The "Five Black Categories" () referred to the following five political identities. These groups were: *

Landlord A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant (also a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). When a juristic person is in this position, the ...

s () * Rich farmers () *

Counter-revolutionaries A counter-revolutionary or an anti-revolutionary is anyone who opposes or resists a revolution, particularly one who acts after a revolution in order to try to overturn it or reverse its course, in full or in part. The adjective "counter-revoluti ...

() * Bad influencers bad elements"() * Right-wingers () During the period of the Chinese

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 ...

(1966–1976) in the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Mao Zedong 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) ...

ordained that people in these groups should be considered enemies of the Revolution. Conversely, Mao categorized groups of people, such as members of the

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

, poor farmers and low class workers, as

Five Red Categories The "Five Red Categories" () during the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) were the social classes favoured by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), as opposed to the Five Black Categories that were classified as potential threats or enemies. I ...

. This new Red/Black class distinction was used to create a status society.

Cultural Revolution

Starting from the "

Red August Red August (), originally meaning August 1966 of the Cultural Revolution, is a term used to indicate a series of massacres in Beijing which mainly took place during the period. According to the official statistics in 1980, from August to Septembe ...

" of 1966, people in the Five Black Categories were separated out for

struggle session Denunciation rallies, also called struggle sessions, were violent public spectacles in Maoist China where people accused of being "Five Black Categories, class enemies" were public humiliation, publicly humiliated, accused, beaten and tortured by ...

s, humiliation, re-education, beating, and persecution. Many of them were killed by the

Red Guards Red Guards () were a mass student-led paramilitary social movement mobilized and guided by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 through 1967, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a Red Guard lead ...

and others. Mao believed that victimizing these people, as well as other groups of citizens – such as teachers, educated intellectuals, and enemies of the Communist Party (cadres) – was a necessary component to initiate the changes in the Chinese culture that he desired. He believed that those who were victimized either deserved it or became better citizens as a result of it. In general, intellectuals were called the "

Stinking Old Ninth The Stinking Old Ninth () is a Chinese dysphemism for intellectuals used at two major points. The term originated during the Yuan dynasty where the Mongol conquerors identified ten "castes" of Chinese: bureaucrats, officials, Buddhist monks, Tao ...

". Effectively, within a few years, the education and medical infrastructure of China was completely destroyed. According to a speech by

Jiang Qing Jiang Qing (19 March 191414 May 1991), also known as Madame Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary, actress, and major political figure during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976). She was the fourth wife of Mao Zedong, the Chairman o ...

, who was his wife and Party's senior leader, "If good people beat bad people, it serves them right; if bad people beat good people, the good people achieve glory; if good people beat good people, it is a misunderstanding; without beatings, you do not get acquainted and then no longer need to beat them" ( Walder 149). Members of the Black Classes were systematically discriminated against, as one's classification could affect employment opportunities and career prospects and even marriage opportunities. This could also be passed onto their children. Over time this resulted in a victimized underclass that was treated as if it were still composed of powerful and dominant people.Margolin, Jean-Louis. "Mao’s China: The Worst Non-Genocidal Regime?." In The historiography of genocide, pp. 438-467. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2008, p.448

Cultural Revolution

See also

References

Further reading