china theme four

what promised women equal treatment to men

clause six of the communist common program 1949

in political,economic, cultural, educational and social spheres

also freedom for both men and women to marry who they wanted

why were communists committed to destroying family as basic social unit

• family relations embodied the confucian values of obedience to parents and elders

• the existence of the family encouraged a bourgeois mindset because it tempted people to attach too much importance to acquiring personal possessions

Jung Chang’s description of foot binding

described how her grandmother had her feet bound at age 2, having a cloth stuck into her mouth to gag her, while the arch of her foot was crushed by a large stone

outlawed 1911- but still present in rural areas

CCP decision to ban it sped up decline

date of the marriage law

1950

experimented with new marriage laws in Jiangxi and Yanan areas- Red army instructed to treat women with respect- contrast with Women’s treatment at the hands of Japanese invaders in 1937

why was mao personally against arranged marriages

had refused to go ahead with his as a 14 year old

1919- he had become embroiled in bitter controversy in Changsha- young bride cut own throat and bled to death in front of guests

effects of the marriage law

arranged marriages/ dowries/ concubines/ polygamy banned, divorce made equal

children born out of wedlock had equal rights with other children

huge propaganda campaign- thousands of drama troupes to take plays publicising new laws around villages

evidence marriage law was intially undermined

• traditional resistance from cadres, more pronounced in western muslim regions where arranged marriage was embedded

• second propaganda campaign 1953- still undermined by outlook of cadres

Marriage law- All China Women’s federation

used to train cadres in workings of the new law and persuade them that it would not lead to chaos- only partly successful as male resistance remained strong rurally

Maoism and women

• 1919 Changsha incident- sparked Mao to write series of articles condemning arranged marriages and marriage system as enslaving women

• idealism and practical considerations- ‘women hold up half the sky’ but without their tacit support revolution could not be achieved

why was women being allowed to own property undermined

collectivisation became compulsory

Land redistribution campaign of 1950 appeared to have advanced cause of womens emancipation significantly- gave women chance to own land in own name

why were communes advantageous to women in theory

provided childcare, laundries, canteens

poem written by women in communes in Hsiancheng county for propaganda monthly ‘Chinese pictorial’

• portrays idealistic view

• ‘When you give birth to a baby, it’s cared for every hour. Freed from household drudgery, let’s produce more by the day’

why were communes disadvantageous for women in reality

earned fewer work points due to the physical labour, cadres responsible for enforcing discipline held trad attitudes e.g intolerant of absence requests due to pregnancy or menstruation

Northern areas- women had rarely worked in fields before GLF

how did women’s vulnerability increase during great famine

• men could claim more work points as more productive workers

• women driven into prostitution

• mothers given task of deciding whether to feed children or themselves

• wife-selling- desperate remedy adopted by some

= disorientation, not radical change for women

by how much did the divorce rate rise in gansu during the famine

60%

quote from China youth journal in 1958

‘we must regard the peoples commune as our home and not pay too much attention to the formation of a seperate family of our own’

evidence of family fallout in 1960s from great famine

stream of court cases in which husbands tried to reclaim wives they had ‘lost’, who preferred to stay away, having found a better life elsewhere

evidence of disruptive effect of CR on family relationships

Anchee Min recalls wondering if she should report her mother to authorities after she said she thought children should read more than just Mao’s books

how many teenagers were uprooted after the cr

12 million between 1968 and 1972

historians describe as China’s ‘lost generation’- often found it hard to reintegrate upon return

population growth across whole period

540 mill in 1949 to 940million in 1976

however by 1958 famine- worries about resourcing huge population prompting govt officials to discuss ways of restricting population growth

when were contraceptives made widely available

1962- female cadres in Women Federation given increased role in encouraging mothers to restrict how many children they had

clarified policy on population

1971- Mao declared birth rate should be reduced to 2%

concerted propaganda drive launched pressurising women into marrying later and having 2 children

precursor to 1979 one child policy

how many women used the new divorce system in its first year

one million

Rana mitter on women and authority

authority of parents over young women merely replaced by state in the guise of the head of a woman’s work unit

proportion of women in the workforce in 1949

8%

proportion of women in the workforce in 1976

32%- but still represents less than 1/3 of the workforce and opportunities for career progression up management structures limited by male domination up hierarchy

issue with women’s propaganda

depicted womens needs as being the same as men- portrayed women as happy as they could fulfill male roles e.g soldiers, metal workers, violent red guards

female model worker

deng yulan- Jehol province

work ethic attracted attention from Womens federation- won numerous awards and invited to Beijing to meet Mao, but never recieved propaganda coverage afforded to male counterparts like Lei Feng or Wang Jinxi- testament to partys failure to raise status of women as high as would have liked

Wang Jinxi

model worker- more attention than Deng Yulan

‘Iron man’- praised for breaking China’s dependence on oil imports by inspiring his drilling team to endure freezing temperatures in determination to open up Daqing oilfield 1960

women in cultural revolution

female red guards found themselves accepted only if exhibited same levels of violence as counterparts, which involved losing distinct identity as women (similar to propaganda)

early primary education

• underfunding- 1952 only 6.4% of funding on culture and education

• By 1956- fewer than ½ of children 7-16 in primary education

national literacy rate in 1949

20%

national literacy rate in 1964

64%

national literacy rate in 1976

70%

how did elitism persist in education

'key point schools'- attracted best teachers, students had to pass strict entrance examination, places reserved for children of party and govt officials

opportunities to go abroad w/higher education

• lost opportunities to study in west pre-1949

• by end of 1959- around 7,000 Chinese students had been sent to study at Russian unis

pinyin adopted

1956- assist spread of literacy as Mandarin was not a standardised language

created by Zhou Yougang

facilitated communication with foreigners in the later period

how many had their education impacted by the cr

130million

closure of schools and unis for most of 1966-70

rustication campaign worsened this

education after CR

during CR- teachers attacked and curriculum dismissed

restoring faith in education part of Zhou Enlai’s 4 modernisations

post CR- greater emphasis on practical work and vocational training, fewer exams

how many barefoot doctors were there in the cr

one million

how long did barefoot doctors study for

six months of intensive study w/emphasis on practical skills

barefoot doctors provided rudimentary medical help- simple hygeine, preventative healthcare, family planning, common disease treatment, family planning

what proportion of villages were involved in the barefoot doctors scheme

90% by 1976

WHO endorsed similar schemes elsewhere

threefold purpose of barefoot doctors

• medical- treat endemic diseases e.g cholera, typhoid, dysentery and high mortality rates- chronic features of rural China

• Ideological- exposure to peasant conditions stop young professionals slipping into bourgeois mindsets (spent half time working in agriculture), practical education training- serving the revolution

• Economic- cheap training, doctors wages (half of a trad urban doctor) paid for by local village govt

when were the patriotic health movements launched

1952- led by teams of party workers, explained importance of hygeine and link between dirt and disease to peasantry

emphasis on prevention

Germ warfare scare during Korean war exaggerated to help get programme off the ground

successes of patriotic health movements

• reduction of death rate from waterborne diseases by encouraging digging of deeper wells for obtaining drinking water

• promotion of careful disposal of human waste in pits- practice of using ‘night soil’ as fertiliser discouraged

• concerted campaign to educate peasantry about need to control snails that spread schistosomiasis- serious abdominal infection responsible for many deaths in the period

life expectancy in 1950

41 years

life expectancy in 1970

62 years

Ten great buildings built

1958-9

how did jiang qing try and change chinese culture

commissioned a set of eight opera ballets

no of viewings of 'Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy'

7.3 billion by 1974

what did article 5 of the common program garuantee

freedom of religion

where did most of china's buddhists live

tibet

for how long had tibet been self-governing

since 1913

Tibetan uprising

1959

how many monasteries were destroyed in tibet in the cr

6000

why did catholics not leave immediately

pope told them not to

how many divorce petitions filed in 1953

1.3 million

what % of brides were under 18 in 1949

18%

what % of brides were under 18 in 1965

2%

how many marriages were arranged in the 1940s?

30%

how many marriages were arranged in the 1960s?

0.8%

example of poor childcare provisions in communes

in one kindergarten near beijing 90% of children got sick

example of propoganda about women

'woman locomotive driver'

no of staff in the women's association

40,000 staff in 83 cities

how many rural girls who started their primary education completed it (1929-49)

38%

how many rural girls who started their primary education completed it (1959)

100%

between 1949 and 1957 the no of primary schools students

increased from 26 million to 64 million

rural primary schools

'min-pan'

how many peasants attended the winter schools in 1951-2

42 million

university enrolments increased from..

117,000 - 441,000

how many chinese students were trained at russian unis

38,000 by 1959

how many students were in stem

63% by 1953

no of schools by 1960

30,000 (one per commune)

evidence healthcare was not prioritised

spending never rose above 2.6% of state budget

by the 1960s, how many new doctors were graduating a year

25,000

when did mao condemn higher education

september 1958

example of education impacted by the Red Guards

PLA and Red Guards fought in Qinghai University

example of young people's views being changed in the cr

zhang tieshen submitted a blank piece of paper on the grounds that he had been prioritising the work on the communes

what proportion of cadres were women

21%

how many missionaries were still in china by 1954

354

women's association

76m members

women in party

song qingling (vice-chairman of prc in 1959)

what % of the ccp were women

13%