This thesis focuses on the protection of cultural heritage in the sociopolitical atmosphere of the Cultural Revolution, especially in its first years, when the infamous campaign Destroy the Four Olds was at its peak. Despite extremely dangerous circumstances and political atmosphere, in which everyone was expected to follow the revolutionary current, from the very beginning many people took action to save the local sights, cultural relics and works of art and literature under attack. The main opposition occurred at the local level, where people and local governments used different ways to work against the campaign, or at least to try and limit its consequences. While the masses had greater power in directly opposing the actions of the red guards, people with bad political background and local officials, from whom it was expected to fully support the political spirit of the time, had to be more careful and thus could only quietly engage in damage control. The content of this thesis focuses on formal as well as informal and local methods of organizing cultural protection. As for the formal protection, it started in the beginning of 1967, when the preservation of cultural heritage was finally institutionalized. Within a few months, the campaign underwent complete reinterpretation: people were made to believe that cultural preservation had been the main goal from the start and red guards were portrayed as great heroes, returning the heritage to their rightful owners – the people. In conclusion, the people’s response to the initial goals of the campaign proves that most were in fact opposed to heritage destruction, with many going as far as exposing themselves and risking their lives for the sake of protecting the old world’s legacy.
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