''Breaking with Old Ideas'' is a 1975 Chinese film directed by Li Wenhua. The film is one of the few that were produced during the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...

.Zhang, Yingjin & Xiao, Zhiwei. "Breaking with Old Ideas" in ''Encyclopedia of Chinese Film''. Taylor & Francis (1998), p. 101. . As a result of the political upheaval taking place, ''Breaking with Old Ideass plot was heavily regulated under highly codified guidelines on story and characterization so that it would have a mass character, as opposed to an individual focused character, namely proletarian politics as opposed to bourgeois politics. The film draws inspiration from issues with schooling in China at the time, such as that there was too much study, and too little social practice.

Plot

In 1958, the

Communist Party of China The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...

sends Long Guozheng (Guo Zhenqing), a graduate of the

Counter-Japanese Military and Political University Counter-Japanese Military and Political University (), also commonly known as Kàngdà () and Kangri Junzheng University (), was a comprehensive public university located in Yan'an, Shaanxi, the headquarters of the Chinese Communist Party during t ...

, to head the newly established Jiangxi Communist Labour University (today's

Jiangxi Agricultural University Jiangxi Agricultural University (JXAU; ) is located in the northern suburbs of Nanchang city. Nanchang is the capital city of Jiangxi Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the Peo ...

). The school's more capitalist elements, such as aiming for high bourgeois academic standards, and refusal to admit poorly-educated (according to bourgeois standards) peasants clash with Long's more communistic approach. He advocates only admitting students from the working class, and begins innovative changes—to the dismay of many other staff—such as putting more emphasis on hard labor than classroom learning, switching courses to accommodate

experiential learning Experiential learning (ExL) is the process of learning through experience, and is more narrowly defined as "learning through reflection on doing". Hands-on learning can be a form of experiential learning, but does not necessarily involve students ...

, removing impractical sections from the curriculum, holding lessons in the field, and excusing students who miss exams to work for the commune. Later, a student, Li Jinfeng (Wang Suya), whom Long considers an exemplary follower of the "educational revolution", faces expulsion and is put on trial. The masses come out in support of her and denounce those taking the capitalist line on education. Those in power taking the capitalist line decide to shut down the college as a result. In the end, the college is saved by the will of the peasants and a pronouncement from

Chairman Mao Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC ...

himself.

Cast

*Guo Zhenqing as Long Guozheng *Wang Suya as Li Jinfeng *Wen Xiying as Deputy Secretary Tang *Xu Zhan as Xu Niuzai *Zhang Zheng as Old Representative *Li Shijiang as Jiang Danian *Hou Guanqun as Yu Gang *Xiang Hong as Cao Xiaomei * Wu Jing as Xiao Ping

References

External links

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1975 films Chinese drama films 1975 drama films 1970s Mandarin-language films Maoist China propaganda films Films shot in Jiangxi Beijing Film Studio films Films set in the 1950s Films set in the 1960s Chinese propaganda films Films about the Cultural Revolution {{China-film-stub