...Mao’s philosophy of how to lead a revolution, before and after 1949? Initially a radical revolutionary then a committed Marxist, Mao’s philosophy on how to lead a revolution was bathed in Nationalism. It is Mao’s love for China’s independence coupled with agrarian reforms that put Mao on the road to power. After 1949, Nationalism would reappear in Mao’s cultural policies, his relationship with Moscow and underdeveloped countries. Mao feared nothing and no one. Using Marxism-Leninism as a framework, Mao proposed the use of peasants to create his revolutionary elite. His innovative thinking was unpopular among many of Mao’s Communist comrades; they believed the proletariat to be the key group (Cheek, 11). Mao also championed women’s liberation from masculine authority of husbands as well as clan, temple, and general religious oppression (Cheek, 11) also unacceptable position for a Communist to take. Mao’s breakdown of the rural classes into poor, middle and rich peasants demonstrated the Nationalist impulse rooted in his personality. His attachment to China led him to cooperate with the Guomindang, a nationalist group (Cheek, 10) and in the resistance war against Japan guided Mao to power (Cheek, 13). After standing up to his abusive father Mao said, “…I learned that when I defend my rights by open rebellion my father relented, but when I remained meek and submissive he only cursed and beat me the more” (Cheek, 1). During an interview with Snow, Mao adds, at the same...
Words: 1741 - Pages: 7
...History 103 001 Cultural Revolution in China: views on Mao’s Era. Yi Jie Yang 40223109 Professor: Steven Hugh Lee Chinese culture has had great misunderstandings particularly in the western countries owing to the views represented by socio-cultural scholars, historians and literature writers. This paper reviews two books that explore the Cultural Revolution in China with a major focus on the Authors’ Writing Style and their views on Mao’s Era. Writing Style In the book “Born red: a chronicle of the Cultural Revolution.” The author, Yuan Gao, explores the first violent years of China’s Great Proletarian culture revolution. Gao provides an account of his own experience as a Red Guard in the Cultural revolution bringing out the readers as close as they can get to the political vortex that shaped the views of millions of teenagers behind the national movement that brought China to the blink of civil war[1]. Born Red entails more than the recollection of a political nightmare including a concise narrative of an adolescent torn by conflicting loyalties as the author is called upon to participate in the destruction of the world that has nurtured him. The author’s story provides tribute to the durability of cultural traditions at a time when nihilism was at its best. Gao clearly outlines the Cultural Revolution in China in an attempt to create a way for a more egalitarian and...
Words: 2913 - Pages: 12
...Mao Zedong is considered to be one of the most controversial political leaders of the twentieth century. He has been known both as a savior and a tyrant to the Chinese people. From his strategic success of the Long March, to his humiliating failure of the Great Leap Forward, to the Cultural Revolution that shocked the country and took countless lives, Mao has significantly influenced the result of what China is today. From humble origins, Mao Zedong rose to absolute power, unifying with an iron fist a vast country torn apart by years of weak leadership, imperialism, and war. This astute and insightful account by Jonathan D. Spence brings to life this modern-day ruler and the tumultuous era that Mao Zedong did so much to shape. Mao Zedong was born on December 26, 1893 in Shaoshan village in Hunan. He experienced a middle peasant upbringing that was “rooted in long-standing rural Chinese patterns of expectation and behavior” (Mao, 10). Mao went to Shaoshan village school where he learned the customary Chinese curriculum as well as studied the “time-honored texts from the Confucian canon” (Mao, 11). At this time in his childhood, the whole country could foresee the fall of the previous dynasty, the Qing. Mao studied to be a teacher at The First Provincial Normal School, in Changsha, which influenced his future thinking and beliefs. He believed that the Chinese way of thinking needed reform, therefore fixated on younger people and peasants to build his political career. In 1912...
Words: 1405 - Pages: 6
...the Second World War, at the conclusion of the 1940s, Mao Zedong became the chairman of Communist China. Being that it was, and still is, the most inhabited country in the world, China becoming a communist country affected millions of people almost instantly. Many of the traditional traditions and practices of the Chinese people were left behind as Mao’s “Cultural Revolution” was instituted across the country in 1966. During the Cultural Revolution of China, the country and its citizens experienced strict authority control with the military and the state functioning together to govern the people. The switch from traditional China to this Cultural Revolution was swift and hasty, causing much death and trouble for the Chinese people. Because of these facts, there are many people who judged the New China governed under the socialist ideas of Mao. One of these critics is the Chinese-American novelist, Ha Jin, who denounces the Cultural Revolution of China in his novel entitled Waiting. In his novel, Ha Jin addresses and brings to light the affects of Mao’s rule on the Chinese people and the country as a whole. The novel starts in 1966 and takes place during the Cultural Revolution. “Cultural conflict is the center of this novel, where two worlds collide in the story of a man seeking a divorce from his wife by an arranged marriage: the ancient feudal culture of China and the world of the Cultural Revolution led by Chairman Mao” (Moore, 124). Through the locations, settings, and characters...
Words: 2189 - Pages: 9
...English. However, as I read down the page a bit more, I came across another instance of this odd phrasing where the Red Guards referred to those peasants as “making” capitalism; they had approached a man selling eggplants from the man’s own garden and proceeded to ask him directly, “Who allowed you to make capitalism?” (pg. 87) I surmised at this point that Gao Yuan had not merely translated his choice of words poorly but had in fact used the phrasing “making capitalism” intentionally. Gao Yuan’s deliberate description of the peasants to be “making” capitalism made me question whether or not there was any significance behind his particular choice of words. What did the Red Guards mean by saying that those peasants were “making” capitalism? Can capitalism be “made” as something such as a bowl or a chair can be made? How would someone actually go about “making” capitalism? What does that even mean given the context in which Gao Yuan described it? While there is no way for me to know exactly what Gao Yuan meant when he described that scene in that particular way, I have come up with my own personal explanation as to what I believe it may...
Words: 846 - Pages: 4
...economy/communist. These reforms are essential in explaining how China has become a major world power. China turned to socialism in 1949, because it seemed like the only answer to the numerous problems China had to face after nearly 20 years of fighting. This is the first step down the road to economic prosperity. In October 1949, Mao declared the People’s Republic of China at the Gate of Heavenly Peace in Beijing. He now faced very large problems. China had been fighting a civil war since the 1920’s and a full-scale war with the Japanese since 1937 to 1945. After nearly 20 years of fighting, China (Mao) had many problems to deal with. The country had little industry since what had existed had been destroyed after so many years of war. Money was valueless. The towns had high unemployment. The countryside was experiencing food shortages; and if the countryside was not producing food, then the cities were bound to be short of food as well. China’s population was increasing by millions a year, which would only make all shortages worse. Mao was Chairman of the People’s Republic while Zhou Enlai was the nation’s prime minister. Though Mao claimed to lead a coalition government (there were 14 separate political parties in the government), the country was run by the Communist Party. Officials from the Communist Party were put in charge of society at every different level. The media was controlled by the Party. In 1950, Mao passed the Agrarian Reform Law. Party officials went around...
Words: 2339 - Pages: 10
...argued that most of the crucial political and ideological battles of the Cultural Revolution were fought over the issue of the nature of social class structure in post-revolutionary China. What does the Cultural Revolution teach us about class structure and struggle under socialism? The Great Proletariat Cultural Revolution[1] was a political and ideological struggle spanning the decade from 1966-1976. More implicitly, it was a struggle spurned into motion by Mao Zedong to reinstitute his mass line and turn China back to the ‘Socialist Road.’ Mao urged the Chinese to undergo a ‘class struggle’ whereby those truly on the path to Communism would rise against the new bureaucracy who were implementing ideology inconsistent with the main tenets of Maoism. However, what ensued was catastrophic and referred to by Feng Jicai as “Ten Years of Madness.”[2] While the class structure of post-revolutionary Chinese society had effectively eradicated the feudal class structure, a new, elite bureaucratic class had emerged. Indeed, these new elite and the remnants of the old bourgeois class bore the brunt of the violent onslaught of Mao’s Red Guards during the CR. In this essay, I argue that class struggle, and struggle under socialism in the CR was paradoxical as “most radicals in the revolutionary campaign against revisionism were representatives not of the proletariat…but of the bourgeoisie itself.”[3] While many joined Mao in is his crusade for utilitarian reasons, many also joined seeking...
Words: 3395 - Pages: 14
...A point in history known as a turning point is an event or period of time that influenced history significantly. The 20th century was full of turning points that have had multiple effects on their nations and the world in general. Communism is an economic system that exploded during the 20th century. The two most notable nations that used communism, were China and the Soviet Union. Karl Marx conceptualized communism during the Industrial Revolution. He and Friedrich Engels wrote the Communist Manifesto, that explained how it worked. Marx believed there would be a “working class revolution”, where the poorer working class would violently overthrow the upper and middle classes. They would then reinvent their country, and use communism as the...
Words: 600 - Pages: 3
...dictatorship, this was only because there was very little information on China and that China was very much the unknown to many countries. The history of China is shown to display that this country has been a highly progressive country within the scope of law but also being one of the slowest countries to implement Intellectual Property Law which has sparked an interest into where the progression in the legal system relating to Intellectual Property Law went into disrepute and the arrival of Intellectual Property Law within the 1980s to the present day but was there a historical time before the 1980s where there was intellectual Property Law and why Mao Ze Dong's era just was not China. Firstly this halt within the legal system came about on the arrival of Mao Ze Dongs Communist party. Communist Mao Rule: The Mao Ze Dong Communist Party did very little in relation to the advancement of the Intellectual...
Words: 3406 - Pages: 14
...understanding of Mao requires a feat of imagination, first to recognize the nature of his supremacy. Mao had two careers, one as rebel leader, one as an updated emperor. He had gained the power of the latter but evidently retained the self-image of the former. Because authority in China came form the top down, as was recognized even in the mass line, once the CCP had taken power its leader became sacrosanct, above all the rest of mankind, not only the object of a cult of veneration but also the acknowledge superior of everyone in the organization. Such of the CCP had been put together by Mao that it could be regarded as his creation, and if he wanted to reform it, that was his privilege. Only if we regard him as a monarch in succession to scores of emperors can we imagine why the leadership of the CPP, trained to be loyal, went along with his piecemeal assault on and destruction of them. Mao also seems to have had in mind the idea that student youth could be mobilized to attack the evils in the establishment and purge China revisionism. It would be a form to manipulate mass movement, which his experience told him, was the engine of social change. (387) The Cultural Revolution, like the Hundred Flowers Campaign and the Great Leap Forward, turned out to be something he had not envisioned. Allowing for many variations, the purge rate among party officials was somewhere around 60 percent. It has been estimated that 400,000 people died as a result of maltreatment. (387) How the Cultural...
Words: 2784 - Pages: 12
...Why and What Do We Compare? The Story of Revolution and Democratization Mehrzad Boroujerdi, Syracuse University Introduction The field of comparative politics starts with the assumption that knowledge in the social sciences must proceed by way of the search for comparisons, or what has been called "suggestive contrasts." Scholars of comparative politics compare in order to discover similarities and explain differences. As infrequent and highly complex events, revolutions have attracted a great deal of attention from comparativists. In this article, we will address the following topics: • The Concept of Revolution • Why Revolutions Happen? • Can Revolutions be Predicted? • What Do Revolutions Accomplish? • What Are some of the Failures of Revolutions? • Comparing Characteristics and Outcomes of Some Revolutions • Questions The Concept of Revolution: According to the American philosopher Richard Rorty "revolution," like such other words as "reason," "democracy," and "socialism" is a "thick word" which can be contrasted with such "thin words" as truth, dialogue, and justice. How do we define a "revolution?" How are revolutions distinct from other forms of political change such as Coup d'état, rebellion, mutiny, insurrection, or uprising? All of the above nouns may denote acts of violence aimed at changing or overthrowing an existing order or authority. However, there are important legal and political differences among them as well. ...
Words: 3593 - Pages: 15
...Setting The Ancient Dynasties r r r Dawn of History Zhou Period Hundred Schools of Thought q The Imperial Era r r r r r r First Imperial Period Era of Disunity Restoration of Empire Mongolian Interlude Chinese Regain Power Rise of the Manchus q Emergence Of Modern China r r r r r r Western Powers Arrive First Modern Period Opium War, 1839-42 Era of Disunity Taiping Rebellion, 1851-64 Self-Strengthening Movement Hundred Days' Reform and Aftermath Republican Revolution of 1911 q Republican China r r r Nationalism and Communism s Opposing the Warlords s Consolidation under the Guomindang s Rise of the Communists Anti-Japanese War Return to Civil War q People's Republic Of China r r Transition to Socialism, 1953-57 Great Leap Forward, 1958-60 r r r r r Readjustment and Recovery, 1961-65 Cultural Revolution Decade, 1966-76 s Militant Phase, 1966-68 s Ninth National Party Congress to the Demise of Lin Biao, 1969-71 s End of the Era of Mao Zedong, 1972-76 Post-Mao Period, 1976-78 China and the Four Modernizations, 1979-82 Reforms, 1980-88 q References for History of China [ History of China ] [ Timeline ] Historical Setting The History Of China, as documented in ancient writings, dates back some 3,300 years. Modern archaeological studies provide evidence of still more ancient origins in a culture that flourished between 2500 and 2000 B.C. in what is now central China and the lower Huang He ( orYellow River) Valley of north...
Words: 41805 - Pages: 168
...material & knowledge to discuss an historical event Section A – themes to explore in your revision: 1. The post-Stalin thaw and the bid for peaceful coexistence in 1950s: a) USSR: Khrushchev b) USA: the responses of Dulles, Eisenhower and Kennedy. • the continuation of the Cold War in the 1950s following the retirement of Truman & death of Stalin, despite the bid for improved relations on the part of the USSR in the form of unilateral cuts in the size of the Red Army and withdrawal from Austria and Finland. • the concept of peaceful coexistence & what motivated Khrushchev & the Soviet leadership, & why the USA under Eisenhower & his Secretary of State, Dulles, and later Kennedy and his staff, responded in the way they did. • the role of personality, particularly that of Khrushchev, in shaping relations in these years should be addressed & students should be aware of the Paris Summit, the U2...
Words: 13995 - Pages: 56
...the others. Please try both “by segment” or “by title” for your search. Course Description: China, the most populous country, is an excellent "laboratory" for the social scientific study of political, economic and social behavior. The Twentieth Century alone has seen many changes in China's fundamental institutions: from imperial courts to military regimes and single-party police states, from rural households to international stock-holding companies, and from foot-binding and slavery to mass movements and democracy protests. The latest development in the last decade has led to the calling of the twenty-first century as “the Chinese Century,” which suggests the possibility that the 21st century will be dominated by China, similarly to how "the American Century" refers to the 20th century and "the British Century" refers to the 19th century.[1] The phrase is used particularly in the assertion that the economy of China will overtake the economy of the United States as the...
Words: 4130 - Pages: 17
...Nixon and the U.S. Rapprochement with the People’s Republic of China When Nixon began his presidency, the relations between the United States and China had been fraught ever since Mao Zedong’s Communist Party achieved power and established the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. Less than a year later in 1950, the Korean War, in which American troops died at the hands of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, further exacerbated the situation. The next twenty years were characterized by American opposition to UN membership for Mainland China, three crises between the two nations in the Taiwan Straits, threats of nuclear attack, and the fighting of a proxy war in Vietnam. But the two decades of hostility and nonrecognition of the People’s Republic of China was brought to an end during President Richard Nixon’s administration, marked most prominently by Nixon’s historic visit to Mainland China in 1972. In ending this hostile estrangement, Nixon thus executed the first stage of a momentous diplomatic revolution in U.S. policy towards Communist China. This turning point, as Nixon and his National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger suggested, also “changed the world” by transforming a Cold War U.S.-Soviet bilateral international system into a tripolar one, in which powers are balanced and national interests are secured. In the process of the rapprochement, President Nixon, managed to show the world his sound judgment, pragmatic perspective, and negotiation strategy in the field...
Words: 3966 - Pages: 16
