Maintenance of the power
Second Five Year Plan: The Great Leap Forward (1958-62)
Leaders dissatisfied with collectivisation, agricultural growth
The real first success made the leader think nothing is impossible. Agricultural success possible if industrial successSuccess in industrialization made the leadership think that large improvement in agriculture could be made
Need industrialization not in 15, but in 8, 7, 5, 3 years
Have superpower plans
Aims:
to increase both agricultural and industrial production at the same time (Mao’s argued that China was ready to ‘walk on two legs’),
revive the Yan’an spirit
to overtake Western economies such as Great Britain within fifteen years and America’s within thirty.
move away from the Soviet model of ‘gradual economic development’: China was less industrialized → want to catch up.
Mao wanted a ‘leap’ in advancement, not like other societies that had a slow gradual change and development, Mao wanted to jump directly from a rural, agricultural country to an industrial powerhouse
Primary principles:
Peasants would produce a surplus of food to feed the be sold abroad to raise money for the Chinese workforce
Workers would mass produce steel and other construction projects to make the PRC an industrial power comparable with the USSR and capitalist West
Tension with USSR - Secret speech (Khrushchev ‘56) - more independence
Communes during the Great Leap Forward
26,000 communes would replace the cooperatives created in the 1950’s
These communities had an average of 5,000 households and some contained between 20,000 to 50,000 people each
Everything done together (cooking, eating, schooling, taking care of the elderly)
Husband and wife had specific days to meet. Kids would be educated collectively, so parents can have more time to work in the farm and community responsibility, while parents participated in scheduled activities.
Everything shared (land, livestock, tools, etc…)
All kinds of activities: agriculture, industrial projects, militia
Building a communal ethos (tập quán)
Build backyard furnace. (lò nung)
Course of the Great Leap Forward
In order to intensify agriculture, planted seeds closer to each other (with adverse effect of improper nutrition and growth)
Any surplus of grain would be state property, to be exported and sold to feed the industry, peasants could no longer farm individually for profit
Socialist competition - Commutes competing with each other to produce more, targets and standards set by the winner of the competition, which creates dissatisfaction with anything lesser
Exaggeration of production figures - ‘Sputnik results’ - State takes all, peasants left with almost nothing (referring to very high and desirable results in an allusion to the launch of the Russian Sputnik satellite (Sputnik meaning satellite) into space)
Four pest campaign (mosquitoes, flies, rats, sparrows)
Focus on not skill in work but enthusiasm in order to meet quotas for the planned economy over genuine ability to execute the orders
Focus on steel, backyard furnaces - industrial blast furnaces built and used in commune fields and backyards
Due to emphasis on enthusiasm and neglect for proper training, consumed valuable resources and available labourers to produce low quality pig-iron instead of high quality steel
Fulfillment of steel quota took precedent over actually producing steel, workers in backyard furnaces would melt their own agricultural tools (which made farming harder leading to more famine) to meet the quotas
Led to a lack of agricultural tools that contributed to the great famine, due to peasants being unable to work the land
Misuse of Russian technology and equipment
PRC still heavily relied on export of food to Russia for money and increased grain exports by about 2 million tons between 1957 and 1959 from 1.9 to 4.1 million tons, which contributed to a lack of food going to the peasants
Great Famine (1958-62)
Droughts and typhoons in 1959-60
Conservative estimates by Yang Jisheng of the death toll was 36 million people, more medial estimates by historian Frank Dikotter claimed at least 45 million people
Ecological impacts of 4 Pests Campaign
To increase agricultural productivity and increase hygiene, a campaign was launched to eliminate flies, mosquitoes, rats and sparrows which caused an imbalance
Overthrew ecological balances and invited other pests to eat crops now that their natural predators are gone
Impacts of manipulation of information
Sputnik results - State and officials took all grain and left little for peasants
Officials would rather appease Mao and fulfill their quotas to avoid punishment or purge from the party if seen as failures, so lied about a surplus of grain or in Sputnik results, presented a technical ‘surplus of grain’ by stealing everything from peasants
Impacts of enthusiasm
Hindrance to the technical ability to execute the industrial quotas
Peasants could very rarely actually produce high quality steel
Waste and inefficiency were extremely high and still to fulfill quotas, turned to smelting pre-existing agricultural tools which left them destitute of ways to farm and work the land
Mao’s suppression of protest
Mao and CCP launched campaigns to convince people on the benefits of collectivization, maintained that it was the people who wanted collectivization and not a government imposed movement
Arrested and replaced officials who showed doubt of collectivization and as many as 50 million peasants by the early 1960’s were placed in labour camps for showing protestation
Recovery and 3 Year Campaign
Led by Liu Shiaoqing and Deng Xiaoping
Peasants working on big projects (between 20 and 25 million) were sent back to work on the countryside and were allowed to own some private plots which helped the peasants to increase their personal income
The communities began to introduce some financial incentives to encourage the peasants to work harder
Rural markets were reopened
Communes were broken into small units based on smaller villages, communal canteens were closed and peasants were allowed to eat at home
Reforms unliked by Mao who stepped slightly from the forefront of the CCP due to his age, would lead to some justification for Mao’s removal of Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping from power
Questions:
What happens to productivity of agriculture during the GLF? Why?
Why do you think Maoism doesn’t favour material incentives and instead uses techniques like socialist emulation?
Why do the cadres lie about the results to their superiors? Can they not lie?
What were the results of the fact that the state didn’t receive accurate information about the real situation?
How do the lies of the cadres lead to even more inflated production quotas?
Why doesn’t anyone protest against the production quotas that are too high? How is this a result of the earlier 100 Flower campaign?
Why are the communes militarized? How is this based on Maoism?
Why is family life destroyed in favour of communal life? How is this based on Maoism?
What is the impact on women? What is the impact on children? How is this connected with Maoism?
Why did some women commit suicide? How is this connected to what we learned earlier about the rectification campaign in Yan’an or about the Anti-rightist campaign?
Did people really believe in the Maoist ideology?
Why do you think Mao continued supporting other communist countries with grain (such as Albania or North Korea), even though his own people were starving? Why would he send grain to the USSR?
To what extent do you think Mao is personally responsible for the famine? To what extent were other people responsible – the senior leadership, the local party cadres, the peasants?
- 1959 - Lushan Conference: Peng Dehuai (Bành Đức Hoài) wrote a letter confronted MaoWhy do you think they played and sang patriotic songs while people were working? Why is there so much music and marches? Do you think this fits somehow into Maoism?
Was equality reached in communes? Why (or why not)?
The Great Leap Forward (1958–1962) was a massive socio-political experiment that transformed China into a series of collective communes, fundamentally altering daily life and economic production based on Mao’s vision of a "Socialist Paradise".
Ideology, Incentives, and Socialist Emulation
Maoism during this period eschewed individual material incentives in favor of collective labor. The goal was to immerse the individual in a life dedicated entirely to production. Instead of wages, the system used a "work point" system, where food distribution was tied to one's capacity to fulfill production objectives. "Socialist emulation"—competing communes against one another—was encouraged by Mao to drive agricultural production, with high-performing communes receiving ceremonies and praise. This system replaced private ownership, as houses, land, and tools were collectivized.
The Cycle of Lies and Inaccurate Information
The phenomenon of cadres lying to superiors was driven by an escalating spiral of systemic coercion. Because Mao demanded constant increases in production, cadres were forced to meet impossible quotas. If a cadre could not keep these commitments, they were forced to falsify output figures to avoid punishment. This lying became universal across the hierarchy because those who recognized the fraud were too terrified to speak out.
The result of this inaccurate reporting was disastrous: the state calculated taxes and grain requisitions based on these falsified, inflated production figures. Consequently, the state demanded almost the entire harvest, leaving virtually nothing for the peasants. This created an impossible situation where even as people starved, the state insisted on shipping grain away to pay down debts.
Dissent, Fear, and Political Climate
Protest against these quotas was virtually non-existent because the system stifled dissent. Peasants had no right to free speech, and their skills or input were ignored by authorities who had no knowledge of agriculture. This culture of fear, exacerbated by previous political movements like the Anti-Rightist campaign (which sought to eliminate dissenters), ensured that any questioning of the Great Leap Forward was dangerous. The source notes that cadres managed the communes like barracks, and those who disobeyed were either starved or physically abused.
Militarization and the Destruction of Family Life
The communes were militarized because Mao viewed them as a bridge to socialism, organizing peasants into units that underwent daily military training for national defense. This militarization was central to the ideology, viewing the population as a "cog in a big machine".
Family life was dismantled to ensure total devotion to the collective. Private cooking was abolished, and communal canteens were established. Children were raised under new rules of collective life, and men and women were often separated into different dormitories to prevent them from living as a married couple. This destruction of the family unit was intended to remove all distractions from collective labor.
Impact on Women and Children
Women: They were "liberated" from maternal duties to work in the fields. However, this resulted in the regulation of their sexual lives, and some women committed suicide due to the intense humiliation of having their personal lives controlled and being subjected to public scrutiny.
Children: They were separated from the traditional family structure and integrated into the collective system.
Belief in Ideology
Many people, particularly the youth, did initially believe in the Communist ideology. The narrator of the source material explains that they were members of the youth league and truly believed that the "Communist Paradise" would soon arrive, justifying the suffering and sacrifices required to reach it.
Foreign Aid and Global Debts
Even as the population starved, Mao continued to send grain abroad. This was largely to pay off debts to the USSR, which had provided China with hundreds of factories delivered ready for use. Mao was determined to accelerate this repayment, prioritizing international obligations and ideological standing over the survival of his own citizens.
Responsibility
The famine was the result of a top-down systemic failure:
Mao: He set the ideological goals, demanded the "satellites" (record production), and insisted on the competitive emulation that drove the falsification of data.
Senior Leadership: They enabled the environment where falsification was encouraged and rewarded.
Local Cadres: They were the immediate enforcers who acted with extreme cruelty, hoarding food, and using the "he who does not work shall not eat" policy as a weapon to starve dissenters.
Peasants: They were the victims of the system, often forced into labor or starvation, with little to no power to change the outcome.
Music, Marches, and Equality
The music and marching were instruments of propaganda and mobilization. The working day was bookended by music to the "glory of the Great Leap Forward," serving to keep the population focused on production goals.
Equality was not reached. While the ideology preached collective ownership, a hierarchy persisted. Cadres lived well and were corrupt, often stealing food and exerting power over the starving peasants, who were often reduced to eating tree bark and mud.
Lushan conference (1959)
Opposition to GLF (Peng Dehuai and his letter)
Recovery and 3 year plan
Liu Shaoqi (PRC Chairman) and Deng Xiaoping (CCP General Secretary) were given the task of restoring the economy
Measures in agriculture
Peasants working on big projects (between 20 and 25 million) were sent back to work on the countryside and were allowed to own some private plots which helped the peasants to increase their personal income.
The communes began to introduce some financial incentives to encourage the peasants to work harder.
Rural markets were reopened.
The communes were broken into smaller units based on smaller villages. The communal canteens were closed and peasants were allowed to eat at home.
Measure in industry
In the industrial sector, new and more realistic targets were set for the production of coal and steel
workers were also offered some financial incentives to help increase production.
Industries were asked to make products to help the agricultural sector such as tools or carts.
These measures meant that by 1965 industrial output was nearly double that recorded in 1957, and heavy industry had grown at a rate of 17 per cent.
Cultural revolution in China
Reasons
Fear of conspiracies. Fear of party and public disloyalty. Mayor Peng Zhen and Marshal Peng Dehuai
Fear of rivalry. Liu Shaoqi, Deng Xiaoping
Aftermath of Great Leap Forward. Some return to private farming and abandoning of collectivization (led by Liu and Deng)
Desire to prevent bureaucracy / nomenclature rule
Mao was getting older and was afraid that his revolution would be betrayed after him
Mao wanted to avoid Soviet-style “revisionism”
Idea:
The goal at the start of the Cultural Revolution was to get rid of the Four Olds – old ideas, old culture, old customs and old habits.
Liu Shaoqui – Mao’s No2 and a possible threat to his power
“Five Black Categories” – landlords, rich farmers, counter-revolutionaries, bad influencers and rightists.
Method:
- violence, mass mobilization and chaos
Perpetrators:
Mao
The Central Cultural Revolution Group, including Jiang Quing (Madame Mao) and the «Gang of Four»
Chou Enlai (premier), Chen Boda (Mao’s former secretary), Kang Sheng (head of secret police)
Marshal Lin Biao
Red Guards: students from elementary to high schools
To be “Engels to Marx, Stalin to Lenin, and Chiang Kai-Shek to Sun Yatsen”, – Lin Biao to his wife
Cultural build-up:
Hai Rui Dismissed from the office, written by an intellectual, and deputy mayor of Beijing, Wu Han, in 1961, was condemned in 1965-66 for being an anti-socialist play.
The Little Red Book
Cultural Revolution (1966-76):
Reasons
Fear of conspiracies, fear of party and public disloyalty, Mayor Peng Zhen and Marshal Peng Dehuai
Fear of rivalry between Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping
In the aftermath of Great Leap Forward, many people returned to private farming and broke away from collectivization during the recovery period led by Liu and Deng, Mao saw this as undermining the socialist principles of China’s communist revolution and wanted to assert his authority once again in Chinese politics
Desire to prevent bureaucracy/nomenclature rule
Mao was getting older and feared after his death (or nearing the end of his life), his revolution would be betrayed and undone
Mao became greatly paranoid with betrayal from members of the CCP, even the ones most profusely loyal to him
His elderly age by 1966 (73) also began to make him even more paranoid, fearing his sudden death though he did not pass away until 1976, he feared a sudden betrayal of his goals and principles would follow soon after his death, he wanted to reorganize the CCP and China in a way that would leave him satisfied with the permanence of his ideology and policies
Mao had no regret for the failure of the Great Leap Forward and the ensuing famine but knew it tainted his image and reputation greatly, he removed himself from the forefront of politics in 1959, leaving Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping to oversee the recovery period and garnered them great praise which he was resentful of
His step back from the forefront of politics also brought him more anxiety in that he believed his absence allowed factions to form that may have derailed his goals
The Cultural Revolution was inline with what Mao had been preaching for since his early days as a communist, that revolution is not a single momentary event but a continuous struggle
Mao also did not want China to go the way of the USSR, with its lessening grip on the people after Stalin’s death and being seen as betraying communism for the sake of avoiding war with the US and other capitalist western nations, Mao wanted to avoid ‘Soviet revisionism’
Mao wanted to rid China of whatever foreign influence there had been, be it western or Soviet, he wanted China to follow its own path
Official interpretations - Fighting the bourgeoisie
Cultural revolution and education
During the Cultural Revolution, schools and universities remained closed for over a year.
After Mao Zedong launched the Cultural Revolution, the students started to criticise and attack their teachers, professors and principals.
Many were beaten to death by their students while others committed suicide after they suffered humiliation and torture.
University entrance favoured students from a rural background over urban students after the Cultural Revolution.
After the Cultural Revolution, the teaching profession became less attractive
Cultural revolution and minorities
During the Cultural Revolution, many administrators were purged. For example, the party leader of Inner Mongolia, Ulanhu, a Mongol who had been a CCP member since his youth in the 1920s, was accused of having encouraged the study of the Mongolian language and cultural heritage.
The Red Guards attacked the Four Olds in the autonomous regions and demanded total assimilation. However, the CCP feared that this would threaten the border defense, so total assimilation was never really implemented.
From 1968 through mid-1971, minorities were a low-key presence in the PRC. After 1971, policy relaxed even more, books in minorities language were published again and the media began to encourage people, both minorities and Han, to study minority languages.
Art:
General
The role of artists and writers was to educate the masses, not to entertain them. All artists were obliged to adhere to the party line.
At first, most traditional Chinese art was maintained alongside a more Soviet type of art, ‘Socialist Realism’.
However, later (when???), art and media was made a tool to promote Chinese communism, idolise Mao Zedong and send some specific political messages to the Chinese people.
On the next slide, listen to “The East is Red” - a song that became the de-facto hymn of China during the Cultural Revolution. Predict: what do you think would be the message of this song?
Music
Chinese musical traditions were modernised, meaning some tunes, lyrics and styles considered politically unacceptable were censored (why?)
The CCP wanted real revolutionary music, with titles that had a meaning people would understand, not just ‘Symphony Number 5’ which was considered bourgeois and not reflective of people’s real live (does this resemble anything????)
during the Great Leap Forward, it was ordered from the top that musicians should create greater pieces than those written by the great masters of the 19th century in the Western world (how is this based on Maoism?)
most musicians knew that Jiang Qing (Madame Mao) did not like the sound of too many trombones, bassoons and tubas, so they were careful when creating their piece of music (how is this rooted in the political system Mao created?)
Film
After the revolution, all films created had to carry political meanings and messages (does this resemble anything?)
During the Cultural Revolution they had to have an emphasis on ‘class struggle, technological progress and national self-reliance’ (why these three themes?)
Creative cinema disappeared and many directors and actors were sent to the countryside for political re-education.
One of the most famous movies made during the Cultural Revolution was Taking Tiger Mountain by the Strategy directed by Xie Tieli.
Cult of Personality:
The origins of Mao’s cult of personality can be traced back to the periods of Jiangxi Soviet, the Long March, and the Yan'an period
Reached heights during the Cultural Revolution in 1966
Culturally, the Chinese people have always defined the Emperor as ‘the Son of Heaven,’ the one who would bring peace and harmony to the country
The Chinese population, who had been experiencing wars and corruptions for many decades since the fall of the Qing dynasty, were attracted to Mao’s promise of peace and prosperity
The Little Red Book
Most effective piece of propaganda from Mao Zedong
Formally Quotations of Chairman Mao Zedong written in 1964 by Mao’s trusted apparent successor Lin Biao, contained selections of Mao’s speeches and writings
Had a bright red plastic cover and was instantly recognizable
Its purpose was for the people to ‘Study Chairman Mao’s writings, follow his teachings and act according to his instructions’
750 million copies sold in the first 4 years since publication, every Chinese citizen carried a copy and was often included into children’s school bags and workers’ lunch boxes
You could be accused of being a class enemy from forgetting a quote from the Little Red Book
Bombard the headquaters: a short but revolutionary document issued by Mao Zedong on August 5, 1966. It effectively signaled the start of the Cultural Revolution in China.
Posters
1940s and 1950s, propaganda was more visual and less text-dependent, not only because it was quicker and cheaper to produce but also because many Chinese people were still illiterate
Before the Cultural Revolution, Mao was portrayed more so as a standard leader and father figure of the nation
After the Cultural Revolution, Mao was likened to a god, usually depicted as the sun
Lei Feng Spirit
Another tactic Mao used was to use a legendary (likely somewhat fabricated) figure of Lei Feng to promote communist and nationalist sentiment in the whole nation, encouraging the ‘Fei Leng spirit’
Lei Feng was supposedly a Chinese soldier who died at the age of 22, known for his kindness and charity, helping others in need, with a difficult childhood, he was an exemplar role model of positivity and strength and Mao used his image to strengthen support in the people
Lei Feng is theorized to either be a completely fabricated figure or a composite figure made from many different people
Take Pavlik Morozov and Alexei Stakhanov, other legendary figures used for propaganda purposes with exaggerated stories
Struggle sessions
Forms of public humiliation where people had to take self-criticism and public humiliation in order to pinpoint the mistakes they made and free them from their errors
Method used by the USSR since the 1920’s, first used adopted by Mao Zedong during the rectification campaign in 1941
Used during the Anti-Rightist campaign and even more so during the Cultural Revolution
Labelled as class enemies for minor things, creating an atmosphere of pervasive fear in population
For forgetting a quote from Little Red Book
Owned Western instrument or wear western-style clothing
Some families ‘reported’ and denounced their neighbours and even family members
Danwei, Hukou and Dangan kept all records of your life (work and marriage/child permit, household registration, everything personal and political)
Gao Gang and Rao Shushi Affair
Gao Gang joined the CCP in 1926
By 1950, he was a member of the Politburo, the party leader of Manchuria, the vice-chairman of the PRC and the director of the Central Committee Organisation Department, seen as a bright politician and a capable economist
By 1949, Rao Shushi was chairman of Military and Political Community of East China
1952 - Both expelled from the CCP, Gao: trying to increase party tying with USSR, Shushu criticized 5YP, publicly denounced
Gao committed suicide, Shushi works farms for rest of life
Purge of Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping
By 1968, LSQ and DXP were denounced as ‘capitalist roaders’ and they were demoted and stripped of their party positions
LSQ was struggled against and humiliated in public and a propaganda campaign was launched where he was accused of being a traitor and a scab, died on 12 Nov 1969 in a prison in Kaifeng in Henan province
Like LSQ, DXP was ‘struggled against,’ put under house arrest with his wife and publicly humiliated
DXP’s friendship with Zhou Enlai however allowed Deng to escape violent attacks by more radical groups, and he and his wife were sent to Jiangxi province to undertake a re-education programme, through labour work and extensive reading
Laojiao
Special labour camp known as ‘education through labour,’ prison camps or prison farms with the goal of re-educating people, mainly intellectuals
Main objective was for those being ‘re-educated’ (intellectuals) to live and work with farmers and peasants
Individuals being re-educated also made to attend political classes where they had to denounce themselves and criticize their own beliefs
Laogai
The Laogai (Labour reform), often compared to the Gulag system in the Soviet Union
Interim camps where criminals were sent
Many of the detention centres were built in places with extremely harsh weather, either very hot or very cold
Prisoners forced to carry out hard and intensive labour such as digging ditches or building bridges, conditions were extremely awful and dehumanizing
Impact on women
Inferior position of women in China before Mao
Marriage Reform Lao
End of arranged marriage and child betrothals
Ended concubinage and payment of dowries
Gave the right to divorce either by mutual consent or on the complaint of either the husband or the wife
To prevent child marriages, the woman had to be at least 18 and the man 20
In case of divorce, ex-husband had to financially support the ex-wife until she remarried
Abolished polygamy
Women go the following rights
Outcomes
Rural and Muslim-predominant areas were resistant to the emancipation of women and arranged marriage continued
Impact of communes on families
Spouses didn’t live together but were allowed conjugal visits
Women had less housework to do because of the amount of people working in communal canteens
Women actively participated in manual labour in the communes
The August rally (18 Aug 1966)
Tiananmen Square, Beijing, was filled with a million young people
Use of force
Unlike Stalin or Hitler, Mao did not have a secret police to invade the lives of people
He relied on creating an atmosphere where people would readily act and report on others to the CCP
Still had PLA in mass military campaigns and Red Guards involved in struggle sessions
Death of Lin Biao
Mao began trying to sideline Lin by taking down his most powerful ally, Chen Boda, the party’s fourth most powerful man then.
On September 13, 1971, Lin, his wife Ye Qun, also a member of the top leadership, and their son Lin Liguo, an air force official, were killed in a mysterious plane crash in Mongolia as they tried to flee China
Criticize Lin Bao and Confucius
Less trust to the miliatary
End of Red Guards power
In the summer of 1968, Red Guards from Tsinghua University in Beijing clashed with mediators dispatched by the central government, shooting dead some of them. After the incident, Mao Zedong convened the student leaders and rebuked them.
Later that year, Mao issued a directive ordering all students that were of age to be sent to the countryside, effectively bringing the increasingly unruly Red Guards movement to an end. This was the “Up to the mountains and down to the villages” campaign.
Over 12 million young people moved from the towns into the countryside.
Course of Cultural Revolution
In January 1967, Shanghai became the first provincial-level government to be seized by the rebels.
As a compromise, tripartite ruling bodies called “revolutionary committees” that shared power among the rebels, military and bureaucrats were set up across the country
By September 1968, all 29 provincial and regional governments had been replaced by the new leadership body. A special stamp was issued to commemorate the achievement that “the whole country is red”
Cultural Change under Mao:
The power of the ruling class (the very wealthy few) over the majority peasants and their unwillingness to relinquish their power ‘necessitated’ Mao or rather justified his extreme measures against them in violence upheaval and in political propaganda
Mao believed no art should be made just for the sake of art but to serve and educate the people, proletarian art is part of the revolutionary cause
Role of Jiang Qing
Mao’s wife given role as creator-in-chief of the new Chinese culture he wanted
Assigned to deconstruct the ‘Four Olds’ - Old thoughts, old habits, old culture, old customs
‘Cultural purifier of the nation’
Jiang censored and banned all showings and performances, arts and literature that did not meet her specific criteria of revolutionary themes and messages or did not fit in with selected relevant and contemporary Chinese themes
Western, pop, classical music were banned, traditional Chinese opera replaced with specifically commissioned pieces, ballets depicting Mao’s famous ideals of the constant heroic struggle between the proletariat (revolutionary class) and class enemies, met with praise and approval by all, including audience and party members too scared to reveal true feelings
Creatives who showed resistance to conforming to the new contemporary selection of art that deconstructed all traditional art and culture, were sent to labour ‘re-education’ camps so they may learn, put into harsh and specific punishments, ie. pianists scratching the ground with their fingers to remove their sensitivity
The only major party member to speak out against Jiang Qing was Deng Xiaoping, suggesting that the Chinese people needed an outlet for leisure and comfort
No other party member spoke out and it generally signifies the intellectual class in China failing to protest for the common people
After Mao’s death, the new contemporary culture constructed by Jiang Qing lasted for a decade more, but people realized it was not a new culture, simply the defiance of another one
Yan Yen, a poet - “As a result of the Cultural Revolution you could say the cultural trademark of my generation is that we have no culture.”
Religion was contested and challenged for its incompatibility with the realism of the revolutionary cause, the people now that workers were in power, did not need escapism
Traditional Chinese beliefs, Confucianism, Buddhism, forbidden to be openly practiced as were other major religions
Religions sites, churches and mosques, closed, property taken, clergy taken and abused, foreign clergy expelled
Agit-prop performers toured and held mandatory performances expressing Maoist principles, performances had a very clear black and white depictions of the revolutionary class and class enemies, landlords but also included religious figures
Mao allowed churches under the pretense that the clergy profuse their loyalty to Mao in ‘patriotic churches,’ the Vatican refused to accept the validity of patriotic churches
Religion associated with the ‘Four Olds’ and denounced, religious figures who survived the prior persecutions were dealt with harshly
Confucianism became the umbrella term for any suspected resemblance to the Four Olds, deemed representative of all the worst of China
In reference to Tibetan Buddhism and the provinces of Tibet and Xinjiang, Mao believed religion would be the source of independence movements in provinces and breakaway from central communist Chinese government
1949 - Declared PRC would not grant independence to any of its provinces
1950 - PLA campaign into Tibet, Xinjiang and Guangdong as part of the reunification campaign to exert the government’s authority in those provinces, claimed to oversee betterment of conditions in those areas
1959 - Uprising in Tibet led to mass arrests of Tibetans and increases social and religious control of Tibet, Dalai Lama fled to India, 1962 - Penchan Lama (2nd highest religious leader) wrote to Mao a critique of communist rule (70,000 words), ie. mass imprisonment, Penchan Lama arrested
Literacy
Problem encountered when trying to impose communist values in education was the existence of many different languages and regional dialects, and the education system being very confined to the elite and wealthy, the Imperial Examination was a mandated test that only about 5% of students, mainly from privileged classes, passed
Pinyin established as the official script of Mandarin
Simplified Chinese introduced to better literacy rates
China previously relied on Soviet advisors and experts to establish curriculums, universities were then nationalized, curriculum focusing on mathematics, science, engineering
Goal was to also instill realistic but revolutionary ideals into students, middle schools with agricultural programs with expected manual labour popped up during the Great Leap Forward
During Cultural Revolution, students rose up and criticized and beat teachers, forcing them to commit suicide to end the humiliation, as part of a ‘revolutionary action’ students caused a lot of harm to befell teachers, though only Red Guards were permitted to do so
Literacy rate stagnated at 64% by 1964
Rural graduates increased in number from 450,000 to 21 million between 1965 and 1977
Status of women
Mao had attempted to destroy the nuclear family in the Cultural Revolution
Mao had previously made a lot of efforts for the emancipation of women
Abolished polygamy
Abolished foot binding
Abolished arranged marriages , though some provinces still conitnued their practices
Right to divorce
Woman had to be at least 18 to marry and man
Women had the right to vote by 1953 Election Law
Opportunity to join the government and the PLA (though not many women rose to prominence)
Number of working women increased from 8% to 32%
Political system
Began with a few political congresses, Mao had delegates from other non-opposing political parties to help create a more stable government at the first establishment of the PRC
Democratic centralism - Originally introduced by Lenin in Soviet Russia, the majority decision was binding on all members of the party and all party members had to uphold and support it
Party cadres, Chinese nomenklatura
By 1949, 4.5 million people in the CCP
Party cadres - those thought in party ideology and administrative methodology - organized and managed local, commune or factory organizations
Party cadres involved in local police and justice officials
Danwei (work units for surveillance) controlled access to resources and housing, also issued permits to travel, change employment and even get married
Chinese state gained more and more control of social and economic life, 5YP’s and collectivisation, more party cadres with more power under Mao
People’s frustrations against party cadres not Mao himself due to the privilege they enjoyed
Anti-Three and Anti-Five campaign
1951 - against corruption, waste and inefficiency in party
Expanded in 1952 - against bribery, fraud, industrial sabotage, tax evasion and theft of government property
Members of government (mainly ex-KMT officials) and members of middle class as enemies of the state
100 Flowers Campaign
Cultural Revolution
Mao encouraged a movement of youths known as Red Guards to attack the four olds - thought, culture, practices and customs to force confessions from almost anyone in a position of authority including members of the party
Deng Xiaoping and Liu Shaoqi removed from power by Red Guards
Economic policies
Land reform
1950 - Agrarian Land Law, to develop more equitable distribution of land in China, confiscate land from landlords to be redistributed, to move traditional agricultural system to more modern one
By the end of 1950 - 40 percent of land, farming tools, animals and other means of production were in the hands of 60% of the peasant population
Landlords lost their lands and lives forcefully, around 1 million landlords died between 1947 and 1952
Collectivization
Resistance against collectivization was not as much as in Soviet Union
Chinese peasants far too poor and not many ‘kulak’s existed
By 1956, only 3% of peasant households were farmed as private individuals
First 5YP (1953-57)
With Soviet help
Loan of 300 million dollars
Advisors from Russia helping in large industrial growth and construction
Russian books translated into Chinese
Industrial output doubled, light industry increased by 70%
Large engineering projects were launched such as the bridge across the Yangtze
2nd 5YP - Great Leap Forward (1958 - 62)
Establishment of 26,000 communes housing up to 50,000 people each and with 5,000 households
4 pest control campaign
Backyard furnaces
Farming tools smelted to meet industrial quotas
Sputnik results - exaggerated information by party cadres to Mao hiding actual reality, either with peasants having no food or genuine exaggeration
Frank Dikotter - 45 million deaths during Great Famine
Political impact and Lushan conference
Peng Dehuai wrote a letter in criticism of Mao’s economic and social policies during the Great Leap Forward, Mao read it aloud and removed him from power and put him under house arrest
Replaced by Lin Biao as Minister of Defence
Recovery Period and 3rd Five Year Plan
Headed by Deng Xiaoping and Liu Shaoqi
Peasants working on big projects (20 to 25 mil) sent back to work i nthe countryside
Communes dissolved or broken down into smaller settlements and some peasants were able to farm on private property
Rural markets reopened
Mao did not agree with Deng Xiaoping and Liu Shaoqi’s reforms and had them removed from power by the Red Guards in the Cultural Revolution
Deng Xiaoping:
Son of landowner from Sichuan province
Studied in France with Zhou Enlai, joined communist party’s youth between 1920 and 1924
Travelled to Soviet Union
Communist revolution - role as political and military organizer
Deng Xiaoping managed reunification campaigns for regions not yet under communist rule
After Great Famine, under president Liu Shaoqi, appointed Secretary General of the Secretariat
Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping made social, economic and political changes Mao didn’t appreciate
Sent to re-education camp during Cultural Revolution
1977, regained most of his positions
1980, became paramount leader of the CCP
Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance (1950)
The Treaty of Friendship signed with the USSR in February 1950 included a loan of $300 million by the USSR over five years and assistance from Soviet consultants and experts.
With the help of over 11 000 advisers, Chinese people learned how to build bridges with iron, steel plants and electrics powers stations.
=> This significant support played a crucial role in the rapid industrialization of China, enabling the establishment of key infrastructures that were essential for the country's economic development.
Condition attach: Pay back the grain, strategic alliance (the USSR was happy getting such a large and densely populated ally like China to against the West)
Korean War: (19530-1953)
a. Overview
North and South divided 38th parallel
Peng Dehuai: Key military leader of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army during the Korean War.
Cause: The war began when North Korean forces invaded South Korea by crossing the 38th parallel, aiming to unify the peninsula under communist rule.
UN Intervention: The United Nations Security Council authorized the use of force to repel the invasion, with 21 countries eventually contributing to the UN Command.
Major Phases:
1950: North Korea initially captured almost the entire peninsula, pushing UN forces to the Pusan Perimeter. General Douglas MacArthur turned the tide with a daring amphibious landing at Inchon in September.
Chinese Intervention: As UN forces approached the Chinese border at the Yalu River, China entered the war in October 1950, pushing UN forces back below the 38th parallel.
Stalemate: By mid-1951, the war settled into a brutal stalemate of trench and hill warfare around the 38th parallel, continuing for two more years.
Armistice (1953): Fighting ended with the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement on 27 July 1953. This established the 4 km-wide Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).
Casualties: The conflict was exceptionally bloody, with an estimated 3 million deaths, the majority being Korean civilians. Over 36,000 U.S. service members also died.
Status Today: Because a formal peace treaty was never signed, North and South Korea remain technically at war in a "frozen conflict".
Division: The war solidified the division of the peninsula into two vastly different nations: the democratic, economically advanced South and the isolated, communist North.
b. Events
Korean peninsula occupied by Japan during WWII
Soviet and American involvement in removing Japanese occupation in Korea, Soviet and US troops stationed in the north and south respectively with growing Soviet communist influence in the north and growing American capitalist influence in the south
Tensions between North and South Korea led by Kim Il Sung and President Syngman Rhee
Conflict between North and South Koreans when North Koreans pushed past the 38th parallel (established at the end of WWII) and invaded South Korea
South Korean forces quickly pushed back south
Sep 15-16 1950 - UN troops (primarily consisting of US troops in a proxy war with the goal of ‘containment of Communist spread’) arrived at Incheon and helped South Korean troops push back against the North Korean invasion
US general MacArthur leader of UN (US) forces in South Korea
UN and SK forces quickly pushed NK troops far past the 38th parallel towards the Yalu River, near the border with China
Chinese troops (sympathetic to socialist NK) joined war on NK side (providing troops and military aid) that quickly repulsed UN and SK forces back
MacArthur argued against Pres. Truman’s policies in the Korean War, tried to push for an more aggressive approach, suggesting a nuclear option, relieved of position in 1951
Eventually armistice was reached and by the end of 1953, borders at the 38th parallel were established again
Despite failure to remove Communist rule in NK, overall success for US mission of containment, proving sufficient power to prevent communist spread and maintain capitalist influence in SK
Victories for communist powers like USSR and China in that communist NK regime was not dispelled, and would incite more communist revolutions in Asia and throughout the world (ie. Vietnam war, Cuban revolution and missile crisis)
c. Administration
Kim Il-Sung: Leader of North Korea, established a one-party state and promoted the ideology of Juche, which became foundational for North Korean governance.
China and Taiwan:
When Jiang Jieshi reached Taiwan in 1949, he created the Republic of China (ROC), and held a seat at the United Nations as the only Chinese government. However, for Mao, Taiwan has always been part of China
One of the first tensions between the ROC and the PRC occurred in 1954 when the PLA began to bomb the islands of Kinmen (Quemoy) and Matsu. Considerations of using the A-bomb in the USA. Mao didn’t get support from Khrushchev. Negotiations and end of crisis.
Brinkmanship: you are not actually not even in a position to engage in all-out war, but rather you push the limits of confrontation to the edge to get some gain.
Mao in 1957: we are not afraid of nuclear war! In 1958 (year when the GLF started), Mao ordered the PLA to attack the Islands of Kinmen and Matsu without discussing this action with the USSR.The United States, following the agreement signed in 1954 responded by preparing for a war against the PRC. Considered nuclear strike again => Sino - Soviet split in 1960
China and Taiwan
Chiang Kaishek established the Republic of China (ROC) in Taiwan in 1949 and held a seat in the UN as the only Chinese government
For Mao Zedong and the CCP, Taiwan has always been a part of China and under the jurisdiction of the communist government in mainland China
One of the first tensions between the ROC and PRC occurred in 1954 when the PLA began to bomb the island of Kinmen (Quemov), Tachen Islands located 300 km off the coast of Taiwan were bombed by the PRC
First Taiwan Strait Crisis
End of 1953, after Stalin died, Mao believed China could provoke the USA into more aggression, so they could convince the USSR to give them more support and assistance against Taiwan
USSR agreed to give them support but not actually help them fight against Taiwan (due to their own internal problems with the death of USSR)
First Taiwan Strait Crisis did not end in war
1968 - 2nd Taiwan Strait Crisis, Mao ordered the PLA to attack the islands of Kinmen and Matsu without consultation with the USSR, the US following the agreement signed in 1954 prepared for war with the PRC, resupplied ROC with artillery
Bloc between USSR and China became less united, tensions increased between USSR and China
War between China and Taiwan did not break out
China-US relationships
USA supporting Taiwan
Several treaties signed with SEA and Oceania countries with ‘containment (of communism) policy’
Treaty of SEATO (Asian Treaty Organization) signed in 1951 between the US, France, UK, Thailand, Pakistan and the Philippines
ANZUS Treaty (Australian, New Zealand and United States Security Treaty) signed in 1951
US refused to recognize the PRC
Seat at UN given to Taiwan and ROC over PRC
Trade embargo implemented, impeded economic growth of China, made China more dependent on the USSR and other communist countries
The US supported states threatened by China (ie. Tibet)
Sino-Soviet split (1960’s)
Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance (1950)
300 mil loan
Soviet advisors in helping construction and industrialization efforts in China
Chinese translations of Soviet textbooks
Important for helping establish the PRC as a sustainable power
Ideological disagreements with the USSR (proletariat and industrial workers or peasants)
Ideological disagreements with Kruschev (speech of 1956 and thaw, de-Stalinization
Mao thought de-Stalinization and the destruction of a massive cult of personality akin to his own could be a threat to him), peaceful coexistence, revisionism, Kruschev not ready to fight the US over Taiwan)
Mao could not believe Krushchev would have positive relationships (economic) with capitalist countries
Believed Krushchev was going against Lenin’s original wishes
China meddling with Soviet affairs in Albania
Albania was led by a very Stalinist leader, E. Hoxha
Albania split off from the USSR in 1961 and became a satellite of Maoist China
Mao criticizes Kruschev for backing down during the Cuban missile crisis
USSR signs the Ban Test Treaty (1963)
As a measure to limit the nuclear arms race
Border disputes (Damansky Island - 1969)
China-US relations (pt 2)
Sino-Soviet split left China in search of new allies
The US wanted a powerful ally to alienate the USSR as Sino-Soviet relations deteriorated
China’s economic need for a strong ally but also political strengthening
Ping pong diplomacy (1971)
Newly formed relatcult of persproionships between China and the USA
Began as a ping pong collaboration
Chinese team was world class but lost sometimes to the US team for ‘comradery’
Henry Kissinger secretly visits China in 1971
Pres. Richard Nixon visits China in 1972
Met with Mao and attended an opera (commissioned) with Mao and Madame Jiang Qing
Led to relaxation (detente) between China and the USA
China – USA relationships
USA supporting Taiwan
Several alliances were signed with countries in South-East Asia and Oceania.
The Treaty of SEATO (Asia Treaty Organisation) was signed in 1954 between the United States, Thailand, Pakistan, The Philippines, France and Great Britain.
The ANZUS Treaty (The Australian, New Zealand and United States Security Treaty) was signed in 1951.
The United States refused to recognise the People’s Republic of China.
The seat at the United Nations was given to Taiwan instead of China.
A trade embargo (cấm vận) was implemented.
The United States supported countries who felt threatened by China (i.e. Tibet).