Editing Cultural Revolution (section)

===Historical sites===
[[File:Trip to Ningxia and Gansu.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Buddhist statues defaced during the Cultural Revolution|alt=]]

China's historical sites, artifacts and archives suffered devastating damage, as they were thought to be at the root of "old ways of thinking". Artifacts were seized, museums and private homes ransacked, and any item found that was thought to represent bourgeois or [[feudal]] ideas was destroyed. Few records relate how much was destroyed—Western observers suggest that much of China's thousands of years of history was in effect destroyed, or, later, smuggled abroad for sale. Chinese historians compare the suppression to [[Qin Shi Huang]]'s [[great Confucian purge]]. [[Religious persecution]] intensified during this period, as religion was viewed in opposition to Marxist–Leninist and Maoist thinking.<ref name=Jiaqi/>{{rp|73}}

The destruction of historical relics was never formally sanctioned by the Party, whose official policy was instead to protect such items. On 14 May 1967, the Central Committee issued ''Several suggestions for the protection of cultural relics and books during the Cultural Revolution''.<ref name=Gao/>{{rp|21}} Despite this, enormous damage was inflicted on China's cultural heritage. For example, a survey in 1972 in Beijing of 18 cultural heritage sites, including the [[Temple of Heaven]] and [[Ming Dynasty Tombs|Ming Tombs]], showed extensive damage. Of the 80 cultural heritage sites in Beijing under municipal protection, 30 were destroyed, and of the 6,843 cultural sites under protection by Beijing government decision in 1958, 4,922 were damaged or destroyed.<ref>{{cite book |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=zDhquEq5kTYC |page=446}} |title=Beijing Record: A Physical and Political History of Planning Modern Beijing |author=Jun Wang |pages=446–47 |publisher=World Scientific |year=2011 |isbn=978-9814295727}}</ref> Numerous valuable old books, paintings, and other cultural relics were burnt.<ref name=Barnouin>{{cite book |last1=Barnouin |first1=Barbara |last2=Yu |first2=Changgen |title=Ten Years of Turbulence: The Chinese Cultural Revolution |publisher=Routledge |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-7103-0458-2}}</ref>{{rp|98}}

Later [[Archaeology|archaeological]] excavation and preservation after the destructive period were protected, and several significant discoveries, such as the [[Terracotta Army]] and the [[Mawangdui]], occurred after the peak of the Revolution.<ref name=Gao/>{{rp|21}} Nevertheless, the most prominent medium of academic research in archaeology, the journal ''[[Kaogu (journal)|Kaogu]]'', did not publish.<ref>{{cite web |title=《Archaeology》 Publishing report |url=http://oversea.cnki.net/kns55/oldNavi/n_YearStats.aspx?NaviID=48&Flg=local&BaseID=KAGU&NaviLink=Search%3a%E8%80%83%E5%8F%A4-%2fkns55%2foldNavi%2fn_list.aspx%3fNaviID%3d48%26Field%3dcykm%24%25%2522%7b0%7d%2522%26selectIndex%3d0%26Value%3d%25e8%2580%2583%25e5%258f%25a4%7cArchaeology-%2fkns55%2foldNavi%2fn_item.aspx%3fNaviID%3d48%26Flg%3dlocal%26BaseID%3dKAGU |publisher=China Academic Journals Full-text Database |access-date=31 January 2017}}</ref> After the most violent phase, the attack on traditional culture continued in 1973 with the ''Anti-Lin Biao, Anti-Confucius Campaign'' as part of the struggle against moderate Party elements.