Cultural Revolution

American  

noun

1. a radical sociopolitical movement in China c1966–71, led by Mao Zedong and characterized by military rule, terrorism, purges, restructuring of the educational system, etc.

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Cultural Revolution British  

noun

1. Also called: Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution.  (in China) a mass movement (1965–68), in which the youthful Red Guard played a prominent part. It was initiated by Mao Tse-tung to destroy the power of the bureaucrats and to revolutionize the attitudes and behaviour of the people

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Etymology

Origin of Cultural Revolution

Translation of Chinese wénhuà gémìng

Example Sentences

Liang is no stranger to hardship, having gone hungry as a child in the Cultural Revolution.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 11, 2026

"In the half-century since the Cultural Revolution ended in 1976, this is the most prolonged crackdown that we've seen – far eclipsing the period after the Tiananmen massacre in 1989," Johnson says.

From BBC • Apr. 19, 2026

And the year marked the beginning of the Cultural Revolution in China.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 10, 2026

He entered a much more flexible job market in 1999 after a decade of reforms following the Cultural Revolution.

From Barron's • Jan. 9, 2026

I learned about Margaret Thatcher and the Thirty-Eighth Parallel and the Cultural Revolution; I learned about parliamentary politics and electoral systems around the world.

From "Educated" by Tara Westover