Cow demons and snake spirits
Cow demons and snake spirits, also rendered in English as ox-demons and snake-spirits is a Chinese term used during the Cultural Revolution to demonize perceived enemies. Tang dynasty poet Du Mu coined the term in the preface of a poetry collection by Li He to praise the fantastical elements in Li's poetry.
History
The term is rooted in Buddhist demonology. The poet Du Mu first used the term during the Tang dynasty in a preface describing the supernatural in Li He's poetry.Mao Zedong first began using the term in his speeches during spring 1957. He first used it in March of that year, referring to ghost plays in traditional operas:
An admirer of Li, Mao in the 1960s frequently used this term to refer to reactionary elements and those he deemed class enemies. On 12 August 1966 at the Eleventh Plenary Session of the CPC Eighth National Congress, Mao told the Standing Committee that there were ox demons and venomous spirits sitting among them and that "to rebel is justified".
In 1966, after Chen Boda took over the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, People's Daily, an editorial titled Sweep Away All Cow Demons and Snake Spirits published on June 1, 1966, called for a nationwide struggle against these elements. "Cow demons and snake spirits" became one of the most popular terms during the Cultural Revolution, a term used to denounce and dehumanize any "enemy", real or perceived.
In her first public speech in June 1964 at a Peking Opera convention, Jiang Qing criticized regional opera troupes for glorifying emperors, generals, scholars, and other ox-demons and snake-spirits.
The exact definition of the term was unclear and subject to interpretation, but the major enemies of the Cultural Revolution were:
- Five Black Categories - Landlords, rightists, rich farmers, counter revolutionaries, and "bad elements"
- Capitalist roaders
- Stinking Old Ninths
- Hanjian