Bombard the Headquarters!

The Cultural Revolution in China 

By Linda Jaivin https://lindajaivin.com.au

Published by Black Inc.

RRP $26.99 in paperback

ISBN 9781760645601

Linda Jaivin has spent more than 40 years studying Chinese politics, language and culture, including the ideological roots of the Cultural Revolution and its terrible consequences. She has written widely on the subject of China.

In her latest book, Jaivin examines the impact of the Cultural Revolution on China which began with Mao Zedong’s call in 1966 to ‘Bombard the Headquarters!’.

With that call he unleashed the full, violent force of a movement that he called the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution.

By the time he died ten years later, millions had perished, China’s cultural heritage was in ruins, its economic state was perilous, its institutions of government were damaged and its society was bitterly divided.

Jaivin outlines Mao’s ambitious campaign, begun in 1958, to create collectivisation and mass mobilisation that he believed would propel China straight into communism and improve its economy.

The Party ordered that agricultural output be quadrupled with intensive crop planting. Those who considered the plans unachievable warned of impending economic collapse. They were ‘excoriated’ by Mao. Too afraid to report bad news, the mass famine that ensued would claim tens of millions of lives by 1961.

The shadow of these terrible years lies heavily over the modern nation that is China. The history of this period is so toxic that China’s rulers have gone to great lengths to bury it – while a few brave men and women risked their freedom to uncover the truth. For as both they and the Party knew, to grasp the history of the Cultural Revolution is to understand much about China today.

Jaivin has managed to condense the sweeping story of the birth of modern China into a mere 107 pages but in doing so, her focus has been razor sharp on the motivations and machinations of the key figures and their policies who shaped China in the post-war period.  

FURTHER INFORMATION:

For those wanting to delve further, I would recommend this ABC Radio interview with Linda Jaivin from June 2025. 

Mass murder, cannibalism and insanity — inside Mao’s cultural revolution

Conversations | Richard Fidler | Wed 25 Jun 2025 at 11:00am
LINK HERE

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