Editing Cultural Revolution (section)

==1967: Seizure of power==
{{Main|Seizure of power (Cultural Revolution)}}
{{See also|Violent struggle|Rebel Faction (Cultural Revolution)|Conservative Faction (Cultural Revolution)|Smashing gong-jian-fa}}

Mass organizations coalesced into two factions, the radicals who backed Mao's purge of the Communist party, and the conservatives who backed the moderate party establishment. The "support the left" policy was established in January 1967.<ref name="Tanigawa-2018">{{Cite journal |last=Tanigawa |first=Shinichi |year=2018 |title=The Policy of the Military 'Supporting the Left' and the Spread of Factional Warfare in China's Countryside: Shaanxi, 1967–1968 |journal=Modern China |volume=44 |issue=1 |pages=35–67 |doi=10.1177/0097700417714159 |s2cid=148920995 |issn=0097-7004 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Mao's policy was to support the rebels in seizing power; it required the PLA to support "the broad masses of the revolutionary leftists in their struggle to seize power."<ref name="Tanigawa-2018" />

In March 1967, the policy was adapted into the "Three Supports and Two Militaries" initiative, in which PLA troops were sent to schools and work units across the country to stabilize political tumult and end factional warfare.<ref name="Xu2022">{{Cite book |last1=Xu |first1=Youwei |title=Everyday Lives in China's Cold War Military Industrial Complex: Voices from the Shanghai Small Third Front, 1964–1988 |last2=Wang |first2=Y. Yvon |publisher=[[Palgrave MacMillan]] |year=2022 |isbn=978-3030996871}}</ref>{{rp|345}} The three "Supports" were to "support the left", "support the interior", "support industry". The "two Militaries" referred to "military management" and "military training".<ref name="Xu2022" />{{rp|345}} The policy of supporting the left failed to define "leftists" at a time when almost all mass organizations claimed to be "leftist" or "revolutionary".<ref name="Tanigawa-2018" /> PLA commanders had developed close working relations with the party establishment, leading many military units to repress radicals.<ref name="war">{{cite journal |last1=Song |first1=Yongyi |author-link=Song Yongyi |year=2011 |title=Chronology of Mass Killings during the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) |url=https://www.sciencespo.fr/mass-violence-war-massacre-resistance/en/document/chronology-mass-killings-during-chinese-cultural-revolution-1966-1976 |url-status=live |journal=Online Encyclopedia of Mass Violence |issn=1961-9898 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190425062821/https://www.sciencespo.fr/mass-violence-war-massacre-resistance/en/document/chronology-mass-killings-during-chinese-cultural-revolution-1966-1976 |archive-date=April 25, 2019 |access-date=April 25, 2019}}</ref>

Spurred by the events in Beijing, [[Seizure of power (Cultural Revolution)|power seizure groups]] formed across the country and began expanding into factories and the countryside. In Shanghai, a young factory worker named [[Wang Hongwen]] organized a far-reaching revolutionary coalition, one that displaced existing Red Guard groups. On 3 January 1967, with support from CRG heavyweights Zhang Chunqiao and Yao Wenyuan, the group of firebrand activists overthrew the Shanghai municipal government under [[Chen Pixian]] in what became known as the [[January Storm]], and formed in its place the [[Shanghai People's Commune]].<ref name=Jiaqi>{{cite book |last1=Jiaqi |first1=Yan |last2=Gao |first2=Gao |title=Turbulent Decade: A History of the Cultural Revolution |publisher=University of Hawai'i Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0824816957}}</ref>{{rp|}}<ref name=Lu/>{{rp|115}} Mao then expressed his approval.<ref name="Walder-2016" />

[[File:1967-04 1967年上海造反派庆祝游行.jpg|thumb|[[Rebel faction (Cultural Revolution)|Rebel factions]] of Red Guards marching in Shanghai, 1967]]
Shanghai's was the first provincial level government overthrown.<ref name="Walder-2016">{{Cite journal |last=Walder |first=Andrew G. |year=2016 |title=Rebellion of the Cadres: The 1967 Implosion of the Chinese Party-State |journal=The China Journal |volume=75 |page=103 |doi=10.1086/683125 |s2cid=146977237 |issn=1324-9347}}</ref> Provincial governments and many parts of the state and party bureaucracy were affected, with power seizures taking place. In the next three weeks, 24 more province-level governments were overthrown.<ref name="Walder-2016" /> [[Revolutionary committee (China)|"Revolutionary committees"]] were subsequently established, in place of local governments and branches of the Communist Party.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bridgham |first=Philip |year=1968 |title=Mao's Cultural Revolution in 1967: The Struggle to Seize Power |journal=The China Quarterly |volume=34 |issue=34 |pages=6–37 |doi=10.1017/S0305741000014417 |jstor=651368 |s2cid=145582720 |issn=0305-7410}}</ref> For example, in Beijing, three separate revolutionary groups declared power seizures on the same day. In Heilongjiang, local party secretary [[Pan Fusheng]] seized power from the party organization under his own leadership. Some leaders even wrote to the CRG asking to be overthrown.<ref name=Mac/>{{rp|170–72}}

In Beijing, Jiang Qing and Zhang Chunqiao targeted Vice-Premier [[Tao Zhu]]. The power-seizure movement was appearing in the military as well. In February, prominent generals [[Ye Jianying]] and [[Chen Yi (general)|Chen Yi]], as well as Vice-Premier [[Tan Zhenlin]], vocally asserted their opposition to the more extreme aspects of the movement, with some party elders insinuating that the CRG's real motives were to remove the revolutionary old guard. Mao, initially ambivalent, took to the Politburo floor on 18 February to denounce the opposition directly, endorsing the radicals' activities. This resistance was branded the [[February Countercurrent]]<ref name=Mac/>{{rp|195–196}}—effectively silencing critics within the party.<ref name=Nianyi/>{{rp|207–209}}

[[File:1967-04 贵州革命派造反.jpg|thumb|right|Red Guards marching in [[Guizhou]], 1967. The banner in the center reads: "The People's Liberation Army firmly supports the proletarian revolutionary faction."]]
Although in early 1967 popular insurgencies were limited outside of the biggest cities, local governments began collapsing all across China.<ref name="Walder-2019-1">{{Cite book |last=Walder |first=Andrew G. |title=Agents of disorder: inside China's Cultural Revolution |year=2019 |isbn=978-0-674-24363-7 |location=Cambridge, MA |page=172 |publisher=Harvard University Press |author-link=Andrew G. Walder}}</ref>{{rp|21}} Revolutionaries dismantled ruling government and party organizations, because power seizures lacked centralized leadership, it was no longer clear who believed in Mao's revolutionary vision and who was exploiting the chaos for their own gain. The formation of rival revolutionary groups and manifestations of long-established local feuds, led to [[Violent Struggle|violent struggles]] between factions.

Tension grew between mass organizations and the military. In response, Lin Biao issued a directive for the army to aid the radicals. At the same time, the army took control of some provinces and locales that were deemed incapable of handling the power transition.<ref name="Nianyi" />{{rp|219–221}}

In Wuhan, as in many other cities, two major revolutionary organizations emerged, one supporting and one attacking the conservative establishment. [[Chen Zaidao]], the Army general in charge of the area, forcibly repressed the anti-establishment demonstrators. Mao flew to Wuhan with a large entourage of central officials in an attempt to secure military loyalty in the area. On 20 July 1967, local agitators in response kidnapped Mao's emissary [[Wang Li (politician)|Wang Li]], in what became known as the [[Wuhan Incident]]. Subsequently, Chen was sent to Beijing and tried by Jiang Qing and the rest of the CRG. Chen's resistance was the last major open display of opposition within the PLA.<ref name="Mac" />{{rp|214}}

The Gang of Four's [[Zhang Chunqiao]] admitted that the most crucial factor in the Cultural Revolution was not the Red Guards or the CRG or the "rebel worker" organisations, but the PLA. When the PLA local garrison supported Mao's radicals, they were able to take over the local government successfully, but if they were not cooperative, the takeovers were unsuccessful.<ref name="Mac" />{{rp|175}} Violent clashes occurred in virtually all major cities.<ref name="Song-2011a" /><ref name="Wang-2001" />

In response to the Wuhan Incident, Mao and Jiang began establishing a "workers' armed self-defense force", a "revolutionary armed force of mass character" to counter what he saw as rightism in "75% of the PLA officer corps". Meanwhile, a massive movement to "[[Smashing gong-jian-fa|smash gong-jian-fa]]", or to smash the Police, the Procuratorate and the Court, was carried out in mainland China.<ref>{{Citation |title=Judicial Interpretation as a de facto Primary Statute for Adjudication |date=2022 |work=Law as an Instrument: Sources of Chinese Law for Authoritarian Legality |pages=60–81 |editor-last=Wang |editor-first=Shucheng |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/law-as-an-instrument/judicial-interpretation-as-a-de-facto-primary-statute-for-adjudication/87D28075ECB7646286E2DEF81067AAFE |access-date=2024-12-29 |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/9781009152556.004 |isbn=978-1-009-15256-3}}</ref> The few remaining going-jian-fa organizations were later placed under military control.<ref name=":8">{{Cite book |last1=Len |first1=Shao-chuan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q-CcaaqKYL8C&dq=smashing+gong-jian-fa&pg=PA18 |title=Criminal Justice in Post-Mao China: Analysis and Documents |last2=Chiu |first2=Hungdah |date=1985-06-30 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-1-4384-1050-0 |language=en}}</ref>

{{Location map+ |China |width=250 |float=right |caption=Some locations of armed conflict between rebel factions during the summer of 1967. |places=
{{Location map~ |China |lat=37.989040|long=106.199680 |label=[[Wuzhong, Ningxia|Wuzhong]]|position=left}}
{{Location map~ |China |lat=34.746613|long=113.625328|label=[[Zhengzhou]]|position=left}}
{{Location map~ |China
|lat=34.786072|long=114.348152|label=[[Kaifeng]]|position=right}}
{{Location map~ |China
|lat=31.230391|long=121.473701|label=[[Shanghai]]|position=right}}
{{Location map~ |China
|lat=27.738153|long=111.7776649|label=[[Lianyuan]]|position=right}}
{{Location map~ |China
|lat=30.05518|long=107.8748712|label=[[Chongqing]]|position=left}}
{{Location map~ |China
|lat=23.1301964|long=113.2592945|label=[[Guangzhou]]|position=right}}
}}
In [[Chongqing|Chonqing]], factional violence was particularly pronounced.<ref name=":023" />{{Rp|page=178}} Violence there occurred primarily between two different rebel factions during the period 16 May 1967 to 15 October 1968.<ref name=":232">{{Cite book |last=Yang |first=Guobin |title=Mao's Little Red Book: A Global History |date=2013 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-1-107-05722-7 |editor-last=Cook |editor-first=Alexander C. |location=Cambridge |pages= |chapter=Mao Quotations in Factional Battles and Their Afterlives: Episodes from Chongqing}}</ref>{{Rp|page=|pages=62-63}} Among the major instances of combat there was the 25 July Incident in 1967, during which members of one rebel faction attacked four hundred members of other factions using knives, pistols, rifles, submachine guns, and machine guns, killing ten.<ref name=":232" />{{Rp|page=64}} 

[[Unconventional warfare|Unconventional weapons]], including [[weapon of mass destruction]], were seized during conflicts, but not directly used. Citizens wrote letters to the [[Zhongnanhai]] residence of government leaders, warning of attacks on facilities that stored [[pathogenic bacteria]], [[poisonous plant]] samples, radioactive substances, poison gas, toxicants, and other dangerous substances. In [[Changchun]], rebels working in geological institutes developed and tested a [[dirty bomb]], a crude [[radiological weapon]], testing two "radioactive self-defense bombs" and two "radioactive self-defense mines" on 6 and 11 August.<ref name="Mac" />{{rp|218–220}} 

Violence in 1967 disrupted economic activity and touring Red Guards overburdened China's transportation system.<ref name=":02222" />{{Rp|pages=251-252}} By year end, national industrial output had decreased by 13.8% from the previous year.<ref name=":02222" />{{Rp|page=252}}

Military control was imposed over the [[Daqing Oil Field]] in March 1967 and over the [[Anshan Iron & Steel|Anshan Iron and Steel Plant]] in August.<ref name="Mac" />{{rp|214–217}}

Nationwide, a total of 18.77&nbsp;million firearms, 14,828 artillery pieces, 2,719,545 grenades ended up in civilian hands. They were used in the course of violent struggles, which mostly took place from 1967 to 1968. In Chongqing, [[Xiamen]], and [[Changchun]], tanks, armored vehicles and even warships were deployed in combat.<ref name="war" />

In late 1967, the PLA became the most powerful political force in the country.<ref name=":02222" />{{Rp|page=253}} In 1967 and 1968, rebel groups supported by the PLA established [[Revolutionary committee (China)|Revolutionary Committees]] that replaced government and existing Party organizations at the local and provincial levels.<ref name=":02222" />{{Rp|page=253}}

During the Cultural Revolution, Mao emphasized the need to improve medical care in rural China.<ref name=":0222">{{Cite book |last=Lin |first=Shuanglin |title=China's Public Finance: Reforms, Challenges, and Options |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=2022 |isbn=978-1-009-09902-8 |edition= |location=New York, NY |pages= |doi=10.1017/9781009099028}}</ref>{{Rp|page=270}} The Rural Cooperative Medical System (RCMS) developed in the late 1960s.<ref name=":0222" />{{Rp|page=270}} In this system, each large production brigade established a medical cooperative station staffed by [[Barefoot doctor|barefoot doctors]].<ref name=":0222" />{{Rp|page=270}} The medical cooperative stations provided primary health care.<ref name=":0222" />{{Rp|page=270}} [[Barefoot doctor|Barefoot doctors]] brought healthcare to rural areas where urban-trained doctors would not settle. They promoted basic [[hygiene]], [[preventive healthcare]], and [[family planning]] and treated common [[Disease|illnesses]].<ref name=":16">{{Cite journal |last1=Gong |first1=Y. L. |last2=Chao |first2=L. M. |date=September 1982 |title=The role of barefoot doctors |journal=American Journal of Public Health |volume=72 |issue=9 Suppl |pages=59–61 |doi=10.2105/ajph.72.9_suppl.59 |issn=0090-0036 |pmc=1650037 |pmid=7102877}}</ref> Immunizations were provided free of charge.<ref name=":0222" />{{Rp|page=9}} Public healthcare was highly effective in curbing infectious diseases in rural China.<ref name=":0222" />{{Rp|page=9}} For treatment of major diseases, rural people traveled to state-owned hospitals.<ref name=":0222" />{{Rp|page=270}}