Cultural revolution (CR)
The Cultural Revolution was the biggest movement during Mao's lifetime. After the failure of the Great Leap Forward, he decided The Cultural Revolution would help him attack the current party leadership and reassert his authority. The CR began in 1966, while Liu Shaoqi was Chairman. He was removed from power along with other Communist leaders during the movement. This left behind a legacy of torment and violence and killed a half million people, but this action did change the society of China. The plan escalated quickly, as students formed a paramilitary group called the Red Guard. Their responsibility was to attack and harass the elderly Chinese who found association with the Four Olds. With the plan of The CR, some Red Guards even betrayed their family members to spy on them. Some say this was an opportunity to show the mistakes of teachers and many others who had brought them down.
Red guard / The liberation army
The Red Guard was a group of high school and university students who assisted Mao and his launch to be successful. They were also called the Prosecutors, who tortured and killed millions of people. Some Red Guards drove other students and teachers to suicide, and were later considered an enemy of the class system . Many years after the death of Mao, many Red Guards apologized for the mistakes they made.
image: [npr.org]