Red Guards

A group of young people who, as the embodiment of "Mao Zedong Thought," played a key role in the early stages of the Cultural Revolution, and shocked Chinese society. On August 18, 1966, the Red Guards appeared at the million-person rally held at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, holding the red scripture "Quotations from Mao Zedong" in their hands. They marched into the streets with the slogan "Break the Four Olds (old ideas, culture, customs, and habits)" and ran wild, yelling "Long live Chairman Mao!" They posted "Dazhi Bao" (wall newspapers) all over the country and sent Long March troops to Beijing from all over the country under the name of the Great Exchange of Experiences, but after repeated armed struggles, which spurred the chaos of the Cultural Revolution, they were suppressed by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council after their role as the catalyst for the Cultural Revolution ended. Many were sent to rural areas under the name of "downward migration," but after the downfall of the Gang of Four in 1976, most of them returned to the cities and played a major role in the subsequent democratization movement.

[Mineo Nakajima]

"The Red Guards" by Takagi Takeo (1967, Godo Publishing)" ▽ "Mao Zedong and China: An Endless Revolution" by Stanley Karnow, translated by Kazama Ryu and Nakahara Koji (1973, Jiji Press)" ▽ "The Red Guards Who Didn't Know About the Beatles: A Family's Account of the Chinese Revolution" by Tang Yaming (1990, Iwanami Shoten)" ▽ "The Red Guard Generation Who Lived Through the Cultural Revolution: Exploring Their Lives, Personal Development, and the Relationship with Social Change" by Ge Huifen (1999, Akashi Shoten)" ▽ "The Red Guard Generation Today: A Youth Devoted to Mao Zedong" by Kuro Ming, translated by Tada Toshihiro (1999, Kindai Bungeisha)" ▽ "The Age of the Red Guards" by Zhang Chengzhi, translated by Kojima Shinji and Tadokoro Takehiko (Iwanami Shinsho)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

「毛沢東(もうたくとう)思想」の申し子として文化大革命初期の推進役となり、中国社会を震撼(しんかん)させた青少年集団。1966年8月18日、赤い教典『毛沢東語録』を手に手に北京(ペキン)の天安門広場で開かれた百万人大集会に出現した紅衛兵は、「四旧（古い思想・文化・風俗・習慣）打破」をスローガンに街頭進出し、熱狂的に「毛主席万歳！」を叫んで暴れ回った。「大字報」（壁新聞）を各所に張り巡らし、大串連(ターチョアンリエン)（経験大交流）と称して長征隊を全国津々浦々から北京に送ったが、やがて武闘を繰り返して文化大革命の混乱に拍車をかけたために、文革の起爆剤としての役割を終えたあとは、中国共産党中央と国務院によって制圧されていった。「下放」の名のもとに農村に送られたものも多かったが、1976年の「四人組」失脚後、大半は都市に戻り、その後の民主化運動に大きな役割を果たした。

［中嶋嶺雄］

『高木健夫著『紅衛兵』（1967・合同出版社）』▽『スタンレー・カーノウ著、風間龍・中原康二訳『毛沢東と中国――終りなき革命』（1973・時事通信社）』▽『唐亜明著『ビートルズを知らなかった紅衛兵――中国革命のなかの一家の記録』（1990・岩波書店）』▽『葛慧芬著『文化大革命を生きた紅衛兵世代――その人生、人間形成と社会変動との関係を探る』（1999・明石書店）』▽『黒明著、多田敏宏訳『紅衛兵世代は今――毛沢東に捧げた青春』（1999・近代文芸社）』▽『張承志著、小島晋治・田所竹彦訳『紅衛兵の時代』（岩波新書）』

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