Guides: Archives & Special Collections Exhibits: China’s Cultural Revolution in Archives (Spring 2023-Spring 2024)

China’s Cultural Revolution in Archives

Introduction
Related Guides & Collection Materials

Date of Exhibition: Spring 2023-Spring 2024

Curators: Haihui Zhang (former Head of the East Asian Library) and Haining Zhao (Resource Support Specialist at the University of Pittsburgh Library System)

Location: Archives & Special Collections exhibit gallery, 3rd floor Hillman Library, University of Pittsburgh 3960 Forbes Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15260

Description: Did you know that the University of Pittsburgh Library System (ULS) holds a wealth of documentation related to the Chinese Cultural Revolution? Chairman Mao Zedong initiated the “Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution” in the People’s Republic of China in 1966. It lasted until 1977, after his death in 1976. This sociopolitical movement was meant to prevent Capitalism’s return to China, protect the purity of the Communist Party of China, and seek a path for further developing socialism in China. It started with criticism of intellectual and cultural areas of society.

The 10 years of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution have become the heaviest page in contemporary Chinese history. Research into how this movement emerged, developed, and affected the course of China's history has been continuous. This display explores that history through original documents from the ULS East Asian Library’s collections.

East Asian Library (EAL)
The University Library System (ULS) at the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) established its Chinese collection in 1960 after Pitt was selected as one of the 20 National Defense Education Act centers for Chinese studies. Five years later, the East Asian Library (EAL) was founded to include a Japanese collection as well. The Korean materials were added to the collection beginning in the year 2000. Today, the EAL has become one of the most prominent East Asian collections and ranks 14th in North America.
China's Cultural Revolution in Memories: The CR/10 Project
This collection contains video interviews with people who experienced China’s Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). The CR/10 (Cultural Revolution: 10) Project also includes interviews with young Chinese people born after the Cultural Revolution, who discuss how they learned of this historical incident. The Cultural Revolution lasted 10 years, and each interview lasts approximately 10 minutes, hence the name of the project, CR/10. Most interviews were conducted and recorded in person, while some were recorded via Skype. Most of the interviews were collected in the United States, while others were recorded in China, Canada, or elsewhere. Collection of interviews began in 2015 and continues to the present.
Guide to the Xu Xing Manuscript, 1986 SC.2015.03
Xu Xing is a writer, documentary filmmaker, and public intellectual currently residing in Beijing. The three-page manuscript is part of a short story titled Chengshi de gushi(City Story) which was originally published in the journal, Zhongguo Wen Xue(Chinese Literature) in 1986. The story is about a young couple's self-perceptions when they face a huge social change.
Guide to the Shushen Zhang Papers, 张书绅档案指南, 1880-1995, SC.2021.10
The Shushen Zhang Papers contain correspondence as well as personal, governmental and educational and documents created and maintained by Shushen Zhang, a Chinese engineer and landlord from the city of Taizhou in Jiangsu Province, China who lived through several campaigns initiated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) including the Land Reform Movement from 1950 to 1952, Investigation of Cadres Movement and Private House/Apartment Reform Movement in 1958, Four Cleansing Movement from 1963 to 1965, Proletarian Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976, Clean-up Class Movement and Educated Youth Going to Countryside in 1968, City Residents Going to Countryside and City Cadres Going to Five-Seven Cadre School in countryside in 1969, as well as Rehabilitating Unjust, False, and Wrong Cases in 1979. 张书绅家庭档案集包括通信，以及张收藏的与个人及家庭相关的各类文件。张书绅经历了中国共产党发起的历次运动，包括1950至1952年的"土改运动"，1958年的干部考察和私房改造运动，1963年至1965年的"四清运动"、1966年至1976年的"无产阶级文化大革命"，清理阶级队伍，知识青年上山下乡，"五七"干校，1979年平反冤假错案等等。

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China’s Cultural Revolution in Archives

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