Launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 to eradicate elitism, bureaucratism, "feudalism" and "bourgeois ideas" in the party, government, and society at large. Known at the time as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, this massive movement created havoc and destruction for three years, before it was officially declared at an end in 1969. This stage was marked by the radical-ism of the Red Guards--millions of high school and university students who took it as their mission to purge China of all ideo-logically impure influences. Hundreds of thousands of people died as a direct result of their persecution, and millions of others suffered severe physical and psychological abuse during this period. After 1969 power remained in the hands of the so-called Gang of Four, whose radical policies prevailed until Mao's death and their arrest in 1976. The Cultural Revolution is therefore considered to have spanned the period from 1966 to 1976.

a radical reform in China initiated by Mao Zedong in 1965 and carried out largely by the Red Guard; intended to eliminate counterrevolutionary elements in the government it resulted in purges of the intellectuals and socioeconomic chaos

Complex social upheaval that began as a struggle between Mao Zedong and other top party leaders for dominance of the CCP and went on to affect all of China with its call for "continuing revolution." Dates for the movement are usually given as 1966 to 1976.