The World Turned Upside Down: A History of the Chinese Cultural Revolution
- Downloads：6117
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-03-24 11:30:02
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Yang Jisheng
- ISBN：0374293139
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
- Download
Summary
Yang Jisheng’s The World Turned Upside Down is the definitive history of the Cultural Revolution， in withering and heartbreaking detail。
As a major political event and a crucial turning point in the history of the People’s Republic of China， the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution （1966–1976） marked the zenith as well as the nadir of Mao Zedong’s ultra-leftist politics。 Reacting in part to the Soviet Union’s "revisionism" that he regarded as a threat to the future of socialism， Mao mobilized the masses in a battle against what he called "bourgeois" forces within the Chinese Communist Party （CCP）。 This ten-year-long class struggle on a massive scale devastated traditional Chinese culture as well as the nation’s economy。
Following his groundbreaking and award-winning history of the Great Famine， Tombstone， Yang Jisheng here presents the only history of the Cultural Revolution by an independent scholar based in mainland China， and makes a crucial contribution to understanding those years' lasting influence today。
The World Turned Upside Down puts every political incident， major and minor， of those ten years under extraordinary and withering scrutiny， and arrives in English at a moment when contemporary Chinese governance is leaning once more toward a highly centralized power structure and Mao-style cult of personality。
As a major political event and a crucial turning point in the history of the People’s Republic of China， the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution （1966–1976） marked the zenith as well as the nadir of Mao Zedong’s ultra-leftist politics。 Reacting in part to the Soviet Union’s "revisionism" that he regarded as a threat to the future of socialism， Mao mobilized the masses in a battle against what he called "bourgeois" forces within the Chinese Communist Party （CCP）。 This ten-year-long class struggle on a massive scale devastated traditional Chinese culture as well as the nation’s economy。
Following his groundbreaking and award-winning history of the Great Famine， Tombstone， Yang Jisheng here presents the only history of the Cultural Revolution by an independent scholar based in mainland China， and makes a crucial contribution to understanding those years' lasting influence today。
The World Turned Upside Down puts every political incident， major and minor， of those ten years under extraordinary and withering scrutiny， and arrives in English at a moment when contemporary Chinese governance is leaning once more toward a highly centralized power structure and Mao-style cult of personality。
Reviews
Chris Barsanti
，
My review is at PopMatters。 My review is at PopMatters。 。。。more
Laurent Reinhardt
，
Painstakingly researched， intensely detailed and often disturbing history of the Cultural Revolution by a Chinese journalist and historian who lived through it。 Fascinating insights into how Mao Zedong played off rebel and bureaucratic factions， at times losing control of the former。 But it was the latter who inflicted far more damage， ultimately prevailed and led China through its emergence as 21st century economic superpower。 I learned a great deal from the final two chapters， "China's Foreig Painstakingly researched， intensely detailed and often disturbing history of the Cultural Revolution by a Chinese journalist and historian who lived through it。 Fascinating insights into how Mao Zedong played off rebel and bureaucratic factions， at times losing control of the former。 But it was the latter who inflicted far more damage， ultimately prevailed and led China through its emergence as 21st century economic superpower。 I learned a great deal from the final two chapters， "China's Foreign Relations During The Cultural Revolution" and "Reform and Opening Under the Bureaucratic System。" It was interesting to learn more about the Chinese perspective in normalizing relations with the US and how the bureaucratic faction's dominance has set the stage for things as they are today。 There are still unresolved issues: "Reforms that employed 'Soviet learning as the base and Western learning for application' created a freak: the power market system。 。 。 a society with a power market economy will never be harmonious。 Fairness requires a new system that provides checks and balances on power and controls capital。" （pp619-622） Yang's narrative is especially timely in view of Xi Jinping's consolidation of power in recent years。 "Strengthening of checks and balances" needed to "prevent a public servant from becoming a master" （p616） seems further from reality than ever。 。。。more
Henk
，
In her British Academy interview Margaret Atwood herself recommended this book and besides the early parts of The Three-Body Problem I don't know much of the period so excited to pick this up！ In her British Academy interview Margaret Atwood herself recommended this book and besides the early parts of The Three-Body Problem I don't know much of the period so excited to pick this up！ 。。。more
Kevin Fulton
，
Yang Jisheng has done it again。 This book is an excellent piece of scholarship that gives you an inside look into how Mao's CCP made it's decisions。 And， therefore， solid insight into how the CCP makes its decisions today， under Xi。 If you want to understand the Cultural Revolution from a birds-eye view， this book would be a great place to start。The book also shows how the government fomented societal divisions in order to create the Cultural Revolution。 People followed the government's lead and Yang Jisheng has done it again。 This book is an excellent piece of scholarship that gives you an inside look into how Mao's CCP made it's decisions。 And， therefore， solid insight into how the CCP makes its decisions today， under Xi。 If you want to understand the Cultural Revolution from a birds-eye view， this book would be a great place to start。The book also shows how the government fomented societal divisions in order to create the Cultural Revolution。 People followed the government's lead and became barbarians。 。。。more
Ariyasacca
，
可以探视山头间积累的矛盾与未来格局形成的来源
Elizabeth
，
As seen in The Atlantic: https://www。theatlantic。com/magazine/。。。 As seen in The Atlantic: https://www。theatlantic。com/magazine/。。。 。。。more
Darya geothereader
，
It took 11 years for Yang Jisheng to complete his research on the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution （1966-1976） and publish it in Hong Kong， and another 5 years for the book to reach English-speaking audience。 Yet， the publication in English couldn't be more timely as Chinese political and economical influence rapidly spreads throughout the world。 Knowing the past which brought China to the rank of a modern superpower allows us to understand undercover internal currents and foresee its futur It took 11 years for Yang Jisheng to complete his research on the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution （1966-1976） and publish it in Hong Kong， and another 5 years for the book to reach English-speaking audience。 Yet， the publication in English couldn't be more timely as Chinese political and economical influence rapidly spreads throughout the world。 Knowing the past which brought China to the rank of a modern superpower allows us to understand undercover internal currents and foresee its future moves in international relations。 For a person who read a lot about Communism， and especially Comnunism of Soviet Russia， it is hard not to compare Stalin's 1930s purges with those in China during the Cultural Revolution。 Both countries fully endorsed Marxism-Leninism and created totalitarian systems of the new kind with supreme leaders at the top; both violently suppressed opposition to the ruling regime。 Even the official language had similarities; opponents were named counterrevolutionaries， traitors， and evildoers。 While families of the enemies of the people in Russia were sentenced to long prison terms under the infamous article number 58， wives and children in China faced the same fate as their heads of a family from the hands of the enraged masses。 Downfall of Mao's successors - Lin Biao， Liu Shaoqi - is similar to the proccesses over old Bolshevik cadres organized by Joseph Stalin。 Both countries haven't declassified all archives of the era and there are materials still waiting for the meticulous scholars。 Yang Jisheng puts forward his own theory of Culturan Revolution which contradicts the official version held by modern Chinese historians。 In his opinion， Cultural Revolution with its hundreds of victims wasn't a mass movement which ran out of control but rather an orchestrated redirection of people's discontent toward bureaucratic cliques。 Ordinary people nurtured during 17 years of Communism were Mao's left hand and the system of officialdom were his right hand， and the struggle between them gave him opportunities to strengthen his leading positions。 Year after year the unfolding of the internal struggle in the Chinese Communist party is desribed through and motivated by different political campaigns。 All shifts in Mao's views as he struggled to preserve the balance are depicted in the text。 Little details like emotional conversations and extracts from memoirs enliven the narrative constructed on the almost strict time scale。 Every document's date/number， every significant building's address， every insignificant name/surname; all show the depth of the research。 And that's what makes the text hard to read。 The research was done on the wide range of materials and was squeezed into one volume of more that 700 pages。 As it is noted in Translator's Note， the text was cut in multiple places and three chapters had to be removed。 These cuts are obvious in the chapters about pre-Cultural Revolution years where the language seems formal and focuses solely on politics。 The whole book can be considered an excellent academic work for an experienced scholar/reader who has previous knowledge of the Chinese history。 On the contrary， a mass reader can find the book dull and uneasy to comprehend when almost every paragraph begins with an introduction of a new name。 I'd recommend the book for the readers who want to deepen their knowledge about Cultural Revolution and my rating is 5 stars out of 5。 。。。more
Louise Gray
，
Detailed and comprehensive， this is essential reading for people interested in one of the biggest sociopath-political events in modern history。 The book looks at the Revolution from multiple perspectives， giving keen insights into what happened and how it impacted different societal groups。 The author clearly has a sense of wanting the information to be accessible and appealing， whether the reader is a history buff or not， and this is reflected in a clear， concise writing style。
Hai Quan
，
While Satan Mao terrorizing his people， on the other side of the globe Satan Truman ， Satan Hitler and Satan Hirohito terrorizing people of other nations。 Before that Satan Napoleon and Satan King George have been screwing people across the planet earth。There is no difference in character among 'em devils。The difference rests in the statistics: How many million of lives they snuffed and village and city they pulverized。 If we go backwards to centuries ago， we see the same mountains of bones， riv While Satan Mao terrorizing his people， on the other side of the globe Satan Truman ， Satan Hitler and Satan Hirohito terrorizing people of other nations。 Before that Satan Napoleon and Satan King George have been screwing people across the planet earth。There is no difference in character among 'em devils。The difference rests in the statistics: How many million of lives they snuffed and village and city they pulverized。 If we go backwards to centuries ago， we see the same mountains of bones， river of blood thanks to Monster Ganghis Khan and his clan and numerous other monsters from uncountable Empires across the planet earth。 And to think that today we hardly can find any remain of 'em earthly physical of 'em early monsters ， even if we excavated numerous tombs， mausoleums and gigantic dirt mounts。And to think that no mater how much food 'em monsters wanted to stuff into 'em stinking traps ， they couldn't swallow too many of 'em lambs， rabbits and turkeys in their kingdom。 They hardly can hump too many of 'em girl slave in 'em harems despite all the secretive potions they swallowed。In fact many rickshaw pullers and peasants who ate only rice with salt， ain't swallowe any potion other than rain water but could outperform 'em Monsters in the biz of humping。' EM Satans and Monsters hardly could spend all the gold bullions they hoarded。When they kicked the bucket， 'em gold passed to sucessive Monsters for another unending circle ， infinitumAnd to think all of 'em Satans & Monsters finally went back to their Maker without any earthly possession while the tomb raiders were scrambling to dig up 'em bullions 。What pity！For entertainment， we serfs ， without any better thing to kill our time， pore over the history of the past， fascinated with intrigues ，gore and grief in the security of our abodes while many less fortunate souls cannot due to the invisible iron curtains from 'em Extreme Leaders。WHAT joy！ 。。。more
Horace Derwent
，
。。。more
Naoe Kanata
，
A detailed introduction to the Cultural Revolution， each chapter describing one movement in those ridiculus years in time order。 Although I have read some articles about Cultural Revolution before， I think this book renews my knowledge about it thoroughly。 In my opinion， for anyone interested in Cultural Revolution， this book could be the first book to read。
FantasticRICHAR
，