Dictionary

Cultural Revolution en · PROPN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Calque from Chinese 文化大革命 (Wénhuà Dà Gémìng).

Meanings

1. (historical) The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution of Communist China (1966–1976).
   • In 1975, China was emerging from the Cultural Revolution, its government’s effort to purify and revitalize society. Communist officials had set up indoctrination programs, broadcast propaganda over omnipresent loudspeakers, and sought to stamp out any evidence of China’s ancient history. 2010, George W. Bush, Decision Points, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, pages 22–23:
   • Amid yellow pagodas pointing heavenward, Mr. Peng and a small group of volunteers built memorial arches across the park’s steep roads and paths lined with riotous subtropical vegetation. The site, in the Chenghai district of Shantou, was an appropriate place for memory — Buddhist pagodas are associated with the dead, and many local victims of the Cultural Revolution lie here, many buried in mass graves. 2016 October 2, Didi Kirsten Tatlow, “Fate Catches Up to a Cultural Revolution Museum in China”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 03 Oct 2016, Asia Pacific:
   • Liu’s person and his public meaning became completely estranged: the former was cut off from the instruments of policy and sequestered in his official residence at Chungnanhai, but the other “Liu” became the animating spirit of opposition against which the GPCR was waged, and indeed proved so dauntless and resourceful an opponent that he could be vanquished only after two years of fierce “struggle.” [1998, Lowell Dittmer, Liu Shaoqi and the Chinese Cultural Revolution, M.E. Sharpe, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 5:
   • Since the Cultural Revolution, in particular since the movement to criticize Lin Piao and Confucius, party organizations at all levels in Shensi have attached importance to cultivating new cadres. 1976 January 21 [1976 January 17], “Shansi Develops 'Three-Way Alliance'”, in Daily Report: People's Republic of China, volume I, number 14, Foreign Broadcast Information Service, sourced from Sian Shensi Provincial Service, translation of original in Mandarin, →ISSN, →OCLC, People's Republic of China: Northwest Region, page M 1:
   • Li Xiaojiang was born in 1952 in Henan Province. She worked in the countryside for three years during the Cultural Revolution before being assigned a job as fitter and driver in a machine factory in Wuhan, Hebei^([sic – meaning Hubei]) Province. 1994, Diana B. Kingsbury, “The Authors”, in 金婉婷 [Diana B. Kingsbury], transl., I Wish I Were a Wolf: The New Voice in Chinese Women's Literature [我要属狼：中国当代女性文学选], 1st edition, Beijing: New World Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 248:
   • In China, theres^([sic – meaning there's]) a long tradition of using Cultural Revolution-style stock phrases to marginalize protest activities and those who engage in them. Unrest is predictably blamed on a small group of people with ulterior motives," "evil forces plotting behind the scenes," and "masses who don't know the truth." 2008 December 1, Sky Canaves, “A Rare Media Critique of the Chinese System from Within”, in The Wall Street Journal, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 11 Apr 2023:
   • The Cultural Revolution created enormous dislocations in the Chinese economy and society.[...]During the Cultural Revolution I was exiled to Xincai County in Henan Province. There, 36 percent of the people starved to death in the early 1960s. 1990, Chen Yizi (陳一諮), quotee, Children of the Dragon: The Story of Tiananmen Square, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 48:
   • Not until 1421, when all the temples and palaces necessary for the imperial ceremonies needed to reconcile Heaven and Earth had been built, did Emperor Yongle dare to make the great move. Beijing, the "Northern Capital" replaced Nanjing, the provisional "Southern Capital." The Heavenly Temple and the Altars of Earth, Moon and Sun, Nine Dragon Wall and Echo Wall, Drum Tower and Bell Tower all testify to the artistry of that era. Though damaged during the chaos of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), they have since been restored and now once again evoke the wonder and admiration of visitors. 1999, “Beijing”, in The Book of the World, 2nd United States edition (Atlas), Macmillan, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 367, column 2:
2. (historical) Iran's Cultural Revolution of 1980–1983.
3. (broadly) Any reform movement in which a national government aims to radically change its country's political, social, economical, and cultural values.
   • First, they came for Seuss. Then, Ook and Gluk. The Cultural Revolution in our midst. 2021 March 31, Melissa Chen, “Opinion ‘Kung Fu Cavemen’ isn’t racist — just the victim of moral panic by a self-righteous few”, in New York Post:

Forms

Translations (49)

cmn 十年浩劫 (Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution) · fi kulttuurivallankumous (Iran's Cultural Revolution) · ja 文化革命 (any Cultural Revolution) · ja 文革 (Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution) · fa انقلاب فرهنگی چین (Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution) · nl Culturele Revolutie (Iran's Cultural Revolution) · fr révolution culturelle (any Cultural Revolution) · cmn 文化革命 (any Cultural Revolution) · fr révolution culturelle (Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution) · nl Culturele Revolutie (any Cultural Revolution) · th การปฏิวัติทางวัฒนธรรม (any Cultural Revolution) · pt Grande Revolução Cultural Proletária (Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution) · cmn 無產階級文化大革命 /无产阶级文化大革命 (Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution) · ar ثَوْرَة ثَقَافِيَّة (any Cultural Revolution) · ja 文化大革命 (Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution) · th การปฏิวัติทางวัฒนธรรม (Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution) · cmn 伊朗文化革命 (Iran's Cultural Revolution) · hu kulturális forradalom (Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution) · cmn 文革 (Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution) · fa انقلاب فرهنگی (any Cultural Revolution) · pt revolução cultural (any Cultural Revolution) · de Große Proletarische Kulturrevolution (Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution) · de Kulturrevolution (Iran's Cultural Revolution) · fi kulttuurivallankumous (Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution) · fa انقلاب فرهنگی ایران (Iran's Cultural Revolution) · nl Culturele Revolutie (Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution) · el Πολιτιστική Επανάσταση (Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution) · es Revolución Cultural (Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution) · fa انقلاب فرهنگی (Iran's Cultural Revolution) · nl Cu (Iran's Cultural Revolution) · el πολιτιστική επανάσταση (any Cultural Revolution) · cmn 十年動亂 /十年动乱 (Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution) · vi Đại Cách mạng Văn hoá vô sản (Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution) · ru культу́рная револю́ция (any Cultural Revolution) · ru культу́рная револю́ция (Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution) · da kulturrevolution (Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution) · ko 문화대혁명 (Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution) · de Kulturrevolution (any Cultural Revolution) · hu kulturális forradalom (any Cultural Revolution) · es Gran Revolución Cultural Proletaria (Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution) · cmn 文化大革命 (Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution) · fi kulttuurivallankumous (any Cultural Revolution) · es revolución cultural (any Cultural Revolution) · da kulturrevolution (any Cultural Revolution) · fr grande révolution culturelle prolétarienne (Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution) · de Kulturrevolution (Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution) · ko 문혁 (Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution) · ru Вели́кая пролета́рская культу́рная револю́ция (Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution) · mn Соёлын хувьсгал (Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution)