On How the Chinese Communist Party Destroyed Traditional Culture
The Epoch Times Dec 20, 2004
A poster from the “Criticizing Lin Biao and Confucius” campaign (AFP/Getty Images)
This is the sixth of Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party.
Foreword
Culture is the soul of a nation. It is as important a spiritual factor to mankind as such physical factors as race and land.
The history of the civilization of a nation is defined by its cultural developments. The complete destruction of traditional cultures will lead to the end of a nation. No matter how glorious its civilization is, even if its race survives, a nation will vanish when its culture disappears. For example, people will not equate today’s aborigines living in Latin America with the ancient Mayan race. Destruction of traditional cultures is an unforgivable crime; the destruction of China’s 5000-year-old ancient civilization is even more so.
The traditional culture of China started with such legends as Pangu’s creation of heaven and the earth [1], Nuwa’s making of humans [2], Shengnong’s identification of hundreds of medicinal herbs [3], and Cangjie’s invention of Chinese characters [4]. The Taoist wisdom of the universe and Confucian moral beliefs course through the veins of Chinese culture. Lao Zi’s idea of the unity of heaven and humans has been expressed clearly in Tao-te Ching [5], “Man follows the earth, the earth follows heaven, heaven follows the Tao, and the Tao follows what is natural.” The Confucian classic, The Great Learning, opened this way: “Great learning promotes the cultivation of virtue.” This was the very idea Confucius advocated in his teachings, imparting to society five cardinal virtues of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and faithfulness. In the first century, Sakyamuni’s Buddhism traveled east to China, and with its promise of compassion and salvation for all beings, it greatly enriched Chinese culture. Thereafter, Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism became complementary beliefs in Chinese society, bringing the Tang Dynasty to the peak of its glory and prosperity, as is known to all under heaven.
Although the Chinese nation has repeatedly experienced attacks and undergone destruction, the Chinese culture has shown great endurance and stamina, and its essence has been continuously passed down. The unity of heaven and humanity represents our ancestors’ cosmology. It is commonly accepted that kindness will be rewarded and evil will be punished. It is a rudimentary principle not to pass on to others what one does not want done to oneself; loyalty, filial piety, prudence, and justice have set the social standards, and Confucius’ five cardinal virtues have laid the foundation for social and personal morality. With these values, the Chinese culture embodied honesty, kindness, harmony, and tolerance. Ordinary Chinese people have venerated heaven, earth, noblemen, relatives, and teachers. This was reflected in the deep-rooted Chinese traditions that worship God, promote loyalty to the country, uphold values of family and friends, and honor their teachers and elders. The traditional Chinese culture sought harmony between humans and the universe, and emphasized an individual’s ethics and morality. It was based on the faiths of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, and provided the Chinese people with tolerance, social progress, human morality and righteous belief.
Unlike law, which prescribes hard and fast rules, culture works as a soft constraint. The law enforces punishment after a crime has been committed, while culture, by nurturing morality, prevents crimes from happening in the first place. A society’s moral values are often embodied in its culture.
In Chinese history, traditional culture reached its peak during the prosperous Tang Dynasty, coinciding with the height of the Chinese nation’s power. Science also advanced in unique ways and enjoyed a reputation among all nations. Scholars from Europe, the Middle East, and Japan came to study in Chang’an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty. Countries bordering China took China as their suzerain state. Many countries came to pay tribute to China and were treated with generosity in return.
After the Qin Dynasty (221-207 B.C.), China was often occupied by minority groups. This happened predominantly during the Sui (581-618AD), Tang (618-907AD), Yuan (1271-1361AD) and Qing (1644-1911AD) dynasties and occasionally in some other times. Nevertheless, these ethnic groups were almost assimilated to the Chinese ways as a whole. This shows the integrative power of traditional Chinese culture. As Confucius said, “(Thus) if the people from afar are not compliant, bring them around by cultivating (our) culture and virtue.” [6]
Since attaining power in 1949, the CCP has devoted the nation’s resources to destroying China’s rich traditional culture. This ill intention did not come from the CCP’s zealotry for industrialization, nor from simple foolishness in worshipping western civilization. Rather, it came from the CCP’s inherent ideological opposition to traditional Chinese culture. The CCP’s destruction of Chinese culture has been planned, well organized, and systematic, made possible by the state’s use of violence. Since its establishment, the CCP has never stopped “revolutionizing” Chinese culture in the attempt to completely destroy its spirit.
What’s even more despicable is the CCP’s intentional misuse and underhanded modification of traditional culture during its reign. The CCP has advanced the vile rather than the virtuous, while promoting power struggles, conspiracy, and dictatorship—all of which existed in Chinese history whenever people diverged from traditional values. The CCP created its own set of moral standards, way of thinking, and system of discourses, and gave the false impression that this “Party culture” is actually a continuation of traditional Chinese culture. The CCP has even taken advantage of the aversion some people have for the “Party culture” to incite public sentiment against traditional culture, thus further abandoning authentic Chinese tradition.
The CCP’s destruction of traditional culture has brought disastrous consequences to China. Not only have people lost their moral bearings; they have also been further indoctrinated with the CCP’s evil theories.
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I. Why Did the CCP Want to Sabotage Chinese Culture? The Long Tradition of Chinese Culture Based on Faith and Virtue
The authentic culture of the Chinese nation started about 5000 years ago with the legendary Emperor Huang, who is deemed to be the earliest ancestor of the Chinese people. In fact, Emperor Huang was also credited with founding Taoism—which was also called the Huang-Lao (Lao Zi) school of thought. The profound influence of Taoism on Confucianism can be seen in Confucian sayings, “Aspire to the Tao, align with virtue, abide by benevolence, and immerse yourself in the arts;” “If one hears the Tao in the morning, one can die without regret in the evening.” [6] One of the most important Chinese classics, the Book of Changes (I Ching), is a record of heaven and earth, yin and yang, cosmic changes, social rise and decline, and the laws of human life. The prophetic power of the book has far surpassed what modern science can conceive. In addition to Taoism and Confucianism, Buddhism, especially Zen Buddhism, has had a subtle yet profound influence on Chinese intellectuals.
Confucianism expounded on “the society” part of traditional Chinese culture. It emphasized family-based ethics, in which filial piety played an extremely important role. The Chinese people believe that all kindness starts with filial piety. Confucius advocated, “benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and truthfulness,” but also said, “Are filial piety and brotherly love not the roots of benevolence?”
Family-based ethics can be naturally extended to guide social morality. Filial piety can be extended to loyalty to the sage king. “It is seldom that a person with filial piety and brotherly love will be inclined to offend those above.”[6] Brotherly love can be further extended to loyalty to friends. Confucians believe that in a family, a father should be kind, a son filial, an older brother friendly, and a younger brother respectful. Here, fatherly kindness can be further extended to benevolence of the emperor toward his subordinates. According to The Great Learning, as long as the traditions of a family can be maintained, social morality can naturally be sustained, and thus, the cultivation of the self can lead to prosperity of the family and the nation, and finally peace for all under heaven.
Buddhism and Taoism, in contrast, offer the “out of the society” part of Chinese culture, guiding people in their spiritual improvement. The influence of Buddhism and Taoism can be found to penetrate all aspects of ordinary people’s lives. Practices that are deeply rooted in Taoism include Chinese medicine, qigong, geomancy (Feng Shui), and divination. These practices, as well as the Buddhist conceptions of heavenly kingdom and hell, the karmic reward of good and the retribution of evil, have, together with Confucian ethics, formed the core of traditional Chinese culture.
The beliefs of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism offered the Chinese people a stable moral system, unchangeable “so long as heaven remains.” [7] This ethical system offered the basis for sustainability, peace, and harmony in society.
Morality belongs to the spiritual realm; thus, it is often conceptual. An important role of culture is to express such an abstract moral system in language that can be commonly understood.
Take the four great novels in the Chinese culture for example. Journey to the West itself is a mythical tale. Dream of the Red Mansion starts with a dialog between a spirited rock and the Taoist Reverend Void at the Baseless Cliff of the Great Waste Mountain in the land of the spirit—this dialog provides the clues for the human drama that unfolds in the novel. Heroes of Water Margins opens with a tale of Hong Taiwei, who mistakenly traveled to the land of evil, a legend that explains the origin of the 108 heroes. The Three Kingdoms begins with a heavenly warning of a disaster, foreshadowing the inescapable conclusion of God’s will: “The world’s affairs rush on like an endless stream; a heaven-told fate, infinite in reach, dooms all.” Other well-known stories, such as The Romance of the Eastern Zhou and The Complete Story of Yue Fei, all started with similar legendary tales.
These novelists’ use of myths was not a coincidence, but a reflection of a basic philosophy of Chinese intellectuals toward nature and humans—a contemplation of the divine origin of human life.
These novels have had such a profound influence on the Chinese mind that the characters in them have been used to typify certain moral values. When speaking of “righteousness” as a concept, for example, people think of Guan Yu (160-219 AD) of the Three Kingdoms—how his sense of honesty transcended the clouds and reached heaven; how his unmovable loyalty to his superior Liu Bei gained him respect even from his enemies; how his bravery in battle prevailed in the most dire situations, even his final defeat in a battle near the Town of Mai; and, especially, his conference as a deity with his son. When speaking of “loyalty,” people naturally think of Yue Fei (1103-1141 AD), a Song Dynasty military commander who willingly placed the country’s integrity above his own life. Zhuge Liang (181-234 AD), an official of the Shu State during the Three Kingdoms period, embodied complete devotion to one’s country.
The Chinese traditional culture’s eulogy of loyalty and justice has been fully elaborated in these striking stories from writers’ pens. The abstract moral values have become concretized and embodied in cultural expressions.
Taoism emphasizes truthfulness, Buddhism emphasizes compassion, and Confucianism values benevolence and justice. “While their forms differ, their purposes are the same… they all inspire people to return to kindness.” [8]
The Chinese traditional culture has taught people important concepts and principles, such as heaven, the Tao, God, Buddha, fate, predestination, benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, faithfulness, frugality, a sense of shame, loyalty, filial piety, prudence, and so on. Many Chinese may be illiterate but they are familiar with traditional plays and operas, through which they learn about traditional morals. These cultural forms have been extremely important in transmitting Chinese tradition.
Therefore, the CCP’s destruction of traditional Chinese culture is a direct attack against Chinese morality and undermines the basis for peace and harmony in society.
The Evil Communist Theory Opposes Traditional Culture
The “philosophy” of the Communist Party is the opposite of authentic Chinese traditional culture. Traditional culture respects the mandate of heaven, as Confucius once said, “Life and death are predestined, and wealth and position are determined by heaven.” [6] Both Buddhism and Taoism believe in the divine, the reincarnation cycle of life and death, and the karmic causality of good and evil. The Communist Party, on the contrary, does not simply believe in atheism. Instead, it also runs wild in defying the Tao and assaulting heavenly principles. Confucianism values family, but the Communist Manifesto clearly promulgates abolition of the family. Traditional culture differentiates the Chinese from the foreign, but the Communist Manifesto advocates the end of nationality. Confucian culture promotes kindness to others, but the Communist Party encourages class struggle. Confucians encourage loyalty to the noblemen and love for the nation, however, the Communist Manifesto promotes the elimination of nations.
To gain and maintain power in China, the Communist Party first had to plant its immoral thoughts on Chinese soil. Mao Zedong claimed, “If we want to overthrow an authority, we must first make propaganda, and do work in the area of ideology.”[9] The CCP realized that the violent Communist theory, which is sustained with arms, is Western ideological garbage that cannot stand up to China’s profound 5000-year cultural history. The CCP must, then, completely destroy traditional culture, so that Marxism and Leninism can take China’s political stage.
Traditional Culture Is an Obstacle to the CCP’s Dictatorship
Mao Zedong once said, fittingly, that he follows neither the Tao nor heaven. [10] Traditional Chinese culture undoubtedly served as a huge obstacle for the CCP’s defying the Tao and contending with heaven.
Loyalty in traditional Chinese culture does not mean blind devotion. In the eyes of the people, the emperor is a “son of heaven”—with heaven above him. The emperor cannot be correct at all times. Therefore there was a need for remonstrators to point out the emperor’s mistakes all the time. The Chinese chronicle system also had historians record all the words and deeds of the emperor. Scholastic officials may become teachers for their sage kings, and the behavior of the emperor was judged by the Confucian classics. If the emperor is immoral—unenlightened to the Tao, people may rise up to overthrow him, such as in the Chengtang’s attack of Jie, or King Wu’s removal of Zhou. [11] These uprisings, judged from traditional culture, were not considered violations of loyalty or the Tao; instead, they were seen as enforcing the Tao on behalf of heaven. Take the well-known military commander Wen Tianxiang (1236-1283AD) for example. Fighting to protect the integrity of the Southern Song Dynasty against the Mongolian troops, Wen never wavered even when the former Song Emperor attempted to persuade him to surrender after he was taken prisoner. Confucians believe, as Mencius said, that “The people are of supreme importance; the nation comes next; last comes the ruler.” [12]
The CCP could by no means accept these traditional beliefs. The CCP wanted to canonize its own leaders and promote personal worship, and so would not allow such long-held concepts such as heaven, Tao, and God to govern from above. The CCP was fully aware that what it did was a crime against heaven and the Tao if measured by the standards of traditional culture. As long as traditional culture existed, people would not praise the CCP as “great, glorious, and correct;” scholars would continue the tradition of risking their lives to uphold justice, criticize the regime’s wrongdoings, and place the people above the rulers. Thus, the people would not become the CCP’s puppets, and the CCP could not unify the thoughts of the masses.
The traditional culture’s respect for heaven, the earth, and nature became obstacles for the CCP’s “battle with nature” in an effort to “alter heaven and the earth.” Traditional culture treasures human lives, which are regarded as a serious matter in connection with heaven. Such a perception became a hindrance to the CCP’s mass genocide and rule by terror. The traditional culture’s ultimate moral standard of the “heavenly Tao” would interfere with the CCP’s manipulation of moral principles. For these reasons, the CCP made traditional culture an enemy to its own control.
Traditional Culture Challenges the Legitimacy of the CCP’s Rule
Traditional Chinese culture believes in God and the heavenly mandate. Accepting the mandate of heaven means that rulers have to be wise, follow the Tao and be attuned to destiny. Accepting belief in God means accepting that the source of human authority rests in heaven.
The CCP’s ruling principle dismisses God and vests authority entirely in humans: “Never more tradition's chains shall bind us, arise ye toilers no more in thrall. The earth shall rise on new foundations; we are but naught; we shall be all.” [13]
The CCP promotes historical materialism, claiming that Communism is an earthly paradise, the path to which is led by the pioneer proletarians, or the Communist Party members. The belief in God, thus, directly challenged the legitimacy of the CCP’s rule.
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II. How the Communist Party Sabotages Traditional Culture
Everything the CCP does serves a political purpose. In order to seize, maintain and consolidate its tyranny, the CCP needs to replace human nature with its evil Party nature, and the Chinese traditional culture with its Party culture of "deceit, wickedness, and struggle." This destruction and substitution include cultural relics, historical sites and ancient books, which are tangible, and people’s traditional outlook on morality, life and the world. All aspects of people’s lives are involved, including actions, thoughts and life styles. At the same time, the CCP regards the insignificant and superficial cultural manifestations as the “essence”, retains them, and then puts this “essence” up as a façade. The Party keeps the semblance of traditions while replacing their meaning. It then deceives the people and international society under the façade of “carrying on and developing” Chinese traditional culture.
Simultaneously Extinguishing the Three Religions
Owing to the fact that the traditional culture is rooted in Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, the first step for the CCP to destroy traditional culture is to extinguish the manifestation of these divine principles in the human world, that is, eradicating the three religions corresponding to them.
All three major religions, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, encountered destruction in different historical time periods. Take Buddhism for example, it has suffered four major tribulations in history, which are historically known as the San Wu Yi Zong (persecution of Buddhist devotees by four Chinese emperors). The Emperor Taiwu [14] of the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534AD) and the Emperor Wuzong [15] of the Tang Dynasty (618-907AD) both tried to extinguish Buddhism in order to have Taoism prevail; the Emperor Wu [16] of the Northern Zhou Dynasty (557-581AD) tried to extinguish Buddhism and Taoism together, but venerated Confucianism; the Emperor Shizong [17] of the Later Zhou Dynasty (951-960AD) tried to extinguish Buddhism merely to use the Buddha statues to mint coins, and did not touch Taoism or Confucianism.
The CCP is the only regime in history to extinguish the three religions altogether.
Soon after the CCP established a government, it began to destroy temples and burn scriptures and forced the Buddhist monks and nuns to return to secular life. Neither was it any softer in destroying other religious places. By the 1960s, there were hardly any religious places left in China. The Great Cultural Revolution brought even greater religious and cultural catastrophe in the campaign of “Casting Away the Four Olds” [18]—i.e., old ideas, old culture, old customs and old habits.
For example, the first Buddhist temple in China was the White Horse Temple (Bai Ma Temple) [19] built in the early Eastern Han Dynasty outside the city of Luoyang. It is honored as “the Cradle of Buddhism in China” and “the Founder’s Home.” During “Casting Away the Four Olds,” the White Horse Temple, of course, could not escape looting.
“There was a White Horse Temple production brigade near the temple. The Party branch secretary led peasants to pillage the temple under the name of ‘revolution.’ The over 1000-year-old clay statues of the Eighteen Arhats that were built in the Liao Dynasty were destroyed; the Beiye scripture [20] that an eminent Indian monk brought to China 2000 years ago was burned. The rare treasure, the Jade Horse, was smashed to pieces. Several years later, the Cambodian King in Exile Norodom Sihanouk made a special request to do homage at the White Horse Temple. Zhou Enlai, the Chinese premier at the time, hurriedly ordered the transport to Luoyang of the Beiye scripture stored in the Imperial Palace in Beijing and the statues of the Eighteen Arhats built in the Qing Dynasty from the Temple of Azure Clouds (Biyun Temple) located at the Xiangshan Park [21] in Beijing. With this bogus replacement, a diplomatic difficulty was ‘solved’.” [22]
The Cultural Revolution began in May of 1966. This revolution was in reality “revolutionarizing” Chinese culture in a destructive way. Starting in August of 1966, the raging fire of the “Casting Away the Four Olds” burned the entire land of China. Regarded as objects of “feudalism, capitalism, and revisionism,” the Buddhist temples, Taoist temples, Buddha statues, historical sites, calligraphy, paintings, and antiques became the main targets for destruction by the Red Guards. [23] Take the Buddha statues for example; there are 1000 colored glazed Buddha statues in relief on the top of Longevity Hill in the Summer Palace [24] in Beijing. After the “Casting Away the Four Olds,” they were all damaged. None of them has a complete set of the five sensory organs any more.
The capital of the country was like this, and so was the rest of the country. Even the remote county seats did not escape.
“There is a Tiantai Temple in Dai county in Shanxi Province. It was built during the Taiyan time period of the Northern Wei Dynasty 1600 years ago and had precious statues and frescos. Although it was situated on a hillside quite a distance away from the county seat, the people who participated in the ‘Casting Away the Four Olds’ ignored the difficulties and made a clean sweep of the statues and frescos there. The Louguan Temple, [25] where Lao Zi gave his lecture and left his famous Tao-te Ching [5] 2500 years ago, is situated in the Zhouzhi county of Shaanxi Province. Centered around the Preaching Platform where Lao Zi lectured, within a radius of 10 li [26], there are over 50 historical sites, including the Temple Venerating the Sage (Zongsheng Gong) that the Tang Gaozu Li Yuan [27] built to show respect for Lao Zi over 1,300 years ago. The Louguan Temple and the other historical sites have been destroyed, and all Taoist priests have been forced to leave. According to the Taoist canon, once one becomes a Taoist priest, one can never shave one’s beard or have one’s hair cut. The Taoist priests were forced to have their hair cut, take off the Taoist robe, and become a member of the People’s communes. [28] Some of them married daughters of the local peasants and became their sons-in-law. At the sacred Taoist places in Laoshan Mountain in Shandong Province, the Temple of Supreme Peace, the Temple of the Highest Clarity, the Supreme Clarity Temple, the Doumu Temple, the Huayan Nunnery, the Ningzhen Temple, the Temple of Guan Yu, "the statues of the divine, sacrificial vessels, scrolls of Buddhist sutras, cultural relics, and temple tablets were all smashed and burned down. The Temple of Literature in Jilin Province is one of the four famous Temples of Confucius in China. During the ‘Casting Away the Four Olds,’ it was severely damaged.” [22]
A Special Way to Destroy Religion
Lenin once said, “The easiest way to take a fortress is from within.” As a group of grandchildren of Marxism-Leninism, the CCP naturally and tacitly understands this.
In the “Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra” [29], Buddha Sakyamuni predicted that after his nirvana, demons would be reincarnated as monks, nuns, and male and female lay Buddhists to subvert the Dharma. Of course, we cannot verify what Buddha Sakyamuni was referring to exactly; however, the CCP indeed started to destroy Buddhism by forming a “united front” with some Buddhists. They even sent some underground communist party members to infiltrate the religion directly and subvert it from within. In a criticism meeting during the Cultural Revolution, someone questioned Zhao Puchu, the vice president of the Chinese Buddhists Association at the time, “You are a Communist Party member, why do you believe in Buddhism?”
Buddha Sakyamuni attained righteous enlightenment through “precept, concentration, wisdom.” So before his nirvana, he taught his disciples to “Uphold and observe the Precepts. Do not let them down or violate them.” He also warned, “People who violate the Precepts are abominated by heaven, dragon, ghost and the divine. Their evil reputation spreads far and wide. … When their lives end, they will suffer in hell for their karma, and meet their inexorable doom. Then they will come out; they will continue to suffer by bearing the body of hungry ghosts and animals. They will suffer in a circle like this endlessly with no relief.” [30]
The political Buddhist monks turned deaf ears to Buddha’s warnings. In 1952, the CCP sent representatives to attend the inaugural meeting of the Chinese Buddhists Association. At the meeting, many Buddhists in the association proposed to abolish the Buddhist precepts. They claimed that these disciplines had caused the death of many young men and women. Some people even advocated the so-called “freedom of religion—the monks and nuns should marry, there should also be freedom to drink and to eat meat, and nobody should interfere.” At that time, Master Xuyun was at the meeting and saw that Buddhism was facing the danger of extinction in China. He stepped forward opposing the proposals and appealing for the preservation of the Buddhist precepts and dress. It is precisely this Master Xuyun who was slandered as “counter-revolutionary,” detained in the abbot’s room, and denied food and drink. He was not allowed out of the room even to use the toilet. He was also ordered to hand over his gold, silver and firearms. When Xuyun answered that he had none, he was beaten severely. His skull was fractured and bleeding, and his ribs broken. At the time, Xuyun was already 112 years old. The military police pushed him from the cot to the ground. When they came back the next day, they saw that Xuyun had not died, so they beat him hard again.
The Chinese Buddhists Association that was founded in 1952 and the Chinese Taoist Association that was founded in 1957 both clearly declared in their founding statements that they would be “under the leadership of the People’s government.” In reality, they would be under the leadership of the atheistic CCP. Both associations indicated that they would actively participate in production and construction, and implement the governmental policies. They were completely transformed into secular organizations. Yet those Buddhists and Taoists who were devoted and abiding by the precepts were labeled as counter-revolutionaries or members of superstitious sects and secret societies. Under the revolutionary slogan of “purifying the Buddhists and Taoists,” they were imprisoned, forced to reform through labor, or even executed. Even religions spread from the West, such as Christianity and Catholicism, were not spared. “Based on the statistics given in the book How the Chinese Communist Party Persecutes the Christians that was published in 1958, just the documents that have been made public revealed that among the clergymen who were charged as ‘land lord’ or ‘local bully,’ a staggering 8,840 were killed and 39,200 were sent to labor camps; among the clergymen who were charged as ‘counter-revolutionary,’ 2,450 were killed, and 24,800 were sent to labor camps.” [31]
Undoubtedly religions are a way for people to remove themselves from the secular world and cultivate themselves. They emphasize “the other shore” (the shore of perfect enlightenment) and “heaven.” Sakyamuni used to be an Indian prince. In order to seek mukti [32], a state in which one can obtain peace of mind, higher wisdom, full enlightenment, and Nirvana, [33] he gave up the throne and went to a wooded mountain to cultivate diligently. Before Jesus became enlightened, the devil brought him to the top of a mountain, showed him all the kingdoms of the world and all their splendor. The devil said, “If you will bow down and worship me, I will give you all these things.” Jesus was not enticed. Yet the political monks and pastors who formed united fronts with the CCP made up a series of deceits and lies such as “human world Buddhism,” “religion is the truth, and so is socialism,” and “there is no contradiction between this shore and the other shore.” They encourage Buddhists and Taoists to pursue happiness, glory, splendor, wealth and rank in this life, and to change the religious doctrines and their meaning.
Buddhism forbids killing. The CCP killed people like flies during the “suppression of counterrevolutionaries.” [34] The political monks thereupon cooked up the justification that “killing the counterrevolutionaries is an even greater compassion.” During the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea [35], monks were sent directly to the front line to kill.
Take Christianity as another example. In 1950, Wu Yaozong formed a “Three-Self” Church, which followed the principles of self-administration, self-support and self-propagation. He claimed that they would break away from imperialism and actively join the "War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea." A good friend of his was imprisoned for over 20 years for refusing to join the “Three-Self.” This friend suffered all kinds of torture and humiliation. When he asked Wu Yaozong, “How do you regard the miracles Jesus performed?” Wu answered, “I have discarded all of them.”
Not acknowledging Jesus’ miracles equates to not acknowledging Jesus’ heaven. How can one be counted as a Christian when one does not even recognize the heaven Jesus ascended into? However, as the founder of the “Three-Self” Church, Wu Yaozong became a member of the Political Consultative Conference standing committee. When he stepped into the Great Hall of the People, he must have completely forgotten Jesus’ words “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.” (Matthew, 22:37-38) “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.” (Matthew, 22:21)
The Chinese Communist Party “confiscated the temple property, forced monks and nuns to study Marxism-Leninism in order to brainwash them, and even forced them to do labor. For instance, there is a ‘Buddhism workshop’ in Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province. Over 25,000 monks and nuns were once forced to work here. What is more absurd is that the CCP encouraged monks and nuns to get married so as to disintegrate Buddhism. Another example, just before the March 8th Women’s Day in 1951, the Women’s Federation in Changsha City, Hunan Province ordered all nuns in the province to decide to get married in a few days. In addition, young and vigorous monks were forced to join the army and were sent to the battlefield to serve as cannon fodder!” [31]
Various religious groups in China have disintegrated under the CCP’s brutal suppression. The genuine elites of Buddhism and Taoism have been suppressed. Among those remaining, many returned to secular life, and many others were undisclosed Communist Party members who specialized in putting on the cassock, Taoist robe or pastor’s long gown to distort the Buddhist Scriptures, the Taoist Canon and the Holy Bible and to look for justification for the CCP’s movements in these doctrines.
Destruction of Cultural Relics
The ruination of cultural relics is an important part of the CCP’s destruction of traditional culture. In the “Casting Away of the Four Olds,” too many books, calligraphies and paintings of which only one copy existed that had been collected by intellectuals were committed to flames or shredded into paper pulp. Zhang Bojun had a family collection of over 10,000 books. The Red Guard leaders used them to make a fire to warm themselves. What was left was sent to paper mills and shredded into paper pulp. “The calligraphy and painting mounting specialist, Hong Qiusheng, is known as the ‘miracle doctor’ for ancient calligraphy and paintings. He has mounted countless world-class masterpieces, such as Song Emperor Huizong’s [36] painting of scenery, Su Dongpuo’s [37] painting of bamboo, and Wen Zhengming [38] and Tang Bohu’s [39] paintings. Over several decades, most of the hundreds of ancient calligraphy and paintings that he had rescued were a first class national collection. The calligraphy and paintings that he had spared no pains in collecting were labeled as ‘Four Olds’ and were committed to flames. Afterwards, Mr. Hong said in tears, ‘Over 100 catty (50 kilograms) of calligraphy and paintings; it took a long time to burn them!’”[22]
“While worldly matters come and go, Ancient, modern, to and fro, Rivers and mountains are changeless in their glory And still to be witnessed from this trail. …”
If today’s Chinese people were still to remember some of their history, they would probably feel differently when they recite this poem of Meng Haoran’s. [40] The famous mountain and river historical sites have been ruined and have disappeared in the storm of the “Casting Away the Four Olds.” Not only was the Orchid Pavilion, where Wang Xizhi [41] wrote the famous “Prologue to the Collection of Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion,” [42] destroyed, Wang Xizhi’s own grave was ruined as well. Wu Chen’en’s [43] former residence in Jiangsu Province was demolished, Wu Jingzi’s [44] former residence in Anhui Province was smashed, the stone tablet that had Su Dongpo’s handwritten article “The Pavilion of the Drunken Old Man” was pushed over by the “young revolutionists,” [45] and the characters on the stone tablet were scraped off.
The essence of Chinese culture has been inherited and accumulated over several thousand years. Once it is destroyed, it cannot be restored. Yet the CCP has truculently destroyed it in the name of “revolution.” When we sighed over the Old Summer Palace, which is known as the “palace of palaces,” being burned down by the allied forces of Great Britain and France, when we sighed over the monumental work of the Yongle Encyclopedia [46] being destroyed by invader’s, how could we have anticipated that the destruction caused by the CCP would be so much more widespread, long lasting and thorough than that caused by any invaders?
Destruction of Spiritual Beliefs
In addition to destroying the physical forms of religion and culture, the CCP has also used its utmost capacity to destroy people’s spiritual identity formed by faith and culture.
Take the CCP’s treatment of ethnic beliefs for example. The CCP considered the traditions of the Hui Muslim group to be one of the “Four Olds”—old thought, culture, tradition, habit; therefore it forced the Hui ethnic group to eat pork. Muslim farmers and the mosques were required to raise pigs, and each household had to furnish two pigs to the country every year. In an extremely cruel incident, the Red Guards forced the second highest Tibetan living Buddha, Panchen Lama, to eat human excrement, while three monks from the Buddhist temple in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province were ordered to hold a poster board that said “The hell with sutras—they are full of shit.”
In 1971, after an alleged failed coup to seize power from Mao, Lin Biao, the Vice Chairman of the CCP’s central committee, escaped China but was killed when his plane was said to have crashed in Undurkhan, Mongolia. Later, in Lin’s Beijing residence at Maojiawan, some Confucian quotations were found. The CCP then started a frantic movement of “Criticizing Lin Biao and Confucius.” A writer pen-named Liang Xiao [47] published an article in The Red Flag, the CCP’s banner magazine, entitled “Who is Confucius?” The article described Confucius as a madman who wanted to turn history backward, and a deceptive and shrewd demagogue. A series of cartoons and songs followed, demonizing Confucius.
In this way dignity and sacredness of religion and culture were annihilated.
Endless Destruction
In ancient China, the central government only extended its rule to the county level, below which patriarchal clans maintained autonomous control. So in Chinese history, the destruction, such as the burning of Confucian books by the Emperor Qin Shi Huang [48] in the Qin Dynasty (221-207 B.C.) and the four campaigns to eliminate Buddhism between the fifth and tenth century, went in one direction, i.e., from top to bottom, and did not completely eradicate Buddhism. Confucian and Buddhist classics and ideas continued to survive in the vast spaces of society.
In comparison, the CCP’s control of society has been far more complete. Incited by the CCP, young students in their puberty destroyed the “Four Olds” in a nationwide grass-root movement that was launched, “spontaneously and enthusiastically.” The CCP’s extension to villages through village-level party branches controlled society so tightly that the CCP’s movement to eradicate the “Four Olds” affected every person on every inch of land.
While the emperors in Chinese history used violence on the people, the CCP has gone much further by demonizing and repudiating what people consider to be the most beautiful and the most sacred. The destruction of the spirit can often be more damaging and its effect can last even longer than physical destruction alone.
Reforming Intellectuals
The Chinese characters embody the essence of 5000 years of civilization. Their forms, pronunciations, idioms and stories express profound cultural meanings. The CCP has not only simplified the Chinese characters, but also tried to replace them with Romanized pinyin, which would remove all cultural tradition from the Chinese characters and language. But the replacement plan has failed miserably, thus sparing further damage to the Chinese language. The Chinese intellectuals who inherited the same traditional culture were not so fortunate as to be spared destruction.
Prior to 1949, China had two million intellectuals. Although some had studied in Western countries, they still inherited some Confucian ideas. The CCP never relaxed its control of the intellectuals, because as members of the traditional scholar class, their ways of thinking played important roles in shaping the thoughts of ordinary people.
In September 1951, the CCP initiated a large-scale “thought reform movement” starting in Peking University. The intellectuals were urged to confess their historical “mistakes” so as to cleanse any counter-revolutionary elements.
Mao Zedong never liked intellectuals. He once said, “They (the intellectuals) ought to be aware of the truth that actually many so-called intellectuals are, relatively speaking, quite ignorant and the workers and farmers sometimes know more than they do.” [49] “Compared with the workers and peasants, the unreformed intellectuals were not clean, and in the last analysis, the workers and peasants were the cleanest people, even though their hands were dirty and their feet smeared with cow-dung…” [50]
The CCP’s persecution of intellectuals started with various forms of accusations, ranging from the 1951 criticism of Wu Xun [51] for “running schools by begging” to Mao Zedong’s personal attack, in 1955, on writer Hu Feng as a counter-revolutionary. In the beginning, the intellectuals were not categorized as a reactionary class, but in 1957, after several major religious groups had surrendered through the “unified front” movement, the CCP could focus its energy on the intellectuals. The “Anti-Rightist” movement was thus launched.
In February of 1957, claiming to “let a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend,” the CCP called on intellectuals to voice their suggestions and criticisms to the party, promising no retaliation. Those intellectuals who were dissatisfied with the CCP because of its suppression and cleansing of counter-revolutionaries [52] and its totalitarian manner of ruling, which included implementing regulations in domains about which the CCP knew little such as the sciences, philosophy, culture and the arts, thought the CCP had suddenly become open and tolerant. They spoke their true feelings, and their criticism grew more and more intense.
Years later, many people still believe that Mao Zedong only started to attack the intellectuals after becoming impatient with their overly harsh criticisms. The truth, however, turned out to be quite different.
On May 15, 1957, Mao Zedong wrote an article entitled “Situations are changing” and circulated it among senior CCP officials. The article said, “Recently, the rightists have been behaving fiercely. They want to stir up a category 7 typhoon and attempt to eliminate the CCP.” After that, those officials who had been indifferent to the “let a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend” campaign suddenly became active. Zhang Bojun, Vice President of the Democratic League and head of the CCP’s Central Organization Department, soon became one of the victims. Zhang’s daughter recounted, in her memoir The Past Doesn't Disappear Like Smoke, how her father became the number one rightist. Li Weihan, the head of the CCP’s United Front Department, called Zhang Bojun in person to invite him to a meeting to discuss how to correct the CCP. Zhang was seated on a front row sofa. Not knowing this to be a trap, Zhang articulated his criticisms of the CCP. According to Zhang’s daughter, “Li Weihan appeared relaxed. Zhang thought Li agreed with what he said. Nobody knew Li was pleased to see his prey falling into the trap.” After the meeting, Zhang was classified as the number one rightist in China.
We can cite a string of dates in 1957 that marked proposals or speeches delivered by intellectuals offering criticisms and suggestions: Zhang Bojun’s “Political Design Institute” on May 21, Long Yun’s “Absurd Anti-Soviet Views” on May 22, Luo Longji’s “Correction Committee” on May 22, Lin Xiling’s speech at Peking University on “Criticizing the CCP’s Feudalistic Socialism” on May 30, Wu Zuguang’s “The party Should Stop Leading the Arts” on May 31, and Chu Anping’s “The Party Dominates the World” on June 1. All these proposals and speeches had been invited, and were offered after Mao Zedong had already sharpened his butcher’s knife.
All of these intellectuals, predictably, were later labeled rightists. In China, more than 550,000 intellectuals were labeled and persecuted as rightists.
Chinese tradition has it that “scholars can be killed but cannot be humiliated.” The CCP was capable of inflicting the utmost humiliation on intellectuals by denying their right to survive unless they accepted humiliation. Even their families were affected. Many intellectuals surrendered and some of them told on others to save themselves. Those who did not submit to humiliation were eradicated—serving as examples to terrorize other intellectuals.
The traditional “scholarly class,” exemplars of social morality, was thus obliterated.
Mao Zedong said proudly of his achievements, “What can Emperor Qin Shihuang brag about? He only killed 460 Confucian scholars, but we killed 46,000 intellectuals. In our suppression of counter-revolutionaries, didn’t we kill some counter-revolutionary intellectuals as well? I argued with the pro-democratic people who accused us of acting like Emperor Qin Shihuang. I said they were wrong. We surpassed him by a hundred times”.
Indeed, Mao did more than kill the intellectuals. He destroyed their minds and hearts.
Creating the Appearance of Culture by Keeping the Semblance of Tradition but Replacing the Contents
After the CCP adopted economic reform and an open-door policy, they renovated many churches as well as many Buddhist and Taoist temples. They also organized many temple fairs in China as well as cultural fairs outside of China. This was the latest effort of the CCP to utilize and destroy the remaining traditional culture. On the one hand, the Party did this to appease the essential human kindness that still exists in people. This kindness clashes with and will eventually aid in the destruction of the “Party culture.” On the other hand, the CCP intended to use traditional culture to apply cosmetics to their [true] face in order to cover up their evil nature of deception, wickedness, and violence.
The essence of culture is its inner moral meaning, while the superficial forms have only entertainment value. The CCP restored the superficial elements of culture, which entertain, to cover up its purpose of destroying morality. No matter how many art and calligraphy exhibits the CCP has organized, how many culture festivals with dragon and lion dances it has staged, how many food festivals it has hosted, or how much classical architecture it has built, the Party is simply restoring the superficial appearance, but not the essence, of the culture. In the meantime, the CCP promoted its cultural showpieces both inside and outside of China basically for the sole purpose of maintaining political power.
Once again, temples are an example. Temples are meant to be places for people to cultivate. Inside a temple people can hear bells in the morning and drums at sunset, see burning oil lamps and show respect to Buddha. People in ordinary human society can also confess and worship there. A pure heart that pursues nothing is particularly emphasized in cultivation. A serious and solemn environment is required for confession and worshipping. However, those places have been turned into famous tourist sites for the sake of economic gain. Among the people actually visiting temples, how many of them have come right after taking a bath and changing their clothes to cleanse themselves? How many really have come with a sincere and respectful heart towards Buddha looking to contemplate their mistakes?
Restoring the semblance but destroying the inner meaning of traditional culture is the tactic that the CCP has taken to confuse people. Be it Buddhism, other religions, or cultural forms derived from them, the CCP must degrade them to such an extent for the sake of its own goals.
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III. The Party Culture
While the CCP was destroying the traditional semi-divine culture, it quietly established its own culture through continuous political movements. The Party culture has transformed the older generation, poisoned the younger generation and also had an impact on children. Its influence has been deep and broad. Even when many people tried to expose the evilness of the CCP, they couldn’t help but adopt the ways of judging good and bad, the ways of analyzing, and the vocabulary developed by the CCP, which inevitably carry the imprint of the Party culture.
The Party culture not only inherited and deepened the wickedness of the foreign-born Marxist-Leninist culture, but also skillfully combined all the negative elements from thousands of years of Chinese culture with the violent revolution and philosophy of struggle from the party’s propaganda. Those negative components include internal strife, forming cliques to pursue selfish interests, employing political trickery to torture people mentally, and appropriating the semblance of culture while replacing the contents. During the CCP’s struggle for survival in the past decades, its characteristic of “deceit, wickedness and violence” has been enriched, nurtured, and carried forward.
Despotism and dictatorship are the true natures of the Party culture. Its purpose is to serve its own ends in political and class struggles. The following four aspects constitute the environment of the people’s culture under the dictatorship dominates with terror.
The Aspect of Domination and Control
A. The Culture of Isolation
The culture of communism is an isolated monopoly with no freedom of thought, speech, association, or belief. The mechanism of the CCP’s domination is very similar to a hydraulic system, relying on high pressure and isolation to maintain its state of control. Even one tiny leak could cause the system to collapse. For example, the Party refused talks with the students during the June 4th incident [53], fearing that if this leak spouted, the workers, peasants, intellectuals and the military would also request dialogue. Consequently, China would have eventually moved towards democracy and the one-party dictatorship would have been challenged. Therefore, they chose to commit murder rather than grant the students’ request. The current Internet blockade is the same tactic employed by the CCP to prevent people from accessing information prohibited under its rule.
B. The Culture of Terror
For the past 55 years, the CCP has been using terror to suppress the minds of its people. They have wielded their whips and butcher’s knives – people never know when unforeseen disasters will befall them—to standardize the behavior of the people. The people, living in fear, became obedient. Advocates of democracy, independent thinkers, skeptics in society and members of various spiritual groups have become targets for killing to warn the public. The party needs to nip any opposition in the bud.
C. The Culture of Network Control
There are governmental organizations and administration systems for household registration, neighborhood residents' committees, and various levels of party committees. Here are some examples from Party slogans. “Party branches are established at the level of the company.” “Each and every single village has its own branch,” while Party and Communist Youth League members have regular activities. “Guard your own door and watch your own people.” “Stop your people from appealing.” “It is essential for the system to impose and guarantee the fulfillment of responsibilities and duties and ascertain where the responsibility lies. Guard and control strictly. Be serious about discipline and regulations and guarantee 24-hour preventive and maintenance control measures.” “The 610 Office [54] will form a surveillance committee to inspect and monitor activities in each region and work unit at irregular intervals.” There is also the Family Planning Committee to enforce birth control.
D. The Culture of Implication
For relatives of those who were labeled “landlords,” “rich,” “reactionaries,” “bad elements,” and “rightists,” and for those of their children whom the government considered amenable to being educated and transformed, the Party required “placing righteousness above family loyalty.” A system for personal and organizational archives was established to monitor and record each person’s political activities throughout life. There is also a relocation system to temporarily transfer cadres elsewhere. The people are encouraged to expose others, and those who achieve the goals of the Party are rewarded.
To curb the public appeals of Falun Gong practitioners, the Party states that it will “investigate and affix the responsibility of the primary leaders who have failed in their leadership roles, who haven’t taken adequate measures, and who have caused Falun Gong practitioners to go to Beijing and stir up trouble. A public reprimand will be held. If the situation is serious, disciplinary action will be taken.”
Aspects of Propaganda
A. The Culture of One Hall, One Voice
During the Cultural Revolution, China was filled with slogans such as “Supreme instructions,” “One sentence (of Mao) carries the weight of ten thousand sentences, each one is the truth.” All media were roused to sing the praises and collectively speak in support of the Party. When needed, leaders from every level of the party, government, military, workers, youth league and women’s organizations would be brought out to express their support. Everyone had to go through the ordeal.
B. Promoting the Culture of Violence
Promoting violence is another characteristic of the Party culture. Mao Zedong once said, “With 800 million people, how can it work without struggle?” In the persecution of Falun Gong, Jiang Zemin encouraged the police by saying that “There will be no punishment for beating Falun Gong practitioners to death.” The CCP vowed “to fight beyond the limits,” “the atomic bomb is simply a tiger on paper… even if half of the population died, the remaining half would still reconstruct our homeland from the ruins.”
C. Inciting the Culture of Hatred
The CCP asked that people “do not forget the suffering of the poor classes, and firmly remember the enmity in tears of blood.” Cruelty towards class enemies was praised by the CCP as a virtue. Such hatred was vividly shown in a popular modern opera, “Biting into your hatred, chew it and swallow it down. The hatred that enters your heart will sprout.” [55]
D. The Culture of Deception and Lies
From the announcement that “the yield per mu [56] is over ten thousand jin [57]” during the Great Leap Forward (1958), “No one was killed on Tiananmen Square” during the June 4th massacre in 1989, and “We have controlled the SARS virus” in 2003, all the way to the current claims that “It is currently the best time for human rights in China,” and “the three represents”—every one of the claims has been a lie.
E. The Culture of Brainwashing
The CCP made up many slogans to brainwash the people: “There would be no new China without the Communist Party;” “The force at the core leading our cause forward is the Chinese Communist Party and the theoretical basis guiding our thinking is Marxism-Leninism;” [58] “Maintain high consistency with the Central Committee of the Party;” and “Carry out the party’s command if you understand it. Even if you do not understand, carry it out anyway and your understanding should deepen while carrying out the orders.”
F. The Culture of Adulation and Sweet Talk
The CCP encourages expressions that put itself on the highest pedestal: “Heaven and the earth are great but greater still is the kindness of the Party;” “We owe all our achievements to the Party;” “I take the Party as my mother;” “I use my own life to safeguard the Central Committee of the Party.” The CCP claims to have proven itself to be “a great, glorious and correct party,” “the undefeatable party,” and so on.
G. The Culture of Pretentiousness
Establishing models and setting up examples one after another, the Party launched the “socialist ideological and spiritual construction” and “ideological education” campaigns. In the end, people continued to do what they did before each campaign. All of the conferences, study sessions, and experience sharing meetings have become an “earnest showcase,” and society’s moral standard has continued to take great leaps backward.
The Aspect of Interpersonal Relations
A. The Culture of Jealousy
The party promoted “absolute equalitarianism” so that “anyone who stands out will be the target of attack.” People have easily become jealous of those who have greater ability and those who are wealthier—the so-called “red-eye syndrome.” [59]
B. The Culture of People Stepping Over Each Other
The CCP has conducted “face-to-face fight and back-to-back report” sessions, asking people to struggle against others and report on them behind their backs. Squealing on one’s associates, creating written materials to frame them, fabricating facts and exaggerating their mistakes—these devious behaviors have been used to measure closeness to the party and the desire to advance. .
Subtle Influences on People’s Psyche and Behavior
A. The Culture That Transforms Human Beings into Machines
The Party wants the people to be the “never rusting bolts on the revolution machine,” to be the “tamed tool for the Party,” or to “march in whatever directions the Party directs us.” “Chairman Mao’s soldiers listen to the Party the most; they go wherever they are needed and settle down wherever there are hardships.”
B. The Culture That Confounds Good and Bad
During the Cultural Revolution, the CCP would "rather have the socialist weeds but not the capitalist crops;" two decades later, the order to the army to shoot and kill is “in exchange for 20 years of stability.” "Do unto others what one does not want to be done unto oneself" — this characterizes the CCP’s moral stance.
C. The Culture of Self-Imposed Brainwashing and Unconditional Obedience
“Lower ranks obey the orders of the higher ranks and the whole party obeys the Party Central Committee.” “Fight ruthlessly to eradicate any selfish thoughts that flash through your mind.” “Erupt a revolution in the depths of your soul.” “Align maximally with the Party Central Committee.” “China would be in chaos without the Communist Party.” “Unify the minds, the footsteps, the orders, and the commands.”
D. The Culture of Turning People into Willing Slaves
“China would be in chaos without the Communist Party;” “China is so vast. Who else can lead it but the CCP?” “If China collapses, it will be a worldwide disaster, so we should help the CCP sustain its leadership.” Out of fear and self-protection, the groups constantly suppressed by the CCP oftentimes appear even more lefty and radical than the CCP.
These are some of the slogans the CCP has used. There are many more. People who experienced the Cultural Revolution might still remember vividly the Modern Operas, the Songs with Mao’s words as lyrics, and the Loyalty Dance. Many still recall the words from the dialogues in “The White Haired Girl,” “Tunnel Warfare” [60], and “War of Mines” [61]. Through these literary works, the CCP has brainwashed people, filling their minds with messages such as “how brilliant and great the Party is,” how “arduously” the party has struggled against the enemy, what “utter devotion” the soldiers of the Party have that they are willing to sacrifice themselves for the Party, and how stupid and vicious the enemies are. Day after day, the CCP’s propaganda machine forcibly injects into every individual the beliefs needed by the Communist Party. Today, if one went back to watch the musical dance “The Epic Poem – The East is Red,” one would realize that the entire theme and style of the show is about “killing, killing, and more killing.”
At the same time, the CCP has created its own system of speech and discourse, such as the abusive language in mass criticisms, the flattering words to sing the praises of the Party, and the banal official formalities similar to the “eight-part essay” [62]. People are made to speak unconsciously with the thinking patterns that promote the concept of “class struggle” and to “extol the Party.” Calm and rational reasoning was replaced with a hegemonic language. The CCP also abuses the religious vocabulary and distorts the content of those terms.
One step too far from the truth is fallacy. The CCP party culture also abuses traditional morality. For instance, traditional culture values “faith,” so does the Communist Party in its promotion of “faithfulness and honesty to the Party.” The traditional culture emphasizes “filial piety.” The CCP may put people in jail if they do not provide for their parents, but the real reason is that these parents would otherwise become a “burden” to the government. When it fits the Party’s needs, the CCP asks children to draw clear boundaries from their parents. The traditional culture also stresses “loyalty” and that the people are of supreme importance compared to the ruler and the state. The “loyalty” preferred by the CCP, however, is “blind devotion”—so completely blind that people are required to believe in the CCP unconditionally and obey it unquestioningly.
The words commonly used by the CCP are very misleading. For example, it called the civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communists the “Liberation War,” as if the people were being “liberated” from oppression. The CCP called the post-1949 period “after the founding of the nation,” when, in reality, China existed long before that and the CCP simply established a new political regime. The three-year Great Famine [63] was called “three years of natural disaster,” when, in fact, it was not at all a natural disaster but, rather, a complete man-made calamity. Upon hearing these words used in everyday life, however, people unconsciously accept them and the ideologies carried in them, just as the CCP intends.
In traditional culture, music is taken as a way to constrain human desires. In Volume 24 of the Records of the Historian (Shi Ji) [64], in discussing the Book of Songs (Yue Shu), Sima Qian (145-85 BC) said that the nature of man is peaceful, and that one’s emotions are affected by external influences. If the sentiments of hate and love are stirred up but not constrained, one will be seduced by endless external temptations and commit many bad deeds. Thus, said Sima Qian, the emperors of the past used rituals and music to constrain people. The songs should be “cheerful but not obscene, sad but not overly distressing.” They should express feelings and desires, yet have control over these sentiments. Confucius said in Analects, “The three hundred verses of The Odes (one of the six classics compiled and edited by Confucius) may be summed up in a single sentence, ‘Think no evil.’”
Such a beautiful thing as music, however, was used by the CCP as a method to brainwash the people. Songs like “Socialism is Great,” “There would be no new China without the Communist Party,” and many others, have been sung from kindergarten to the university. In singing these songs, people have gradually accepted the meanings of the lyrics. Further, the CCP stole the tunes of the most popular folk songs and replaced them with lyrics that praise the Party. This has served both to destroy the traditional culture and to promote the Party.
As one of the CCP’s classic documents, Mao’s “Speech at the Yan'an Forum on Literature and Arts” [65] placed cultural endeavors and the military as “the two battle fronts.” It stated that it was not enough to have just the armed military; an “army of literary arts” was also needed. It stipulated that “the literary arts should serve politics” and “the literary arts of the proletariat class… are the ‘gears and screws’ of the revolution machine.” From this system of thinking came “atheism” and “class struggle” as the core of “the Party culture.” This goes completely against traditional culture.
The “Party culture” has indeed rendered distinguished service in helping the CCP win power and control over society. Like its army, prisons, and police force, the Party culture belongs to the same brutal political machine, even though it provides a different kind of brutality—“cultural brutality.” This cultural brutality, by destroying 5000 years of traditional culture, is sapping the morale of society, diminishing the will of the people, and undermining the cohesiveness of the Chinese nationality.
Today, many Chinese have very little knowledge of traditional culture. Some even equate the 50 years of “Party culture” to the 5000 years of Chinese traditional culture. This is indeed a sorrowful thing for the Chinese people. Many do not realize that when they oppose the so-called traditional culture they are in fact against the “Party culture” of the CCP and not the real traditional culture of China.
Many people hope to replace the current Chinese system with the Western democratic system. In reality, Western democracy has also been established on a cultural basis, notably that of Christianity, which holds that “everyone is equal in the eyes of God” and thus respects human nature and human choices. How could the despotic, inhuman CCP’s “Party culture” of the CCP be used as the foundation for a western-style democratic system?
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Conclusion
The traditional culture has experienced attacks since the Song Dynasty and started then to deviate from tradition. After the May 4th Movement of 1919, eager intellectuals were quick to turn against traditional culture. They were trying to find a path for China by turning away from the traditional culture toward Western civilization. Still, conflicts and changes in the cultural domain remained a focus of academic contention without the involvement of state forces. When the CCP came into existence, however, it elevated cultural conflicts to a matter of life-and-death struggle for the Party. So the CCP began to exercise a direct assault on traditional culture, using destructive means as well as indirect abuse in the form of “adopting the dross and rejecting the essence.”
The destruction of the national culture was also the process of establishing “the Party culture.” The CCP subverted human conscience and moral judgment, thus driving people to turn their backs on traditional culture. If the national culture is completely destroyed, the essence of the nation will disappear with it, leaving only an empty name for the nation. This is not an exaggerated warning.
At the same time, the destruction of the traditional culture has brought unthinkable physical damage to society.
Traditional culture values the unity of heaven and humans and harmonious co-existence between humans and nature. The CCP has declared endless joy from “fighting with heaven and earth.” This culture of the CCP has led directly to the serious degradation of the natural environment that plagues China to today. Take water resources for example. The Chinese people, having abandoned the traditional value that “Noblemen love fortune but take it with restraint,” have robbed the environment and ravaged the river system. Currently, 75 percent of the 50,000 kilometers of China’s rivers are unsuitable for fish habitat; 33 percent of groundwater has been polluted compared with even ten years ago, and the situation continues to worsen. A “spectacle” of a strange kind occurred at the Huaihe River: A little child playing in the oil-filled river created a spark that, upon striking the surface of the river, lit a flame five meters high. As the fire surged into the air, more than ten willow trees in the vicinity were burnt to a crisp. One can easily see that it is impossible for those who drink the water not to develop cancer or other diseases. Other environmental problems, such as desertification and salinization in Northwest China and industrial pollution in developed regions, all are related to the society’s loss of respect for nature.
Traditional culture respects life. The CCP proclaims that “revolt is justifiable,” and “struggling against human beings is full of joy.” In the name of revolution, the Party could murder and starve to death tens of millions of people. This has led people to devalue life, which then encourages the proliferation of fake and poisonous products in the market. In Fuyang city of Anhui Province, for example, many healthy babies developed short limbs, weak bodies, and enlarged heads. Eight babies died because of this strange disease. After investigation, it was discovered that the disease was caused by poisonous milk powder made by a black-hearted and greedy manufacturer. Some people feed crabs, snakes and turtles with hormones and antibiotics, mix industrial alcohol with drinking wine, process rice using industrial oils, and whiten bread with industrial brightening agents. For eight years, a manufacturer in Henan Province used recycled oil, oils from crude oil as well as other carcinogens to produce thousands of tons of poisonous “cooking oil” every month. Producing poisonous foods is not a local or limited phenomenon, but is common all over China. The destruction of the culture and moral decay has contributed to this single-minded pursuit of material gain.
Unlike the absolute monopoly and exclusiveness of the Party culture, the traditional culture has a tremendous integrative capacity. During the prosperous Tang Dynasty, Buddhist teachings, Christianity, and other Western religions co-existed harmoniously with Taoist and Confucian thought. Chinese traditional culture would have kept an open attitude toward modern Western civilization and cultures. The four "tigers" of Asia (Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong) have created a “New Confucian” cultural identity, integrating Confucian morality with modern economic rationality. Their progress has proved that traditional culture is not a hindrance to science and development.
At the same time, authentic traditional culture measures the quality of human life on the basis of happiness from within rather than material comfort from without. Tao Yuanming (365-427 AD) [66] lived in poverty, but he kept a joyful spirit and enjoyed a pastime “picking asters beneath the eastern fence, gazing upon the Southern Mountain in the distance.”
Culture offers no answers for questions such as how to expand industrial production or what social systems to adopt. Rather, it plays an important role in providing moral guidance and restraint. The restoration of traditional culture is the recovery of humility toward heaven, the earth, and nature, respect for life, and fear of God. It will allow humanity to live harmoniously with heaven and earth and to enjoy a heaven-given old age.
Notes:
[1] Shennong (literally, "The Heavenly Farmer”) is a legendary emperor and cultural hero from Chinese mythology who is believed to have lived some 5,000 years ago and who taught the ancient peoples the practices of agriculture. He is also credited with effortlessly identifying hundreds of medicinal (and poisonous) herbs and various plants of that nature, which were crucial to the development of traditional Chinese medicine. [2] In Chinese mythology, Pangu was the first living being and the creator of all. [3] In Chinese mythology, Nüwa is the mother goddess who created humankind, although other traditions would attribute this feat to Pangu. She and her husband Fu Xi are the first of the Three Sovereigns and are often called the "parents of humankind," since in one myth they were said to be the ancestors of humankind. With Fu Xi she is often depicted with the upper body of a woman and the lower body of a snake or dragon, since it was in the form of dragons that she and her husband carved out the rivers of the world and drained the floods. She is charged with the upkeep and maintenance of the Wall of Heaven, whose collapse would obliterate everything. [4] Cangjie or Cang Jie is a fabled and legendary figure from ancient China, claimed to be the Yellow Emperor's official historian, and the inventor of the Chinese characters. The Cangjie method of Chinese character computer input is named after him. [5] Tao-te Ching or Dao De Jing: One of the most important Taoist texts, written by Lao Zi or Lao Tze. Lao Zi lived during the 6th century B.C. in the state of Chu during the Zhou Dynasty. It is believed that Lao Zi's original name was Li Er or Lao Tan. He was a keeper of the archives in the Zhou court and was consulted once by Confucius on matters of ceremonies and rites. The legend says that, in old age, Lao Zi was leaving the state of Chu heading west. The guardian at China's westernmost outpost stopped him, asking him to write down his wisdom. At this point Lao Tze wrote the essay of about 5,000 characters known as the Dao De Jing. Upon finishing his essay, Lao Tze continued westward and was never heard from again. [6] From Confucius’ Analects. [7] Dong Zhongshu (ca. 179-104 B.C.), a Confucian thinker during the Han Dynasty, said in a treatise Three Ways to Harmonize Humans with Heaven (Tian Ren San Ce), “if heaven remains, the Tao does not change.” [8] This quote comes from The Abstract of Collected Taoist Scriptures (Dao Cang Ji Yao) compiled in the Qing Dynasty. [9] From Mao’s speech at the Eighth Session of the Tenth CCP Plenary Meeting. [10] Mao's original words in Chinese used a pun: I am like a monk holding an umbrella—no Tao (or Fa, pun for "hair") nor heaven (pun for "sky"). [11] Jie is the name of the last ruler of the Xia Dynasty (c. 21-16 B.C.), and Zhou is the name of the last ruler of the Shang Dynasty (c. 16 -11 B.C.). Both are known as tyrants. [12] From Mencius. [13] From the Communist Internationale anthem. The Chinese translation literally means: “There has never been a savior, and we do not rely on God either; to create human happiness, we rely entirely on ourselves.” [14] Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei, alias Tuo Tao (r. 424-452 AD) [15] Emperor Wuzong of the Tang Dynasty, alias Li Yan, (r. 840-846 AD) [16] Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, alias Yu Yong, (r. 561-579 AD) [17] Emperor Shizong of the Later Zhou Dynasty, alias Chairong, (r. 954-959 AD) [18] A slogan used in the mid 1960’s during the Cultural Revolution in China. [19] The White Horse Temple, the first Buddhist monastery in China, was built in A.D. 68, the eleventh year of Yong Ping in the Eastern Han Dynasty. [20] In the Dai language, the Beiye Scripture is pronounced Tanlan. Beiye is a subtropical plant belonging to the palm family. It is a tall kind of tree with thick leaves, which are mothproof and very slow to dry out. In ancient times when paper was not yet invented, the Dai’s ancestors imprinted letters or articles on the leaf. The letters carved on the leaf are called the Beiye correspondence, and the scripture on it, Tanlan (Beiye scripture). [21] Xiangshan Park, also called Fragrant Hills Park, is located 28 kilometers (17 miles) northwest of downtown Beijing. Initially built in 1186 in the Jin Dynasty, it became a summer resort for imperial families during the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. [22] How Many Cultural Relics Were Committed To Flames by Ding Shu. [23] Red Guards refers to civilians who were the frontline implementers of the Great Cultural Revolution. Most were youngsters in their mid-teens. [24] Located 15 kilometers from Beijing, the Summer Palace is the largest and best-preserved royal garden in China. The Summer Palace has a history of over 800 years. [25] Louguan Temple is a famous Taoist shrine in China, and it is revered as “the first land of the blessed under heaven.” The temple is situated on the hillside north of the Zhongnan Mountains, 15 kilometers southeast of Zhouzhi country and 70 kilometers from Xi’an City. [26] Li is a Chinese unit of length (1 li = 1/2 kilometer or 0.3 miles). [27] Emperor Gaozu of the Tang Dynasty, alias Li Yuan, (r. 618-626 AD). [28] People's communes (Renmin Gongshe), in the People's Republic of China, were formerly the highest of three administrative levels in rural areas in the period from 1958 to around 1982, when they were replaced by townships. Communes, the largest collective units, were divided in turn into production brigades and production teams. The communes had governmental, political, and economic functions. [29] The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra purports to be the Buddha's final Mahayana sutra, delivered on the last day of his earthly life. It claims to constitute the quintessence of all Mahayana sutras. [30] Not an official translation. Most likely from Taisho Tripitaka Vol. T01, No. 7, Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra [31] “The Theory and Practice of the Chinese Communist Party’s Suppression of Religions” by Bai Zhi. Chinese text: http://www.dajiyuan.com/gb/3/4/15/n300731.htm. [32] Mukti means Fist Dharma or Law teaching or transmission. Mukti can also be translated as “loosing, release, deliverance, liberation, setting free, ... emancipation; escape from bonds and the obtaining of freedom, freedom from transmigration, from karma, from illusion, from suffering; it denotes Nirvāna and also the freedom obtained in Dhyāna (meditation). It is to escape from Samsara (reincarnation). [33] Nirvana, in Buddhism or Hinduism, is a state of blissful peace and harmony beyond the sufferings and passions of individual existence; a state of oneness with the eternal spirit. [34] A Suppression of Counterrevolutionaries campaign dealt violently with many former leaders of secret societies, religious associations, and the Kuomintang (KMT) in early 1951. [35] The War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, as the CCP calls it, broke out in 1950. It was the first war the CCP fought immediately following the founding of the People’s Republic of China. [36] Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, alias Zhao Ji (r. 1100-1126 AD). [37] Su Dongpo, (1036-1101) famous Chinese poet of the Song Dynasty. [38] Wen Zhengming, (1470-1559) Chinese painter. [39] Tang Bohu, (1470-1523) Chinese scholar, painter, and poet of the Ming Dynasty. [40] Meng Haoran, (689 - 740) poet of the Tang Dynasty. [41] Wang Xi Zhi (321-379), the most famous calligrapher in history, from the Tang Dynasty. [42] The original Lan Ting Prologue, allegedly written by Wang Xi Zhi at the prime of his calligraphy career (51 years old, 353 AD), is universally recognized as the most important piece in the history of Chinese calligraphy. [43] Wu Chen’en (1506?-1582), Chinese novelist and poet of the Ming Dynasty [44] Wu Jingzi (1698-1779), an elegant writer of the Qing Dynasty. [45] Alternative name for the Red Guards. [46] The Yongle Encyclopedia or Yongle Dadian was commissioned by the Chinese Ming Dynasty Emperor Yongle in 1403. It’s the world’s earliest and greatest encyclopedia. [47] “Liang Xiao” represents a group of assigned writers, among whom Zhou Yiliang, whose involvement in the writing group earned him an anonymous letter from an old friend that referred to “the extreme of shamelessness.” [48] Emperor Qin Shi Huang (259-210 BC), alias Ying Zheng, fascinates people when they talk about the Great Wall and the Terracotta Warriors and Horses - his two greatest achievements to China. As the first emperor of China, he indeed has had a profound influence on Chinese history and culture. [49] From Mao’s “Rectify the party’s style of work” (1942). [50] From Mao’s “Talks at the Yan’an Forum on Literature and Art” (1942). [51] Wu Xun (1838 - 1896), originally Wu Qi, was born in Shandong’s Tangyi. Having lost his father at an early age, his family was impoverished. He had to beg for food to feed his mother and became known as the filial piety beggar. After his mother passed away, begging became his only means of making a living. He ran free schools with the money he had accrued from begging. [52] This refers to the movement to suppress counter-revolutionaries during 1950-1952 and the further cleansing of counter-revolutionaries during 1955-1957. [53] The June 4th incident resulted from a set of national protests in China, which occurred between April 15, 1989, and June 4, 1989, centered on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The focus of the protests was the occupation of the Square by college and university students advocating democratic reforms. The People's Liberation Army intervened to clear the Square of demonstrators during the night on June 4 and many protesters were killed or injured by automatic weapons fire. Estimates of civilian deaths vary between 400-800 (New York Times & Hammond sources) and 2600 (Chinese Red Cross). Injuries are generally held to have numbered from 7,000 to 10,000. [54] An agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems. [55] From the song of the Modern Peking opera "Legend of the Red Lantern," one of the famous Eight Big Model Plays which were officially developed and reached a golden age during the "Great Cultural Revolution" (1966-76). [56] Mu is a unit of area used in China. One mu is 0.165 acres. [57] Jin is a unit of weight used in China. One jin weighs about 1.1 lb. [58] Opening address at the First Session of the First National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China (September 15, 1954). [59] “Red-eye syndrome”, equivalent to "green-eyed" in the Western expression, is used here to describe a person, who, when seeing other people doing better than he is, feels unequal and uncomfortable, and thinks that he should be the one who is doing better. [60] Tunnel Warfare (Didao Zhan, B&W, 1965), set in the anti-Japanese war, this film portrays the brave struggle of Chinese people in Central China who fought Japanese soldiers through various underground tunnels. [61] War of Mines (Dilei Zhan, B&W, 1962), set in 1940s, the film demonstrates how the guerrillas in Hebei Province fought against the Japanese invasion troops with homemade mines. [62] A literary composition prescribed for the imperial civil service examinations, known for its rigidity of form and poverty of ideas. [63] The Great Famine of 1959-1961 in China is the largest famine in human history. Estimated numbers of "abnormal deaths" in the famine range from 18 to 43 million. [64] Sima Qian (145-85 BC) was the first major Chinese historian. His Shiji, or Records of the Historian, documents the history of China and its neighboring countries from the ancient past to his own time. [65] By Mao Zedong. [66] Tao Yuanming (365-427 AD), also known as Tao Qian, is one of the greatest poets in Chinese literature.
Epoch Times Commentaries on the Communist Party - Part 7
On the Chinese Communist Party’s History of Killing
The Epoch Times
Dec 23, 2004
A dossier photo showing the attack and denouncement of a “counterrevolutionary” by the CCP activists. (AFP/Getty Images)
This is the seventh of Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party.
Foreword
The 55-year history of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is written with blood and lies. The stories behind this bloody history are both extremely tragic and rarely known. Under the rule of the CCP, 60 to 80 million innocent Chinese people have been killed, leaving their broken families behind. Many people wonder why the CCP kills. While the CCP continues its brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners and recently suppressed protesting crowds in Hanyuan with gunshots, people wonder whether they will ever see the day when the CCP will learn to speak with words rather than guns.
Mao Zedong summarized the purpose of the Cultural Revolution, “…after the chaos the world reaches peace, but in 7 or 8 years, the chaos needs to happen again.” [1] In other words, there should be a political revolution every 7 or 8 years and a crowd of people needs to be killed every 7 or 8 years.
A supporting ideology and practical requirements lie behind the CCP’s slaughters.
Ideologically, the CCP believes in the “dictatorship of the proletariat” and “continuous revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat.” Therefore, after the CCP took over China, it killed the landowners to resolve problems with production relationships in rural areas. It killed the capitalists to reach the goal of commercial and industrial reform and solve the production relationships in the cities. After these two classes were eliminated, the problems related to the economic base were basically solved. Similarly, solving the problems related to the superstructure [2] also called for slaughter. The suppressions of the Hu Feng Anti-Party Group [3] and the Anti-Rightists Movement eliminated the intellectuals. Killing the Christians, Taoists, Buddhists and popular folk groups solved the problem of religions. Mass murders during the Cultural Revolution established, culturally and politically, the CCP’s absolute leadership. The Tiananmen Square massacre was used to prevent political crisis and squelch democratic demands. The persecution of Falun Gong is meant to resolve the issues of belief and traditional healing. These actions were all necessary for the CCP to strengthen its power and maintain its rule in the face of continual financial crisis (prices for consumer goods skyrocketed after the CCP took power and China’s economy almost collapsed after the Cultural Revolution), political crisis (some people not following the Party’s orders or some others wanting to share political rights with the Party) and crisis of belief (the disintegration of the former Soviet Union, political changes in Eastern Europe, and the Falun Gong issue). Except for the Falun Gong issue, almost all the foregoing political movements were utilized to revive the evil specter of the CCP and incite its desire for revolution. The CCP also used these political movements to test CCP members, eliminating those who did not meet the Party’s requirements.
Killing is also necessary for practical reasons. The Communist Party began as a group of thugs and scoundrels who killed to obtain power. Once this precedent was set, there was no going back. Constant terror was needed to intimidate people and force them to accept, out of fear, the absolute rule of the CCP.
On the surface, it may appear that the CCP was “forced to kill,” and that various incidents just happened to irritate the CCP evil specter and accidentally trigger CCP’s killing mechanism. In truth, these incidents serve to disguise the Party’s need to kill, and periodical killing is required by the CCP. Without these painful lessons, people might begin to think the CCP was improving and start to demand democracy, just as those idealistic students in the 1989 democratic movement did. Recurring slaughter every 7 or 8 years serves to refresh people’s memory of terror and can warn the younger generation—whoever works against the CCP, wants to challenge the CCP’s absolute leadership, or attempts to tell the truth regarding China’s history, will get a taste of the “iron fist of the dictatorship of the proletariat.”
Killing has become one of the most essential ways for the CCP to maintain power. With the escalation of its bloody debts, laying down its butcher knife would encourage people to take vengeance for the CCP’s criminal acts. Therefore, the CCP not only needed to conduct copious and thorough killing, but the slaughter also had to be done in a most brutal fashion to effectively intimidate the populace, especially early on when the CCP was establishing its rule.
Since the purpose of the killing was to instill the greatest terror, the CCP selected targets for destruction arbitrarily and irrationally. In every political movement, the CCP used the strategy of genocide. Take the “suppression of reactionaries” as an example. The CCP did not really suppress the reactionary “behaviors” but the “people” whom they called the reactionaries. If one had been enlisted and served a few days in the Nationalist (Kuomintang, KMT) army but did absolutely nothing political after the CCP gained power, this person would still be killed because of his “reactionary history.” In the process of land reform, in order to remove the “root of the problem,” the CCP often killed a landowner’s entire family.
Since 1949, the CCP has persecuted more than half the people in China. An estimated 60 million to 80 million people died from unnatural causes. This number exceeds the total number of deaths in both World Wars combined.
As with other communist countries, the wanton killing done by the CCP also includes brutal slayings of its own members in order to remove dissidents who value a sense of humanity over the Party nature. The CCP’s rule of terror falls equally on the populace and its members in an attempt to maintain an “invincible fortress.”
In a normal society, people show care and love for one another, hold life in awe and veneration and give thanks to God. In the East, people say, “Do not impose on others what you would not want done to yourself [4].” In the West, people say, “Love thy neighbor as thyself [5].” Conversely, the CCP holds that “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles [6].” In order to keep alive the “struggles” within society, hatred must be generated. Not only does the CCP take lives, it encourages people to kill each other. It strives to desensitize people towards others’ suffering by surrounding them with constant killing. It wants them to become numb from frequent exposure to inhumane brutality, and develop the mentality that “the best you can hope for is to avoid being persecuted.” All these lessons taught by brutal suppression enable the CCP to maintain its rule.
In addition to the destruction of countless lives, the CCP also destroyed the soul of the Chinese people. A great many people have become conditioned to react to the CCP’s threats by entirely surrendering their reason and their principles. In a sense, these people’s souls have died—something more frightening than physical death.