

If you learn from history it still repeats itself

[@annak48972]

I'm from America, and this makes me so scared and sad to watch. You can see the pain and regret in his eyes. I really hope nothing like this happens in our country's future.

[@christophera556]

What happened in China with Maos cultural revolution in the late sixties and early seventies are the sort of events that happen once in a generation such as a aging leader determined to hold onto power or a country that is going through extreme societal stress something US is going through now namely the rise of the neocon movement.All these sort crazy movements have things in common brain washed members lead by cult type leaders that the fanatical supporters worship and some sort of utopian belief system.The cultural revolution in China seems to have had a belief in some sort infallibility of Mao Zedong and his ideas of purifying the CCP thank goodness he dropped dead in 1976 after which the Chinese came to their senses the US neocon movement however seems to ongoing and has been around since Ronald Reagan's time.The US neocon movement seems have all the nonsense of brain washed supporters worshipping cult type leaders and some lunatic fundamentalChristian sects in fact they seem to have taken complete control of the US Republican party.These neocons seem too want recreate the culture of the United States and the western world in general so it's happening here in the west right now just different ideology that's all the neocons use similar methods to brain wash people such as the Murdoch media and of course social media something Mark Zuckerberg might have a lot of knowledge of and the other bullshit the neocon leaders use is to push some pusuido patriotic utopian nonsense that they can restore the might of the US and the western world.Where as the Maoistcultural revolution died out in the middle seventies with Maos death and the then young Chinese came to their senses the opposite has happened in the US with neocon movement it seems to growing and growing into other western countries so to those who say let's hope such a similar thing like the cultural revolution doesn't happen in America or other western countries well it's happening right now thanks to Ronald Reagan and his neocons and it has been happening for the last forty years or so and its not good this neocon movement needs to be stopped its spreading in one form or another to other western countries.To the American people stop trying spread your modern day cultural revolution namely the American government and its moves to recreate the world in its image.

[@randomize2014]

Same.

[@DarkAngel2512]

People get shamed on social media and get fired or commit suicide. We are already there. They're taking down statues already and renaming streets.

[@namelessnobody7611]

@@DarkAngel2512 That’s a rather distasteful comparison. I don’t think we can compare the extent and nature of current social phenomena to those of the Cultural Revolution.

[@lashlarue7924]

@@namelessnobody7611 Indeed. The Cultural Revolution was a full-blown civil war with different factions waging pitched battles with everything from sticks and stones to tanks, people turning into cannibals, other atrocities every day. We’re probably at least 1 generation away from that level of carnage.

[@FireurchinProductionsByzantium]

Who would win? Mao or a bunch of birds?

[@chiyoko4244]

10/10 >D

[@schechter01]

Mao. He was as ruthless as they come.

[@cryo_life]

Mao

[@schechter01]

@Mwaniki Mwaniki Depending on which famine you're talking about, it wasn't because of birds, man...

[@schechter01]

@Mwaniki Mwaniki Interesting. Where was this documented? (Honest question...I'd like to read it)

[@jklmn101]

Apparently nobody at UC Berkley every bothered to listen to him.

[@travellingsoldier5018]

He probably never said a lot about his own involvement during his tenure.

[@Baibakov88]

What?

[@robertrussell2202]

spot on

[@MrT9822]

@@travellingsoldier5018 They wouldn't have listened. They love Mao Thought all around college campuses. The Great Leap Forward is well respected by modern economic professors. Sad.

[@TheHollandHS]

He will see goodwilled students again like himself. 💔

[@DL-mg9fq]

My dad was a rightist, went to a concentration re education camp for 8 years and almost lost his life. Let’s just say he has the right to his beliefs.

[@Trapping_ackbar7]

Many people today don’t think so, unfortunately

[@jakepaulerworkingman7118]

That's so h#cked

[@altouna]

Sadly, today’s equivalent of the Red Guard would laugh at this man. It’s the human condition to think you know it all when you’re young. It’s a tragic irony that the wisdom to make good choices comes long after the choices are made.

[@ridgemondhigh4891]

Nobody is more ashamed of Mao, the Cultural Revolution, the Red Guards than today's emperors with their immaculate suit-and-ties and luxury cars, sending their children to study at Harvard.

[@TheJayJayYoung]

Today’s red guards are the Wolf Warriors. It’s the same tactics all over again.

[@Helloknight]

no shame on him, shame on the people who went that far. he wanted to help.

[@dreamsof3dspace555]

you call that far? some kids made their teachers eat nails.

[@flagwashere]

@@dreamsof3dspace555 and Mao has caused MILLIONS of deaths just to meet quotas...

[@espada9]

Yea Hitler wanted to "help" as did Pol Pot and Stalin. The excuse to "create a greater good" is ALWAYS the excuse of genocidal tyrants and fools like YOU defend them!

[@obiwan88]

By your logic, you should praise Hirohito for freeing Asian people from feudalism and coloniaism, and join Japan in The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.

[@barkingsheep5224]

It is important to see how people who look completely normal, happy, and sane, can commit and ascribe to such evil. Horrifying.

[@Prince-lo3nz]

Every human including you is capable of evil. Stop the hypocrisy

[@gghdkkliam3390]

All my ancestors’ assets vanished overnight as well as their existence culprits got away with it and everyone acts like nothing had happened this makes me nauseous we can’t even retrieve what belonged to us justice never manifested itself Series of policies made by mao in turn cause over 40millions of deaths This dictator,ruthless murderer and this regime brought countless sufferings to Chinese people

[@HuszOG]

I just don't get it, it took so less for americans and europeans to rise against their monarchies yet in China, horrible things have happened and hare happening, and there has never been any big insurrection except for Hong Kong.. it's incredible.

[@ianj705]

Maybe your ancestors’ didn’t deserve those assets

[@gghdkkliam3390]

Ian J pathetically u know nothing about my forefathers and Chinese history

[@michaeldunn8972]

@@HuszOG Aryans in America + Europe are being ethnically replaced by our own governments and we haven't used violence to over throw them yet. People here are completely strungout on multiple layers of propaganda same in China.

[@jegysering9324]

Lol.. your ancestors' slave labor and stolen land vanished after the Revolution?

[@MrSquishy83]

Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups

[@unknownentity3383]

Ok, I won’t underestimate people like you in large groups

[@Bob-jj7vp]

@@unknownentity3383 unwarrented anger lol

[@Darrell1019]

It can drag you and me down into that sewer too!

[@seankelly378]

*people in large groups , a person is smart , people are dumb

[@mtube620]

the red guard = today's antifa

[@robertrussell2202]

Feel for this guy. He seems like a lovely bloke. That is still scarred by these events to this day. Bless this man

[@ALittleOG]

I hope he repeats this story over and over at Berkeley-of all places.

[@LeechUFC]

My grandfather was murdered by the red guard, they really are a taint to Chinese society whose violence went unchecked. However many of them now are unable to find jobs or build families as people avoid former red guards

[@yusufdunphy5402]

The red guards are indeed a cancer to Chinese society. They victimized the people of the same ethnicity (Han) who don’t support communist party rule ideology and they also worship the CCP. One day, China shall become decommunized and once again, be the Republic of China (which is what Taiwan is right now but mainland China will once again be the Republic of China and the Chinese democratic politicians shall take back Beijing, the long time capital of China).

[@yurrr4592]

My family lost contact w a lot of relatives when they fled to Taiwan it’s scary how ppl can still praise him tens of millions of deaths and even more families separated n heartbroken sure China had a great economy after but those memories ppl had w their loved ones will never be there I’m glad I was born later but I’ll never forgive Mao and what he did

[@samfromsaturn3429]

My grandpa was born in the 40s he wasn’t one of the Red Guards but he surely experienced the Cultural Revolution Of China. He told me it was taken too far, teachers, doctors and all intellectuals are being humiliated, shaving hair, cutting off shirt sleeves etc. It was surely a great mistake by Chairman Mao, which I respect

[@gidgids]

My grandpa was born in 40s too, he never talked about it.

[@rockgod6180]

Why would you respect a mass murderer?

[@AC-he8ln]

Some History and Geography teachers were even eaten by their students, in Guanxi Massacre.

[@obiwan88]

“It was surely a great mistake by Chairman Mao” Terribly wrong choice of words, it was a great crime against humanity by Mao, and the phrase 十年浩劫 pretty much sums up the enormity of the crime. 毛澤東是中華民族的千古罪人！

[@thecheeselord5943]

@@rockgod6180 Perhaps hes talking about respecting his granddad. Bad grammar can mess things up sometimes.

[@thestorern]

The Red Guard only stopped when the Higher ups told them to cool off. I can only imagine if they had told them the very opposite.

[@BobSmith-dk8nw]

OK ... (first off - I used Wade-Giles Romanization here - which is what was in use back when I was studying China. I also am tired now and have not spell checked some of these names - which I'm recalling from memory ....). After the collectivization campaigns of the mid '50's Mao decided that he would mobilize the masses of humanity in China to equal Britain in Steel Production in 5 years - this was PART of the Great Leap Forward. The Peasants were told to create these kilns that were called Back Yard Furnaces. Mao didn't have big steel plants so he was going to have millions of small ones. The problem was - they didn't actually have enough ire ore to smelt - but - they did have quotas that required them to produce so much pig iron. With no iron ore - they had to take the metal instruments they already had - like plows and cooking utensils - and melt those down to make their quotas. So they did. The pig iron that was produced was so bad - the metal could not be used to make anything else. But that was a moot point - as they didn't have the infrastructure to haul it away. So it just sat there. Thus - all they had accomplished was destroying the metal items that they had already had. Another thing they did was they launched a campaign to rid China of The Three Pests - which were rats, sparrows and something else I don't remember. The way they killed the sparrows - was the whole city would turn out - EVERYONE - because the communists could make people do things like that. Then - these people (who apparently still had their pots and pans) would bang them together and scream to make noise and frighten the sparrows. This worked. The frightened birds would take to the sky but could find no where in the city that was free of noise - so they had no where to land that they weren't frightened away from. The sparrows (as was the plan) flew until they were exhausted then fell to the ground and someone would come stomp on them. The problem was - all the insects the birds had eaten - such as locusts - were no longer being eaten because the birds were dead - and they had plagues of locusts devour their crops. These are not the only things they did - these are the things I remember. The end result was that 20 million people died of starvation - because of Mao's stupidity. These were not like the land lords he had killed on purpose - these were people he killed by accident because he was stupid. Then something happened. The Cadres of the Communist Party - who had made the people do these things - watched them die - and were horrified at what they had done. At that point - they turned from being the nemesis of the people - to their protectors. Mao would issue an order. The Cadres were say "Yes! Sir! Yes! Sir! Three Bags Full!" - and then ... not do it. They would report back what a glorious success Mao's orders had been. Meanwhile at the top - the #2 man, Liu Shao-chi - convinced Mao that it was a waste of his precious time to be involved in the mundane running of the country and that the people needed him to be off thinking great Mao Tse-dung Thought to enlighten all of them. The problem was - Mao was stupid about economics but he wasn't stupid about politics. He knew that he'd been promoted out of power. So - with the aide of the Army under Lin Piao - which provided transportation and food, he mobilized the high school kids who still believed in him - to Question Authority - and remove from power all those Cadres who had been circumventing his will. The Cadres organized their own Red Guards - and the two groups started killing each other - all in Mao's name. The problem was ... Mao had told these kids to Question Authority - so they did. They Questioned Authority at the local, provincial, regional and national levels (Liu died in jail ... he was old and didn't take well to it) - but then - they started questioning Mao ... At that point it was time for all the Red Guards to go down to the Country Side to Learn From the Peasants - and all these city kids were wading in human excrement that was fertilizing the rice paddies. And that is the story of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. (As an aside - Lin Piao (who had taken over as #2) saw what had happened to Liu Shao-chi - and decided that Mao was going to get him next - and tried to have Mao's train bombed ... but the guy couldn't do it ... and turned himself in. Lin and his wife were sitting on the runway in a business jet - and when they saw fuel trucks moving to block off the runway - had the plane take off - hitting one of them. Lin's plane, fleeing to the Soviet Union, ran out of gas over Mongolia - and he died. After losing Lin's support and that of the Red Guards ... Mao didn't have many people left. He had a few - but when he died - they were all in jail a month later (the Cadres who had been rehabilitated waited a month out of respect for Mao). After that China was run by people much more practical in their approach. They were going to retain power - as those kids at Tien An Men found out - but their economics was based on what worked - not silly politics. Deng Xiao-ping was rehabilitated by Chou En-lai (always #3 !!!!) - and began running things. He was most famous for saying "I don't care if it's a black cat or a white cat - as long as it catches mice." And that has set China on the road it is on today. .

[@BobSmith-dk8nw]

@Skrooge Lantay No sweat. .

[@zoeydeu2261]

Very similar to the crazy antics Trump gets people to do (circumvent fair elections, riots at the capitol, telling people Pence has the power to flip the electoral college votes, don't wear masks during a pandemic, that covid is a hoax, that Russia didn't hurt the US). And Trump's tremendous stupidity where he won't listen to the advice of his advisors to the point of mishandling covid, resulting in the deaths of 370,000 Americans and counting

[@nixie6077]

Wow thanks for this. Really eye-opening perspective. I always assumed all those people died as a purposeful purge, but analyzing it from the perspective of simply someone's mistake.. It blows my mind a bit. It's a good reminder for why we can NEVER idolize political leaders - they're still humans.

[@nixie6077]

@@zoeydeu2261 Not similar at all lmao because Trump CAN get voted out of office, whereas there was no one against Mao.

[@damistudi5923]

The crazy stories you hear

[@peterngpl111]

I hope one day in my life I could see that Mao's big picture is removed from Tian An Mun Square forever !

[@alexliu6012]

Me tooooooo

[@alexliu6012]

@Make India Great Again shut up Indian

[@Sxdgefield]

@Make India Great Again based

[@geopoliticsandhistory5822]

Without Mao there are no Communism, Without communism there are no china and without china there are no world. So,Keep dreaming kiddo.

[@alexliu6012]

@@geopoliticsandhistory5822 wtf u talking about? As a Chinese I think ur delusional...

[@ksc7957]

My grandparents once told me how thier life were destroyed by those fanatics. Never thought that I would able to see it myself.

[@aloksingh3160]

I don't know that whats the idea behind the chainese cultural revolution but seeing him crying for her teacher punishment just broke my heart.

[@71babyjay]

Alok Singh Mao started losing support because of his crazy campaigns that made life much worse. So he radicalized the young people into the Red Guards and they kept him in popular. This is absolutely happening in US right now...

[@rockychang7595]

I recommend reading more into it. Im sure the man didnt list any of the explicit stuff that took place.

[@maszlagma]

I kind of expected a more horrible story from him than "they cut her hair while she was sleeping", I mean not a good thing but with all the buildup and tears it was a bit weird.

[@ActGuaiKia]

The fundamental guiding principle of the Chinese Civilisation has been for the last 5,000 years, Confucianism which teaches the utter most respect for all elders and mentors (teachers). Communism in its raw form has been in China for less than 30 years. Not surprising that the man took it so hard on himself, its akin to a American betraying the cause of the Revolutionary War.

[@thatsnodildo1974]

He probably seen more shit and just has it compartmentalize ya know? He just has it locked away

[@michaeldonahuemiller]

My thoughts exactly! Lol

[@spitalhelles3380]

The hair is inherited by your parents so that's why the involuntary cutting of the hair is shameful for a confucian

[@williamsmith8475]

“Cut Hair” is code for 30million people massacred

[@crackercookies]

Here I am in 2020 USA and we are at the start of this atrocity happening here. Open your eyes!

[@wurlitzer895]

Not just in the USA, but here in the UK, too. It's truly frightening.

[@turtleextra4128]

Is it o don’t see people executing people for not being communist and agreeing with the government especially when the government in the U.K. and USA are both right wing conservatives not alt left wing communists

[@panner11]

Right wingers will make any ridiculous comparison to try to validate their current agenda. The movement right now is against the ruling administration not orchestrated by it.

[@michaeldunn8972]

@@turtleextra4128 Trump and the right has a weak grasp (Demographics) and Boris Johnson has done nothing to stop mass migration of people who vote 75%+ hardleft (Demographics)

[@BioChemistryWizard]

@@panner11 HAHAHAHAHA You are literally supported by corporations, you are a tool of the ruling administration, gas lighted into believing you are against it. Neat little trick how controlled opposition works.

[@CrimsonEclipse]

My grandfather was murdered during the cultural revolution my father witness this, my grandma went insane with depression. My father had to take care of his 4 younger siblings especially the harshest famine times. My father always told me communism feels threaten by the intelligent people, they feel threaten by free thinkers and independently competent people. Anyone who works too smart or too hard was seen as a threat. Communism likes the young and dumb and obedient people. They like conformity. Also communist followers also like their witch hunts. Many people were falsely accused for not being communistic enough. Human nature of envy and jealously always comes with a false accusation as well. This is what happens when you preach about everyone is the same and some people feel threaten when someone is better than another even if something was small.

[@helix3291]

Dang .... this sounds so similar to what's going on in America

[@M-gd6ow]

I’m so sorry. You are absolutely right. Thank you for sharing

[@fluxxy6260]

He learned it the hard way, watching someone you support torture someone you love. It really doesn't have to be like that, you know?

[@DarkAngel2512]

Watched a video on the Rwandan Genocide where one woman said her uncle in law killed her aunt due to being from a diff tribe. His own wife.

[@kk-jm2xl]

It’s sad that my grandma still thinks the CCP did nothing wrong😔

[@jakejerrison5181]

Maybe she has more authority to say that? She lived through it. The revolution benefited 600 million people. She’s a good person. Would love to talk with her!

[@kamveng453]

Apparently most of them are with CCP brainwashing. CCP bots are even spreading their propaganda in Twitter.

[@jeremye1448]

Jake Jerrison stfu!

[@delroku]

Good

[@tingli9408]

Tell me what‘s wrong with the CR？You know nothing but only receive the fake news from the BBC.

[@jerrybaird2059]

Fascinating interview. It is natural for adolescents to want to rebel against their elders, whether in China or here in the USA, as we see.

[@geronimozarza8495]

Why didnt they rebel against Mao then?

[@jerrybaird2059]

@@geronimozarza8495 because they would have been massacred

[@chocolatesquirrel2002]

@@geronimozarza8495 indoctrination

[@MagSnapShots]

And that’s an excuse for murder?

[@2Worlds_and_InBetween]

bbc show this today go on I dare you

[@robertrussell2202]

No bbc has been radicalised themselves. beebs is full of extremely radical marxists now

[@Gens324]

It should be called Cultural devolution

[@robwalsh9843]

A cultural destruction. Chinese culture is far from perfect but China was one of the world's great classical civilizations. The best moments of Chinese culture saw great literature, art, philosophy and science. The so-called "cultural revolution" was horrific by comparison.

[@sergeyt1981]

Rob Walsh yeah we really need the evaluation of a westerner on what was right and wrong lol

[@killerqueen9113]

@@sergeyt1981 destroying history for not agreeing to it is always wrong. Just like what the americans are doing now. We must preserve the past, too much valuable information to be had.

[@robwalsh9843]

@@sergeyt1981 Yeah, I guess its much more preferable to have some non-Chinese person with a cyrillic name to explain for us. Thanks Mr.........however that's pronounced LOL

[@sergeyt1981]

@@killerqueen9113 how is removing a statue (of honour) to a slaver/dictator is an act of forgetting? It's an act of rethinking the past, not destroying it

[@ThomasRonnberg]

history repeats itself once every lifetime.

[@AndyFromBeaverton]

@@npcimknot958 That's what Critical Theory and Cultural Marxism do.

[@patricke825]

@@AndyFromBeaverton cultural marxism is an antisemitic Nazi conspiracy but okay

[@AndyFromBeaverton]

@@patricke825 No, cultural marxism IS antiSemitic. Stop getting your talking points from the racists at SPLC and Wikipedia.

[@FiveofHearts1]

@@patricke825 5 social credits have been added to your account

[@Sparrows1121]

@@patricke825 Cultural marxism may be a conspiracy by dangerous anti Democracy Trumpists. But comparison of Struggle Session in Maoist China to that of Woke movement in USA isnt that far off if you read on it and compare side by side

[@edwinagustian4769]

As Indonesian Chinese born , i was called by my teachers or the elder people that i was a kind of human race and do not have tradition , manners even religion like most of Indonesian people are muslim and treat other people very well. So sad this is part of my people history....

[@applepie-sz3kr]

no traditions🤔 no manners🤔 no religion🤔 Just saying, China got plenty of traditions, in terms of manners it depends on the individuals. And religion... Don't think ur teacher were really supposed to say this..

[@NC-hu3ti]

Chinese has a rich history of traditions and culture. It's an extremely diverse nation as well. You should not let one era define your identity as a Chinese. Be proud of where you come from. Be a good human being. Be kind. Don't let anyone dictate your identity to you. I'm not Chinese but I felt very bad reading your comment.

[@michaelsayre688]

You shouldn't feel responsible for something you didn't do

[@flagel552]

@@michaelsayre688 this. Im a Malaysian Chinese and I dont feel any connection to China and what China did, even tho my race is Chinese

[@obiwan88]

@@applepie-sz3kr Sounds like you belong to that generation born after CR. Have you even the slightest idea what ensues during that horrible 10 years?! "Don't think ur teacher were really supposed to say this.." -> Please don't tell others what they should or shouldn't do, that is already bad manners!

[@dooshmasta]

It’s happening right now

[@fortunekookimon4610]

"Reeeal socialism hasn't been tried yet you reactionary, counter-revolutionary, fascist!" - every berntard

[@warbler1984]

@@fortunekookimon4610 Bernie is only advocating for what all of us in Western Europe have.

[@fortunekookimon4610]

@@warbler1984 Bernie is a phony champagne socialist who's supporters are literally the dumbest & most gullible sheep on the planet. He simply panders to the lowest common denominator of human quality. The prime minister of Denmark said... " I want to make something perfectly clear to the American people; Denmark does NOT have a socialist economy, we have a [free] market economy". How did Bertardism work out in Chop/ Chaz? Hmmm... *crickets*

[@Janik-pwoejrur]

🤡🤡🤡

[@guadalajara1998]

chad russophile but Bernie Sanders has said that he wants to be like the nordic countries. So in reality he is not really socialist. He is just advocating for more public funding.

[@msm8936]

The video shows a message what happens when young people (and some a little older) follow a movement and it goes out of control. It’s the same in this generation the year 2020. 😔😬

[@WiCapitalco]

This is live and well right now. Please bring it to full exposure

[@johnatkinson7479]

The irony is he said he went to Berkeley to study...if he went there now he would see a new red guard at work, we never learn

[@wtfyomom]

youre a fuckin idiot to compare them

[@jfrd-pw4hk]

@@wtfyomom Your name is literally wtfyomom and you expect to be taken seriously?

[@wtfyomom]

@@jfrd-pw4hk ad hominom

[@weedle101]

Labour politician Diane Abbott said that Mao did more good than harm

[@captainwilts2244]

Nobgoblin101 Well are we surprised a labour politician said something awful and stupid.

[@BoggWeasel]

Any harm or the good was done by the mindless followers who hung on his words like sheep.

[@wilsor90]

Literacy improved and so did life expentency but at the cost of 40-70 million? Maybe not.

[@inciegebaykal]

Weert

[@joshuaglover6707]

To be fair though, she doesn't know what < and > mean

[@lynngraham2934]

I like Asian youth coming to the U S. They have learned what communism is Really about. Youth in the U S, born in the U S, haven't a clue what it is about, or how deadly it is.

[@hellinterface6721]

I think a lot of us do too. Well of course we do lol.. Communism and it's resulting hellish mass genocides have happened to many other peoples aside from Asians.. MANY others. Hopefully you can educate the more ignorant here about it though ;)

[@firingallcylinders2949]

Blame the leftists professors. They teach the kids that Capitalism is evil and Government control of everything is the answer.

[@firingallcylinders2949]

@فهمي كتاني No, Capitalism has pulled more people out of poverty than any economic system

[@theugandan3186]

@@firingallcylinders2949 has also killed more people than communism has

[@firingallcylinders2949]

@@theugandan3186 explain

[@bestill365]

I have been doing my own study of the cultural revolution, as I was never taught about in school. I recently read Ming Wang's book from darkness to sight and was moved by his story, and how he overcame truly impossible odds to become educated. Ming is a real life hero!

[@1FlyJedi]

This broke my heart.

[@lukawong8921]

Great documentary we should learn this and never let this happen again moving forward to create a better society for mankind

[@Hardcore_Ant]

I agree we should not improve society, not even somewhat.

[@lukawong8921]

@@Hardcore_Ant - agreed, but the rest of the world are moving forward advancing themselves ahead.

[@davidsexton6604]

P.S. I had Mao's little red book ! " The West is a paper tiger " Was my favorite quote !

[@frankenstein2144]

lol 😂

[@frankenstein2144]

It was really a crazy time

[@sbevexlr848]

@@frankenstein2144 crazy is an understatement

[@TheBucketSkill]

All one needs to do is ask Japan about if America is a paper tiger :)

[@jfrd-pw4hk]

LMAO can paper tigers bomb an imperialist nation twice and make them surrender? Can paper tigers create the largest empire in the world and make the Great Middle Kingdom kneel? Can paper tigers outlast the then-powerful Soviets? Mao is as arrogant as whatever he thinks the West is. He talks a lot of shit for someone who only won because the Nationalists died to stave off invaders.

[@naomi5418]

During CR , The entire family of my grandparents have been tortured for being intellectuals , some were dead including my grandma’s new born baby, and my grandpa has been left disabled for the rest of his life. He is turning 92this year in China with everything stripped off , no house , no income.

[@yingyangmapper5399]

My grandma was a teacher during this revolution, so she learnt the new simplified chinese and she was lucky to survive but today she still idolizes Mao and tbh idk why she does that, maybe fear or brainwashing

[@antrim7008]

You should ask her maybe. If you think China was better before communism you would be mistaken.

[@yingyangmapper5399]

@@antrim7008 I didn't say that China was better before communism

[@andylim1800]

Sincerely hope our people, our party, our government, our president learnt from this tragedy and prevent it from happening again.

[@takenbythewindNdrivenbythesea]

Some lessons, you just have to learn by experience

[@user-bt3kd3by3m]

what is the teller`s name?

[@davidsexton6604]

Dear Saul, l am your age .All young people "who care " get sweept along by their youthful enthusiasm ! That's all it is . Just part of life's great tapestry and journey ! Love from England .

[@sally232]

Unlike the North Koreans right now, some Chinese back then actually loved their leader and regime

[@Blitzo2876]

Imagine if the two countries combined. Nobody can beat Kung Fu and taekwondo together. I prefer karate with Muay Thai together.

[@Lucas_5092]

Sally you literally had no choice but to love your leader that doesn't make any sense

[@scornlover]

@Waterlec yeah, u right. Almost all morning since my marriage, i woke up next to my wife. But this morning i woke up next to my maid. Crazy huh.

[@MultiLiam24]

They still do

[@gghdkkliam3390]

yes until they are murdered by communists

[@DanielMorales-gu3my]

The hardest thing for most societies is too admit they have made mistakes and own up to it

[@jaymeme4811]

Any good books that discussed effects of cultural revolution ?

[@charmander777]

Blood Letters, The Untold Story of Lin Zhao, a Martyr in Mao's China - Lian Xi

[@timothygoss6507]

Anyone else here after reading the opening chapter of the Three Body Problem?

[@AWOL401]

Feels like we’re going through our own Cultural Revolution in the US right now.

[@maxstirner8717]

“They cut her hair, and I found my way to the west to take pictures with Bush”.... oooooookaaaaaay.

[@Duke_of_Spook]

ooooooooyvaaaaaaaay

[@mikemathews1174]

If america keeps going, you can cut your teachers hair. Heartless pos

[@linusfotograf]

Is that what you took away from this story?

[@linyuan5381]

He might be the one cut his teacher's hair.

[@madelineschultz4968]

Thank you so much for sharing your heartfelt pain. It is good for all human beings to know that anyone; placed in the right environment can do awful things! I am so glad that you are an American citizen with your family!

[@barrettp8266]

Important to never forget this

[@paddy4478]

During the cultural revolution, Chinese people had much more freedom to demonstrate on the street than today. xD

[@BobSmith-dk8nw]

No. They had NO freedom to demonstrate - they were ordered to demonstrate and to demonstrate against anyone opposing Mao. As to demonstrating against Mao? No. That was NOT allowed. .

[@aditya-ml6km]

​@@BobSmith-dk8nw They were doing because they had the freedom to do so.

[@BobSmith-dk8nw]

@@aditya-ml6km Bull shit. If that was so - did the have the freedom to NOT do it? .

[@darkwolf4434]

Yeah, if they protested against Mao they would be call capitalists and be put into prisons or maybe be ececuted.

[@Mitchery]

@@aditya-ml6km India Sucks.

[@satanbrony9235]

Oh, it is very nice to listen to this person explain things. Thank him for having the time to speak with this "BBC". I hope it wasn't taken out of context. A lot of internet trolls want human stupidity to increase, pro communists can be happy that a lot of people from current generation are terrible at (more complex than abridge) math- makes it easier to make them in to communists supporters. But it also comes from the fact that in some countries RIGHT-wing politicians make the poverty double and even health benifits for disabled people disappear. Thirdly you must understand that they usually don't believe that Mao, Stalin etc. killed millions of people at all. They find their own justifications for their conclusions. People have the right to support what they want as long as it doesn't harm others too much... But if you are planning on traveling in time, it would be best not to take pro communists too seriously. If you do believe in their version of history too much, you might be surprised how much real life was different.

[@ayrton56612]

When people say students are always on the right side of history, send them here.

[@DxvinderSingh1699]

The cultural revolution 2 xi’s way

[@shizzlenizzle]

Amazing how this feels so similar to what is happening with young generations today in the USA.

[@nni9310]

the only similarity I notice is between Trump and his followers.

[@1legomaster]

@@nni9310 Then you aren't looking hard enough.

[@nni9310]

@@1legomaster please explain, rather than putting the burden on me.

[@1legomaster]

@@nni9310 Trump isn’t advocating tearing down monuments and urging his followers to burn down cities. I really do not understand how you came to the conclusion what the Chinese Communists did is what Trump and his followers do. It doesn’t make any sense.

[@terrorgaming459]

Google teen sucide statistics 5089 die due to school a day abolish all forms of school google prevent uk teachers are legally allowed to spy on children and convict them of terrorism i and several of my friends have been convicted for terrorism at 9 DEATH TO THE OLD GENERATION

[@finestfresh]

culture revolution created such a chaos in china. luckily Deng corrected it afterwards.

[@foreverendeavor5751]

And no one seems to connect Mao’s Cultural Revolution with the Culture War in America…..

[@PureVikingPowers]

There are people in China today that killed their teachers and never saw punishment, take Song Binbin "She is known for beating her deputy principal Bian Zhongyun to death with wooden sticks" She received her doctorate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1989 and lives happily today.

[@GummyB0mb]

I understand the regret you feel. The cultural revolution really scared me and when I learned about it I was baffled and speechless because it brought the insanity out of young people. I hope it never happens here in America but the possibility is starting to become inevitable.

[@yusufdunphy5402]

Notice that the cultural revolution ruined Chinese culture because there were Chinese heritage sites that were destroyed during the cultural revolution.

[@zhengyingli]

Now people with the same mentality are tearing down statues in the west.

[@jaycee6063]

The Flash Lincon’s statues have been taken down. You are a moron.

[@nyfinest487]

@The Flash first confederate statues, then non confederate statues, then burning federal buildings, whats next??????

[@stefanadamcik8221]

Oh cmon BBC, "even murder"? D'ya think? The way you guys sanitized the cultural revolution in that piece, one would think that the worst tragedies that occurred were people getting a forced haircut.

[@aloadofbollocks988]

-10s of millions starved and murdered -Culture and history erased -Decimated economy -Absolute poverty -The Red Guard becoming so zealous and radical they had to be disbanded by force -The population essentially lived in a gulags But oh noos, they made her cut her hair, oh the horror. You don’t make it through the cultural revolution with your virtues intact - this dude has undoubtedly seen some shit.

[@gavin-chaunguyen5487]

[@lisalph8922]

I wonder if he sees parallels between the Chinese cultural revolution and America's youth touting such slogans as "silence is violence."

[@escopiliatese3623]

Silence IS violence.

[@lisalph8922]

@@escopiliatese3623 , isn't that like being guilty until proven innocent?

[@theory_underground]

So y'all cut her hair off... That's the worst thing you were involved with in the Red Guard?

[@theory_underground]

@@eastern6322 oh shit... I might have missed that

[@tesotoo]

Look up the Guangxi Massacre

[@flameout12345]

It feels like people needed a purpose and belonging. when they find it. it doesn't matter what it does as long they're in it.

[@rogerc23]

A large majority of certain problems genetics are atoned to slavery. 80-90% of people need to be told what to do.

[@OSTemli]

This is why i hate young people being in political activity, they always resort to violence

[@lemonde3415]

Ok thats not true

[@OSTemli]

@@lemonde3415 you must be those young people who abuse people for not saving the planet. While smoking weed

[@lemonde3415]

@@OSTemli Actually I hate people who smoke weed (and I'm against most other "drugs" like cigarettes and overuse of alcohol) I'm not protesting against climate change (because its pointless) So please stop patronizing me just because I don't share your opinion

[@Blaqjaqshellaq]

Chiang Kai-shek's career showed that power corrupts; Mao Zedong's career showed that absolute power corrupts absolutely. "We've fed the heart on fantasies, our heart's grown brutal with the fare: More substance in our enmities than in our love"--WB Yeats

[@randomize2014]

Yeah, in my opinion the only way to stop corruption is to remove power completely so that no one has more power than anyone else. And that no one’s problems are prioritized over someone else’s because of social status but by the severity of it.

[@Blaqjaqshellaq]

@@randomize2014 The anarchist solution!

[@emmanuelsung]

*Can BBC News kindly make a detailed documentary film about how Americans took over the country from Native Americans please?*

[@engineerinhickorystripehat9475]

Berkeley huh ?

[@jeffrielly]

A man can only admit when he is wrong, I hope if anyone who was a victim of him personally who is still alive forgives him for what he did.

[@benjaminsameni7969]

He was like the Ayatollah Khomeini. Very charismatic and ruthless.

[@samizdatbroadcasts7654]

UC Berkeley 2017.

[@stanleykubrick9379]

I'm hoping I'll be a part of the 2022 class

[@AgainstCronyCapitalsm]

This is a truly ignorant statement.

[@0isay]

Amen.

[@9999FIRE]

Vietnam had the same one like that

[@c.r.n7315]

We are seeing a repeat here in the states with young people, socialism, and communism

[@arquilli1]

It’s happening now in US. Struggle sessions already underway.

[@Kwacklet]

Mao said to destroy the old culture but still taking the Philippine Sea saying that it was China's OLD territory

[@Orf]

3:46 I hope they reflect, they regret, they re-examine, which will prevent this kind of human tragedy from happening again..."

[@golDroger88]

I find the end where he says he hopes to prevent this tragedy from happening again very funny in light of the recent riots in America. Some people never learn.

[@panner11]

Lmao what. The current riots are anti government. The cultural revolution is orchestrated by the gov't. What a stupid comparison.

[@golDroger88]

@@panner11 Corporations are the new governments. Riots are orchestrated.

[@Sparrows1121]

@@grimsleeper5945 Yes they are. Compare Struggle Session in Maoist China to Wokeism in USA and there is lot of similarities

[@Preuen-zs1fz]

Was that it? Just the hair cutting?

[@zipporahmikhael3837]

1870 Preußen I think they did more to her then just hair cutting if you know what i mean... he’s probably too ashamed to go into depth what they did to her, out of respect for her

[@user-fi2fk2ei7o]

It is his teacher People should respect their teacher not embarassed her with cut the hair

[@jackmion]

Was that it? No, murder and execution too. A mob of people can just do anything they want and there was no point of reasoning and justice. Isn't it serious enough?

[@roadforrunner]

You Sir are to be respected,I'm proud of you and people like you are an asset to our country.Godspeed.

[@chenghonggoh4746]

I applaud this guy for his bravery and honesty.

[@kelly1195]

My great grandfather was a landlord and when Mao was in power, my great grandfather was taken into custody and lost his land and leaving my grandfather an orphan. He feel bad for him. So many Chinese people suffered because of Mao. Why would his portrait even on Beijing. Like I want to tear down his portrait so bad. I want the chinese communist party suffers gruesomely.

[@bubz4196]

3 years later the BBC would be promoting struggle sessions in America

[@davidyates1078]

I hope it’s not too late for us.

[@acidsunrise]

Ive heard guys whove driven TV detector vans for the BBC say the shame never leaves you.

[@michaelboylan5308]

What about the wretched French intellectuals Barthes Kristeva Quel Tel editors, etc,,,where is their shame

[@Blaqjaqshellaq]

Where's the shame of the French people who supported the wars against Vietnam and Algeria?

[@SuccessforLifester]

He has a crush on his beautiful teacher.

[@icebear4421]

I know right. His story is so shallow

[@petermitchelmore8777]

It is extensively covered in my forthcoming book, The Trouble With China. www.thetroublewithchina.com

[@davidking1765]

Human can be evil, for hiding the darkness to be waken up, once it happened, he has got no mercy !