Department of History

Whole classes of people were swept away. Children were turned against their parents, and each other. Tradition, education, and art were strangled. As many as 400,000 people died. Hear the story of Mao's "Cultural Revolution" as told by the men and women who experienced it. In this remarkable program, the people of Guangzhou-now China's most prosperous city-recall the waves of cruelty, bloodlust and demagoguery that turned their lives upside-down for ten years. A surviving judge remembers the dramatic "Gang of Four" trial that finally ended the madness after Mao's death. The tempest of modern China is brought vividly to life, from the frenzied rampages of the Red Guards in the 60's to the daring economic reforms of recent years.