The Chinese Sixties

“Sixties studies,” a term that loosely refers to the history of radical protest movements stretching from the 1950s to the 1970s, has, of late, gone through a type of “Sino-mania.” As scholars have attempted to understand the causes of radical social movements in the 1960s, they have returned, again and again, to either the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Mao Zedong himself, the Red Guards as a collective group, or the various symbols and signs of the Cultural Revolution. This Sino-mania has produced entire volumes dedicated to Mao’s little red book and its impact around the world, as well as a plethora of case studies on the connections between Maoism and German students, French radicals, Latin American Marxists, and civil rights activists. ¹ This scholarship has added invaluable depth and nuance to Sixties studies, while providing a critical context for understanding those who participated in radical protest movements. Scholars have clearly elucidated the central place that China, and all of its symbolism, played in animating the 1960s. But these studies are largely unidirectional. The curious thing about this Sino-mania is that it does not really engage with China itself, nor does it utilize Chinese archives. The reasons for this are many, but the incongruity of the Chinese experience with other radical protest movements has likely prevented scholars from directly engaging with the People’s Republic. After all, few other case studies resemble what happened in China in the 1960s. While China did experience a mass student movement—the Cultural Revolution—the differences between it and other student movements around the world are significant. The violence of the campaign, for one, was unprecedented. The role that Mao Zedong played in the movement was also unique; many Red Guards worshipped Mao with a type of religious fervor. Despite these differences, China’s central role in shaping radical politics suggests that the PRC should be at least considered in any discussion of the 1960s. I attempt to do this here by reversing the lens and engaging with China itself. I ask two questions: did China have a Sixties of its own? And, how does our understanding of the Sixties change when considering China itself?