What was the purpose of the cultural revolution? what actually happened during the cultural revolution?

The Cultural Revolution was a disordered mass movement in the People's Republic of China. Mao Zedong hurled it in 1966, demanding that elitists were destabilization the government and Chinese society. The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution initiated by Mao Zedong as part of China's social and political transformation in 1966, changed the cultural life in the country more than any other event since the assumption of power by the Communist Party.

The purpose of the Cultural Revolution was to speed up change and eliminate Western, capitalist influence.

What actually happened:

Mao Zedong began the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (its official name) in 1966.  A big part of the program was the closing of China's schools, because Mao saw the majority of educators as bourgeois types who were failing to support the communist revolution.  The Cultural Revolution was an insistence on loyalty to communist party ideology.  

The Red Guard was formed, which was made up of high school and college students (no longer attending school, since schools were shut down).  These radicalized students became militants for Mao over against those whom he considered not revolutionary enough.  The Red Guard destroyed historical artifacts and writings of the of China's former culture.  They also attacked persons who were seen to be resisting Chairman Mao's permanent revolution.

Mao Zedong began the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (its official name) in 1966.  A big part of the program was the closing of China's schools, because Mao saw the majority of educators as bourgeois types who were failing to support the communist revolution.  The Cultural Revolution was an insistence on loyalty to communist party ideology.  

The Red Guard was formed, which was made up of high school and college students (no longer attending school, since schools were shut down).  These radicalized students became militants for Mao over against those whom he considered not revolutionary enough.  The Red Guard destroyed historical artifacts and writings of the of China's former culture.  They also attacked persons who were seen to be resisting Chairman Mao's permanent revolution.