The May Seventh Cadre Schools () were Chinese
labor camp
A labor camp (or labour camp, see spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have many common aspects with slavery and with prisons (especi ...
s established 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 ...
that combined hard agricultural work with the study of
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) ...
's writings in order to "re-educate" or ''
laogai
''Laogai'' (), short for ''laodong gaizao'' (), which means reform through labor, is a criminal justice system involving the use of penal labor and prison farms in the People's Republic of China (PRC) and North Korea (DPRK). ''Láogǎi'' i ...
'' (reform through labor) cadres and intellectuals in proper
socialist thought
Types of socialism include a range of economic and social systems characterised by social ownership and democratic controlArnold, N. Scott (1998). ''The Philosophy and Economics of Market Socialism: A Critical Study''. Oxford University Press. p ...
.
Jonathan Spence
Jonathan Dermot Spence (11 August 1936 – 25 December 2021) was an English-born American historian, sinologist, and writer who specialized in Chinese history. He was Sterling Professor of History at Yale University from 1993 to 2008. His ...
, ''The Search for Modern China
''The Search for Modern China'' is a 1990 non-fiction book by Jonathan Spence, published by Century Hutchinson and W. W. Norton & Company.
It covers the period 1600 to 1989. According to Spence, the goal was to explain how Modern China was creat ...
'' 2nd Edition, p.582
Further reading
Memoirs
*
Yang Jiang
Yang Jiang (; 17 July 1911 – 25 May 2016) was a Chinese playwright, author, and translator. She wrote several successful comedies, and was the first Chinese person to produce a complete Chinese version of Miguel de Cervantes' novel ''Don Qui ...
:《干校六记》- ''Six Chapters from My Life "Downunder"'', tr.
Howard Goldblatt
Howard Goldblatt (, born 1939) is a literary translator of numerous works of contemporary Chinese (mainland China & Taiwan) fiction, including '' The Taste of Apples'' by Huang Chunming and '' The Execution of Mayor Yin'' by Chen Ruoxi. Goldblatt ...
(University of Washington Press, 1988).
Fiction
*
Cao Wenxuan
Cao Wenxuan (; born January 1954) is a Chinese novelist, best known for his works of children's literature. Cao is the vice president of Beijing Writers Association. He is also a professor and doctoral tutor at Peking University. His novels have ...
, ''
Bronze and Sunflower
''Bronze and Sunflower'' () is a Chinese children's novel written by Cao Wenxuan and was first published in 2005. The novel is set in the Cultural Revolution. It is a story of friendship between Bronze, a mute peasant boy, and Sunflower, the yo ...
'', tr.
Helen Wang
Helen Kay Wang (; ; born 1965) is an English sinologist and translator. She works as curator of East Asian Money at the British Museum in London. She has also published a number of literary translations from Chinese, including an award-winning tr ...
(Walker Books, UK, 2015; Candlewick Press, USA, 2017).
Propaganda posters
* May Seventh Cadre Schools in Chinese propaganda posters.
References
Cultural Revolution
Penal labor in China
1966 establishments in China
Penal system in China
1979 disestablishments in China
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