Post on 27-Dec-2015
China
Becoming Communist China
&
China’s Culture
Becoming Communist China
Nationalist People’s Party (1912) – Developed as the Chinese grew angrier at their treatment by the
Western Powers
The Party Splits
Nationalists want to develop a government based on western democratic principles
Communists are basing their government on Karl Marx’s ideas
Communist Party – Thought Karl Marx offered a way of achieving prosperity for all Chinese by defeating the imperialist powers in china through revolution led by the working class.
Japan took advantage of the fighting going on in China and invaded
Nationalists and Communists united against Japan, but after the war ended (1945) the Communists had proved to
be the strongest with the most support of the people.
Mao Zedong announced (1949) the establishment of the communist state: The People’s Republic of China
Long March (1934) - A 6000-mile march from Jiangxi to Yan’An. The march took one year. Of the 100,000 people that marched,
only 8,000 reached their goal. Many of the marchers were killed by Nationalists, others died from hunger or disease
Leadership Under Mao (1945-1976)
• 1958 – The Great Leap Forward– Leaping into communism. – All private farms become communal farms. – Mao creates 26,000 peoples communes – Life in the
communes looked like military life. – This became known as the Great Leap Backwards
• 1966 – Cultural Revolution – Smash the old order and establish a new socialist society– Red Guard – men and women whose job was to destroy
the four olds by any means (1966-1969)– Four Olds – old ideology, old thought, old habits, and
old customs
So far all of Mao’s plans have been failures.
Leadership under Deng Xiaoping (1976-1993)
The Four Modernizations1. Improve agriculture – abolished commune system. Rent
land to individual families and they decide what to produce.
2. Improve industry – change from heavy to light industry and focus more on small consumer goods
3. Improve science and technology
4. Improve defense
Deng has been successful – China is expected to have the largest economy in the world by 2025
People are now demanding the 5th Modernization – Political freedom
The 5th Modernization
• Tiananmen Square Demonstration – April 27, 1989 to June 4, 1989– 100,000 people were demanding democratic
reforms.– The government imposed Marshall Law and
ordered the people to leave.– June 3, 1989 – those that had not left were fired
upon with no warning.– 2,000 people were killed, and many more were
wounded
Repression in China has continued.
China’s People and Culture
Three Gorges Dam as of July 2003
Three Gorges Dam as of July 2003
Three Gorges Dam as of July 2003
Huge Population
• Mao Zedong– He believed that the larger the population the
stronger the country– He encouraged families to have large families
• In 1960 China’s growth rate was 2.07%
• When he figured out it was a problem he changed it to two children per family
Huge Population
• Deng Xiaoping– He called for all families to have only one
child.– Families with only one child received special
benefits• Better houses • Better jobs and pay
– Families that had more• They got fined • Wages were cut and possible lost their jobs
Huge Problem
• China’s population control programs have had mixed success– In rural areas families continued to have large
families to work the farms– In urban areas families generally complied– Altogether China’s growth rate went down to
1.1 percent but they are still estimated to hit 1.4 billion by 2010
Ethnic groups
• There are 55 ethnic minorities– Each with its own language, religion & culture– They make up 6% of the population
• 94% of the population are from the Han ethnic groups
Language
• Language is based on ideograms– An ideogram is a Picture or characters that
represents a thing or an idea– There are over 20,000 different characters in
the Chinese language– Each character is pronounced different in
different areas of the country making the Chinese language very diverse.
– With all the different dialects, Mandarin Chinese is the official language of the country
Religion
• Three main religions– Daoism– Confucianism– Buddhism
• Despite these religious philosophies, China is still primarily atheist, meaning they don’t believe in a god
• The Communist government outlaws most religious practices
Traditions
• China is very traditional– They live their lives based on traditions that
have been around for thousands of years– Medical practices are even very traditional
• Good health comes from harmony with the environment
• Acupuncture or inserting needles into specific points in the body to relieve pain is still widely used