In November 1966, Sun Fo and 1,500 others jointly proposed launching the Chinese Cultural Renaissance Movement to counter the Cultural Revolution on the mainland; in July 1967, the Promotion Committee was established.
In September 1966, with the outbreak of the Cultural Revolution, the state completely stopped issuing fixed dividends to former private industrialists and businessmen, prematurely terminating the buyout period and completely zeroing out the status and assets of former capitalists.
During the Cultural Revolution, Lao She suffered denunciation and beatings at the hands of the Writers and Artists Federation; his wife Hu Jieqing was unable to hold him back, and Lao She ultimately ended his life by the Taiping Lake.
Mao Zedong posted the big-character poster 'Bombard the Headquarters' at the plenary session, pointing the spearhead directly at Liu Shaoqi. Liu Shaoqi's ranking within the party plummeted, marking his loss of power.
On July 8, 1966, Mao Zedong wrote to Jiang Qing from Wuhan, saying that "great chaos under heaven leads to great order under heaven," and said that such great chaos would come again after seven or eight years.
In May 1966, China's Cultural Revolution began, and the political campaign continued for many years thereafter.
The Cultural Revolution took place between May 16, 1966 and October 1976, during which multiple rounds of mass political campaigns were carried out. The masses were required to praise Mao Zedong and perform the loyalty dance; those who refused might be subjected to struggle sessions or re-education through labor.
On May 16, 1966, the "May 16 Notification" was issued and the Cultural Revolution began. Intellectuals at schools of all levels were struck, and Lao She, Fu Lei and others were persecuted to death.
Deng Xiaoping was labeled the second-numbered capitalist road faction within the Party, was sent to labor reform in Jiangxi, and his son Deng Pufang was tortured by Red Guards, resulting in disability.
The video narrator says a teacher in Tianfuli, Xujiahui, Shanghai, was repeatedly denounced by students, and was taken to denunciation sessions even while bedridden with a high fever; the family says the teacher was ultimately scalded to death with boiling water by students; no public record of this case can be found.