Factionalism Within The Red Guards
"Enveloped in a trance of excitement and change", all student Red Guards pledged their loyalty to their beloved Chairman Mao Zedong. Many worshipped Mao above everything and this was typical of a "pure and innocent generation". Excited youths took inspiration from Mao's often vague pronouncements, generally believing the sanctity of his words and making serious efforts to figure out what they meant. Factions quickly formed based on individual interpretations of Mao's statements. All groups pledged loyalty to Mao and claimed to have his best interests in mind, yet they continually engaged in verbal and physical skirmishes all throughout the Cultural Revolution.
Youth from families with party-members and of revolutionary origin joined conservative factions. These factions focused on the socio-political status quo, keeping within their localities and working to challenge existing distributions of power and privilege. Those from the countryside and without ties to the Chinese Communist Party often joined radical groups who sought to change and uproot local government leadership. The primary goal of the radicals was to restructure existing systems to benefit those of poorer backgrounds, as supposed capitalist roaders were corrupting the Socialist agenda. Primarily influenced by travel and a freer exchange of ideas from different regions of China, more joined the radical, rebel factions of the Red Guards by the second half of the Cultural Revolution.
Some historians, one being Andrew Walder, argue that individuals and their political choices also influenced the development of Red Guard factions all across China. Interests of individuals, interactions with authority figures, and social interactions all altered identities to forge factions that would fight for new grievances against "the system". Following Mao Zedong's idea of permanent revolution, the factions and their identities continually evolved as new ideas and people were brought in. Ultimately, the struggle between factions led to the chaotic civil-war-like atmosphere which foiled Mao's original intent to have the people carry out an orderly permanent revolution against the existing regime.
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