Starter task b

Two black and white photographs. On the left is a photo of the outside of a two-storey building with an entrance flanked by pillars. The door and windows have been broken and smashed. On the right is a photo of the building interior. It is burnt and the floor is completely covered in debris.
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Photos of the aftermath of the burning of the British Legation in Beijing by Red Guards, 23 August 1967. Catalogue ref: FCO 78/13 (10)

 

In August 1967, the British Legation in Beijing – the precursor to the British embassy – was stormed by an angry crowd. Crowds had been gathering regularly outside of the compound with messages opposing British imperialism. During this time, Britain still held on to the colony of Hong Kong, which had been ceded by China in the 19th century (learn more in our lesson on Hong Kong and the Opium Wars). In 1967, Hong Kong was rocked by anti-government protests, which the British government had been suppressing through mass arrests and newspaper shutdowns. On August 20 1967, the crowd outside the legation issued an ultimatum for the British government in Hong Kong to release detained Chinese journalists.

 

Two days later, a crowd of thousands stormed the legation. They set fire to the cars outside and smashed furniture and windows. The staff inside, sustaining injuries from the crowd but no casualties, were eventually able to escape with the help of the People’s Liberation Army.

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  • Look at Starter task a (the map). Choose three points from different parts of the map at random. Compare them using the questions below:
    • What happened?
    • Why do you think this event happened?
    • How would you have felt if you had read about this event in the news in 1967?
  • Use the pie charts attached to the map to see which groups were involved. What does this tell you about who was involved in the Cultural Revolution?
  • Can you spot any similarities and differences between the events you have explored using the map?
  • Look at Starter task b (the photos). Can you find the burning of the British legation on the map?
  • Why do you think the British legation [diplomatic mission similar to an embassy] was burned by protestors?
  • What does this event infer about the role of Red Guard in the Cultural Revolution?
  • How could an event such as this affect international diplomacy?
  • Use the map to find out about other embassies or missions that were attacked during the Cultural Revolution.
  • What does this map and these photos tell you about the Cultural Revolution?