The Cultural Revolution

Rana Mitter is joined by historians Frank Dikotter, Patricia Thornton and Kerry Brown and writers Xinran and Xiaolu Guo to revisit the Chinese Cultural Revolution 50 years on.

Rana Mitter is joined by the historians Frank Dikötter, Patricia Thornton and Kerry Brown, and by the writers Xinran and Xiaolu Guo, to revisit the Cultural Revolution 50 years on.

On 16th May 1966, Mao Zedong initiated a mass movement aimed at purging all "capitalist" and "traditional elements" from the Chinese Communist Party, and from Chinese society as a whole. This initiated the 10 years of social and political turmoil known as the Cultural Revolution.
There are no plans to publicly mark the anniversary of these events in China, but elsewhere this troubled period of Chinese history is being re-examined.

Frank Dikötter is the author of The Cultural Revolution: A People's History, 1962-1976, the final instalment in the People's Trilogy.

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45 minutes

Last on

Wed 11 May 201622:00

BBC Radio 3

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Role	Contributor
Presenter	Rana Mitter
Interviewed Guest	Frank Dikotter
Interviewed Guest	Patricia Thornton
Interviewed Guest	Kerry Brown
Interviewed Guest	Xinran
Interviewed Guest	Xiaolu Guo
Producer	Luke Mulhall

Wed 11 May 201622:00
BBC Radio 3

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