The Four Olds

The Four Olds can be put into four categories:

• old ideas
• old culture
• old customs
• old habits.

Items such as religious symbols, old scriptures, and traditional dress fell into some of these categories. Superstitious beliefs such as luck, any signs of an advantage over others, children's respect for elders, and words or styles of clothing of foreign background  also fall under the Four Olds.

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The Red Guards (Executioners of the Four Olds)

The Red Guards were the young activists of the cultural revolution. In a way, they were Mao's henchmen who carried out his plans for china. These were the people who burned artifacts, destroyed landmarks, and  beat or publicly humiliated the non- followers. These people weren't just soldiers or adults, they were also made up of school-age children and students who could be easily manipulated. Young children studied to become Red Guards and earned the title at the age of twelve.

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Abolishing The Four Olds

General Mao Zedong was bent on destroying the way China ran as a country. During the revolution, thousands of items falling into the four categories of the Four Olds were destroyed, much like the picture on the left. They raided the homes of people who were often referred to as the "black elements", and included former landlords, former merchants, former rich peasants, and persons thought to be counterrevolutionaries, rightists, or criminals. 

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Lin Biao Speech initiating the Cultural Revolution and the Death of the Four Olds