Editing Zhou Enlai (section)

===Initial efforts of Mao and Lin===

[[File:Zhou Enlai and Li Ne.jpg|thumb|Zhou in 1966, the first year of the Cultural Revolution (with [[Li Na (daughter of Mao Zedong)|Li Na]], daughter of Mao)]]

To improve his image and power, Mao, with the help of [[Lin Biao]], undertook a number of public propaganda efforts. Among the efforts of Mao and Lin to improve Mao's image in the early 1960s were Lin's publication of the ''[[Diary of Lei Feng]]'' and his compilation of ''[[Quotations from Chairman Mao]]''.<ref>Spence 566</ref> The last and most successful of these efforts was the [[Cultural Revolution]].

Whatever its other causes, the Cultural Revolution, declared in 1966, was overtly pro-Maoist, and gave Mao the power and influence to purge the Party of his political enemies at the highest levels of government. Along with closing China's schools and universities, it exhorted of young Chinese to destroy old buildings, temples, and art, and to attack their [[Revisionism (Marxism)|"revisionist"]] teachers, school administrators, party leaders, and parents.<ref name="CR1">Spence 575</ref> After the Cultural Revolution was announced, many of the most senior members of the CCP who had shared Zhou's hesitation in following Mao's direction, including President [[Liu Shaoqi]] and [[Deng Xiaoping]], were removed from their posts almost immediately; they, along with their families, were subjected to mass criticism and humiliation.<ref name="CR1" />