The unknown Cultural Revolution: Educational reforms and their impact on China's rural development, 1966-1976.

摘要

Since the Chinese government condemned the Cultural Revolution in 1978, the Cultural Revolution has became a synonym for national disasters. It became a forbidden topic in China. Outside China very few scholars study it. This dissertation is a case study of a relatively unknown aspect of the Cultural Revolution: the educational reform in Jimo County, Shandong Province, China. Based on achieve research and a large number of interviews, this dissertation finds that the Cultural Revolution education reform promoted rural education. Every village in Jimo set up a primary school. There was one joint village middle school for every seven villages, and almost three rural high schools for every commune. Primary and middle school were universalized. A large percentage of rural youth were able to gain high school education. The curriculum and teaching methods developed during the educational reform provided some solutions to the rural problems. In a word, the educational reform trained a new generation of Jimo farmers. Using the practical knowledge they learned in the rural school network, Jimo's educated youth contributed significantly to rural Jimo's development. The rural educational reform empowered Jimo's rural people politically and economically. Production increased and living standards improved in Jimo.