In 1927, Mao Tse-tung hit on the idea of organizing children into corps designed to spy on their parents, detect "irregularities," create havoc and shape conditions which would be conducive to communization.
From 1949 to 1957, the Chinese Communists based their education policy on the experience of the Soviet Union. Schools operated by religious missions and individuals were taken over by Communist authorities. Soviet experts compiled and edited 629 sets of teaching materials for schools of all levels.
From 1958 to 1960, education was under orders to serve proletarian politics. The Chinese Communist Party and the masses were to operate the schools. Education and productive labor were integrated. Labor universities and Red expert universities were established in large numbers. Part farm work and part study schools and agricultural secondary schools were widely established. The number of schools diminished after failure of the "great leap forward."
The third stage from 1961 to 65 was marked by the four principles of "adjusting, consolidating, improving and raising standards." There was a dual system of full-time schools and part-work, part-study schools.
The fourth stage from 1966 to 71 was dominated by the "cultural revolution." Red Guards destroyed the educational system and facilities. Professors and teachers were branded bourgeois academic authorities and struggled against. Schools of all levels were closed. Teachers and students were ordered to abandon study in favor of revolution. Mao Tse-tung "Thought Propaganda Teams" occupied the schools and "People's Liberation Army" units were sent into schools to carry out military and political training. School leadership was placed in the hands of workers and peasants so as to displace intellectuals. Maoism became the core of curricula at all levels.
For instance, Yunnan children studied textbooks which were filled with such nonsense as:
"Heaven is great; the earth is also great. But they are not as great as the favor of the party. Father is affectionate; mother is also affectionate. But they are not as affectionate as 'chairman' Mao. All good considered, they are not as good as socialism. Mao's thought is the jewel of revolution. Whosoever opposes it is our foe!"
Shanghai first graders were told to fight and die for Maoism as follows:
"We are 'chairman' Mao's Little Red Guards. We listen to every word. "From the first we set our revolutionary will to grow up to be workers-farmers-soldiers. With the hammer we work. With the plow we work the fields. With guns we fight the enemy. With the pen we carry out criticism."
Older children learned this arithmetic lesson:
"South Vietnamese guerrillas destroyed 45 American airplanes and damaged 26 in an attack. How many American planes were destroyed and damaged altogether?"
The "cultural revolution" approach to education called for reduction of primary schooling from 6 to 5 years and the middle school period from 6 to 4 years. A selection system replaced entrance examinations at all schools. Standard teaching materials were replaced with Mao's thoughts and writings. Mao called for "development of the revolutionary spirit of the educational program in Yenan" during the "cultural revolution" period. He recounted and ordered a study of the educational content and policy used by the Anti-Japanese Military and Political College (K'angta) and the Yenan College of Natural Sciences.
K'angta was a school devoted to study of Mao Tse-tung's writings and application of his thought. It integrated education with productive labor and submerged intellectuals in the masses of workers, peasants and soldiers.
Yenan College of Natural Sciences gave top priority to political education, which occupied a third to a half of class time. The Chinese Communist Party Central Committee declared: "In every kind of school we must apply thoroughly the policy advanced by comrade Mao Tse-tung: that of education serving proletarian politics and education being combined with productive labor so as to develop the young morally, intellectually and physically and teach them to become laborers of socialist consciousness and culture." This summed up the educational objectives contained in Mao's report on "Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People" and in the "Directive Concerning Educational Work" issued jointly by the CCPCC and the "state council" and became the guideline for Peiping's educational endeavors during and after the "cultural revolution."
The program was carried out in pre-school and elementary school education starting in 1966. On Children's Day of that year, the Shanghai ·Wenhui Pao said: "We must not allow imperialism, modern revisionism and counter reactionaries to revive capitalism. They hope to do this with our third and fourth generations. To train our children to become our successors is the present theme of our class struggle."
Pre-school children from 1½ to 7 were taught Mao thought through slides, movies, television, stories, singing, dancing, stage performances, picture books, big characters and toys. Children as young as 4 learned to become laborers by wrapping factory products, making handkerchiefs, washing floors and carrying burdens. Schools were paid by factories for the children's services.
From June, 1966, and into the first part of 1967, classes of educational institutions at all levels were suspended by order of the "state council". People's Daily said the old educational system had to be revolutionized. Old textbooks were to be scrapped and new ones based on Mao thought compiled. On August 8, the 11th plenary session of the 8th CCPCC ordered schools at all levels to carry out Mao's instructions that education had to serve proletarian politics and that education and production had to be combined so that the people would become laborers of socialism.
After February 9, 1967, the elementary schools closed down during the "cultural revolution" were reopened. Pupils still roaming the countryside were recalled to conduct "struggle, criticism and transformation." On March 7, People's Daily said the resumption was to "study Mao thought." This was carried out by the army, which came to control the "ministry of education." Schools had no textbooks. The old ones had been destroyed and the new ones were being compiled by the "revolutionary committees." Most first printings were copies of books compiled and published in Shanghai in the latter part of 1967. In charge of the Shanghai compilation were Yao Wen-yuan, Politburo member and reputedly Mao's son-in-law, and Chang Chun-chiao, Communist Party boss in Shanghai. Both were supporters of Mao's wife, Chiang Ching.
One book serving as a textbook for four grades included such slogans and Mao quotations as:
"'Chairman' Mao teaches us that all revolutionary struggles in the world are for seizing political power and consolidating political power."
Ironically, second and third graders were taught that:
"Vice Chairman Lin teaches us we must never forget class struggle, we must never forget proletariat dictatorship, we must never forget to give prominence to politics, we must never forget to raise high the great red flag of Mao Tse-tung thought."
In September, 1970, Yunnan province published a second grade textbook which included a lesson entitled "Strike Down Liu Shao-chi." This is an excerpt:
"Liu Shao-chi! You wicked thing, you betray the revolution, you change your loyalty to defect to the enemy. The seven hundred million people, raising high the big flag of revolution, are determined to strike you down, traitor Liu Shao-chi! Liu Shao-chi! You wicked thing, you scheme to usurp the party, cover up and protect capitalism. The seven hundred million people, raising high the flag of revolution, are determined to strike you down, traitor Liu Shao-chi! Liu Shao-Chi! You wicked thing, you have been anti-revolutionary all along, betraying the workers' class. The seven hundred million people, raising high the big flag of revolution, are determined to strike you down, thief of the workers Liu Shao-chi!"
Stories glorified the "cultural revolution." For example:
"On the morning of October 10, 1966, Uncle Ts'ai Yung-hsiang stood guard at the Ch'ientangchiang Bridge. A special train loaded with Red Guards came toward the bridge when Uncle Ts'ai Yung-hsiang suddenly discovered that not far in front of him there was a large piece of log lying across the rail road tracks. This was sabotage by class enemies. Uncle Ts'ai Yung-hsiang immediately thought of 'chairman' Mao's instruction 'Wholeheartedly serve the people' and ran toward the log and removed it from the tracks. Thousands of Red Guards were saved. Ch'ientangchiang Bridge was secured. 'Chairman' Mao's good fighter Uncle Ts'ai Yung-hsiang gave his life to protect the proletarian cultural revolution."
This one was called "White Haired Girl:"
"Before the liberation (Communist usurpation of the Chinese mainland), poor farmer Yang Pai-lao had a daughter called Hsi-erh. One New Year's eve, big landlord Huang Shih-jen and his followers forced their way into the house of Yang Pai-lao and wanted to seize Hsi-erh. Yang Pai-lao and Hsi-erh fought them hard. Yang Pai-lao was beaten to death by the evil landlord and Hsi-erh was taken away.
"Hsi-erh suffered all kinds of torture at the Huang family. She hated landlords' guts and was determined to rise up in resistance. With the help of a poor old farm woman, she finally escaped from the tiger's mouth and ran into the hills.
"Hsi-erh lived an extremely hard life in the hills. She lived in caves, ate wild fruit, fought with wind, snow and wild beasts. Years passed and her hair grew gray. She was a 'White Haired Girl.' But she became stronger and stronger. She was full of class hatred and hoped for the Red sun to rise from the East and hoped for the suffering people to turn over and be liberated.
"The Communists came. The Eighth Route Army came, to lead the peasants to turn over and carry on revolution. The big landlord Huang Shih-jen escaped to the hills and was seen by Hsi-erh. She angrily pursued and battled Huang Shih-jen and made him tremble and sweat in fear. The Eighth Route Army arrived and caught Huang Shih-jen.
"Hsi-erh returned to her village and along with her family and relatives accused Huang Shih-jen of his crimes. Big landlord Huang Shih-jen was suppressed. The sun had come out. The suffering people could now see the sun. The sun is Mao Tse-tung. The sun is the Communist Party."
Arithmetic was taught with propaganda and Mao Tse-tung thought. These are examples:
"Grandfather reaped 11 hectoliters of barley but the ruthless landlord exploited 11 hectoliters. How many hectoliters does grandfather still have?"
"The capitalists exploited children to earn money. A 9 year-old child laborer had to work 6 hours in the morning, 6 hours in the afternoon and 3 more hours at night. How many hours did the child have to work altogether? "
"In the war of resistance against Americans and assistance to Koreans (Korean War), one battle hero captured 9 enemies. Four of them were renegade soldiers and the rest American soldiers. How many American soldiers were captured?"
"The Leap Forward Elementary School students drew 246 'Strike Down American Imperialists' posters and 325 'Strike Down Soviet Revisionists' posters. How many posters were drawn by the students?"
Military training was given in schools of all levels. The objective was to intensify control over the thinking and action of teachers and students, to establish a revolutionary order in schools, to strengthen the building of militia forces and to implant militarism in the minds of the young. In his directive of May 7, 1966, Mao said: "The whole country should be run like a big revolutionary school, in which workers and peasants and students should study military affairs, politics and culture, in addition to participation in the work of industry, agriculture and criticism of the bourgeoisie." Another directive said: "The army should give military and political training in universities, secondary schools and the higher classes of primary schools, stage by stage and group by group. It should take part in the work of reopening school classes, in rectification of organization, in setting up leadership organs of three in one combination, and in carrying out the task of struggle criticism transformation."
Educational transformation was carried out in three stages: The first was implementation of a system of combining manual labor with defense training and introducing military courses in schools at all levels. The second was organization of militia divisions in educational institutions. The third was implementation of education along military lines.
At the primary and secondary level, factories and schools were combined into one unit and communes and schools into another. The operational plan was contained in a "recommendation" published by People's Daily in November of 1968. Primary and secondary schools in rural areas were assigned to communes or production brigades. Those in urban areas were assigned to factories or street organizations of local residents. Primary and secondary schools in suburban areas were run jointly by communes and factories.
A People's Daily article of May, 1969, said purposes of the program were to reduce costs, to facilitate re-education of intellectuals, to eliminate intellectuals in charge of schools, to encourage workers and peasants to take over schools, to give peasants educational experience and to intensify exploitation of the labor potential of primary and secondary school students. Students and teachers took part in productive labor at small mills and farms which their schools operated year-round. The usual summer and winter vacations were abolished and replaced by a summer farming vacation, autumn farming vacation and spring farming vacation.
In the second stage, principals and headmasters were dismissed. Students were organized in squads, platoons, companies, battalions, regiments and divisions. Political and logistics sections were set up in a number of schools. PLA troops were stationed at schools to exercise control over administration, supervise lectures, set up leadership organs of the three in one alliance and carry out "struggle-criticism-transformation." Among PLA political programs were the "four firsts," "three-eight work styles," "three main rules of discipline and eight points for attention," "four good company" and "five good fighters." Students were required to stand guard, post sentinels and study "people's war."
Worker-peasant-soldier propaganda teams were stationed at schools permanently. These teams controlled admission of students. Children of the worker-peasant-soldier class enjoyed first priority. Graduating students were required to pass three tests graded by the teams according to ideological reliability, physical capability in manual work and professional skillfulness. The teams' most important task was the compiling and editing of new teaching materials and textbooks.
Primary school courses included quotations from Mao Tse-tung, politics, arithmetic, revolutionary literature, military physical education and manual work. Secondary courses included Mao works, socialist history, geography and language, industrial and agricultural sciences, revolutionary literature of mass criticism and repudiation, military education in people's war tactics and war preparedness, and manual labor. In college, Mao's works were compulsory in all departments. Liberal arts and literature students studied Mao's poems and his articles on literature and the arts. Science and engineering students spent half their time in class and the other half in factories and workshops. Medical students concentrated on treatment of common diseases in rural areas. Their textbook combined ancient beliefs and modern practices.
Political and ideological control over students was exercised outside of school and in extracurricular activities. Mao thought classes were endless. Students were organized to visit Red heroes' tombs, to learn from the struggle of PLA veterans, to attend forums attacking the old society and to participate in meetings of criticism and repudiation.
Young freedom seekers of 1972 attest that the new Communist education is not working. Many students evade the Mao indoctrination meetings, join street gangs, engage in anti-Maoist sabotage and overtly and covertly resist Peiping's ideological regimentation. This has helped create the gloomy, "scary" world described by Gerald Ford, the Republican leader of the U.S. House of Representatives. In Ford's view, Communism is not the best possible system for China. Wherever they may be found, the Chinese people agree.
Children on the Chinese mainland are taught to hate. Their thoughts are controlled and programmed. They are supposed to become slaves of a Maoist system in which all power comes from the gun barrel. But total indoctrination can never succeed. The thousands of young people reaching Hongkong this year in the greatest mainland exodus since 1962 are the living proof of that.