Transcript Document

China since 1945
• From 1945 to 1949
China was involved in
a civil war
• In 1949 the
Communists win and
establish the People’s
Republic of China
• Mao becomes the
leader of China
Mao Tse-tung
China since 1945
• Mao declared that China was against
imperialism, feudalism, bureaucracy and
democracy
• He had many plans to change China and
immediately put them into action
• His new government enacted many plans to
fix problems such as inflation and low
production
Mao’s Plans for China
• The Great Leap Forward
– Created communes (selfsufficient settlements
containing farms and
industries)
– They did not work at all:
production fell, life was
difficult, China experienced
bad weather, rewards were
limited
– The plan was abandoned after
two years
“Long live the general direction! Long
live the Great Leap Forward! Long live
the People’s Commune!”
Mao’s Plans for China
• After the failure of the Great Leap Forward
Mao attempted a Cultural Revolution
• The goal of the Cultural Revolution was to
change the old order and establish a new
socialist society
• The Red Guard (young men and women)
would enforce the policies of the revolution
Mao’s Plans For China
• The revolution was to destroy the four olds:
old ideology, old thoughts, old habits and
old customs
• Those who opposed Mao were publicly
punished
• Farm production fell, factory work stopped
and schools closed
• As a result there was no economy, many
people had left and there was no education
• It was an enormous failure and Mao ended
it in 1969
Question Time!
• Why would the people of China still support Mao
after two very large failures?
• Take a few moments to think about why the
people might still be behind Mao.
• Can you think of any examples in our history of
when a president has a great failure and we still
support him?
Growing Division (1962-1965)
• Mao Zedong vs. Deng Xiaoping
• charismatic leadership vs. bureaucracy
Deng Xiaoping
Cultural Revolution (1966-1976)
• Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution
– commitment to revolution and “class struggle”
– power struggle to succeed Mao
• Phase I: the rise and fall of “red guards”
• Phase II: the rise and fall of Lin Biao
• Phase III: the rise and fall of the “Gang of
Four”
Phase I: Red Guards (1966-69)
Phase I: Red Guards (1966-69)
• Purge of party cadres
– Deng Xiaoping
• Purge of intellectuals
Phase II: Lin Biao (1969-71)
• the putative successor to Mao Zedong (tse-tung)
• In 1971 Lin allegedly tried but failed
– to assassinate Mao
– had to flee to Soviet Union
• His departure eroded the
credibility of the entire leadership
Phase III: the “Gang of Four”
• 1972 – 1976
• power struggle between
– the radical “Gang of Four”,
led by Jiang Qing, Mao’s
wife
– Goal continue Cultural
revolution…failed when
Mao dies and his power is
gone…gang of 4 put on trial
and convicted….Dang
Xiaoping takes power
Diplomatic Breakthrough
• 1971, PRC became the representative of
China in UN (replaced ROC)
Diplomatic Breakthrough
• 1972, President Nixon visited Beijing
Mao and Zhou Died in 1976
• Turning point in China’s postwar era
• “Gang of Four” were arrested
• End of the Cultural Revolution
Mao’s legacies
Reforms and Opening up
• The 3rd Plenum of the 11th CCP Central
Committee in 1978
– Deng Xiaoping’s ascendancy
– economic modernization became focus
• US-PRC diplomatic relations in 1979
China since 1945
• Mao dies in 1976 and
Deng Xiaoping comes to
power.
• Deng institutes the Four
Modernizations, which
focuses on improving
agriculture, industry,
science and technology as
well as defense.
• Deng was in power until
his death in 1997
Government in China Today
• Currently known as the
People’s Republic of China
(PRC).
• It is a single-party socialist
republic (one party, in favor
of the working class)
• The Communist party holds
power
• The current president is Hu
Jianto
• Beijing is the capital city
Review of China’s Population
• Over 1.3 billion
people (1/5 of the
world’s population)
• 56 recognized ethnic
groups. The Han are
the largest (92%)
• Large population can
be attributed to Mao
Population in China
• Efforts were made to limit
the population
– Only 2 children per family
law
– One Child Policy
• Policies did not work that
well
– Rural families did not
comply
– Males regarded more highly
than females
Geography Review
• China is the world’s second largest country by land area
(9,326,410 km2)
• China has a wide range of topography
• There are numerous plains, plateaus, basins and mountains
• Only 14% of the land is arable
Chinese Language
• Many dialects are spoken
in China, but Mandarin is
the most widely spoken
• 70% of the people in
China speak it
• It is the most widely
spoken language in the
world (100 million people
speak it worldwide
Facts about the Chinese
Language
• It is nonphonetic-the written form gives no
clues to its pronunciation
• There are over 20,000 different characters
• There are four major tones and a “toneless”
pitch used. The meaning of a word can
change depending on the tone
• They use a base-ten number system (terms
for 1 to 10; 11 would be “ten one”)
Chinese Food
• Cantonese and
Chaozhou
Dim Sum
– Steaming, boiling and
stir-frying
– Dim Sum
• Beijing and Shandong
– Steamed bread and
noodles rather than rice
– Beijing duck
Beijing Duck
Chinese Food
• Eastern China
– Most diverse cuisine
– Soups; “Red Cooking”
(cooking in a stock of
soy sauce and red
wine)
– Seafood along the
coast
Wuxi Spare Ribs
Chinese Food
• Sichuan (Szechuan)
– Southwestern China
– More than 4,000 dishes
– Hottest and spiciest
cuisine in China
– Numerous sauces
– Stir-frying, steaming
and braising
Kung
Pao
Chicken
Twice
Cooked
Beef
Religion in China
• China is officially secular and atheist, but
religion is allowed
• Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism have
been the dominant religions for almost
2,000 years
• Some people practice Christianity (3-4%)
and Islam (1-2%)
Taoism
• Daoism
• Indigenous religion of China; the folk religion of China
• Philosophy is centered on “the way”--recognizing the true
nature of the universe
• Emphasizes non-action, emptiness, detachment, flexibility,
receptiveness, spontaneity and ways of speaking and
guiding behavior
Buddhism
• “Teaching of the awakened
one”
• Buddhism traveled from India
during the Han dynasty
• It has been popular among
both commoners and emperors
• It is estimated that there are
between 280 million to 350
million Buddhists. It is the
world’s fifth largest religion.
• 20-25% of China’s population
is Buddhist
Buddhism
• The Four Noble Truths: in life their exists
suffering which is caused by desire
–
–
–
–
Suffering
The cause of suffering
The cessation of suffering
The way leading to the cessation of suffering
• Suffering can be ceased by following the
Noble Eightfold Path
Buddhism
• The Noble Eightfold Path
– Sila: morality
• Right speech--one speaks in a non hurtful, truthful way
• Right actions--avoiding actions that do harm
• Right livelihood--one’s way of life does not harm any one
– Samadhi: developing mastery over one’s mind
• Right effort--making an effort to improve
• Right awareness--mental ability to see things for what they are
• Right concentration--being aware of the present reality
– Prajna: wisdom that purifies the mind
• Right thoughts--change in the pattern of thinking
• Right understanding--understanding reality as it is, not as it appears to
be
Buddhism
• The guiding principle of Buddhism is the Middle Way. It
is the practice of non-extremism; a path of moderation.
• All Buddhist branches have these commonalities:
– All accept the Buddha as their teacher
– All accept the Middle Way, the Four Noble Truth and the Noble
Eightfold Path
– All accept that everyone can pursue the path toward enlightenment
– All accept the three types of Buddha and consider Buddhahood to
be the highest attainment
Confucianism
• Developed from the
teaching of Confucius
• System of moral,
social, political and
religious thought
• Greatly influenced
China up until the 21st
century
Confucianism
• Elements of the religion:
–
–
–
–
–
–
Ritual: system of norms for followers
Relationships: people hold different statuses in relationships
Filial Piety: respect shown to elders
Loyalty: respect show to ruler
Humaneness: the Golden Rule
Gentleman: everyone should strive to be a gentleman