Chinese state media made a rare public mention of the Cultural Revolution on Tuesday, hours after the 50th anniversary of the start of the decade-long upheaval.
The People's Daily, the ruling Communist Party's official mouthpiece, published an opinion piece on its website at midnight local time, saying that China should never allow the events of 1966-1976 to happen again.
"Discussions over China's Cultural Revolution have been emerging on the Internet. The decade- long internal chaos was a huge disaster," the piece began.
"Completely denying the values of the Cultural Revolution is not only an understanding throughout the party, but also a stable consensus of the whole of Chinese society," it added.
"It is not possible for such a revolution to be repeated. The decade of calamity caused severe damage, leaving permanent pain for many Chinese. Entirely denying the values of the Cultural Revolution will help Chinese society remain vigilant against the danger of all kinds of disorder."
The revolution began when communist leader Mao Zedong declared that intellectuals and secret backers of capitalism were trying to undercut the ideals of his Communist Revolution of the proletariat.
More than 1 million alleged traitors were imprisoned, killed or committed suicide. Mao ordered schools closed to force young people to leave cities to work in remote villages. The economy collapsed amid the upheaval.
In 1981, five years after Mao's death, the Communist Party issued a resolution blaming the chairman and his "Gang of Four" political subordinates for the “error” of the Cultural Revolution. Since then, few Chinese leaders have mentioned it.
There were no official commemorations on the anniversary Monday, although some Mao loyalists held private events.
Contributing: Hannah Gardner
