TAN SHUZHEN
Rally celebrating National Day at Tien An Men Square, Beijing, October 1, 1966.
The Cultural Revolution
“When the Cultural Revolution came, we thought it was a minor movement. We didn’t know that it would last ten years. We never thought some people would die––many people would die.” ––Cai and Melvin, pp.231
The Influence of Mao
China’s Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution was officially launched in May 1966 and lasted until 1976, when Chairman Mao passed away. The movement has been controversial due to its radicalism, ambitious scale, and impact on nearly a billion lives: families were separated, careers upended, and education interrupted.
Mao felt the urge to re-emphasize his influence after feeling shut out by more conservative comrades, and the Cultural Revolution began as a result. Directed against the Communist Party-state itself, the campaign was an unprecedented surge.
The Cultural Revolution erupted with the political initiative of restoring Mao’s authority and the proletarian ideology. To put the Party right and enlarge the size of political participation, Mao started to incorporate new allies outside political life, especially students. They formed “Red Guards” organizations that held mass meetings, published newspapers, and placed posters in public spaces. They were eager to confront teachers, local party leaders, and almost anyone in authority.
Model Operas (样板戏)
As a result of the Cultural Revolution, art also underwent significant reforms to best represent the proletarian ideology. In fact, Mao’s wife Jiang Qing’s initiative to revolutionize music and musical theater predated the Cultural Revolution by years. Jiang stated at the 1964 Festival of Peking Opera that:
"It is our view that opera on contemporary, revolutionary themes must reflect real life in the fifteen years since the founding of our Chinese People's Republic, and that images of contemporary revolutionary heroes must be created on our operatic stage."
At the festival, Jiang noticed three operas: The Red Lantern (红灯记), Shaijabang（沙家浜), and Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy (智取威虎山), which were set during the war against Japan and the Chinese Civil War respectively. Jiang cultivated these efforts as important examples of the practical application of Mao’s dictums “Make the past serve the present and make foreign things serve China.” She was later involved in The White-Haired Girl, which was set towards the end of the war against Japan, and The Red Detachment of Women, which was about the establishment of an all-women’s armed detachment to fight the Nationalists in the 1930s.
After the Cultural Revolution started, Jiang Qing was able to further dedicate herself to developing these musical projects. The eight “model revolutionary theatrical works”––including five Peking operas: The Red Lantern, Shajiabang, Taking Tiger Mountain By Strategy, On the Docks and Raid on White Tiiger Regiment, two ballets: The Red Detachment of Women and The White-Haired Girl, and the symphonic music Shajiabang. With the absence of almost all entertainment, the model operas quickly occupied national stages and airwaves. People knew the arias, dialogues, and even gestures by heart––even until today.
Model Opera The Red Detachment of Women
Tan ShuZhen and Li CuiZhen.
Just as the name suggests, the Cultural Revolution consistently targeted the arts and popular beliefs. As a result, many musicians underwent great adversity; many decided to end their lives. Among all Chinese musical institutions, The Shanghai Conservatory had the highest death toll as a result of the Cultural Revolution (Ibid,Pp.239). It might be because Shanghai was the birthplace of Western music in modern China, and Shanghai was where the Cultural Revolution was launched (Ibid, 240). Erhu master Lu Xiutang ended his life on August 31st, 1966, as a result of being abused by the Red Guards, marking the first suicide. Subsequently, Yang Jaren, the head of the Shanghai Conservatory’s conducting department, his wife, Chung Juoru, the principal of the Conservatory’s middle school, pianist Li CuiZhen (With whom Lang Lang’s piano teacher, Zhu Yafen, who just passed away on November 13th, 2022, studied piano with), violin professor Zhao Zhihua and his wife, all ended their lives. Although there is disagreement on the number, according to Tan, 17 Conservatory professors, spouses, and students chose to end their lives (Cai and Melvin, 234).
Peking Review 9
March 1, 1974
Tan was accused of dressing like a foreigner by his violin student Ni Wen-Zhen, the son of Tan’s good friend. He broke into Tan’s residence and took some photos away.
Tan’s valuables––including his Rolex watch, his wife’s diamond ring, and his nine violins––were taken away by the Red Guards. He was then accused of lying about his violin-making ability and destroying China’s traditional music.
Professor Tan was then confined in the Conservatory’s basement like a criminal for 14 months. At first, he was strictly held captive in the basement. After nine months, he was allowed to come out to do manual labor––toilet repairing and cleaning. There were 122 toilets, and Tan would always go to the fifth-floor toilet, attempting to see his home.
He said, “Once, there was a large meeting in a grand hall to criticize me––they grabbed my hair. They said I was a member of the Nationalist Party (国民党). They knelt me down; they beat me. But I said I cannot confess to something I didn’t do. They pushed me down the stairs, but I had to work the next day.”
Although Tan was not allowed to meet anyone during his captivity, he was nevertheless granted five minutes to meet his daughter, who came all the way from Beijing. Tan’s seven-year-old granddaughter, whom he had only met once before, also came. He described this moment, saying, “My granddaughter called me grandfather, and when I heard this, I broke out in tears.”
“Tell your mother I am fine,” said Tan to his daughter.
