Four Olds

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The Four Olds (simplified Chinese: 四旧; traditional Chinese: 四舊; pinyin: sì jiù) refer to categories used by the Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution to characterize elements of Chinese culture prior to the Chinese Communist Revolution that they were attempting to destroy. The Four Olds were 'old ideas', 'old culture', 'old customs', and 'old habits'.^[a][2] During the Red August of 1966, shortly after the onset of the Cultural Revolution, the Red Guards' campaign to destroy the Four Olds began amid the massacres being carried out in Beijing.^[3][4]

Terminology

The term "Four Olds" first appeared on June 1, 1966, in

Calls to destroy the "Four Olds" usually did not appear in isolation, but were contrasted with the hope of building the "Four News" (new customs, new culture, new habits, new ideas).[6] Newborn socialist things were said to struggle against the Four Olds.^[7] The idea that Chinese culture was responsible for China's economic backwardness and needed to be reformed had some precedent in the May Fourth Movement (1919), and was also encouraged by colonial authorities during the Second Sino-Japanese War.^[8]

Campaign to destroy the Four Olds

The campaign to Destroy the Four Olds and Cultivate the Four News (Chinese: 破四旧立四新; pinyin: Pò Sìjiù Lì Sìxīn) began in Beijing on August 19 during the "Red August".^[5][9] Academic Alessandro Russo writes that the destruction of the Four Olds was an ambiguous campaign from the perspective of the Chinese Communist Party.^[10] He argues that in a time of increasing political pluralization, the Party sought to channel student activism towards obvious class enemies and less relevant objectives to make it easier for the Party to contain the situation.^[10]

The "re-naming" campaign

Across China, signs bearing old road names were vandalized.^[11][12] The first things to change were the names of streets and stores: "Blue Sky Clothes Store" to "Defending Mao Zedong Clothes Store", "Cai E Road" to "Red Guard Road", and so forth.

In Beijing, the name of the road where the embassy of the

The Cemetery of Confucius was attacked in November 1966, during the Cultural Revolution, when it was visited and vandalized by a team of Red Guards from Beijing Normal University, led by Tan Houlan.^[15][16] The corpse of the 76th-generation Duke Yansheng was removed from its grave and hung naked from a tree in front of the palace during the desecration of the cemetery in the Cultural Revolution.^[17]

The Chinese government stopped short of endorsing the physical destruction of products. In fact, the government protected significant archaeological discoveries made during the Cultural Revolution, such as the

Other manifestations of the Red Guard campaign included giving speeches, posting big-character posters, and harassment of people, such as intellectuals,^[20] who defiantly demonstrated the Four Olds.^[5] This escalated from accosting people in the streets due to their dress or hairstyle, to widespread murder, assault, arbitrary detention and the ransacking of private homes.^[11] Red Guards broke into the homes of the wealthy and destroyed paintings, books, and furniture; all were items that they viewed as part of the Four Olds.^[21]

Many artists and other cultural professionals were persecuted by vigilantes, although some cultural advances came about because of the period, including the integration of "new" western instruments and ballet into Peking opera.^{[citation needed]}

Attacks on ethnic minorities and book burnings

Languages and customs of ethnic minorities in China were labeled as part of the Four Olds and texts in ethnic languages were burned.^[22][23][24] Bilingual education was suppressed.^[22]

Gallery

• 
  This statue of the Yongle Emperor was originally carved in stone, and was destroyed in the Cultural Revolution; a metal replica is in its place
• 
  The remains of the 8th century Buddhist monk Huineng were attacked during the Cultural Revolution
• 
  The Cemetery of Confucius was attacked by Red Guards in November 1966^[25][26]
• 
  A frieze damaged during the Cultural Revolution, originally from a garden house of a rich imperial official in Suzhou
• 
  The Peking Union Medical College Hospital was re-named "Anti-Imperialist Hospital" by Red Guards
• 
  A damaged statue of the Buddha

Aftermath

Appraisal of damage

No official statistics have ever been produced by the Communist party in terms of reporting the actual cost of damage. By 1978, many stories of death and destruction caused by the Cultural Revolution had leaked out of China and became known worldwide.^[27]

Restoration

Starting in the 1990s and continuing into the 21st century, there has been a massive rebuilding effort under way to restore and rebuild cultural sites that were destroyed or damaged during the Cultural Revolution. This has coincided with a resurgence in interest in, and demand for, Chinese cultural artifacts.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Burning of books and burying of scholars, 3rd century BC China
• 1989 Mao portrait vandalism incident, vandalism of the portrait of Mao Zedong
• Destruction of the Goddess of Democracy, as part of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre
• List of campaigns of the Chinese Communist Party

Notes

References