Unit 3.2 Concepts and Vocabulary - China

Chinese Communist Party (CCP)

Authoritarian party that has ruled China from 1949 to the present.

Mass Line

Political, organizational and leadership method developed by Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communist Party during the Chinese Revolution; refers to the method of “pooling the wisdom of the masses.”

Great Leap Forward

Mao’s disastrous 1958-60 effort to modernize China through localized industrial production and agricultural communes.

Factionalism

Informal groups, formed on personal ties, compete for dominance within their parent organization.

Great Proletarian Revolution

A social upheaval in which the working class (the proletariat) endeavors to overthrow the bourgeoisie (the capitalist class) and bring about a transformation in the existing political system; launched by Mao Zedong.

Shanghai Communique

Diplomatic document issued by the United States of America and the People’s Republic of China in 1972.

Fang Shou

An oscillating pattern of relaxing and tightening.

Tibet

An administrative division of China, north of the Himalayas.

Uygnurs

A Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central and East Asia.

Falun Gong

Meditative material arts movement founded in 1992 and banned by the Chinese government in 1999 as an “evil cult.”

Young Pioneers of China

Mass youth organization for children aged six to fourteen in the People’s Republic of China.

Tiananmen Square

Historic plaza in Bejing where the Chinese party-state crushed the 1989 pro-reform demonstration.

2014 Hong Kong Protests (Umbrella Revolution)

Series of protests in Hong Kong that demanded genuine universal suffrage, the retraction of the NPCSC decision, the abolition of functional constituencies in the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, and the resignation of Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying.

2019 Hong Kong Protestants

Large-scale and sometimes violent protests that demonstrated against the Hong Kong government’s introduction of a bill to amend the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance in regard to extradition.

Cultural Revolution

Mao’s radical movement launched in 1966 to regain political control from rivals and resulting in a decade of social and political chaos.

Household Responsibility System

Deng’s highly successful 1980s rural reform program that lowered production quotas and allowed the sale of surplus agricultural produce on the free market.

Red Capitalists

Private entrepreneurs who are also members of the CCP and whose interests generally align with those of the party-state.

Special Economic Zones

Enclaves established since 1980 by the Chinese government that have offered tax breaks and other incentives to lure foreign investment.