China After the Sino-Soviet Split: Maoist Politics, Global Narratives, and the Imagination of the World
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1 CHINA AFTER THE SINO-SOVIET SPLIT: MAOIST POLITICS, GLOBAL NARRATIVES, AND THE IMAGINATION OF THE WORLD A dissertation presented By Zachary A. Scarlett to The Department of History In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the field of History Northeastern University Boston, Massachusetts March, 2013 2 CHINA AFTER THE SINO-SOVIET SPLIT: MAOIST POLITICS, GLOBAL NARRATIVES, AND THE IMAGINATION OF THE WORLD by Zachary A. Scarlett ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History in the Graduate School of Social Sciences and Humanities of Northeastern University March, 2013 3 Abstract This dissertation examines the global dimensions of politics and culture in the People‘s Republic of China (PRC) from 1962 to 1972. Beginning in 1962, the PRC articulated a socialist modernity that positioned Chinese politics as a model for revolutionary struggle around the world. The CCP used global symbols and global events to shape this new socialist modernity and to inform everyday politics. Global symbols were conveyed through rhetoric, propaganda, political speeches, mass meetings rallies, and Chinese and student newspapers. The Chinese Communist Party furthermore assiduously recorded every anecdote, testimonial, or story that supposedly demonstrated China‘s importance around the world. These stories were then archived and used as irrefutable evidence of the PRC‘s global significance. Global symbols also became political currency during this period, and were used to exert power and claim legitimacy. This is especially true during the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. Chinese students, who formed into Red Guard units, claimed that global radicalism flowed from the Cultural Revolution. African liberation movements, the French student movement, and the war in Vietnam were all positioned as offshoots of the Cultural Revolution. Mass campaigns like the Cultural Revolution were therefore imbued with international significance, which raised the stakes for their success and contributed to their chaos. 4 Acknowledgements Writing a dissertation requires the advice, encouragement, support, and wisdom of countless people. Thanking all those who contributed in both large ways and small seems impossible. Nevertheless, I would like to thank my committee. Tom Havens, who stepped in as the advisor of this project, is the epitome of academic professionalism. His deep knowledge of East Asia and his limitless energy and enthusiasm have helped this project in innumerable ways. His most important contribution, however, has been in demonstrating how to balance one‘s research and one‘s students equally. His love for the profession is contagious. This project was originally conceived in Tim Brown‘s seminar on the 1960s, and I owe him a deep debt of gratitude. Over the years he has seen the many permutations of my research and has provided sound advice along the way. He has been an honest and forthright mentor. Finally, although Elizabeth Perry joined my committee only recently, she has been an invaluable resource. I cannot express enough thanks for her generosity as well as for her willingness to guide this project, despite her very busy schedule. Her knowledge of China is unmatched, and I am thankful for her assistance and suggestions on how to improve this project. I am grateful for a number of professors, faculty members, colleagues, and graduate students. I would be remiss if I did not first thank Qin Shao. I was a newcomer to Chinese history when I enrolled in her undergraduate course on late imperial China. By the time it was over I knew what I wanted to do with my life. May she serve as an example of the difference that teachers can make. At Northeastern, I would especially like to express my thanks for timely assistance from Kate Luongo, who elucidated a particularly productive line of inquiry soon after I returned from my fieldwork. Hua Dong spent many hours discussing China with me, for which I am especially grateful. I also appreciate the support of Laura Frader, Uta Poiger, Ilham Khuri- 5 Makdisi, Heather Streets-Salter, and Jeff Burds. Jenn Mocarski and Nancy Boromney both made sense of the Northeastern bureaucracy when I failed to discern any logical order. Over the past year Gail Hershatter has been a general cheerleader and has dispensed invaluable advice. Wu Yiching was willing to discuss this dissertation with me before I even wrote a single word, and he has kept up with its progress over the past few years. Fieldwork for this dissertation was made possible through a grant from the Fulbright association at the International Institute of Education. While in China, Janet Upton was a particularly valuable resource. I would like to thank Qi Pengfei and Song Shaopeng at Renmin University. Tang Shaojie at Tsinghua University took time out of his schedule to discuss this project and to encourage me. I would also like to thank the staff at the Renmin University library, and the archivists at the Beijing City Archives. In Cambridge, I am grateful to the staff at the Yenching-Harvard Library. The best part of graduate school is the camaraderie among graduate students. In Beijing, Margaret Tillman, Arunabh Ghosh, and Amanda Schumann provided important support during enervating archival work. In Boston, I would like to thank my writing group: James, Burleigh, Ethan, Colin, and Li Yan. Stephanie Boyle has motivated me from the beginning. Finally, Samantha Christiansen has been the source of a wonderful, productive, and challenging academic partnership. Our many hours of conversation is a bounty in and of itself. What has truly sustained this dissertation is the support of friends and family along the way. I married into a family whose patience, support, and generally positive disposition helped me through this long journey. My own family is the source of years of intellectualism. My brother and sister provided a stimulating environment in which to grow and learn. And my 6 parents instilled in me the true and utter joy of learning. I thank them for their example and I share this dissertation with them. I would like to dedicate this dissertation to two people. The first is Christina Gilmartin, who passed away before seeing its completion. Chris sponsored my application to Northeastern, nurtured me as a young scholar, and supported me through years of struggle. Her gentle but firm hand pushed me from the first day I arrived at Northeastern. She was an ideal mentor, and I continue to hold her counsel in the highest esteem. Chris was truly the best of what the academia had to offer: as a place in which a community of scholars commit themselves to solving some of the world‘s most complex problems. Her premature death was a tremendous loss to me personally and to the entire field of Chinese studies. Finally, I would like to thank Andrea Scarlett. She has provided comfort during times of difficulty, succor in times of frustration, and joy throughout this process. She is my sounding- board, my support system, my most trusted confidant. We moved to China together shortly after our marriage, despite the fact that she had never once visited the country. She poured herself into the Chinese language and Chinese society with an aplomb and courage that is truly rare. She continues to amaze me every day. I thank her for her friendship and her love. 7 Table of Contents Abstract 2 Acknowledgements 4 Table of Contents 7 Introduction 8 Chapter 1 Ordering the New World: The PRC and the Sino-Soviet Split 46 in the Early 1960s Chapter 2 ‗The Lips and the Teeth‘: Chinese Politics and the 79 War in Vietnam Chapter 3 Race, Anti-Colonialism, and Civil Rights in China‘s 1960s 127 Chapter 4 Globalizing Rhetoric: Text and Language in 169 the Cultural Revolution Chapter 5 National Hero, International Savior: The Global Mao Cult 204 Conclusion 239 Bibliography 250 8 Introduction The World in the People‟s Republic of China China‘s Communist Revolution did not occur in a vacuum nor was it sealed by the borders of the Chinese state. Like any revolution of its size it was a global event. The repercussions of the Chinese revolution reverberated around the world, threw American foreign policy into disarray, and largely changed the direction of the Cold War. Global events also informed and shaped the Chinese revolution. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Mao Zedong used global events, symbols, and narratives to mold their ideology. Central to this ideology was the way in which the CCP used global machinations – particularly Western and Japanese imperialist aggression in China – to shape its identity and to convey the meaning of communism to the Chinese people. Global symbols became inexorably entangled with Chinese politics and culture, and the history of the PRC was defined by China‘s understanding of the world and its place in that world. And yet, there are moments in modern Chinese history when the People‘s Republic of China (PRC) appeared insular and detached from the outside world. One of those moments came in the 1960s, especially during the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. The Cultural Revolution was the most devastating campaign of the Maoist era. The movement tore individual families, schools, villages, town, and cities apart, and brought the country to the brink of civil war. Children turned against their parents, students against their teachers, all the while viciously attacking Chinese culture. The Cultural Revolution was so massive that the impact of the campaign continues to reverberate into the present. In China today the shadow of the Cultural 9 Revolution looms large and the memory of the movement continues to dictate how scholars and the Chinese people understand the Maoist period. The Cultural Revolution has also become an important tool for legitimizing the current policies of the CCP.