1 January 1966Humphrey VisitChiang Kai-Shek
Receives US Vice President Hubert Humphrey during his visit to Taiwan.
Historical records for China in 1966, rendered directly from the World History Database and ordered by month, day and event.
Receives US Vice President Hubert Humphrey during his visit to Taiwan.
The February Outline attempts to limit cultural criticism and is later attacked by Mao's allies
The National Assembly expands the Temporary Provisions, allowing the President to establish a body for policies concerning suppression of Communist rebellion.
Wins another presidential term after emergency constitutional provisions are expanded, continuing in office with Yen Chia-kan as Vice President.
Mao directs criticism of the February Outline and prepares to overturn Peng Zhen's leadership of the cultural campaign
Qi Benyu is appointed to the Central Cultural Revolution Group
Chen Boda becomes head of the Central Cultural Revolution Group
Zhang Chunqiao is appointed to the Central Cultural Revolution Group
Guan Feng is appointed to the Central Cultural Revolution Group
Wang Li is appointed to the Central Cultural Revolution Group
Jiang Qing becomes a powerful member of the Central Cultural Revolution Group
Jiang Qing is appointed to the Central Cultural Revolution Group and promotes radical cultural campaigns
Yao Wenyuan is appointed to the Central Cultural Revolution Group
Mao replaces the old cultural apparatus with the Central Cultural Revolution Group dominated by his allies
The Five-Man Group is abolished when the May 16 Notification reverses Peng Zhen's approach
Liu Shaoqi becomes a principal target as the Cultural Revolution turns against the party establishment
Deng Xiaoping is soon drawn into the attack on senior party leaders after the May 16 Notification
Mao authorises the May 16 Notification warning that bourgeois representatives have infiltrated the party
Mao launches the Cultural Revolution through the May 16 Notification against alleged bourgeois elements in the party
Peng Zhen is purged after Mao rejects the February Outline and the Five-Man Group
Mao approves broadcasting Nie Yuanzi's poster, turning campus criticism into a national movement
People's Daily calls on the masses to sweep away monsters and demons in support of the Cultural Revolution
Visits Romania and meets leaders including Nicolae Ceausescu and Ion Gheorghe Maurer.
Mao writes Bombard the Headquarters, signalling an attack on senior party leaders
Lin Biao supports the Sixteen Points decision that legitimises mass rebellion
The party adopts the Sixteen Points, defining the programme of the Cultural Revolution
Jiang Qing encourages attacks on old culture as Red Guards mobilise in Beijing
Song Binbin is linked to the Red Guard moment when Mao receives student rebels in Tiananmen Square
Mao wears a Red Guard armband, giving symbolic endorsement to student rebels
Lin Biao appears with Mao at the first great Red Guard rally in Tiananmen Square
Mao receives and addresses a vast Red Guard rally in Tiananmen Square
Lao She dies after being humiliated and beaten by Red Guards
Mao calls on students and Red Guards to rebel against party and cultural authorities
Red Guards attack old ideas, culture, customs and habits under Mao's revolutionary slogans
Orders the formation of a "Red Guard" of students to attack opposing party members
Orders the formation of a "Red Guard" of students to attack opposing party members
Zhou Enlai intervenes to protect Sun Yat-sen's widow Song Qingling from Red Guard attacks
Lin Biao praises Mao's line and attacks old culture, customs and habits
China tests its first nuclear missile
Tao Zhu rises briefly before being attacked by Cultural Revolution radicals
Lin Biao promotes Quotations from Chairman Mao as a central symbol of loyalty
Jiang Qing promotes radical cultural politics and becomes a central Cultural Revolution figure
Mao calls for educated youth to learn from workers, peasants and soldiers
Proposes sending Chinese armies into Vietnam against the United States
Held under house arrest in Nanjing
Qi Benyu writes attacks that help direct criticism toward Liu Shaoqi
Composed of Maos allies & his wife, Jiang Qing
Promotes the Chinese Cultural Renaissance Movement in Taiwan as an ideological and cultural response to the Cultural Revolution on the mainland.
Factional rivalry results in overthrow of the Communist Party hierarchy
Liu Shaoqi is targeted as a capitalist roader during the Cultural Revolution
Hu Yaobang is attacked and sidelined during the Cultural Revolution as a suspected capitalist roader
Political leaders and intellectuals are publicly humiliated as Mao calls for attacks on bourgeois influence
Works to keep central ministries, transport and foreign affairs functioning during the early Cultural Revolution.
Death of Li Lisan, executed
Demands that the Friendship Highway be used to supply Vietcong bases. Demands Kampuchea let Vietcong supplies land in Sihanoukville
Lin Biao helps elevate Mao's quotations and personality cult during the early Cultural Revolution
Purged because of his opposition to the "great leap forward"
Wang Li becomes one of the most radical propagandists inside the Cultural Revolution Group
Red Guards attack religious sites and cultural relics during the campaign against the Four Olds
Appointed Vice Chairman of the Communist Party
This page is generated from stored World History Database records matching the exact country and year shown above. Exact duplicate display records are collapsed. Records without a month are listed after the monthly sections. Source provenance varies by record; formal academic citation should be checked against the relevant primary source, archive or specialist historical reference.