Stinking Old Ninth Explained

The Stinking Old Ninth is a Chinese dysphemism for intellectuals used at two major points, the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) and the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976).[1] [2]

History

The Yuan dynasty

The term originated during the Yuan dynasty where the Mongol conquerors identified ten "castes" of Chinese: bureaucrats, officials, Buddhist monks, Taoist priests, physicians, workers, hunters, prostitutes, (ninth) Confucian scholars and finally beggars, with only beggars at a status below the intellectuals.[3]

The Cultural Revolution

During the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), the term "Stinking Old Ninth" was often used as a synonym for intellectuals, who were widely persecuted during the revolution and pushed to undergo "self-transformation".[4] [5] [6] The "Nine Black Categories", expanded from the Five Black Categories (landlords, rich farmers, anti-revolutionaries, bad influences, right-wingers), further included traitors, spies, capitalist roaders and (ninth) intellectuals.[7] [8]

Mao Zedong's distrust towards intellectuals was evident even before the Cultural Revolution.[9] [10] [11] For example, during the Anti-Rightist Campaign in 1957–1959, tens of thousands of intellectuals were persecuted.[12] [13] The name "bourgeois intellectual" became a standard phrase in Mao's time.[14] During the Cultural Revolution, intellectuals were called the "Stinking Old Ninth" and were subjected to condemnation, purge, imprisonment and even execution.[15] In May 3, 1975, Mao made the following comments at his meeting with members of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party:[16] [17]

In the fields of education, science, literature and art, and medicine, where intellectuals are concentrated, there are some good [people], and there are a few Marxist-Leninists. You [at the] Ministry of Foreign Affairs [are at] a place where intellectuals are concentrated, am I wrong? You two are stinking intellectuals, you should admit this, being the stinking old ninth category, the old ninth category cannot [just] walk away.
After the Cultural Revolution, in August 1977, Deng Xiaoping mentioned in a meeting that it was the Gang of Four who came up with the phrase and that Mao himself saw intellectuals as still having some value in society.[18]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Jiao, Liwei . A Cultural Dictionary of The Chinese Language: 500 Proverbs, Idioms and Maxims 文化五百条 . 2019-11-12 . Routledge . 978-1-000-71302-2 . en.
  2. Book: Li, Kwok-sing. A Glossary of Political Terms of the People's Republic of China. 1995. The Chinese University Press. Hong Kong. 27–28.
  3. Ya Se (雅瑟) and Qing Ping (青苹), eds. (2014). 中华词源 (Etymologies of China). Available on Google Books.
  4. Book: Ip, Hung-yok . Intellectuals in Revolutionary China, 1921–1949 . 23 November 2004 . Routledge . 978-1-134-26520-6 . en . 10.4324/9780203009932.
  5. Book: Bonnin, Michel . The Lost Generation: The Rustication of China's Educated Youth (1968–1980) . 2013-08-07 . The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press . 978-962-996-481-8 . en.
  6. Wang . Laidi . 2003 . 毛泽东的知识分子政策 . Mao Zedong's policies on intellectuals . live . Modern China Studies . 3 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240318033644/https://www.modernchinastudies.org/us/issues/past-issues/82-mcs-2003-issue-3/1300-2012-01-06-09-16-39.html . 2024-03-18.
  7. Web site: Song . Yongyi . Song Yongyi . August 25, 2011 . Chronology of Mass Killings during the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240114034126/https://www.sciencespo.fr/mass-violence-war-massacre-resistance/en/document/chronology-mass-killings-during-chinese-cultural-revolution-1966-1976.html . 2024-01-14 . December 27, 2019 . . en.
  8. Web site: Mann . Jim . 1985-09-18 . 'It's Not the Same Communist Party It Was' : China's Old Soldiers Yielding to Technocrats . 2024-03-23 . Los Angeles Times . en-US.
  9. Book: Bonnin, Michel . The Lost Generation: The Rustication of China's Educated Youth (1968–1980) . 2013-08-07 . The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press . 978-962-996-481-8 . en.
  10. Book: Pines, Yuri . The Everlasting Empire: The Political Culture of Ancient China and Its Imperial Legacy . 2012-05-27 . Princeton University Press . 978-0-691-13495-6 . en.
  11. Web site: Bao . Tong . Bao Tong . 2014-08-29 . 'Mao And Deng Were The Same, And We Should Ditch Them' . 2024-03-23 . . en.
  12. Web site: 2017-06-08 . Echoes of persecutions past in China's intellectual crackdown . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240220084721/https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2097521/echoes-1950s-persecution-chinas-crackdown-liberal . 2024-02-20 . 2024-03-23 . . en.
  13. Zeng . Zhaojin . Eisenman . Joshua . September 2018 . The price of persecution: The long-term effects of the Anti-Rightist Campaign on economic performance in post-Mao China . World Development . 109 . 249–260. 10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.04.013 .
  14. Web site: Zhou . Enlai . Zhou Enlai . 1962-03-02 . 论知识分子问题 . On the issue of intellectuals . 2024-03-23 . . zh.
  15. Web site: Wang . Youqin . Wang Youqin . 2001 . Student Attacks Against Teachers: The Revolution of 1966 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20200417112031/http://ywang.uchicago.edu/history/docs/2001_03_05.pdf . 2020-04-17 . The University of Chicago.
  16. Web site: Mao . Zedong . 1975-05-03 . 毛泽东同在京中央政治局委员的谈话（1975年5月3日） . Chairman Mao's Talk with Members of the Politburo who Were in Beijing . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240317224056/https://www.marxists.org/chinese/maozedong/mia-chinese-mao-19750503.htm . 2024-03-17 . . zh.
  17. Web site: The Secretarial Bureau of the Office of the Central Committee . 1975-05-03 . Chairman Mao's Talk with Members of the Politburo who Were in Beijing . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220313073522/https://michaelharrison.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Maos-Talk-with-Members-of-the-Politburo-1975-May-3-EnglishWithNotes.pdf . 2022-03-13.
  18. Book: Deng Xiaoping. Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping . 2. 1984. Foreign Language Press. Beijing. Mao Zedong Thought Must be Correctly Understood as an Integral Whole.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Stinking Old Ninth".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.