The Cultural Revolution of China began as a series of political persecutions by Mao Zedong as an effort to wipe out any members of the Communist Party who dared to oppose him. By 1966, after the initial proclamation of China as the Peoples' Republic of China, the Communist Party had clearly split into two sides, each arguing that their direction was better for China to head in. The radicals, or Maoists, believed that politics were more important than developing China's economy, and wished to reinforce in the people their support and love of Mao by producing the Little Red Book, a collection of Mao's quotations and thoughts. The moderates, led by Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping, believed building up the economy was the top priority.

The year of 1962 saw Mao launch the Socialist Education Movement and the `Four Clean-Ups Campaign'. Both of these aimed to get rid of corruption...