Seizure of power (Cultural Revolution)

The seizure of power (simplified Chinese: 夺权; traditional Chinese: 奪權), or power-seizure movement (simplified Chinese: 夺权运动; traditional Chinese: 奪權運動) during the Chinese Cultural Revolution was a series of events led by the "rebel groups (造反派)", attempting to grab power from the local governments in China and local branches of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The seizure of power began in the "January Storm" of Shanghai in 1967, and rapidly spread to other areas of China. The power seizure usually culminated in the establishment of local revolutionary committees, which replaced the original governments as well as communist party branches, and wielded enormous power that often caused much chaos in the Chinese society.
Brief history.
Mao Zedong launched the Cultural Revolution in May 1966. In January 1967, the January Storm in Shanghai marked the beginning of power-seizure movement, which then spread to other areas of China. The rebel groups across China, such as those in Shanxi, Heilongjiang, Guizhou and Shandong, started their own seizure of power as early as late January. The Cultural Revolution thereafter entered a new phase. 
The end product of the power seizure were the revolutionary committees, which were established to wield the power grabbed from local governments and communist party committees. The revolutionary committees possessed enormous and highly centralized power. However, conflicts and power struggle within the revolutionary committees and the rebel groups often occurred, which resulted in nationwide violent struggles and the persecution of a large number of people. 
After the Cultural Revolution, the revolutionary committees were gradually abandoned during the Boluan Fanzheng and "Reforms and Opening-up" period. 