| Chinese | 横扫一切牛鬼蛇神 |
|---|---|
| Origin | People's Daily |
| Type | Editorial |
| Date | June 1, 1966 |
| Sweep Away All Cow Demons and Snake Spirits | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 橫掃一切牛鬼蛇神 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 横扫一切牛鬼蛇神 | ||||||
| Literal meaning | sweep away allcow demons [and] snake spirits | ||||||
| |||||||
Sweep Away All Cow Demons and Snake Spirits[1] (Chinese:横扫一切牛鬼蛇神[2]), alternatively translated asObliterate All Ox Demons and Snake Spirits,[3]Sweep Away All Ox-ghosts and Snake-spirits,[4] is aneditorial published by thePeople's Daily on June 1, 1966,[5] calling on the masses to rise up and "sweep away all cow demons and snake spirits".[6]
The editorial declares that "the climax of theGreat Proletarian Cultural Revolution is rising in socialist China, which accounts for a quarter of the world's population." It calls on theproletariat to "completely eradicate all the old ideas, old culture, old customs and old habits that have poisoned the people of China for thousands of years, fostered by the exploiting classes."[7]
Cow demons and snake spirits referred to people who were condemned during theCultural Revolution,[8] including condemned government leaders, intellectuals and cadres.[9] The claim to "sweep away all cow demons and snake spirits" is actually part of the campaign to combat the "Four Olds" and maintain the "Bloodline theory".[10]
