Julia Wood Essay Competition winner

Alexander Gong (Upper Eighth) was a joint winner of the Julia Wood essay competition awarded by the University of Oxford.

The Principal and Fellows of St Hugh’s College offer the Julia Wood Prize for the best historical essay submitted by a pupil who, at the closing date, has been in the Sixth Form of any school or college for a period of not more than two years. The choice of historical subject is left to candidates. Essays should be between two thousand and four thousand words. The winning essay is published on the College’s website.

In summary of his essay, Alexander said: “My piece was titled The Paradox of the Model Operas: to what extent was there a ‘cultural’ revolution in China between 1966-1976? I explored the contradictions between the perceptions and the reality of Mao’s Cultural Revolution through a study of the period’s opera. This led me to conclude that although the Model Operas were heralded as staples of socialist propaganda, they inherently advocated Western and revisionist concepts. There was a cultural revolution, but it was realised through Western art forms rather than Mao’s ideology.”