China: Module 5: 150 Years of Revolution and Change
WHE period 6
Hutchinson/Huh
China: Module 5: 150 years of Revolution and Change
(A brief overview of China’s transition to a modern state)
Remember to also review:
- Handouts and class notes
- Homework assignments (SAW 15:5, 16:1 & 2)
- Textbook chapters
Collapse of the Qing and the dynastic system
- People previously trusted rulers because of the mandate of heaven (ex: Kang Xi)
- Increasing corruption and incompetence in the Qing dynasty (ex: Pu Yi and the eunuchs) make people lose respect for the system
- Results in political and social chaos & discontent and despair ripe for revolution
- Ci Xi: empress dowager
Balance of Trade: when imports = exports
Tariff: tax on imports
Opium Wars
- Britain vs. China
- Britain thought of China as an inferior, and an untapped market for them to exploit – wanted free access to China and resources
- China thought of Britain as barbarians who were unworthy of respect, and unnecessary
- Causes:
- Ethnocentrism – China has no official relations with European governments (as per myth #1 that we talked about in class)
- Foreign trade was restricted (because of the view mentioned above)
- China’s favorable balance of trade – export more than import, sell more than buy
- Opium
- China’s resistance to the Opium trade
- War broke out in 1839 over destruction of Opium
- China’s rude awakening: British ship “The Nemesis” served as a metaphor of British technological superiority
Taiping Rebellion (goal: trying to fix the government)
- Lasted 14 years and over 20 million died
- Weakened respect for the emperor/dynasty
- Causes:
- Food shortages
- Heavy taxes
- Western Presence
- Western influences
- Dynasty in decline
- Hung Hsui-Chaun the Savior of China?
- Events:
- Kingdom of Heaven on Earth is formed
- Government starts to harass them
- Kingdom becomes a military organization
- 1850: Hung is attacked
- Era of “Taiping” (Great Peace)
- Consequences:
- Tremendous loss of life (20-30 million dead)
- Tremendous loss of property
- European influence expands
- Missionaries allowed in the interior
Boxer Revolution (goal: trying to get out the foreigners)
* The Last Chapter of the Qing Dynasty *
- Civil war within the country
- Starving peasants wanted to get ride of western barbarians
- Great bloodshed
- Western troops arrive and fight
- Causes:
- Europeans and Japanese “eating away at China”
- The Boxers – “Society of Harmonious Fists”
- Manipulation by the empress (to fight off foreigners)
- Mass uprising throughout northern China
- Massacres of Chinese Christians and Missionaries
- Siege at Beijing
- Consequences:
- Humiliation of Qing
- Empress dowager stripped of any real power
- Europeans could maintain a military in Beijing
- Collapse of Qing and the dynastic system (1911)
Unequal treaties (Treaty of Nanjing)
- China has to pay reparations ($) – all the money and resources the British has to use during the war
- Surrendered Hong Kong to the British (B just recently gave it back in 1997)
- 5 port cities opened for trade (meant that C had to buy things from other countries even though they didn’t want/need to)
- Foreigners allowed to live and work in cities
- Controlled China’s international trade (forced “open door”)
- Extraterritoriality: westerners won the right to be tried in their own courts instead of China’s courts, when accused of a crime in China
- Most-favored Nation Status given to B
Sphere of Influence
- Indirect colonization (rule from afar) of the British on the Chinese economy
- When a foreign nation has special economic privileges (p. 345)
Kowtow: bowing low to a superior (emperor)
Sun Yat-Sen: “The Dreamer”
- Provisional (temporary) leader after Qing dynasty
- Forms a republic
- Loses position or perhaps gives it up to…
Yuan Shih-K’ai: “The Gunman”
- Next leader of republic
- Establishes a dictatorship
Sun Yat-sen’s Vision: Three principles of the people:
1. Nationalism – unify China and end foreign control
2. Democracy – representative government
3. Livelihood – ensuring a decent living for all of China
Kuomintang
- Forms after Sun leaves office - under the time of Yuan’s rule
- Nationalist group
- Sun’s supporters – Sun leads them even though he’s not in charge of the country anymore
Era of the Warlords (1920s)
- Constant changing of power
- “Rule by Killing”
- China divided significantly (sections all over the country)
- Peasants terrorized
- Looting and rape, famine and death
- * No central government *
- Russia and Japan are very aware of China’s changes and weaknesses
Changes:
- Sun dies…
- …Chiang Kai Shek (Jiang Jieshi) assumes control of Nationalists
- Breaks with Communists (1927)
Goals of the Nationalists, Communists, and the Japanese in China
Mao Zedong – Communism
The Long March
- Led by Mao
- Trek 6,000 miles from southeastern China to the northwest
- Over a year span
- 90,000 people made up this army
- Symbol of bitter hardships the Communists endured before gaining power
Communists Win
- Chiang and supporters flee to Taiwan
- Mao takes control of the mainland
- People’s Republic of China – communist
- Republic of China – Taiwan – nationalist
Mao Zedong – Communism
Goals: 1. Better life for the Poor
2. Modernization
3. Make China a world power
Agricultural Revolution:
- Redistribute land
- Landlo9rds terrorized
- Millions of acres confiscated by government
- Grow for the government and keep some for your family
- * Lack of incentive to work hard
The Great Leap Forward (2nd 5 year plan)
- From socialism to communism
- Great changes to China’s social and economic structure
- No private ownership
- Communal living
- Results:
- Disaster
- Too much too fast
- Peasant resistance
- Lack of incentive to work hard
- Famine, floods, and droughts
- 20 million dead
Totalitarian State: government controls every aspect of the citizen’s lives through a single party dictatorship
Propaganda: spread of ideas to promote a cause or damage an opposing cause
Collective farms: peasants called by the government to pool their land and resources together and work for the state – would receive a share of the harvest – believed by the government to be more efficient and produce more food.
Capitalism: free market economy in which the means of production are owned and operated by the people for their individual profit
Proletariat: industrial working class
Communes: under Mao - divided areas of China – each included villages, land, and up to 20,000 people – commune controlled land and peasants’ lives
The Cultural Revolution
- Attempt to purify China
- Attack traditional beliefs and habits
- Nationalist supporters
- Attack western influences
- Results:
- Persecution of intellectuals, teachers, government officials, party officials, and their families
- Violence
- Divisions
- Chaos
- Country and party seriously divided
Red Guard: students and young factory workers under Mao’s cultural revolution – mass rallies; attacked those around the country who didn’t support Mao, and those in the middle and upper class; forced people to confess to crimes against Mao * decade of chaos, lost generation *
Mao Dies Bitter power struggles, Almost civil war
Moderates gain control under Deng Xiaoping
The Four Modernizations (Deng Xiaoping)
- 1. Modernization of agriculture
- 2. Expand industry
- 3. Develop science and technology
- 4. Upgrade the military
- Results:
- Foreign trade expanded
- Purchase of foreign technology
- Use of foreign scientists and technicians
- Capitalism emerges
- Educational success based on merit
Tiananmen Square
- Student protest to demand political freedom
- Great Massacre
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Module 6: China’s Changing Patterns in Society, Art, and the World
Remember to also review:
- Handouts and class notes
- Homework assignments (***Module 6 questions for16:3, 4, & 5*** )
- Textbook chapters
This is material that we will still be learning in class. Fill in the appropriate spaces with notes to help you study!
One-Child-Per-Family Policy
World Trade Organization
Lei Feng
Porcelain
Lao She: modern writer who wrote Rickshaw Boy – criticized society and called for change; was killed in the cultural revolution by the red guard.
Red Detachment of Women
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Module Six Questions
Textbook 16:3
- What actions did the Chinese take to create a classless society?
They did away with the landowning class and mocked the scholars who had once ruled China. The government also outlawed private property to ensure equality.
- What has China done to control the growth of its population?
The government has encouraged young women and men to delay marriage until they reach their mid or late twenties. It has also adopted a one-child-per-family policy with a mix of penalties (limited food rations for the second child) and rewards (wage raises, chances at apartments).
- Identify four ways the lives of women have changed in China.
- “Women enjoy equal rights with men in all spheres of political, economic, cultural social, and family life… equal pay for equal work”
- Right to own property
- Right to keep their family name after marriage
- Work outside the home – many hold high level jobs in the Communist party or as factory managers; day care centers at work
- Why have the Communists stressed literacy? What steps have they taken to make it easier to write Chinese script?
They saw the need for educated workers in a modern industrial society. The government opened schools throughout China. It also set up adult education centers to teach older men and women to read and write.
They took steps to make script easier to learn by simplifying 2,000 of the most commonly used characters.
- Describe two similarities and two differences between Confucianism and Communist ideology.
Similarities:
- The importance of literacy and learning
Differences:
- Roles of men and women (women have more rights and power under communism)
- Structure of society (classless society under communism; leader-follower structure under Confucianism)
Textbook 16:4
- Identify the World Trade Organization.
The WTO is an international agency that regulates global trade. China recently joined it, which means that China was seen as a growing economic power.
- Why has China offered itself as a model to developing nations?
The country has encouraged foreign investment and greatly increased trade with the West and Japan. It has also made major economic reforms.
- How have relations between China and the Soviet Union (Russia) and the West changed over the years?
China’s alliance with the Soviet Union went sour when they had border disputes, but they were able to sign a treaty of friendship in 2001 to allow for trade between the two countries.
China’s relationship with the West was strained in the past, but has not become more open, as the UN recognized the country, and there has been an increase in trade and investments between the two sides.
- Why do the Chinese consider Hong Kong an important symbol?
It is a symbol of the end of colonial rule – China regained control of Hong Kong from Britain in 1997.
- Describe China’s relationship with each of the following:
- Hong Kong: China has been trying to influence it, but will not change the economy, which was booming under British rule, for at least 50 years; many residents have, however, moved out.
- Japan: Relations have presently improved between the two as a result of beneficial trade, but they are still competing for economic power in Asia.
- Vietnam: There used to be bitter disputes in the past. Relations have recently improved after the border issues were settles, but they are still arguing over fishing rights.
- Taiwan: China claims it as part of its territory; the people of Taiwan fear invasion by China. Taiwan is, however, economically successful.
- Complete the Map Study exercise (#1-3) on page 365.
Textbook 16:5
- What Confucian traditions influenced Chinese arts in the past? How do communist values affect the arts today?
Confucianism influenced traditional Chinese literature – poetry that followed strict literary forms; disobedience punished and goodness rewarded. Modern writing emphasizes strength and dignity of the common people – they create positive role models and glorify the values of the Communist system.
- How did traditional Chinese painting reflect Daoist ideas?
Landscape paintings showed the vastness of the universe and the harmony of nature.
- What values does traditional Chinese literature express? What values does Communist literature promote?
Traditional literature expressed strict moral lessons, such as disobedience being punished and goodness being rewarded. Communist literature promoted dignity and strength of the common people, and superhuman efforts of peasants and workers who triumph over evil (positive role models).
- Identify the following:
- Lei Fong: propaganda literature (comic book) by Lei that shows how the Chinese Communist government used the arts to further promote their revolutionary goals.
- Rickshaw Boy: novel criticizing society and calling for change; written by Lao She.
- Monkey: novel by Wu Chen-gen (a.k.a. Journey to the West); funny adventure story about the pilgrimage of a Buddhist monk to India; monkey is the spirit guardian who protects the monk during the journey; one of the most popular figures in Chinese literature.
- Mao Zedong once said, “Weed through the old to bring forth the new, and make things foreign serve things Chinese.” Explain how China has applied Mao’s advice to the arts.