On Class Origins

"On Class Origins"
Chinese	出身论
Author	Yu Luoke
Published	January 1967
Main idea	Challenged the "blood lineage theory"

"On Class Origins"^[1] (Chinese: 出身论; pinyin: Chūshēn lùn), alternatively translated as "On Family Background",^[2] Theory of Class Pedigree,^[3] is an article by Yu Luoke [zh]^[4] and published in January 1967 in the Journal of Middle-School Cultural Revolution.^[5] In this article, he challenged the "blood lineage theory"^[6] propagated by the children of senior Chinese Communist Party officials.^[7] At that time, this theory was widely circulated in Chinese society and caused serious adverse effects.

Yu Luoke was accused of being a counter-revolutionary and sentenced to death for his famous treatise "On Class Origins".^[8]

Yu Luoke's article echoed the Central Cultural Revolution Group's critique of the "blood lineage theory", which caused a huge reaction throughout China.^[9] In April 1967, the article was labeled a "big poisonous weed".^[10] On January 5, 1968, Yu was arrested and imprisoned, and on March 5, 1970, he was executed.^[11]

Evaluations

Some Chinese experts and scholars describe "On Class Origins" as China's Manifesto of Human Rights.^[12]

Chinese-American historian Song Yongyi considers "On Class Origins" to be a "human rights declaration in the dark".^[13]

"On Class Origins'" marked the first independent thinking in China in the 1960s that broke through the ideological framework of the Cultural Revolution, focusing not on the so-called "political line" that dominated students during the Cultural Revolution, but on real social problems. Yu Luoke's thoughts were advanced at that time, and were criticized not only by the Red Guards who advocated the "blood lineage theory", but also criticized by many rebel student organizations.^[14]

References

^ Yiching Wu (16 June 2014). The Cultural Revolution at the Margins. Harvard University Press. pp. 332–. ISBN 978-0-674-72879-0.
^ Guo Jian; Yongyi Song; Yuan Zhou (23 July 2015). Historical Dictionary of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. pp. 404–. ISBN 978-1-4422-5172-4.
^ Philip F. Williams; Yenna Wu (17 August 2004). The Great Wall of Confinement: The Chinese Prison Camp through Contemporary Fiction and Reportage. University of California Press. pp. 162–. ISBN 978-0-520-93855-7.
^ Sujian Guo; Baogang Guo (2008). China in Search of a Harmonious Society. Lexington Books. ISBN 978-0-7391-2623-3.
^ Andrew G. Walder (5 March 2012). Fractured Rebellion: The Beijing Red Guard Movement. Harvard University Press. pp. 338–. ISBN 978-0-674-26818-0.
^ Guo Jian; Yongyi Song; Yuan Zhou (17 September 2009). The A to Z of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Scarecrow Press. pp. 206–. ISBN 978-0-8108-7033-8.
^ Guo And Guo (15 August 2008). China in Search of a Harmonious Society. Lexington Books. pp. 167–. ISBN 978-0-7391-3042-1.
^ Daniel Leese; Puck Engman (25 June 2018). Victims, Perpetrators, and the Role of Law in Maoist China: A Case-Study Approach. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 46–. ISBN 978-3-11-053365-1.
^ "Looking Back at the Cultural Revolution (21): Theories of Blood Lineage and Family Background". Voice of America. 2007-04-06. Archived from the original on 2010-11-25.
^ "Qi Benyu and the Central Cultural Revolution Group". Radio Free Asia. 2016-07-06.
^ Henry He (22 July 2016). Dictionary of the Political Thought of the People's Republic of China. Routledge. pp. 595–. ISBN 978-1-315-50043-0.
^ "A new book release of the brother of Yu Luoke". Radio Free Asia. 2010-03-11.
^ S. Jiang (16 June 2015). Citizen Publications in China Before the Internet. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 216–. ISBN 978-1-137-49208-1.
^ Liu Qingfeng (1996). The Cultural Revolution: Evidence and Analysis. The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press. pp. 273–. ISBN 978-962-201-763-4.

External links

One English translation: Yu, Luoke (July 2001). "On Family Background: Editor's Note". Contemporary Chinese Thought. 32 (4): 17–36. doi:10.2753/CSP1097-1467320417. ISSN 1097-1467. Retrieved 4 May 2024.

[Wu2014-1] Yiching Wu (16 June 2014). The Cultural Revolution at the Margins. Harvard University Press. pp. 332–. ISBN 978-0-674-72879-0.

[JianSong2015-2] Guo Jian; Yongyi Song; Yuan Zhou (23 July 2015). Historical Dictionary of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. pp. 404–. ISBN 978-1-4422-5172-4.

[WilliamsWu2004-3] Philip F. Williams; Yenna Wu (17 August 2004). The Great Wall of Confinement: The Chinese Prison Camp through Contemporary Fiction and Reportage. University of California Press. pp. 162–. ISBN 978-0-520-93855-7.

[GuoGuo2008-4] Sujian Guo; Baogang Guo (2008). China in Search of a Harmonious Society. Lexington Books. ISBN 978-0-7391-2623-3.

[Walder2012-5] Andrew G. Walder (5 March 2012). Fractured Rebellion: The Beijing Red Guard Movement. Harvard University Press. pp. 338–. ISBN 978-0-674-26818-0.

[JianSong2009-6] Guo Jian; Yongyi Song; Yuan Zhou (17 September 2009). The A to Z of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Scarecrow Press. pp. 206–. ISBN 978-0-8108-7033-8.

[7] Guo And Guo (15 August 2008). China in Search of a Harmonious Society. Lexington Books. pp. 167–. ISBN 978-0-7391-3042-1.

[LeeseEngman2018-8] Daniel Leese; Puck Engman (25 June 2018). Victims, Perpetrators, and the Role of Law in Maoist China: A Case-Study Approach. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 46–. ISBN 978-3-11-053365-1.

[voanews.com-9] "Looking Back at the Cultural Revolution (21): Theories of Blood Lineage and Family Background". Voice of America. 2007-04-06. Archived from the original on 2010-11-25.

[10] "Qi Benyu and the Central Cultural Revolution Group". Radio Free Asia. 2016-07-06.

[He2016-11] Henry He (22 July 2016). Dictionary of the Political Thought of the People's Republic of China. Routledge. pp. 595–. ISBN 978-1-315-50043-0.

[12] "A new book release of the brother of Yu Luoke". Radio Free Asia. 2010-03-11.

[Jiang2015-13] S. Jiang (16 June 2015). Citizen Publications in China Before the Internet. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 216–. ISBN 978-1-137-49208-1.

[Liu_Qingfeng_1996-14] Liu Qingfeng (1996). The Cultural Revolution: Evidence and Analysis. The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press. pp. 273–. ISBN 978-962-201-763-4.

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v t e Cultural Revolution
Prelude	Anti-Rightist Campaign Great Chinese Famine Great Leap Forward Lushan Conference Seven Thousand Cadres Conference Socialist Education Movement Fengqiao experience Taoyuan Experience
Major events	Down to the Countryside Movement Cleansing the Class Ranks 12-3 incident January Storm February Countercurrent Great Exchange of Revolutionary Experience 1967 Hong Kong riots Wuhan incident Smashing gong-jian-fa Arson attacks on the British Chargé d'affaires Office 9th Party Congress One Strike-Three Anti Campaign Abolition of the presidency in China Project 571 Lin Biao incident 10th Party Congress Black Painting incident Criticize Lin, Criticize Confucius Snail Incident Hangzhou incident 1975 Banqiao Dam failure Counterattack the Right-Deviationist Reversal-of-Verdicts Trend 1976 Nanjing incident 1976 Tiananmen incident Smashing the Gang of Four
Massacres	Red August Daxing Massacre Guangxi Massacre Inner Mongolia incident Guangdong Massacre Yangjiang Massacre Hunan Massacres Daoxian massacre Shaoyang County Massacre Yunnan Massacres Zhao Jianmin spy case Shadian incident Ruijin Massacre Qinghai 223 Incident
Key figures	Mao Zedong Liu Shaoqi Zhou Enlai Lin Biao Deng Xiaoping Gang of Four (Jiang Qing Zhang Chunqiao Yao Wenyuan Wang Hongwen) Peng Dehuai Wu Han Peng Zhen Tao Zhu Chen Boda Wang Dongxing Xie Fuzhi Ji Dengkui Wang Li Qi Benyu Wu Faxian Qiu Huizuo Yang Chengwu Chen Zaidao Kang Sheng Mao Yuanxin Hua Guofeng Ye Jianying
Documents	1970 Draft Constitution A List of Cadres to Be Protected Bombard the Headquarters Quotations from Chairman Mao Hai Rui Dismissed from Office May 16 Notification Six Articles of Public Security Sweep Away All Cow Demons and Snake Spirits On Class Origins On the Abolition of Bourgeois Rights "With you in charge, I'm at ease"
Concepts	Four Olds Newborn socialist things Struggle session Feudal fascism Big-character poster Cow demons and snake spirits Bloodline theory Continuous Revolution Theory Seizure of power Violent Struggle One Divides into Two Democracy Wall Eight model plays Loyalty dance Capitalist roader Yiku sitian Learn from Daqing in industry Learn from Dazhai in agriculture Stinking Old Ninth Five Black Categories Five Red Categories Four Greats Three Loyalties and Four Limitlessnesses Two Newspapers and One Journal
Groups	61 Renegades 8341 Special Regiment Barefoot doctor Central Case Examination Group Central Organization and Propaganda Leading Group Cultural Revolution Group Five Man Group Mao Zedong Thought Propaganda Teams May Seventh Cadre School May Sixteenth elements Red Guards Conservative Faction Little Red Guards Rebel Faction Scarlet Guards Ultra-Left Faction Xiaoyao Faction Revolutionary committee in Beijing in Fujian in Heilongjiang in Shanghai Sent-down youth Hunan Provincial Proletarian Revolutionary Great Alliance Committee Worker-Peasant-Soldier student Xiang River Storm and Thunder
Related topics	Maoism Mao Zedong's cult of personality Mango cult List of campaigns of the Chinese Communist Party Class struggle Sino-Soviet split Two Whatevers Morning Sun (film) Third Plenum of the 11th Central Committee Boluan Fanzheng New Enlightenment Scar literature Evaluation of the Cultural Revolution Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party since the Founding of the People's Republic of China
Category

On Class Origins

Evaluations

See also

References

External links