Transcript CHN 260 Introduction to Chinese Civilization

CHN 260
Introduction to
Chinese Civilization
Unit 8-1 Modern China
People’s Republic of China
 Name – People’s Republic of China
 Capital - Beijing
 Founding year – October 1, 1949
 National anthem http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UctriMuXYS0
 National flag
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_China
 National emblem
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:National_Emblem_of_t
he_People%27s_Republic_of_China.svg
 Population 1,344,130,000
 Area 9,600,000 sq kilometers
 Provinces and municipalities

Provinces （23）and autonomous regions (5)

http://www.sacu.org/provmap.html

Municipalities (4) Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Chongqing

http://www.sacu.org/provmap.html

Special Administrative Regions (2) Hong Kong and
Macau
Legislation
 National People’s Congress 全国人民代表大会
 A legislative house
 The largest parliament in the world
 Annual meeting along with the People’s Political
Consultative Congress 全国人民政治协商会议
Administration
 State Council 国务院
 Ministries and Commissions 部委
Parties
 Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
 Democratic Parties

Revolutionary Committee of the Kuomintang (中国国民党革命委员会 or
民革

China Democratic League (中国民主同盟 or 民盟

China Democratic National Construction Association (中国民主建国会 or
民建

China Association for Promoting Democracy (中国民主促进会 or 民进).

Chinese Peasants' and Workers' Democratic Party (中国农工民主党 or 农
工党).

China Zhi Gong Party (中国致公党).
 Jiusan Society (九三学社).

Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League (台湾民主自治同盟 or 台盟).
The Structure of the Chinese Communist Party
Some of the past political
movements:
 The
crack down of the “counterrevolutionaries”
 The agricultural collectivism and socialist
reform
 The Great Leap Forward
 Campaign against “the rightists”
 Four-Clearance movement
 Cultural Revolution
Open-door policy 1979
 There are two historical periods of
open door policy.
 The first one was in 1899 allowing
multiple imperial powers access to
China after the Opium War
 The second open-door policy period
started in 1979
 The policy was started by Deng
Xiaoping, the CCP leader
 The aim of the policy is to make China a
modernized country
 Deng’s theory: “It doesn’t matter
whether its is a white cat or a black cat, it
is a good cat as long as it catches mice”
 Result – rapid development of China’s
economy
1. GDP has grown at an annual average
rate of 10 % for 30 years
2. China becomes world’s second largest
economy
3. Largest exporter, second largest
importer, second largest trading nation
in the world
4. Foreign reserves: $2,447 billion (Mar
2010; ranked 1st), 1 billion per day
 In two decades China has experienced the same degree
of industrialization, urbanization and social
transformation as Europe did in two centuries Newsweek, Issue 1, 2008.
 “Rome is not built in one day.” But a new “Manhattan”
appeared in Shanghai in 15 years.
 not built in one day.” But a new “Manhattan” appeared
in Shanghai in 15 years.
Major problems
 Economy bubble (over-investment)
 Decrease of export volume
 Discrepancy between the rich and poor
 Corruption of officials
Future
 China will become the second
economical super-power
 There is a long way to go to be
completely democratic