CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
 Directorate of Intelligence
 25 April 1967
 INTELLIGENCE MEMORANDUM
 Peking, the Army, and the Provincial Authorities
 Summary
 The origins of the Cultural Revolution in China
 are obscure, and the kind of information available
 concerning the disorderly course it has followed
 permits a variety of interpretations. It seems likely
 that the trouble which has kept China in turmoil for
 more than a year and which brought the country to
 the verge of anarchy in January 1967 had it roots
 in differences over policy in the fall of 1965. Mao's
 plans for rekindling revolutionary enthusiasm among
 the people and "steeling" the next generation to
 ensure that China would not backslide into revisionism
 were probably an important issue--probably the
 major question taken up at a top-level meeting in
 Peking during September and October 1965.
 Conflicts generated by this basic issue probably
 became entwined with a struggle inside the
 party leadership during the winter of 1965-66. There
 is some reason to believe that Mao became seriously
 ill after he dropped out of sight in November, and
 this would almost certainly have triggered preparatory
 maneuvering to claim his mantle among the
 Note: This memorandum was produced solely by CIA.
 It was prepared by the Office of Current Intelligence
 and coordinated with the Office of Research and
 Reports and with the Research Staff of the Deputy
 Director for Intelligence. Discussions were also
 held with analysts of the Office of National Estimates.
 
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