Talk:Cultural Revolution

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Cultural Revolution was a History good articles nominee, but did not meet the good article criteria at the time. There may be suggestions below for improving the article. Once these issues have been addressed, the article can be renominated. Editors may also seek a reassessment of the decision if they believe there was a mistake.

Article milestones
Date	Process	Result
April 21, 2006	Good article nominee	Not listed
April 5, 2019	Good article nominee	Not listed

Facts from this article were featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the "On this day..." column on May 25, 2007, May 16, 2008, May 16, 2011, May 16, 2013, May 16, 2014, and May 16, 2016.

Current status: Former good article nominee

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Section sizes

Section size for Cultural Revolution (65 sections)
Section name	Byte count		Prose size (words)
Section name	Header	Total	Header	Total
(Top)	8,421	8,421	491	491
Etymology	1,035	1,035	77	77
Background	15	12,145	0	1,198
Creation of the People's Republic	677	677	79	79
Great Leap Forward	3,709	3,709	367	367
Impact of international tensions and anti-revisionism	4,027	4,027	330	330
Socialist Education Movement and Hai Rui Dismissed from Office	3,717	3,717	422	422
1966: Outbreak	893	25,144	69	2,307
Notification	2,318	2,318	268	268
Mass rallies (May–June)	3,192	3,192	397	397
Bombard the Headquarters (July)	4,230	4,230	382	382
Red August and the Sixteen Points	5,516	5,516	508	508
Destruction of the Four Olds (August–November)	5,888	5,888	375	375
Central Work Conference (October)	712	712	92	92
End of the year	2,395	2,395	216	216
1967: Seizure of power	15,445	15,445	1,243	1,243
1968: Purges	1,365	7,791	137	707
Mao meets with Red Guard leaders (July)	2,315	2,315	222	222
Mao's cult of personality and "mango fever" (August)	3,032	3,032	243	243
Down to the Countryside Movement (December)	1,079	1,079	105	105
1969–1971: Lin Biao	4,115	12,395	410	1,480
PLA encroachment	2,974	5,096	363	611
Restoration of State Chairman position	2,122	2,122	248	248
Project 571	1,220	3,184	178	459
Lin's flight and plane crash	1,964	1,964	281	281
1972–1976: The Gang of Four	2,768	11,879	282	1,266
Deng Xiaoping's rehabilitation (1975)	2,206	2,206	304	304
Death of Zhou Enlai	2,147	2,147	197	197
Tiananmen incident	1,896	1,896	273	273
Death of Mao Zedong and the Gang of Four's downfall	2,862	2,862	210	210
Aftermath	14	9,082	0	585
Transitional period	2,328	2,328	163	163
Repudiation and reform under Deng	6,740	6,740	422	422
Atrocities	17	41,513	0	1,506
Death toll	16,771	16,771	173	173
Massacres	7,509	7,509	337	337
Violent struggles, struggle sessions, and purges	6,022	6,022	506	506
Repression of ethnic minorities	9,234	9,234	446	446
Rape and sexual abuse	1,960	1,960	44	44
Cultural impact and influence	37	44,719	0	3,422
Red Guards riot	1,910	1,910	215	215
Academics and intellectuals	5,577	5,577	237	237
Education system	4,909	4,909	372	372
Slogans and rhetoric	3,214	3,214	286	286
Arts and literature	3,407	23,448	304	1,839
Opera and music	4,781	4,781	412	412
Visual arts	9,407	9,407	684	684
Literature	1,565	1,565	133	133
Film	4,288	4,288	306	306
Historical sites	3,329	3,329	299	299
Media	2,295	2,295	174	174
Foreign relations	4,751	4,751	240	240
Evaluations	5,396	5,396	362	362
See also	327	327	0	0
Notes	26	26	0	0
References	17	3,465	0	0
Citations	31	31	0	0
Sources	3,417	3,417	0	0
Further reading	21	6,180	0	0
General	1,372	1,372	0	0
Specific topics	1,236	1,236	0	0
Commentaries	665	665	0	0
Fictional treatments	823	823	0	0
Memoirs by Chinese participants	2,063	2,063	0	0
External links	2,238	2,238	0	0
Total	211,952	211,952	14,884	14,884

Abbreviation of Cultural Revolution as CR

Is there a reason why Cultural Revolution is abbreviated as CR? It seems to have been a unilateral decision made by @Lfstevens in late 2023, and doesn't really make sense as it is (thankfully) not applied uniformly on all instances. If there isn't any opposition to it, I will revert all of them to Cultural Revolution or the Cultural Revolution. I think there is an argument to be made of keeping the long form of CRG "Cultural Revolution Group" as well. Artwhitemaster (talk) 09:02, 24 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

These should be reverted. I agree with you. JArthur1984 (talk) 12:32, 24 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I'm ok with switching them back, but I don't think it benefits the reader to do so. Shortcuts are a good thing. If inconsistency is the only critique, I'm happy to convert the rest of the references. Lfstevens (talk) 19:17, 24 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I've seen a bit of attestation of the initialism in sources—which makes sense, because it's a proper name that is both pretty long and will be stated over and over. I would be okay with establishing its use in sources, and using it a bit. Going to be awkward either way, though. Remsense诉 19:21, 24 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

No. This is an encyclopaedia, not a casual western-style article. Spell it out properly. 2400:1A00:B040:E1BB:4802:B25B:C7CD:5ED (talk) 14:50, 16 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

What.

@Remsense What do you want me to do? Ping me. Alexysun (talk) 00:29, 20 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

3 minute response time insta-revert is crazy. Alexysun (talk) 00:33, 20 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Gatekeeping knowledge is crazy 💔 Alexysun (talk) 00:35, 20 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Not Remsense, but the content you added is already described in the lead or Background section in more detail. In the lead, it already says:

"Tens of millions were persecuted, including senior officials such as Liu Shaoqi, Deng Xiaoping and Peng Dehuai; millions were persecuted for being members of the Five Black Categories, with intellectuals and scientists labelled as the Stinking Old Ninth."

In my opinion (based on MOS:LEAD), the added bit about Mao's semi-retirement and the context of the Great Leap Forward is better suited for the Background section rather than the article's first paragraph, as the article would otherwise begin off focus. The lead at present is already quite long. Yue🌙 04:46, 20 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I agree with this length concern. Each point was already addressed in the lead at a higher level of detail. The other troublesome aspect was the POV-style "in reality ..." JArthur1984 (talk) 12:26, 20 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion:

Mao Zedong in 1965 Color (4x5 close cropped).png

Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 09:24, 14 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion:

LiuShaoqi Colour.jpg

Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 09:54, 14 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]