<P> Since the advent of the Internet, people inside and outside China have argued online that the Cultural Revolution had many beneficial qualities for China that have been denied by both the post-Mao Chinese Communist Party and Western media . Some hold that the Cultural Revolution' cleansed' China from superstitions, religious dogma, and outdated traditions in a' modernist transformation' that later made Deng's economic reforms possible . These sentiments increased following the U.S. bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in 1999, when a segment of the population began to associate anti-Maoist viewpoints with the United States . </P> <P> Contemporary Maoists have also become more organized in the internet era, partially as a response to criticisms of Mao from academics and scholars . One Maoist website managed to collect thousands of signatures demanding punishment for those who publicly criticize Mao . Along with the call for legal action, this movement demands the establishment of agencies similar to Cultural Revolution - era "neighborhood committees", in which "citizens" would report anti-Maoists to local public security bureaus . Maoist rhetoric and mass mobilization methods were resurgent in the interior city of Chongqing during the political career of Bo Xilai . </P> <P> Public discussion of the Cultural Revolution is still limited in China . The Chinese government continues to prohibit news organizations from mentioning details of the Cultural Revolution, and online discussions and books about the topic are subject to official scrutiny . Textbooks on the subject continue to abide by the "official view" (see above) of the events . Many government documents from the 1960s on remain classified, and are not open to formal inspection by private academics . At the National Museum of China in Beijing, the Cultural Revolution is barely mentioned in its historical exhibits . Despite inroads made by numerous prominent sinologists, independent scholarly research of the Cultural Revolution is discouraged by the Chinese government . There is concern that as witnesses age and die, the opportunity to research the event thoroughly within China may be lost . </P> <P> That the government still displays such heightened sensitivities around the Cultural Revolution is an indicator that it still considers itself, at least in part, an inheritor of its legacy . The government is apprehensive that academic probing and popular discussions will lead to ideological conflict and increase social instability . It may threaten the foundations of Communist rule . The focus of the Chinese government on maintaining political and social stability has been a top priority since the Tiananmen crackdown on reformers on June 4, 1989, and the current government has no interest in re-evaluating any issue that might lead to a split in the Chinese leadership, or which might polarize the Party on ideological grounds . </P>

When did the cultural revolution begin and end