The Cultural Revolution was a movement in China that lasted from 1966 to 1976. The Cultural Revolution began as a campaign to root out the bourgeois influences in art and literature. In spring of 1966, it broadened to deal with bourgeois influences among the intellectuals in general. The Cultural Revolution was inspired by Mao. He felt that China was beginning to look like a version of the Russian revolution and he felt the fundamental goals of the revolution were being abandoned. He wanted to cut down the power and privileges that the ruling elite in China possessed.
The goals of the Cultural Revolution were for China to have a prosperous economic economy and a government capable of maintaining national unity and upholding China's place in the world. The Red Guards became the group representing the Cultural Revolution. They were also Mao's enforcers to make the changes he felt were necessary to meet his goals of the revolution. Red Guards too over educational institutions. They attacked anything they felt represented Soviet or Western capitalist countries. The smashed the images in the Buddhist temples. They raided homes, mostly those of professors. They beat people (sometimes to death) if they owned Western style clothing, books, or other objects that offended them. Police and military were told not to interfere with the Red Guard's work. Organizations analogous to the Red Guards began to form among students and industrial workers. .
Professors and the elite were not the only targets of the Red Guards. In August of 1966, the direction of the movement began to change. Mao issued a statement titled "Bombard the Headquarters"", in which he charged that there were people in the CCP at all levels up to the top who were following bourgeois policies. It became clear that this allegation included Liu Shaoqi (chief of state of the PRC) and Deng Xiaoping (general secretary of the CCP).