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Images of China's Social Structure: The Changing Perspectives of Canton Students

Author(s): Anita Chan
Source: World Politics, Vol. 34, No. 3 (Apr., 1982), pp. 295-323
Published by: Cambridge University Press
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IMAGES OF CHINA'S SOCIAL STRUCTURE:
The ChangingPerspectives
of CantonStudents
ByANITA CHAN

D URING thethreedecadesof ChineseCommunist government,

thePartyhas notonlysoughtto engineer a neweconomicsys-
tem,a newclassstructure, andnewnormsofpolitical behavior;italso
has actively
triedto reshapethepopulace'sperceptions ofChineseso-
ciety.In thispaper,I shallexplorethiseffort,
at thesametimeshow-
inghowgovernment programs haveproduced thatareat odds
results
withgovernment blueprints.
The perceptions
ofsociety adoptedbyvar-
ious sectorsof thepopulation havediffereddistinctlyfromthoseof
thePartyleaders.
Theseperceptions will be studiedthrough theevolvingsubjective
consciousness of one particulargeneration
of urbanChinese:young
peoplefromthecityofCantonwho,as of i982,arein theirearlyand
mid-thirties.
Theywereinterviewed in greatdetailabouttheirexperi-
enceswhilegrowing up,andabouttheimagesofChina'ssocialstruc-
turetheyheldduringtheirearlyyouthandadolescence.

PERCEPTIONS
OF SOCIALSTRUCTURE
StanislawOssowski's theoretical
formulations aboutsocialclasspro-
videa usefulframework foranalyzing theinterviewees' perceptions.
Ossowskiarguesthatdifferent socialclasses,in orderto further their
ownclassinterests,adopta particular
imageoftheirownsociety's struc-
ture.Ossowskiposits,too,thateachclasseithertendsto locateclass
confrontationat thosepointsthatbestserveitsclassinterests,or,alter-
natively,choosesstrategically
toignoretheexistence ofclassconfronta-
tion.In hiswork,Ossowski identifies
threebasicschemata thatdiffer-
entthinkers (and differentsocialgroups)haveusedforinterpreting
socialstructures:
1 A set of two hundredinterviews
in Hong Kong with fourteenrespondents
in
I975-I976 resultedin more than 3,ooo pages of transcripts.
In addition,I have had
accessto StanleyRosen'sand JonathanUnger'stranscriptsof interviews
withsomefour
dozen additionalyoungpeople.Along withofficial documentation fromChina,these
interviews providethe underpinningsforthispaper.The respondents came fromall
classorigins,but the majoritywereof middle-classstatus.Much of my attention will
therefore be directedtowardthe perceptions and dilemmasof middle-class students
fromCanton.Except wherenoted,all translations of interviewsand articlesare by
the author.
? i982 bytheTrustees
ofPrinceton
University
WorldPolitics0043-887I/82/030295-29$OI.45/I
For copyinginformation, see contributor page.

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296 WORLD POLITICS

(i) The dichotomic schema.In thedichotomic conception, society

is definedas dominated by twoclassesthatexistinterdependently-
therulerand theruled(possessing or beingdeprived of power),the
richand thepoor(controlling or beingdeprived of wealth),and so
forth.2 Marxand Engels,forexample, predominantly viewedsociety
as dichotomicallypolarized between thebourgeoisie andtheproletariat,
withintense confrontation marking theboundary between them.3
(2) The gradational schema.The socialstructure hereconsists of
manystrata.Stratification is basedeitheron one criterion, suchas
wealth(e.g.,income),ora synthesis ofseveralcriteria suchas wealth,
educational level,socialstatus,occupation, lifestyle,andso forth. This
framework allowsadjacentclassesto meldintoone another;it de-
emphasizes theintensity-or evendeniestheexistence-of classstrug-
gle in society.
This schemais oftenusedbyAmerican socialscientists
whenpropounding theclasslessness ofAmerican society.4
(3) The functional schema.The functional conception dividesso-
cietyintoclassesbasedon thecontributions thateach makesto the
society.Thoughsharpdistinctions between classesarerecognized, the
notionthateachclassfulfills a necessary socialroleby occupying its
particularplacein thedivision of laborde-emphasizes socialconflict.5
In thefollowing pages,I shallanalyzehowdifferent groupsofyoung
peoplein China,overa periodofthreedecades,tookon thesevarious
imagesofsocialstructure, eachgroupemphasizing oneperception and
assiduously ignoring theothers.I will notattempt to deal withthe
definition of classor thetheoretically complexand oftenemotional
issueofwhether thereareclassesperse in Chinaorothersocialist sys-
tems.To avoidsemantic confusion, will be
largesocialcollectivities
referred toas "socialgroups." The term"class"willbe employed only
in thewaytheChineseauthorities andtheChinesepeopleuse it.

THE LEADERSHIP'S CONFLICTING MESSAGE

The Chineserulingelite-evenmorethantherulingelitesofmost
othersocieties-has inthepeople,particularly
triedtoinstill theyoung-
2 Ossowski, ClassStructure (London: Routledge& Kegan
in theSocial Consciousness
Paul,I963), I9-37.
3 Ossowskidiscusses how Marx actuallyused all threeschemata,: As a revolutionary,
he used thedichotomic thegradational;and as a theorist,
schema;as a sociologist, the
functional.Ibid.,69-88.
4 ibid.,38-57-
5ibid., 58-68.For a shorterand slightlydifferentversionof the threeschemataof
social structure,see Ossowski,"Old Notionsand New Problems:Interpretations of
Social Structurein ModernSociety,"in AndreBeteille,ed., Social Inequality(London:
PenguinBooks,i969).

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 IMAGES OF CHINA'S SOCIAL STRUCTURE 297
er generation,an officialimage of theirsocial structure,
togetherwith
a value systemwhichsupportsthatimage.Membersof thegeneration
born immediatelyafterLiberation(I949) were consideredas blank
sheetsof paperon whichanythingcould be written. The new Chinese
government proclaimeditsgreatfaiththattheywould growup to be
"new socialistmen,"internalizing theofficiallysanctionedsocialvalues
and images.6
Althoughat school,theprocessesof politicalsocializationthataimed
to achievetheseendswereintenseand all-embracing, theyoungpeople
had to reconciletwo conflictingvalue systemsthat were taught,
because different sectionsof the Partyelite at times espoused con-
tradictorymessages.The "Maoists"advocatedhumanwill as theprime
forcefor economicdevelopment;the "modernizers"believedin the
necessityof expertisefor China's development.The childrenwere
taughtthat both elementswere essential;accordingto the slogan,
one shouldbe both "red and expert."In reality,however,thesetwo
elite factions-and the different social groups themselves-attimes
came to treatred and expertas polartypesthatweremutuallyincom-
patible.In the CulturalRevolution,this was a principalelementof
whatwas officially called "the two-linestruggle."
We shall see how thisdisagreement, originatingat theupperlevels,
promotedantagonisms amongthedifferent socialgroupsofyoungpeo-
ple. To explicatehow thiscame about,myanalysiswill be dividedinto
fiveperiods-the fifties, the pre-CulturalRevolutionsixties,the Cul-
turalRevolution, theMaoistseventies, and finallythepost-Maoseven-
ties.Each sectionwill containa briefdiscussionofthedominantofficial
messages,insofaras thesewere salientin shapingthe youngpeople's
conceptions ofand attitudes towardthesocialsystem.

ESTABLISHMENT OF A NEW OFFICIAL SOCIAL HIERARCHY:

THE FIFTIES

Whentheinterviewees firstenteredprimary schoolin themid-fifties,

theywerenot awarethattheirsocialpositionsin Chinesesocietywere
moreor less fixed.Most of themdid not know thatduringthe first
fewyearsafterLiberation,theirparentshad had to respondto official
inquiriesregardingtheiroccupationsand sourcesof incomefor the
threeyearsbeforeI949. Based upon thisinformation, theirparentshad
all been assigned"class status"labels. The childrenfirstcame into
6 AnitaChan,Childrenof Mao: A Studyof Politically
ActiveChineseYouths(Lon-
don: Macmillan,forthcoming),
chap.2.

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298 WORLD POLITICS

contactwiththisfactwhentheywererequired, in secondor third

grade,to fillin forms
tobe enteredintotheirprimary-school
dossiers.
Mostofthemhadtoseekhelpfromtheirparents tofindoutwhattheir
inherited"classstatus"was. By the timetheywereteenagers, that
statushad becomethe frameof reference by whichthe students
rankedeachother.

TABLE I
OFFICIAL "CLASS" CATEGORIZATIONS IN CHINA
(Inheritable
intheMaleLine)

I. Good-classorigin( jieji chenglenhaode)

A. Politically"red" inheritance (familiesheaded by pre-Liberation
Partymembers)
B. Workingclass
i. Pre-Liberation industrialworkers and theirfamilies
2. Formerpoorand lower-middle peasantfamilies
II. Middle-class
origin(yibanchenglen)
A. Non-intelligentsia middleclass
i. Familiesof pre-Liberation peddlers etc.
and storeclerks,
2. Formermiddle-peasant families
B. Intelligentsia
(pre-Liberation white-collarworkersandprofessionals)
III. Bad-classorigin(jieii chenglenbuhaode)
A. Familiesofformer capitalists
B. Familiesof"rightists" (labeldenoting thosewho had beentooout-
spokenin theHundredFlowerscampaignof I957)*
C. Pre-Liberation richpeasantfamilies
D. Familiesof "bad elements" (label denotingcriminaloffenders)*
E. Pre-Liberation landlordfamilies
F. Familiesof counterrevolutionaries*
#Theseparticularlabels do not derivefromprior economicstanding,but from
"historical"errors.In this gradationalschema,however,thesewere treatedas tan-
tamountto "class"labels.There was a specialcomplexityhere,though;for instance,
the son of a "rightist"
of proletarian
originwas of a betterbad-classstatusthan the
son of a "rightist"
of middle-class
origin.

thisofficial
Obviously, schemabearslittleresemblance
gradational to
the gradational schemataof Westernsocialscientists,
who talk of
strataand quartiles,of occupation,
wealth,and lifestyle,
of white-
collarworkas higherin statusthanmanual,of educatedas against
andso forth.
illiterate, Suchformulations
oftenreflect
thesocialscien-
tists'ownbiases,buttheyarenotconceived
withtheobjectofpromot-
ingsocialchange.The ChineseCommunist government, on theother

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 IMAGES OF CHINA'S SOCIAL STRUCTURE 299
hand,approached thecreation ofa gradational schemafromprecisely
thatperspective.
China'sstructure ofofficial "class"categories was putforward with
basicallythreepurposes in mind.First,it wasestablished as a political
instrument-to facilitatethe redistribution of wealthand opportu-
nitiesto theformerly exploited socialgroups, and to control formerly
exploiting socialgroupsso thattheycouldnotstagea comeback. By
categorizing familiesandassigning classstatus labels,forinstance, the
Partywas abletocarryoutlandreform in a systematic manner. Fur-
thermore, in thecitiesthissystem couldbe usedto obtaina better re-
distribution ofeducational opportunities.The children oftheold pro-
fessional classeswererearedin a familyenvironment conduciveto
studying, and therefore continued to hold an edge in climbingthe
educational ladder.Aftera classoriginhad beenrecorded foreach
child,thechildren ofpeasantsand workers couldeasilybe identified
in a Chineseversion of theU.S. affirmative actionprogram.
Second,thegradational schemawassupposed tofacilitateacceptance
ofa newsetof socialvalues.The old socialvaluesystem was an im-
pediment to thekindsof changethatthePartywantedto institute.'
The newgovernment hopedthat,byofficially reallocating thestatus of
differentsocialgroups, newvalues-thedignity and virtueofmanual
labor,forexample-wouldbe moreeasilyacceptedby thewholeso-
ciety.The children's textbooks picturedthepeasantsand workers as
ofa highersocialprestige; thepre-Liberation capitalistsandlandlords,
becauseoftheir former andattitudes,
lifestyles weredisparaged as "bad-
class."
The superior official"class"statusofhigh-level armyand Partyof-
ficials
brings us tothethirdfunction ofthenewsocialschema.It was
to serveas an instrument to sustainthenewstatusquo. The rationale
wasthathigh-level armyofficers andPartycadres,havingbeenin the
vanguard oftheviolent stageoftherevolution, deserved specialrespect
underthenew socialorder.In orderto justify theirclaimsto high
socialstatus, theyweredescribed as thegenuinebearersof the"pro-
letarianconsciousness." The peasants and workers whohad benefited
mostcamenextin political andconsciousness,
reliability andtherefore
deserved a higher politicalstatusthantheformer middleorbadclasses.
Thishierarchical ordering ofsocialgroupsgavethenewrulersaccess
toa broadbaseofsupport: the8o-some percent ofthepopulation who
hadbeendesignated as beingof"good-class" status.
7 On thissubject,see FrankParkin,ClassInequalityand PoliticalOrder(St. Albans,
England:Paladin,1972), 79-82.

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300 WORLD POLITICS
Reinforcing thisthirdfunction of thenew gradational framework
wasthestate's presumption thatpoliticalattitudeswouldbe transmit-
tedfromparents tochildren-that a father's"political reliability"and
"revolutionary nature" wouldtendtobe hereditary. On thesegrounds,
a family'srankin thegradational hierarchy was to be retained from
one generation to thenext. The stateexpected that politicalsupport
forthePartywouldthuscontinue amongthechildren ofthefavored
8opercent ofthepopulace.Butperhaps as muchto thepointwasthat
a hereditary system ofclassoriginsensured thattherecently acquired
statusofthenewrulingelitewouldbe passedon totheirownchildren.
Whenmyinterviewees enteredtheirclassstatuslabelintotheirdos-
siers,theyknewlittle of its however.
significance, The schoolauthor-
itiesin themid-I95os did notstrongly imposethegradational schema
on thechildren. On thecontrary, theypredominantly presented tothe
children thetwootherimagesof socialstructure: thefunctional and
thedichotomic. In thefifties,theChineseleadersstillbasically agreed
amongthemselves that,in ordertomodernize China,thestateneeded
theskillandcooperation ofthepre-Liberation andnewlytrained pro-
Mentallabor,thoughnotglorified,
fessionals. was at leastgivena po-
liticalstanding equal to manuallabor.The socioeconomic statusof
theeducatedmiddleclasseswas thuspreserved despitetheirpolitical
demotion belowthepeasants and workers.
In school, thepredominant message wasto"study fortherevolution."
Students weretaughtthattheycouldbestservesocietyby aspiring
to becomespecialists. The educational system was gearedtowardthe
training of expertise.Usingthemeritocratic principle, therewereex-
aminations at eachrungoftheeducational ladderto sortoutwhowas
fittomoveup. The children ofprofessionalsand oftheformer bour-
geoisiecontinued tobefavored underthenewsystem; thesocialreality
ofthefifties contradicted thenewofficial modelofsocialstratification.8
The functional schemawasusedto explainawaythisinconsistency.
The imagesketched forthechildren wasthatOld UnclePeasantgrew
cereal,YoungUncleWorker manufactured steel,YoungUncleSoldier
defended thecountry, and thattheteacherwas theengineer of the
humansoul.The varioussocialgroupsweredepicted as contributing
to thebuildingof socialism in theirown distinct and separate ways.
Each was saidto be necessary foreconomicdevelopment. Therewas
no allusionto differences in thevalueof thecontributions of each.
China'ssocialgroups-described by theiroccupation(not by their
8 JonathanUnger,EducationunderMao: Class and Competition in CantonSchools,
Press,1982), chap. i.
i96-1i980 (New York: ColumbiaUniversity

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 IMAGES OF CHINA'S SOCIAL STRUCTURE 301
relationship to themeansof production) and boundtogether by the
necessity
forthedivision oflabor-represented a horizontal(nothier-
archical)socialrelationship. Theirinteraction wasoneofcooperation,
notofsocialconflict or competition.
The thirdimageofthesocialstructure, a highlydichotomized view
of society,was also inculcated intothemindsof thechildren. Indi-
vidualsand groupswerecategorized as beingeitheramongthe"peo-
ple"or in thecampofthe"enemy," according to theirsupportof or
resistanceto theregime.The "people"includedall thesocialgroups
thatwerenot"enemies";theyweretreated almostas an amorphous
mass,witha sharplinedrawnbetween themand the"enemy" camp.
The children ofgood-andmiddle-class statuscouldtakeitforgranted
thattheywereamongthe"people."In thestorybooks, thevillainsin
theenemy campwerealwaysportrayed as bad-classpeople.In thispic-
tureofclassstruggle, unrelentingvigilance on thepartofthe"people"
was necessary to prevent the"classenemies"fromstaginga counter-
revolution. By creating a dangerous class-enemy, thePartyhopedit
wouldbe easiertorallypopularsupport behindgovernment policies.9
As is truein othercountries, whatthe childrenweretaughtin
schoolsucceededin coloringthe perceptions of mostof the inter-
viewees.10They grewup stereotyping "bad-status"peopleby their
ascriptiveclasscharacteristics.Even thosefewwho triedto evaluate
peopleas individuals wereinfluenced in theirfeelings bythepressure
oftheirpeergroup.
The children alsobelieved in theothertwoimagesofChina'ssocial
structure.
Eventhemiddle-class children fromprofessional households
acceptedwhattheyweretaught aboutthesuperiority oftheproletariat.
Theydidnotdisdainmanuallabor,andremember as "glorious"going
outwiththeirclassmates tohelpthepeasants withthesummer harvests.
Still,whentheycameintocontact withrealpeasants andworkers, they
had difficulty perceiving themas sociallyhigherthanmiddle-class
adults.Moreover, as oneinterviewee recalls,eventhoughhe had writ-
tenin a schoolessaythathe wantedto be a peasant"andtheteacher
had brought thatoutas a goodessay,. . . actually[I thought] being
an engineer was betterthanbeinga peasant;you couldcontribute
more."The children romanticized aboutthegloryofabstract peasants
parallels,see Ossowski(fn. 2), 32, 37.
"For historical
10On the West,see e.g., Fred I. Greenstein, "The BenevolentLeader: Children's
Imagesof PoliticalAuthority," AmericanPoliticalScienceReview,Vol. 54 (December
i960), 934-43;Greenstein, "The Child'sConceptionof theQueen and PrimeMinister,"
Britishjournal of Political Science, iv (July1974), 257-87.

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302 WORLD POLITICS

andworkers; butwiththeemphasis on "studying fortherevolution"

it wasextremely difficult
forthemto believethattheultimate aimof
theireffortsat schoolwas to becomea manuallaborer. If urbanchil-
drenfromworking-class familiesdidaspiretono morethanbecoming
a worker, it was forpragmatic reasons:theirgradeswerenotgood
enough. The meritocratic
principlecontinued to preserve thehigher
socialstatus
ofthemiddleclassandtolimitthechancesandaspirations
ofchildren fromsemi-literate working-classfamilies.
The children encounteredadditionalclassdifferencesin theirdaily
experiences.Formermiddle-class familieshad beenallowedto retain
theirprivate possessions
and family and theycontinued
residences, to
receivea highersalaryfromthesocialist government. Theselingering
differenceswerereflectedin theclothing and spending habitsoftheir
children.Theycouldaffordleathershoes,snacks,toys,and books;
theycouldevenown fountain pens.Theirfamilyenvironment had
taught themtobe moregenteel andtomaintain a socialdistancefrom
the"rough"children oftheworking-class families.The visiblediffer-
encesand socialdistancehelpedto shapetheirown scaleof social
amongdifferent
stratification groupsofchildren, and theirownsense
ofwheretheystoodsocially amongtheirclassmates.'1Bythemid-ig6os,
however, thesenotionshad changed.

THE CHANGING CRITERION FOR UPWARD MOBILITY:

THE EARLY SIXTIES

Duringthefifties,
notmanyworker-peasant children
hadbeencandi-
datesfora university
education.Indeed,so fewyoungpeoplehad had
therequired seniorhighschooltrainingthattheexpanding university
system had too fewqualifiedapplicants, and evenchildrenof bad-
classstatuswereallowedto attenduniversity. Butbytheearlysixties,
therapidexpansion ofmasseducation after Liberation
hadmadeentry
to highereducationalinstitutions
highlycompetitive.Accordingly, as
Mao gainedan upperhandvis-a-vis themodernizers in i963, thegov-
ernment beganto movemorestrongly towardtheredistributive goals
implicitin thegradational
scale.Greaterweightin admissions policies
wasgiventoclasslabelsso as tooffsetthegenerallyinferioracademic
recordsofthechildren ofgood-classworkers andpeasants.Thispolicy
of favoring theformerly exploitedclasseswas knownas the "class
line."Studentsofmiddle-andbad-class statussawtheirchancesbeing
eroded.On theotherhand,thestudents of good-class
statusdid not
11 Chan (fn.6), chap.2.

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 IMAGES OF CHINA'S SOCIAL STRUCTURE 303
see a noticeableexpansionof theiropportunities. By the mid-ig6os,
theuniversities could accommodateonlya relatively smallfractionof
the seniorhigh schoolgraduates:in Cantonin i965, onlysome 20 to
30 percentwere accepted.12 The sense of competitiveness among all
youngpeople sharpened.
Both "expertise"and "redness"were being countedtowardadmis-
siontohighereducation."Expertise"meantacademicexcellence."Red-
ness,"however,was morecomplex.In Chinese,thewordactuallycon-
notestwoverydifferent things.One is thepossession
ofa "revolutionary
nature"by virtueof eitherone's own classstatusor one's father'sclass
status-i.e.,one may be "red" by birth.The othermeaninginvolves
one's own demonstration of "revolutionary"behavior.The issue was
how muchweighteach of thesethreecriteriashouldbe givenin uni-
versityenrollments:(i) "expertise"as shown in examinations;(2)
"redness"by birth;and (3) "redness"as seen in an activistpolitical
recordand membershipin the CommunistYouth League. Different
students naturallywantedtheemphasisplacedupon whichevercriteria
weremostadvantageousto themselves. Four broadlydifferentgroups
can be identified:the studentswere labeled as being of bad-class,
middle-class, and good-class,the latterbeing furthersubdividedinto
thechildrenof cadresas one groupand thoseof workersand peasants
as another.By the eve of the CulturalRevolution,each of thesefour
groupshad developeddifferent formovingup thesociallad-
strategies
der and had begun to developa separateidentityand self-image, as
well as a separateviewof whatitsown socialstandingshouldbe.
Those in the "bad classes" (at the bottomof the scale) constituted
themostdistinctgroup,as outcastes.As theclass line and class educa-
tion were reinforced, theyfaced constantpressurefromCommunist
Youth League membersto criticizeand "draw the line" againsttheir
own parents.Socially,theywere increasingly avoidedby schoolmates
who wereof a betterclassstatus.
As a defenseagainstthisopen discrimination, theyformeda sepa-
ratesubculture, withitsown normsof behavior.Since theyhad little
chanceof joiningtheYouth League,mostof themexhibitedonlythe
modicumof progressive behaviorthathad becomenecessaryto ward
offcriticism.They were "backwardelements,"unassertive, reticent,
carefulin speechand action,passivelycompliantand,veryoften,hard-
workingin theirstudies.Their onlyhope was an academicrecordso

12AnitaChan, StanleyRosen,and JonathanUnger,"Studentsand Class Warfare:

The SocialRootsof theRed GuardConflict
in Guangzhou(Canton)," China Quarter-
ly,No. 83 (Septemberi980), 399.

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304 WORLD POLITICS
outstanding thattheauthorities wouldoverlooktheirbad-class back-
ground. Theycouldnotescapetheritualofdrawing theclasslinewith
theirparents;butin ordertomaintain an innerintegrity,theyhad ar-
rivedat an informal agreement withclassmates who similarly were
A bad-class
outcastes. whowentbeyondtheunwritten
student ritual-
izedlimitsandtrulyexposedhisfather's private was treated
affairs as
a contemptible traitorbyhisbad-class peergroup.Unlikemostofthe
bad-class
others, students wereoften
privately cynical.Theywereaware
oftheinconsistenciesbetween government slogans and they
therealities
faced.Theyunderstood whattheclasslinemeantregarding
perfectly
theirownsituation. The oft-quoted sloganofi965, "Thereis thetheory
ofclassorigins, butdo nottalkmerely aboutclassorigins;emphasize
[political]performance" gavethemlittleencouragement. For them,
onlythefirst wordsof thesloganapplied;therestwas rhetoric. Al-
though theydespised thesystem ofascriptive labelinganddislikedthe
notionofinheritability of"classnature"andthedichotomic imageof
thesocialstructure,theywerethegroupthatmostreadily believedthat
therewas sucha thingas a "classseal":feeling theyhad beenpushed
beyondthepale,theyweremuchmoreconscious oftheirgroupiden-
tityandseparate thantheotherstudent
interests groups.
The middle-class especially
students, thechildrenof professionals,
were,afterthecadres'children, thesystem's favoredgroup.During
thefiftiestheyhad beengranted accessto bothchannelsof upward
mobility-through thePartymachinery and theeducational ladder.
Sincetheydid wellacademically, children fromthisgrouptendedto
dominate thepostsofstudent officersintheprimary schools.Due tothe
influenceoftheirfamily upbringing, theyconstituted themostachieve-
ment-oriented of all thestudent groups.Theygenerally acceptedthe
system andwerecommitted totheideology.
These students pridedthemselves upontheiracademicsuperiority
evenin ideological terms-asbeingvaluablein buildingup thecoun-
try.Theybelievedtheyweregenuinely redand expert:"redin heart,
ifnotredbyblood."Butwiththetightening oftheclassline,middle-
classstudents beganto see theirfavorable position challenged by the
students of good-class origin.As thecompetitive moodmountedin
themid-ig6os, someofthegood-class students deridedthemas "only
expert,notred."They wereaccusedof nothaving"true"classfeelings
manneronly in order to
and of actingin a politicallyenthusiastic
get ahead.
The groupidentity studentswas less strongthan
of themiddle-class
thatof the bad-classstudents.Only when theywere challengedas a

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 IMAGES OF CHINA'S SOCIAL STRUCTURE 305
groupdidtheybegintoseethemselves as such.Theydidnotrepudiate
theParty'spremises,however.Mostofthemrecallthattheyhad been
willingto treattheirbad-classschoolmatesas pariahs,partlyunder
butpartly
socialpressure, becausetheyactually believedthatmembers
oftheoutcaste groupmightharbor"classhatred." At thesametime,
however, theywereunwilling to acceptthatthegood-class students
weremore"revolutionary"thantheythemselves were.Theypreferred
thesimpledichotomic modelofstruggle against"enemies,"in which
theycouldclaimtobe as righteouslyon thesideoftheangelsas any-
one.TheyagreedwiththeParty's notionthattheworkers' and peas-
felta deepgratitude
ants'children totheParty;buttheycouldration-
alize thattherevolutionary
fervor of thesestudentswas of a lesser
orderthantheirown.One ofthemrecalledthat:
FromwhatI couldsee,thosepeoplewhoweresaidtohaveclassfeelings
and deepgratitude to thePartyand ChairmanMao actuallywerejust
manifesting theselfishness
ofman.It was thefeeling thatsomething or
someonehasbeengoodto me,so I'm nowgoodto him.Yes,thatwas
howI saw it,thatit was a kindofselfishness.
On thecontrary, though
it couldbe saidtheCommunist Partyhad notbeenbeneficial to me in
anyparticular way,in my heartI knewI understood it evenmore,
betterthanthosepeople.Mine was not theirkindof narrow-minded
emotive Minewas at therational
infatuation. level.I eventhought that
whenthecritical moment came,ah,seewhocouldbe moreloyalto the
Party.Minedid notinvolverepaying whatyouhad doneforme.
Buttheworkers' andpeasants'children werenotthechiefcompeti-
torsofthemiddle-class students;thecadres'childrenwere.The class
linepoliciesof themid-sixties,intended byMao and otherleadersto
favorthedisadvantaged workers'and peasants' insteadwere
children,
benefiting mostly thecadres'children.Reddestbybirth, theyhad the
easiestaccessto thebetter highschoolsand universities.Bankingon
their"political capital,"
mostofthemhadeasilybecomeeven"redder"
byjoiningtheYouthLeague.
The privileged accessofthecadres'childrentobothmobility ladders
wasregarded withenvybyall othergroups.Butitwasthechildren of
themiddle-class whoconsidered
intelligentsia thenewrecruitment by
classlinetobe mostdisconcerting andunfair.Thesestudents despised
thosewhorosetothetopmerely byascriptivecriteria,
without having
toshowtalentorhavingtomakea personal effort.
Moreover,theysaw
littleof a "revolutionary nature"in thecadres'children.The latter's
sheltered, softlifestyle
seemedto contradict theofficial
imageof pro-
letariansimplicity andrevolutionary sacrifice:
manyofthemhadtheir
ownbicycles, and a fewevencameto schoolin chauffeured cars.

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306 WORLD POLITICS
Feelingthatthe cadres'childrendid not warrantany greatrespect,
and recognizinghow farmostof the workers'and peasants'children
lagged behind in academic qualifications, many of the middle-class
professionals' childrenbelievedthattheywerethemostqualifiedto be-
come "revolutionary successors"-thatis, to hold the positionsof re-
sponsibility and trustin the nextgeneration.This ambitionwas not
explicitlyarticulatedbeforethe outbreakof the CulturalRevolution,
butprivately someof themwereanxiousforChina to rejecttheofficial
gradationalschemawhichsinceabouti963 had progressively been en-
croachingupon theirchancesforelevation.
The more ambitiousof the workers'and peasants'childrenknew
theycould not hope to competewiththebrightest of themiddle-class
professionals' childrenin the academicarena. But theycould expect
to achievean equivalentsocialstatusat schoolby claimsto a superior
"naturalredness."Naturally,theywelcomed "redness"superseding
"expertise" in recruitment policiesforhighereducationand the Com-
munistYouth League. Yet, when theywere matchedup againstthe
cadres'children,theyalwayscame offone notchlower: theirparents
were merelyrecipientsof the revolution,not its originators. By the
gradationalscale thattheythemselvessupported, theywere less "rev-
olutionary"in naturethan the childrenof the cadres.Thus, these
workers'and peasants'childrenharboredresentment bothagainstthe
middle-class professionals'childrenfortheiracademicsuperiority and
againstthecadres'childrenfortheirsuccessful presumption of political
superiority. But theywereless ambitiousthanthemiddle-class profes-
sionals'childrenin challengingthecadres'children.The onlystudents
over whom theycould safelyclaim superiority were theirbad-class
schoolmates. We shall laterobserve how they played upon thesepre-
sumptionsof superiority in the earlymonthsof the CulturalRevolu-
tion.
The childrenof thecadres-especiallythehigh-levelones-staunch-
lyand unquestioningly heldtothegovernment's gradationalscale.They
deviatedfromthe officialline only in theireagernessto rigidifythe
gradational classboundaries. Theythoughttheyweresuperiorto others
in all respectsbutone-they did notdo as well in theirstudiesas their
middle-classprofessionaland bad-classschoolmates.For this,there
wereat leasttwo reasons:first, due to the classline policies,theyhad
been able to enterschoolsthatnormallywould have rejectedthemon
academicgrounds,and theythusalmostalwaysfoundthemselvesin
thebottomhalfof theirclass; and second,sincetheiropportunities of
gettingahead were assured,theyhad less incentiveto study.But they

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 IMAGES OF CHINA'S SOCIAL STRUCTURE 307
resentedbeingoutperformed academically by sonsand daughters of
classenemiesandtheformer petitebourgeoisie.Ventingtheirfrustra-
tion,theywereamongthefirstto call middle-class students"white
experts,"
discounting academicexcellence as a qualification
forhigher
education.
Of whatgoodto therevolution, afterall, wereunreliable
"whiteexperts"? At thesametime,theypatronized worker-peasant
classmates
whose"natural redness"wasbydefinition ofa lowerorder
thantheirown.Someof themevenfeltlessneedand inclination to
exhibitpoliticalenthusiasm.Theyknewtheywouldstillbe sought
afterbyYouthLeaguebranches eagerto accommodate theclassline,
andthattheywereboundtoreceive highgradesin politics courses.As
one interviewee cynically
remarked, "it wouldbe too embarrassing
otherwise."
Butmostof theotherstudents, in orderto justify theirclaimsto
had to vie,eachin theirownway,to provetheir"revolu-
legitimacy,
tionaryproletariannature."
The middle-class studentsin particular
had
tomakeup fortheirinnatedeficiency in "naturalredness" bybecom-
ingespecially
"red"through political
performance. Amongthisgroup,
wecanfindthegreatest innerurgetobecome"proletarianized" bycon-
forming to Partyteachings. One politically veryactiveinterviewee
graphically
described theclasshatredshetriedto forceuponherself:
I triedto cultivatein myself
thefeelingsofthepoorand lower-middle
peasants.The conflictbetween the[former]poorandexploited peasants
and the [former] landlords' reallywas a deep-rooted
interests conflict,
a matter of lifeand death.Thoserichand powerful landlordsarenow
powerless and thepoorpeasants havetakentheirplace.Theystandop-
posedto eachother,and we haveto standon thesideof the[former]
poorandthosewhosuffered. So we areenemiesoftheformer landlords.
The classenemiesareboundto hateus. I shunnedthesepeople.I took
fierce.. . . I dared not talkto themin case I got mud-
themas horrible,
dledup. I musthatethem,otherwise
I mightmakea slip,losemypro-
letarian
feelings.
Againandagain,interviewees
related thefrustrationoftrying without
realsuccess
toadoptthefeelings
ofanother classoranother generation,
in an attempt
to imitate
a feelingthatwas a product of a pastsocial
reality.
For someof thesestudents,
theeffort to forcethemselves intothe
expectedrighteousmoldinvolveda threattotheirownintegrity; after
all,mixedin withthesincerityof theeffort was usuallytheulterior
motiveofgetting aheadby"proving" themselves.A middle-class stu-
dentmadethefollowing observationof hismiddle-class schoolmates
who felttheneedto provetheir"proletarianism" by sobbingaloud

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308 WORLD POLITICS
whenold pre-Liberation workers wereinvitedinto
and poorpeasants
The ideawas foryoungpeoplewho
theschoolsto "recallbitterness."
had notlivedthrough to havea chanceto em-
theyearsof suffering
pathizewiththepreviously exploited:
WhenI heardtheseold peasantstalkI was verymovedbecauseI had
It wasthenthatI realized:wow,thepeasants
neverheardofthatbefore.
had suchhardships before.And I realizedhow luckywe were.But
whensomeofthegirlsburstoutcrying, I founditcomical.The teachers
praisedthemforhavingclassfeeling! Thosegirlswerelikethat:ifone
didit,therestwouldfollow.It waslikea fad,as ifthemoreandlouder
youcried,themoreclassfeelingyouhad.
Laterwe werenumbed[bytherepetitiveness]. We knewwe couldn't
joke,grin,or lookaroundwhenthesessionwas goingon. We had to
putdownourheads,pretending, as if we werethinking. Whenthose
girlswailedwe founditobnoxious, becausewe weren't at all reallysad
and had to lowerourheads,and theretheywerecrying away!
and disdainof good-
Such forcedbehavioronlyfed the suspicions
whose"naturalredness"obviatedany need to prove
classstudents
wheretheystood.
TOWARD THE ESTABLISHMENT OF AN ESTATE SOCIAL SYSTEM

characterize
Severalfeatures (i) theclosednature
an estatesystem:
ofa gradation designed
ofsocialgroupings bylaw: (2) thehereditary
natureof social status;(3) extremerestrictionson mobilityacrossso-
cial-groupboundaries(thoughtheseare not as impermeableas caste
boundaries);and (4) the priesthoodas one channelof upward mo-
bilityopentoall estates.'3
The groundworkforan estatesystemhad alreadybeen laid in the
fifties. designationof classstatuslabelsand theinheritabil-
The official
ityoftheselabels (in themale line) werein keepingwiththefirsttwo
of the estatestructure.
characteristics Beginningin the sixties,more-
over,themeritocratic principlebegan to be displacedby the ascriptive
characteristic
of "naturalredness."
The top Partyechelonwas internally dividedoverthislattertrend.
The modernizers, representedby Liu Shaoqi,werelesswilling,forthe
sake of expeditingChina's economic development,to press for a
thoroughredistribution of statusand opportunities thatwould favor
the good classes.Though they,too, were insistentupon drawinga
sharpcleavagebetweenthe "people" and the "enemies,"pushingthe
13Ossowski(fn. 2), 63-68;OliverCromwellCox, Caste,Class and Race (New York:
MonthlyReviewPress,I959), 140-46; G. S. Ghurye:Casteand Class in India, 2d ed.
(Bombay:PopularPress,I957), 269-72.

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 IMAGES OF CHINA'S SOCIAL STRUCTURE 309
bad-classstudents outofthecompetition, theirpolicywouldhavepre-
servedthechancesofthestudents fromtheformer professionalmid-
dleclasses.Mao Zedong,on theotherhand,advocated placinggreater
importance uponredness(in bothsensesof theterm)as thecriteria
forindividual mobility. He wanteda stronger classline.Werethisto
be adheredto in accessto highereducation, as was urgedin Mao's
namein themid-ig6os, Chinawouldgravitate intoan estate-likesocial
system. In time,socialstratification inChinesesociety wouldbe molded
intotheshapeof theofficial stratification
schema.Upwardmobility
acrossthestratawouldbe closedoffsaveforone channel.
In an estatesystem, thepriesthood provides thebestopportunity for
thelowerclassesto moveup thesocialladder.In China,theeliteor-
ganizations suchas theCommunist YouthLeagueandtheCommunist
Partyservedthefunction of a politicalpriesthood.In bothcases,the
institutionsweredevoted topropagating a creedthatgavesupport and
legitimacy to therulingelite.Theyassuredforthosein powera sys-
tematic waytorecruit staunch supportersofthesystem fromall levels
The
ofsociety. criterion forrecruitment was ability acceptance
and of
orthodoxy and theordersof superiors. In China,thepolicyof giving
consideration to "performance" wasaimedat openingtheeliteorgan-
izationstodeserving peoplethatwerenotofthegoodclasses-evento
thoseof bad-class origin.
The assumption thata "red"politicalperformance couldoutweigh
classoriginslaywiththeChineseconception of "proletariannature."
As BenjaminSchwartz haspointedout,bythetimeMarxism was re-
interpreted witha Maoistslant,the meaningof "proletarian" had
changed. "WithMarx,theconcept oftheproletariat embraces twoes-
sentialcomponents. Itreferstoa specific socioeconomic classconceived
of as socialbearerof certaintranscendental, messianic tasks,and it
refersto thesyndrome and virtues and qualitieswhichcharacterize
thisclass."'4BythetimeofLenin,thephrasehad altered in meaning:
theCommunist Partyembodiedall thetranscendental qualitiesthat
Marxattributed to the proletariat. WithMao, the proletarian con-
sciousness andvirtues became"entirely divorced fromtheirpresumed
classmoorings." The concepthad pickedup a populiststrain;people
fromall classescouldcometo possess"proletarian consciousness"15
bypracticing the"proletarian virtues":
frugality,poverty, self-abnega-
tion,self-cultivation, patriotism, and obedienceto the Party.These
14 Schwartz,Communism and China: Ideologyin Flux (Cambridge:HarvardUni-
versityPress,i968), I4.
15 Ibid.,i6.

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310 WORLD POLITICS
class,and bore littlerelation-
actuallytranscended
personalattributes
shiptothenature class."
ofa "proletarian
of proletarian
It was basedon thisMaoistinterpretation conscious-
nessthatpeopleofnon-good classorigincouldstillclingto hopesof
advancement. Evenin a climateofrapidsocialclosure, it gavethem
an outletthroughwhichtocompete withthose possessinginnatered-
ness.In theyearsimmediately priorto theCulturalRevolution, the
twodifferent of"redness"
interpretations cameintoincreasingly sharp
DuringtheCultural
conflict. themiddle-class
Revolution, and
students
thecadres'childrenwouldbe openlychallenging eachothers'interpre-
tations.

THE FIGHT OVER SOCIAL IMAGES:

THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION

Socialdevelopment does notalwaysevolveas mappedout in the

blueprints In theyearsleadingup to i966,differ-
ofhumanengineers.
ent typesof groupconsciousness and intergroup had
relationships
emergedindependently design.Duringthe two
of the authorities'
years oftheCultural thesealready
Revolution, flared
tenserelationships
up in openconfrontation.
Throughout theprocess,a newimageofthe
socialstructure whichwasdifferent
developed, fromthatoftheauthor-
itiesandfromMao's;intheend,itwasarticulatedas heterodoxpolitical
theory. thedynamics
In ordertounderstand behindtheemergence of
thisnewindependent conception we
of China'ssocialstructure, shall
haveto breakdownthechronology of theCulturalRevolution into
threeperiods.
STAGE ONE: THE AUTHORITIES DICHOTOMIC IMAGE PREDOMINATES

(Fromthebeginning oftheCulturalRevolution in May i966 to the

withdrawaloftheCultural Revolutionwork-teams fromtheschoolsin
earlyAugusti966.)
WhenMao gavethestudents thegreenlightin latespringofi966 to
attack"bourgeois he openeda Pandora'sbox.
academicauthorities,"
Havinginternalizedthedichotomicimage,thestudentsconverted their
subconscious,
conscious, personal,group,genuine, or imag-
fabricated,
and frustrations
ined grievances of previousmonthsintoa frenetic
searchforMao'shiddenenemies amongtheteachers. Theydenounced
and abusedvariousteachers fortheir"blackhistories" and alleged
In JuneI966,CulturalRevolution
"blackutterances." work-teams un-
direction
derLiu Shaoqi's were sentintotheschoolsto stopthechaos.

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 IMAGES OF CHINA'S SOCIAL STRUCTURE 311

The work-teams proceeded tonarrow thetargets ofattacktoonlythose

teacherswho werefromthe"five[bad-class]category elements." In
someschools, thework-teams setup "cowsheds" where these "ghosts
and demons"wereimprisoned, systematically maltreated,and even
beaten.
To keeptheCulturalRevolution safelywithinthetracksofa "class
struggle"crusade,thework-teams alsoembarked on a courseofaction
thathad neverbeforebeenofficially advocated in China'sclassrooms:
theyopenlyevaluated thestudents' reliability
political almostsolelyin
terms The exercise
oftheirclassstatus. wasintended to givethegood-
classstudentsthepowerto lead theirfellowsduringthegreatcam-
paign.16 of"performance"
The criterion wasalmostcompletely ignored.
The work-teams wereimplementing policiesthatthegood-class stu-
dentshadlongwantedtoseeestablished.
However, afterabouta month, in lateJuly, Mao ordered thework-
teamstowithdraw fromtheschools, accusingthemofseeking to stifle
theCulturalRevolution bydiverting the"spearhead downward." But
Mao wasin no wayopposedon generalprinciples to thiscampaign of
Party-sponsored"classstruggle."The Maoistsand theParty modern-
izersalikehad no qualmsaboutmaintaining "classstruggle" against
the five-categoryelements as deadlyclassenemies.Bothsideswere
readytoemphasize orde-emphasize theintensity ofthis"classstruggle"
according expediencies
tothepolitical ofthemoment.
STAGE TWO: THE BLOOD-LINE THEORY-THE FOUNDATION OF A NEW
CASTE SYSTEM

(Fromthewithdrawal ofthework-teams fromtheschoolsthroughthe

RedTerrorofSeptember/October i966.)
Neitherofthetwopowerelites, noteventheMaoists, wanteda com-
pletelyclosedsocialsystem.Butthesituation in theschoolsquickly
movedintoandbeyondtheestatesystem. The work-teamshadleftthe
good-class in control
students of the schools;Mao thatposi-
endorsed
tion;andthecadres'children,emboldened bythisturnofevents,were
soonopenlyasserting theirtotalclaimto power,prestige, and oppor-
Theyformed
tunity. RedGuardgroupstoreplacethenow-discredited
YouthLeague,which,according to them,was infested withimpure
16The work-teams' actionsweresimilarto what had been done not so long ago in
the Chinesecountryside in the Four Cleanupscampaign.In additionto "cleansing"
ruralcorruption,thework-teams and categorizedthepeasants'class
had reinvestigated
backgrounds. The Poor and Lower-middle PeasantsAssociationhad been revivedto
power,and status.
give the good-classpeasantsmore self-identity,

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312 WORLD POLITICS

classelements. of
The Red Guardgroupswereto consistexclusively
headedbycadres'children.
students,
good-class
"blood-line
adopteda so-called
The cadres'children which
theory,"
wassuccinctly in theserhythmic
contained lines:
a hero,theson'sa greatfellow.
If thefather's
theson'sa rotten
reactionary,
If thefather's egg.
theson'sa fence-straddler.17
nondescript,
If thefather's
Previously,no matterhow theassumption of an inherited "revolu-
tionarynature"was interpreted,theargument restedon thetenetof
parental The newblood-line
socialinfluence. theory transformed and
thenotionof"revolutionary
rigidified nature"byrulingoutthepos-
ofattaining
sibility revolutionaryvirtue bypoliticalactivism and cor-
Only"red"bloodinone'sveinswasnowtobe recognized.
rectattitude.
the cadres'childrenwereredrawing
Essentially, the main line of
cleavagein societyby placingthesharpest socialboundary between
thegoodclassesandtherestofthesocialgroups. Theythereby expected
to reducethenumberof peoplein society entitled to sharein social
and,mostimportantly,
privileges to disqualify theirchiefcompetitors,
theachievement-orientedprofessionals'children. The cadres'children
could narrowevenfurther thenumberof peopleentitled to claim
privilegesby relegatingthe workers'and peasants' children to the
bottomof thegood-class scale.In essence,theywereattempting to
builda caste-like basedon hereditary
structure principles.
They aggressively assertedtheirclaimsby turningdramatically
againstthebad-class Someof themproposedthatbad-class
students.
studentsbe separated fromthebetter
physically classes,as in a system
ofracialsegregation.18
Studentsat onehighschoolin Beijingwentso
faras to advocatepoliciesnotdissimilar to theapartheid policiesin
SouthAfrica-e.g., todenytopeopleofbad-class statusandtheirchil-
drenmanyofthepublicservices enjoyedbygood-class people,and to
drivemanyofthemoutofthecapital into the countryside.19
Withthepowersof theschoolauthorities crippledand thework-
teamsgone,thehigh-level cadres'children frenziedly launchedwhat
17 A new term,"fivered type,"was coinedand counterposed againstthe "five[bad-
class] categoryelements," whichwas furtherextendedto "sevenblack elements."An
interviewee reportedthatin one cityyetanothertermemerged:the "fiveyellowele-
ments,"whichincludedthegroupsof middle-class status.
18The blood-linetheory,indeed,was laterattackedby a group of non-goodclass
studentsas a "new racisttheory."High School Revolutionary News (February2,
I967, p. 3), trans.in GordonWhite,The Politicsof Class and Class Origin:The Case
ofthe CulturalRevolution(Canberra:Contemporary China CentrePapers,No. 9,
I976), 7-93.
19 Ibid.,45-46.

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 IMAGES OF CHINA'S SOCIAL STRUCTURE 313
theythemselves calledtheRedTerror. Good-class wentabout
children
humiliating and physically assaulting thebad-class"ghostsand de-
mons"amongtheirclassmates and in theneighborhoods neartheir
schools.The bad-class studentswereof courseterrified,and oncethe
stormof theRed Terrorsubsidedtheystayedhomeembittered. The
furtherawaytheykeptfromthevortex ofaction,thesafertheyfelt.
The reaction ofthemiddle-class statusstudentswas different.They
had beenthemostambitious and achievement-oriented of all young
people.Theyresented thesecond-class socialpositiontheywerethrust
intobytheir erstwhilecompetitors atschool.Theywerecowed,butonly
momentarily.
Theirchanceto takematters intotheirownhandscamein October
i966, whenMao and his topfollowers in theleadershippublicly re-
drewthepremises of theCulturalRevolution. Mao's spokesmen de-
nouncedtheblood-line theory, pointedto thethreatposedby "the
handful ofpower-holders in thePartytakingthecapitalist road,"and
invitedall studentstoparticipate in topplingthemfromtheirthrone.20
The middle-class students responded enthusiastically.
STAGE THREE: THE EMERGENCE OF NEW DICHOTOMIC MODELS

(Fromtheemergence of theRebelRed Guardsat theend of i966

through mid-i968,whenMao putan endtotheCulturalRevolution.)
The middle-classstudentshad alwaysconsidered themselvesas part
ofthe"masses,"butonlyin vagueterms, andmainlyin contradistinc-
tionto the"classenemies."However,as theynow definedtheterm,
the"masses"wereall thoseordinary peoplewhohad beenbestowed
byMao withthepowertochallenge authoritieswhowere"takingthe
road."Justas theblood-line
capitalist theoryhad giventhe cadres'
childrena claimto absoluteinnatesuperiority, so the middle-class
studentsupgraded thesuperiorityofthemasses.Armedwiththiscon-
theysetup "Rebel"RedGuardgroupstochallenge
viction, theParty's
andtheauthority
powers-that-be ofthealready existing
good-classRed
Guards.Thus,twocampsofRedGuardsemerged: theRebelsandthe
Loyalists.
WhatMao had unleashedcouldnotbe so easilyreinedin again.
Fightingbetween thetwofactions lastedforalmosttwoyearsbefore it
wasforciblybrought toan end.As hasbeendemonstrated elsewhere,it
was "classwarfare"-with themiddle-class studentsalmostsolidlyon
oneside,thecadres'childrenontheother, andtheworker-peasant chil-
20 See, forexample,Lin Biao's NationalDay speechof Octoberi, i966, and an edi-
torialin Red Flag, October3, I966.

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314 WORLD POLITICS
TABLE 2
FACTIONAL AFFILIATION OF CANTON HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS
IN THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION

No. of Rebel Loyalist Non-par-

"Class" origin students Red Guards Red Guards ticipants
Revolutionary cadre 285 I9% 73% 8%
Working class 537 34% 40%/O 26%
Non-intelligentsia
middle class 302 40% Io% 50?/?
Intelligentsia
middleclass 664 6i% 7% 32%
Bad class 399 36% 4% 60%
Source: Questionnaireresponsescovering50 classrooms;z'ide Chan, Rosen, and
Unger (fn. I2), 440.

drendividedbetweenthe two groups.2' The LoyalistRed Guards,as

beneficiaries
of the status quo, were fightingforthe existingpolitical
structure,
in manycases defendingtheirown fathers.The Rebel Red
Guards,alignedwithothersocial groupsthathad grievancesagainst
thesystem, wereintentupon promoting changes.
The socialstructure thatthecadres'childrenhad aspiredto erecthad
been clear to themselvesand others.That was not the case with the
middle-classstudentrebels.They had not formulated a clear concep-
tionof whattheywanted;nordid theyevenhave a perceptive under-
standingof theexistingstructure. But,as an interviewee
who had been
deputycommanderofCanton'shighschoolRebelRed Guardsasserted,

It's truethatsomeRebelRed Guardsdidn'thavea veryclearor ideal

scenarioof the futuresociety.... But at least theyidentifiedwith the
fate of the whole revolutionary movement.It wasn't "unprincipled
sectarianism"[as Mao was laterto claim].2 It was actuallysomething
not much differentfromidentifying withone's own class.
21 The workers' and peasants'childrenhad once morebeen placed in an anomalous
positionin the firstfew monthsof the CulturalRevolution.They wantedgood-class
statusto be the foremost criterionforadvancement and esteem,but theyhad am-ibi-
valentfeelingsabout the efforts of the cadres'childrento base social and political
standingentirelyupon the gradationalscale. On the basis of "class,"theyhad been
relegatedto thebottomof the Red Guardorganization at manyof theschools.When
thesecondcampofRedGuardsemerged, manyoftheseworker-peasant studentsdefected
to the Rebel Red Guardsbut retainedtheirown good-classcombatunits.See Clhan,
Rosen,and Unger(fn. I2), 435.
22Mao Zedong Sixiang Wansui [Long Live the Thoughtof Mao Zedong] (Party
document, i969), 68i.

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 IMAGES OF CHINA'S SOCIAL STRUCTURE 315
In retrospect,he had touchedon an important point:without con-
sciouslyrealizingit,theRebelswereactually fighting fortheirgroup
Butnotuntiltheimportant
interest. RebelRedGuardarticle "Whither
China?" circulated throughout thecountry attheendofi967 didsome
ofthemplacetheir"enemies" and theirownsocialsituation in a co-
herent framework: a newimageofthesocialstructure. The articleas-
sertedthattherehad emergedin Chinaa "bureaucratic stratum," a
new"privileged stratum,"a stratum of"redcapitalists."23The cleavage
of theantagonistic contradiction in societywas shifted fromone be-
tweenthe"people"andthe"classenemies" toonebetween the"masses"
andthisnew"privileged stratum." But,forMao and theMaoistelite,
thisinterpretationofChinesesociety wastoodangerous tobe allowed
totakeroot.In veryshortorder,thearticlewas condemned as "ultra-
and itsauthors
leftist" werearrested.
It hasbeenarguedbysomeChinaspecialists that,bythemid-ig6os,
Mao had formulated a newimageof China'ssociopolitical structure:
thathe no longersawtheantagonistic contradictionin Chinesesociety
as lyingbetween the"people"and theformer exploitativeclasses,but
ratherbetweenthe"people"and a "new bourgeoisie"-aprivileged
stratum
political-bureaucratic equivalent to Djilas's"NewClass."24 But
thatseemsnotto havebeenthecase: Mao retained thedichotomic
premises he had formulated in "Correct Handlingof Contradictions
AmongthePeople"in I957. Afteri962, he actuallysharpened the
antagonistic cleavageby advocating a stricterclassline.Throughout
theCultural Revolution hedidnotrelinquish thisview;theterm"new
bourgeoisie" was notofficially usedin i966-i968. The pejorative term,
"a handfulof power-holders in thePartytakingthecapitalist road"
carriedlittleofthemeaning of"NewClass,"whichconnotes a sizable
privilegedgroupwiththepowerto perpetuate itselfin a socialist so-
ciety.Mao'sterm, on theotherhand,was coinedto discredit political
opponents whohelda different visionofhowto steerthecountry on
theroadto socialism. "Capitalist roaders"effectively conjuredup the
imageof a retrograde non-socialist enemygroup;thecarefully con-
trivedidea of "a handful"connoted theisolated, arbitrary,transient,
23 A translation appearsin Klaus Mehnert,Peking and the New Left: At Home
and Abroad (Berkeley,Calif.:Centerof ChineseStudies,China ResearchMonograph
No. 4, I969).
RichardKraus, "Class Conflictand the Vocabularyof Social
24 See, for instance,
Analysisin China,"ChinaQuarterly, No. 69 (MarchI977), 67. Djilas definestheNew
Class as "made up of thosewho have specialprivilegesand economicpreference be-
cause of the administrative monopolytheyhold." Milovan Djilas, The New Class
(New York: Praeger,1957), 39.

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316 WORLD POLITICS

and noninstitutionalized natureof thesetraitors to the revolution.

The factthatthe "capitalist roaders"wereso fewin number, and
aboveall, insidetheParty,ruledout the possibility thattheycon-
stituteda classor stratum.25Indeed,in restrictingthenumber of"cap-
italistroaders," Mao lentcredence to his own widelyquotedcatch-
phrasethat"mostofthecadresaregoodor relatively good."
Certainly one of Mao's manypurposesin launchingthe Cultural
Revolution wastoraisepeople'sconsciousness againstthebureaucratic
work-style ofauthorities at all levelsofthebureaucracy. ButtheCul-
turalRevolution in thissensewasno morethananother ofthosecadre
rectificationcampaigns thathaveperiodically shakenpost-Liberation
China.The difference was one of magnitude. This time,thewhole
younger generation becameinvolvedin givingthebureaucracy a gi-
ganticshake-up-andin defeating Mao's politicalopponents.These
new "enemy"bureaucrats werethoseamongthePartyelitewhose
policies were lessredistributive,morefavorable to theformer middle
classes,and morerelianton materialincentives thanMao's policies
had been.
Withthedefeatofsuchleaders, theCulturalRevolution was ended
bythelaunching, in latesummer of i968,of a fiercecampaign:"the
Cleansing oftheClassRanksmovement." The authoritiesonceagain
stressed theantagonistic contradictionbetweenthe"people"and the
bad-class "classenemies." In theschools, thebad-classteachersbecame
targets of"struggle sessions"
onceagain;theCulturalRevolution had
comefullcircle.ManyRebelRedGuardleaderswereimprisoned, and
therankand filesentto settlein thecountryside. The contradictions
amongthedifferent socialgroupsofyoungpeoplewerethusforcibly
submerged.

VICTORY OF AN ESTATE SOCIAL SYSTEM

Withthedefeat oftheRebelRedGuardsandthePartymodernizers,
Mao and his followers implemented radicalchangesto transform
Chinesesocialvaluesand China'ssocialstructure.
To citejustone ex-
ample,academicqualifications
no longercountedin university
recruit-
ments.Whatever theresultof theMaoists'newendeavors
theintent,
was an estate-like
system.In practice,
good-classstatusheavilyout-
25 In a discussionwith top Partyleaders in i964 on how to rectify the wide-
spreadcorruption of cadresin the ruralParty,Mao had declared:"The Communist
one. Don't bringup anyidea of a stratum.... This will frighten
Partyis a prestigious
and offendtoo manypeople.. . . It's enoughjust to call them[isolated]elementsor
cliques."Mao Zedong SixiangWansui(fn. 22), 582-83.

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 IMAGES OF CHINA'S SOCIAL STRUCTURE 317

weighedpoliticalperformance once upwardmobilitybecameofficially

restricted to the criterionof "redness."Hierarchicdifferentiation by
classlabel becamemoredistinctthanin the mid-sixties; the social sys-
tembecamemoreclosedthan everbefore.
But the workers'and peasants'childrenwere not necessarilythe
beneficiaries of thesenew policies.In the sixties,the class line had
givenonlythebrighter of thecadres'childreneasieraccessto theuni-
versities;in the seventies, with the eliminationof entranceexamina-
tions,itbecamean open secretthat,"throughtheback door,"cadresat
all levelswereusingtheirpoliticalinfluenceand socialcontactsto get
theirchildrenoutofthecountryside and intotheuniversitiesunderthe
euphemistic titleof "worker-peasant-soldierstudents.""Ironically, the
cadres'childrenwere now literallybeingfavoredin the name of the
workersand peasants.
During thesesame years,the middle-classyouthswere perturbed
becausethe intelligentsia (includingsome of theirparents)were of-
ficiallydisparagedand theirstatusand securityjeopardized.In the
sixties,the "red" apparatchiki had alreadybeen gaining the upper
hand over the "experts";by the seventies,theywere exercisingan
"all-rounddictatorship overthebourgeoisie." The middle-class youths
believedthata returnto an emphasison expertiseand an end to the
disdainof intellectualswereessentialto solvingthecountry's mounting
economicdifficulties. More thanever,theproblemsseemedto lie with
the"red"politicalelite.
At thesametime,thedichotomic imageof "classenemies"no longer
seemedaxiomatictothemiddle-class Theyhad neveraccepted
students.
the inheritability of class attitudeswhen applied to themselves;but
throughout the CulturalRevolutionmostof themhad been perfectly
willingto harborsuspicionsregardingpeopleof bad-classstatus.How-
ever,now thatmostof theRebel Red Guardshad been shippedout to
the countryside, manyof themrealizedthatthe rural"four-category
elements"27 had been so "tamed"in the past two decades thatthere
was no possibility of theirparticipatingin counterrevolution.Some of
the youngpeople began to argue thatthe rulingelitewas using the
conceptof "class"to divertattention fromitsown privilegedposition.
As one interviewee said,"By theveryend we jumpedout of theframe
26The mostfamouspublishedexposeof thissituationwas the extraordinary con-
fessionof a high-level cadre'sson,ZhongZhimin,publishedin People'sDaily,January
29, I974, p. I.
27 In the countryside, thereare only
because thereare no "rightist"intellectuals,
four-category notfive.
elements,

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318 WORLD POLITICS
of mindas to whether thereshouldbe a classlineor not.We ques-
tionedthewholesystem."
Increasing numbers of theseformer RebelRed Guardsperceived
Chinabroadlyin thetermslaid outbythe"Whither China?"mani-
festoof the CulturalRevolution-asa predominantly dichotomic
schemain whichthecleavagebetweenthe "masses"and the "new
aristocracy"wasa powerrelationship: thosewithout poweras opposed
to thosewithpower.They considered the differences amongthe
"masses"to be of secondary The foremost
importance. necessity was
tocheckthepolitical elite'sabuseofpower:a "newprivileged stratum"
ofPartypeoplewastranslating powerintoillegitimate perquisitesand
an undulyprosperous lifestyleandwasperpetuating itsprivileged posi-
tionbyusing"backdoor"influence to advanceitschildren intothe
nextgeneration ofpowerwielders.
The youngpeople'sconception ofa "newprivileged stratum" super-
resembled
ficially thatofthe"newbourgeois elements"28 described by
Mao'sproteges Yao Wenyuanand ZhangChunqiao(two of theso-
calledGangofFour) in twowidelycirculated essaysof i975.29Yao in
particulararguedthat"newbourgeois elements" emergedultimately
froman inegalitarian system ofincomedistribution.If thepossibilities
foracquiringwealthand specialperquisites werenot restricted, "a
small numberof people"inevitably would appropriate increasing
amountsof materialgoods,turning"publicproperty into private
property."
a smallnumber
As a result, ofnewbourgeois elements andupstarts
whohavetotally betrayed theproletariat
andthelaboring peoplewill
emerge from amongParty members,
workers,well-to-do peasantsand
personnelin stateorgans.30
In otherwords,in Yao Wenyuan's these"newbourgeois
conception,
elements"werenota resultofuncheckedpower,as wasassertedbythe
former RebelRed Guards.Yao Wenyuanand ZhangChunqiaodid
notargue,moreover, thata "newprivilegedstratum" had arisen.In
a way similarto Mao's deliberate limitto thenumberof
rhetorical
28 Mao had referredto thetermin an offhand mannerin i963. The termresurfaced
in Lin Biao's reportto theParty'sNinthNationalCongressin i969. (PekingReview,
No. i [April30, i969], I7). Again it was onlymentionedin passing,containedin a
quote fromLenin: "The new bourgeoisie[is] arisingfromamongour Sovietgovern-
mentemployees." It nextreappearedin an editorialin People'sDaily on February9,
I975, and again on February 2I, I975.
29 Yao Wenyuan,"On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique," Peking
Review,No. io (March 7, I975), 5-Io; and Zhang Chunqiao, "On ExercisingAll-
roundDictatorship overtheBourgeoisie,"PekingReview,No. I4 (April4, I975), 5-IL.
30 Yao Wenyuan(fn.29), 6.

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 IMAGES OF CHINA'S SOCIAL STRUCTURE 319
"capitalistroaders,"Yao and Zhangcarefully and frequentlytacked
thequalifiers "elements"and"a smallnumber" ontothephrase"new
bourgeois," in orderto ensurethattheimagedid nothavethecon-
notation ofa self-perpetuatingclassorstratum. Theirlistof"newbour-
geoiselements" includedall thoseworkers, peasants,and white-collar
staffwhosetake-home payor private ruralincomeswerecomfortably
aboveaverage. ByYao andZhang'sstandards, ifanysinglegroupwas
to blamefortoowidea spreadin incomes, it was theirpoliticalop-
ponents who advocated policiesof economic liberalization.
The former Rebels,on theotherhand,werelessconcerned with
existing wagedifferences thanwiththeunequaldistribution ofpower
and privilege. Theyfeltthattheworstabusersof powerwerethose
leaderswho pushedpoliticalcontrols and political"struggle"cam-
paignsthehardest-inshort, precisely thefaction nowknownpejora-
tivelyas theGang of Four.In discussions amongthemselves, these
youngpeople argued that such arbitrarypoliticalabuses neededto be
curbedbyinstitutionalizing theruleoflaw.3'
Theyalsomaintained thatunderMao and theGang,thecountry's
schoolsystem hadbeenreducedto a shambles; educationalstandards,
theyfelt,desperatelyneededtobe restored. The economy wasflagging,
and theyarguedthattheGang'segalitarian incomepolicies, imposed
through politicaldogmatism, weredraining workers and peasantsof
By themid-seventies,
all initiative. a greatmanyof themiddle-class
former RebelRedGuardshadturned againsttheParty"Maoists"and
wereleaningtowardthe alternative leadership faction,the Party's
modernizing eliteheadedby Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping.This
faction couldbe expected to overturn at leastthosepoliciesthatwere
mostblatantly to theyoungpeople.
offensive

DOMINATION OF THE FUNCTIONAL SCHEMA IN THE POST-MAo ERA

Whenthemodernizers wonoutovertheGangofFourafterMao's
death,theyimplemented a seriesofpoliciesdesigned the
to ameliorate
feelingthattherewas a cleavagebetweenrulerand ruled.A renais-
sanceof"socialist
democracy andthelegalsystem" waspromised with
muchfanfare. Therewas an outpouring ofarticlesin theofficial
press
lamentingthatcadreshad alienated themselves fromthemasses,and
thatsomeofthemwere"ridingon theheadsofthemasses." Editorials
urgedthatbettercadrework-styles
incessantly and en-
be restored
31 These latterpointswerealso thethemeof thewell-known of
Li Yizhe wallposter
I974. See ChineseLaw and Government,
X, No. 3 (Fall I977).

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320 WORLD POLITICS
forced.32
To a limitedextent, "experts" wereoncemoreallowedto
sharepowerwith"reds."Cultural, intellectual,and economic policies
wereliberalizedand materialincentives werere-introduced. Middle-
classsupportwas re-wonbyre-adopting themeritocratic principle.
Suchpolicychangesinevitably had to be justified through a new
conceptualimageof China'ssocialstructure. It had beenmanyyears
sincetheauthorities had attempted anysortof re-evaluation of the
classsituation.
Theynowdeclaredthatin thetwodecadessincecol-
lectivization,
thesocialstructure of Chinahad changed."The large-
scaleturbulentclassstruggles ofthemassescharacteristic ofthetimes
of revolutionhavein themaincometo an end."33 Landlords, rich
peasants,counterrevolutionaries,bad elements, and rightistswhohad
laboredwelland behavedthemselves couldhavetheir"classenemy"
designationsremoved.
Butitwasmorea numerical reduction thana fundamental change
inperception.The dichotomic image, though de-emphasized, remained
in place.The 1978 Constitution reiteratedthat"classenemies"con-
tinuedto exist;antagonistic class strugglehad subsided,but class
strugglehadnotbeenentirely extinguished.The statewouldcontinue
to suppressall treasonable and counterrevolutionary activities,and
wouldpunishall traitors, counterrevolutionaries, new bourgeois ele-
ments, andthelike.34The majorcontradiction in societywas declared
to be between the"socialistlaborers" and "remnants of thecapitalist
class"-thatis,between theworkers, peasants, andintellectuals on the
onesideanda motley mixture ofold andnew"classenemies" on the
other.35
Because"expertise" is nowconsidered necessary fortheFourMod-
thenewconcept
ernizations, of"socialistlaborer" wasintroduced as a
meansoflifting theintellectuals outoftheirsecond-class in
status the
official
gradationalorder.The vastmajority oftheChinesepopulation
have been declared"laborers" becausetheyall work,regardless of
whether they work with theirhands or theirminds. The intelligentsia,
alongwiththeworkers andpeasants, belongstotheamorphous "labor-
ingmasses."Furthermore, theintellectuals'standing in societyis now
tobe determined notbytheirorigins buttheirattitudes: whether they
32 "CombattingPrerogatives,"BeijingReview,No. 25 (June22, I979), 6-8; "Some
QuestionsConcerningSocialistDemocracy,"BeijingReview,No. 24 (JuneI5, I979),
9-I3.
33 "MobilizingAll PositiveFactors,"BeijingReview,No. 7 (Februaryi6, I979), 5.
See also "On PolicyTowards the NationalBourgeoisie," ibid., and "Victoryfor the
Policyof RemoldingtheExploiters," ibid.,8-io.
34 ChinaQuarterly,No. 74 (JuneI978), 460.
35 Guangming Ribao, November 7, I979, p. 3.

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 IMAGES OF CHINA'S SOCIAL STRUCTURE 321
pledgetheirloyalty
to the"bourgeoisie" In the
or the"proletariat."
absenceofan economic basisforthisbourgeoisie,
thedecisivequestion
hasbecomewhether theyare"selfish" orwillingto"servethepeople."
The newspapers have solemnly declaredthattheintelligentsiaas a
wholeis ofthelatterpersuasion-aprogressiveforcein the"campof
theproletariat."
newsmediawerethusblurring
By i980,theofficial thedistinctions
betweenthevariousmiddleand goodclasscategories and werecon-
veyingan imageofnon-hierarchical As a result,
differences. Chinanow
has an overwhelmingly functional
schemaof socialstructure-social
groupsharmoniously existingsidebyside,contributingequallyvalu-
ableservices
tothecommongood:
Thissector
ofthepopulation servesthatsector
ofthepeople.Thatsector
ofthepopulation servesanother
sectorof thepopulation.
Thereis divi-
sionoflabor,butinthewholesocietyeveryoneserveseachotherwithout
anydistinctionbetweenhighor menialstatus.36
Thoughthisrevived functional
schemacomescloserto theviewof
the"masses"heldbymanyoftheformer RebelRedGuards,a funda-
mentaldistinctionremainsbetweenthisgroupandtheleadership'sper-
ceptionofthenegative poleofthedichotomic
image.The dissidents of
the"democracy movement" havebeenarguingin wallposters and in
themushrooming "people-run thatthemajor"contradic-
publications"
tion"stillliesbetweenthe"masses"and the"newprivileged elite"-
between thosewithpowerand thosewithout.
The Partyauthorities,
including
DengXiaoping, havenotbeenwill-
ingtotolerate thepropagation
ofsuchviews.37
In earlyi979 andagain
in thespringof i98i, thegovernment launchedrepressivemeasures.
"Democracymovement" and publications
organizations were sup-
andtheirleadersandeditors
pressed, werearrested.38
Butthedissident
perspectivehasnotbeensilenced. and underground
Wallposters mag-
36 Guangming Ribao,January 7, i980, p. 2.
37 See Deng Xiaoping'sspeechof December25, I980, "Carrying ThroughthePrinci-
ples of Adjustment,Improvingthe Workingof the Party,and Guaranteeing Stability
and Solidarity,"translated
in Inside China Mainland (Julyi98i), 7.
38 Duringthecrackdown of May i98i, thejournalof thePartyCentralCommittee,
Red Flag, tookcognizanceof the dissidents'dichotomicschemaand denouncedit as
subversive:
politically
Theyevensaythat. .. theemergence of a so-called"bureaucratic
class"withinthe
ChineseCommunist Party... is a necessary productof thesocialisteconomicand
politicalsystem;thatthe contradiction betweenit and the broad massesof the
people has formedthe major contradiction in present-dayChinesesociety;and
thatonlyby topplingthis"bureaucratic class" could China's problemsbe solved.
This is an anti-Partyand anti-socialist politicalprogram,whose purposeis to
strugglewithour Partyforthe powerof leadership, in orderto replaceit.

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322 WORLD POLITICS
azinespropounding suchviewshavere-emerged
eachtimelike"bam-
boo shootsaftera springrain."

CONCLUSION

The pastthreedecadesofChinesehistory illustrateOssowski's prop-

ositionthatdifferent socialgroupsadoptvaryingschemataof the
socialstructure tofurther theirowngroupinterests and to attainspe-
cificgoals.In thefifties, whentheChineseelitewas intenton mod-
ernizing thecountry, thefunctional imageofsocialstructure fittedthe
government's desiretotapthegreatly neededskillsoftheintellectuals
and the "nationalbourgeoisie." Concurrently, a dichotomic schema
wasusedtogenerate a feelingofsolidarity amongtheordinary people.
In thesixtiesand theearlyseventies, underthedomination of Mao's
egalitarian vision,a gradational schemawas utilizedin orderto re-
distribute opportunities to the "proletariat." Simultaneously, the di-
chotomic schemawasintensified as a meansofreviving support forthe
rulingauthorities.In thepost-Mao era,themodernizing Partyelitehas
reverted to theuse of thefunctional schema.It has doneso in a bid
to involvetheintelligentsia onceagainin helpingto pullthesagging
economy backintoshape.
Different sectorsofthepopulace, however, havenotnecessarily held
theimagesthatwereadvocated bytheauthorities. The politicalengi-
neerscouldnotalwayssuccessfully direct socialdevelopment. Intensive
socialization
political programs hadonlylimited andtemporary effects.
Amongthedifferent socialgroups, differentimagesofthesocialstruc-
tureevolvedas responses totheirownsocialconditions andin accord-
ancewiththeirowngroupinterests.
Thiswasevident inthesocialdevelopments insideChineseclassrooms
in thepre-Cultural Revolution sixties.The students ofbad-class status
privately persistedin believing onlyin a functional schema.In this
framework, theywereequalto everyone else,and theirskillswereas
usefulto society as thoseofanyothersocialgroup.Buttheirpolitical
positionwastooweakto allowthemto airtheirviewsevenmildly.
The cadres'children heldtothedichotomic schemaandemphasized
"classstruggle." Buttheyadheredalso,and mostvigorously, to the
government's gradational schema,whichwas alreadyin theirfavor;
theyexaggerated itinordertopromote theirclaimstoprivileges. Since
theirelitist
pretensions werethreatened byanyothercriteria thatmight
be used,theyattempted to erecta castesysemin theCulturalRevolu-
tion,in which they claimed Brahmanic superiority.

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 IMAGES OF CHINA'S SOCIAL STRUCTURE 323
The middle-class studentshad beenuntroubled by theuse of the
official
gradational and dichotomic schemasin the fifties. They ac-
ceptedwhattheyweretaught becausetheywerenotdirectly threatened
byit. Buttheincreasing weightgivento thegradational schemaby
thegovernment, and thegrowingnumerical pressures and competi-
tivenessin theschoolsystem duringtheearlyhalfofthesixties, jeop-
ardizedtheirpositions and prospects. Theytherefore supported both
thefunctional andthedichotomic schemata: bothplacedthemsquare-
lyamongthe"masses."
ButduringtheCulturalRevolution, theybeganto shifttheirviews.
Boxedintoa cornerand threatened in theearlymonths, and thenas
suddenly "liberated"toformautonomous RedGuardgroups, someof
themeventually steppedentirelyoutsidethegovernment's threeways
ofperceiving thesociopolitical
structure. Theyadopteda newperspec-
tivethatwas inimicalto theinterests of therulingelite.This new
dichotomic viewofChinesesociety depicted a markedpolarization be-
tweenthe"masses"on one sideand a politically stratum"
"privileged
on theother.As the"red"eliteexpandeditsauthority and succumbed
to abusesofpowerin theseventies, thisnewcountervision of China's
socialstructuregainedadherents.Ifthecontinued outpour-
intermittent
ingsof wallposters provideanysoundindicators, thenew visionhas
withstood theeffortsofthepost-Mao leadershiptorecapture credibility
through imagesof a functionalist
official socialstructure.
The official-
domhasreturned tothepremises oftheI950s, butsociety haschanged;
theeighties arenotthefifties.

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