ABSTRACT
Mao Zedong explained to fellow revolutionaries in Yan'an: In the world today all culture, all literature and art belong to definite classes and are geared to definite political lines. The Cultural Revolution is replete with tragic stories of families turning against each other, students attacking their teachers, and friends denouncing friends. A crucial issue was that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership, including Peng Zhen before his purge, insisted that Cultural Revolution activities be monitored by party directors. Chinese culture would undergo a genuine metamorphosis and everyone would be called on to play a role in the drama. The Cultural Revolution wreaked terrifying havoc on China, bringing wholesale destruction to lives and property. Like Mao, Lin Biao advocated the primacy of "correct" attitudes and political reliability. He was elevated to the position of a bona fide theorist and interpreter of Mao's philosophy with the publication in 1965 of a lengthy tract entitled "Long Live the Victory of People's War".
