Athia Ashfaq - History course work

In considering the process of change in 20th century China how far can
the establishment of the PRC be considered a turning point?
I believe it is possible to say that the establishment of the PRC can be considered
a turning point in China, I will be investigating whether the PRC really brought
about political change from the point onwards of 1949 and will be judging
whether it really was a government that took control of power and its people
which lead to much economic and social change, I will contrast this to the period
before 1949 on such events like the events of the warlord period, the civil war
between the CCP and the nationalists and the threat that the dynasty
experienced from outside countries, therefore I will be looking at the period
before 1949 and after to judge whether the PRC had really brought about much
political change and social change.
Under the rule of the dynasty, there had not been a strong government but
rather harsh system of rule where society lacked basic freedom and were forced
to live under a totalitarian society - all authority came from the top and the
peoples duty was to obey. Since the establishment of the PRC Moa had
liberated the peasants through the events of the Cultural Revolution 1966 and
the Great leap forward 1958-61, these events had brought about a significant
change as they highlighted the need for reform. Such events like the Cultural
Revolution 1966 would not have been possible under the rule of the dynasty as it
deviated from the traditional imperialist rule. Maos peoples republic of China
abolished this imperialist rule and had transformed society; this was evident
through the abolishment of the landlords 1928, who were no longer in charge of
land. American Chinese born female general, born in 1930, states: 1The greatest
liberation has been for the working people. Previously in China, workers and
peasants had absolutely no status; now, they may still be poor, but its not the
same. At least now, society and the media and officials have to show respect for
them, whether they mean it or not, and theyre supposed to be the masters!
Before Liberation, the expression Chinese people didnt include them. This
showed a significant political change.
None the less, this does not mean that Mao had completely conformed society,
in fact it could be said that Maos rule was rather a reflection of the imperialist
rule in a different time era .More so with reference to the book History of China
in which 2American Scholar Lee Faigon states The Great leap forward did cause
somewhat damage, however never the loss without these movements the
Chinese economy would not have developed in the powerful way that it
encouraged reform. This quote demonstrates the opinion of a minority of people
who feel that the great leap forward was a success, however it is important to
question the validity of such quotes, in this case the historian himself is Chinese
and therefore has a reason to say that the great leap forward was successful, like
1 China a modern world pg. 238
2 China the stealth empire pg. 56

Athia Ashfaq - History course work

many, the historian would not have dared to say anything that was seen as
wrong as this could have put himself at risk. This is much similar to the rule of
the dynasty as it shows that society lacked basic freedom. Chinese people had to
follow Confucian norms and were not allowed to speak out against anything, if so
they received extreme punishments such as death by a thousand cuts, work
permits and living permits were introduced. Therefore the rule under Moa was no
different to imperialist china because society lacked the right to freedom much
like the period of pre 1949. Therefore the establishment of the PRC cannot be
considered a turning point purely because Moas rule was a continuation of the
old imperialist rule. Furthermore, the disastrous GLF lead to both human
sufferings and economic losses. Great Famine was characterized by widespread
famine, drought, and poor weather. The policies of the Communist Party of China
contributed to the famine. According to government statistics, there were 315
million excess deaths in this period. While unofficial estimates put the number of
famine victims to be between 20 and 43 million. In the same way, before the
period of 1949 china had been suffering from foreign invasions, civil wars,
unequal treaties and political disorder which left the Chinese Communist Party
with a backward economy. Although under the rule of the dynasty he had not
brought a subsequent famine which killed 15 million people in the way that Mao
did.
What is more, the role of women has been much analysed. Traditionally women
were regarded as inferior to men. Girls had to obey their fathers, wives to their
husbands and old women to their sons. The status of woman pre 1949 was very
much low, they were often sold or used as prostitutes. Woman were expected to
stay at home and look after their babies, they were expected to obey their
husband, Similarly, girls were often killed or abandoned, many upper class girls
toes were broken and their feet bound to keep them small. Child marriage was
still common, and helped ensure that husbands dominated their wives. Since the
establishment of the PRC Maos marriage law of 1950 had changed this, this
gave women the right to freedom; this was achieved by ending the supremacy
between men and women. Mao had ultimately helped encourage the liberation of
woman by introducing laws that could potentially break social stigmas that
existed before the period of 1949, in this way the PRC can be considered a
turning point as it introduced laws that could potentially help with achieving the
equality between men and woman, this is much different to the period before
1949 where under the rule of the dynasty men were regarded as inferior. The
May Fourth Movement of 1919 is the first great cultural movement of Modern
China, which greatly enlightened Chinese women in a cultural framework ; many
women spoke out and were devoted to the womans movement. During the
war lord period 1928, many women were raped by the Chinese soldiers this is
much similar to the Nanking massacre 1937 were Chinese civilians were killed
and perpetrated widespread looting and the rape of woman. Historian, 4Jinghao
Zhou argues The Communist Revolution of 1949 in many respects brought
Chinese women to a new stage of womens liberation. Therefore this highlights a
3 http://www.economist.com/topics/chinese-economy/

4 Jinghao Zhou pg. 36. Mao the Chinese liberator

Athia Ashfaq - History course work

political difference between Moa and imperialist china since, Mao attempts to
change the social status of woman, the dynasty however, had no intention of
doing the very little. Mao often states that 5 woman uphold half the sky, this
suggests that Moa was prepared to make concessions to liberate woman,
therefore to some degree it is correct to say that the establishment of the PRC
can be considered a turning point as it encouraged social change amongst
woman by introducing laws, Moa put his priorities on the liberation of woman and
the first step in achieving this was through legal change. This highlights to create
equality between men and woman. Since this establishment of the PRC women
were legally allowed to enrol onto higher education, they were allowed to divorce
their husband, they were regarded as equal to men in the communes and had to
work like men.
Although society in some ways had conformed ,it is important to question
whether these changes were significant, for example under the pressure of the
famine men sold their wives to be servants and daughters as prostitutes; they
were made to work extremely hard in the fields, therefore they had not been
liberated, their lives were not put at ease but rather were given a change in
social roles which resulted in much hard work furthermore, During the war lord
period 1928, many women were raped by the Chinese soldiers this is much
similar to the Nanking massacre 1937 were Chinese civilians were killed and
perpetrated widespread looting and the rape of woman. It could therefore be
argued that the role of woman was much worse since the establishment of the
PRC, at least before the period of 1949 legal change was not effective therefore it
can be said that defacto change did not lead to dejure change and so the PRC
was not a turning point but rather an extreme continuation of the role that
woman played in imperialist China, since they were made to work harder in the
fields at least during the imperialist rule they were not expected to work really
hard outside, Moa had only liberated woman for his own needs, therefore it was
not a matter of liberation but purely a matter of self-interest. The dynasty did not
exploit woman for their own needs unlike Mao. This ultimately had changed since
the death of Mao when Deng had come into power 1978, after the death of Mao,
Deng had introduced reforms that had liberated the position of woman and
brought about economic recovery in china, woman were now allowed to have
their hair the way they wanted, they were allowed to wear the clothes that they
wanted, more importantly they were allowed to educate themselves. Many often
described 6Deng provided the steady hand, the clear direction and the political
skill for China to succeed. This brought about significant social change amongst
woman in terms of liberalisation compared to the rule under Mao and imperialist
china.
Furthermore, 7Tung Hsui Ching quoted Our peoples government thinks
everything of us. More than 100 families have moved into new apartments or
houses. The homes of others have been repaired, the streets housing
5 China a modern history, pg. 34 , Michael Dalton
6 http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2011/09/27/china-under-deng-xiaopingsleadership/

Athia Ashfaq - History course work

management always asks for the opinion of the neighbourhoods .If anything goes
wrong with the electricity or water or drains, we just simply tell the housing office
and it sends repairmen straight away. Thus, this quote clearly has a positive
view of the PRC and suggests that it can be considered a turning point, however
it is important to question such quotes as it was written by a Chinese person
himself who is only speaking of the positives to protect himself from any risk,
because the people were not allowed to speak out against the ruler, therefore
the reliability of this quote may not be accurate because the person may have
feared speaking out against Moa. Health care had greatly improved since the
establishment of the PRC, Patriotic health movements were introduced as well as
barefoot doctors. However literacy rates had decreased from 45% in 1949 to
28% by 1976.Traditionally education was a priority, education was regarded as
the foundation for success, men saw it essential to becoming ethical and
prosperous, some woman continued onto higher education and excelled in
poetry and literature, although higher education was expensive and many people
could not afford to enrol with it. Since the establishment of the PRC Mao saw
education as pointless and that teaching farming would help industrialise china.
During the cultural revolution of 1966 Mao shut down the nations school, calling
for a massive youth mobilisation to take on party leaders to task for their
embrace of their bourgeois values and soon formed the red guards to attack
Chinese elderly and intellectuals. This highlighted Maos desperation to uphold
power and gain political reputation. A survey in 1982 found that of the working
population had been to school beyond the age of 12 and only 1% had a degree.
Officially education was free for both boys and girls in China; unofficially parents
ended up paying for books, pens and paper, they were even helping towards
teachers salaries, many girls dropped out of school because of this. The Cultural
Revolution the red guards despised education they reflected learning as 8
bourgeois and reactionary. Thus, this demonstrates a political difference
between Mao and the Qing dynasty, imperialised china emphasised the
importance of education whereas Mao emphasised the importance of heavy
industry and lesenkoism.
Furthermore, religion was seen as poison- Moa said that 9 religion was as bad as
Nazism and had to be eradicated; during the cultural revolution it was
denounced as one of the 4 roles, churches were destroyed, priests were beaten
and mocked Moa put his wife in charge as the cultural purifier During the boxer
rebellion Dowager Cixi supported the boxers in the boxer rebellion.The
government banned traditional songs, dances and festivals. Musicians and
authors had to conform or they were persecuted, this was very similar to death
7 Tung Hsui Ching The imperialist capitalist China pg. 185
8 China a modern world pg. 345

9 A guide to chinas adoption of the past, confrontation of the future pg. 132

Athia Ashfaq - History course work

by a thousand cuts during the imperial rule; they were also sent for re-education,
many gave up their music or they committed suicide culture had totally died.
Under the Qing, traditional forms of art flourished .High levels of literacy, and the
Confucian emphasis on cultivation all fed a creative set of cultural fields. The
Qing emperors were generally adept at poetry and often skilled in painting, and
offered their patronage to Confucian culture. Calligraphy and painting remained a
central interest to imperialist china. There was also emphasis on the Tibetan
lama and Buddhism Therefore the establishment of the PRC was different from
the Dynastys rule, the people of china were now under a harsher regime to that
of the dynasty where they did not have the Freedom of culture and religion.
During Maos 5 year plan private ownership was abolished and households over
China were forced to live in state operated communes. The state introduced
compulsory state purchases of grain at fixed prices to build up stock piles for
famine relief and meet the terms of its trade agreements with the Soviet Union.
In this way it is correct to say that the PRC was not a turning point as it
highlighted that Moas ideas were idealistic and were more about self-interest
rather than proletarian nationalism. The Great leap forward was a period of
economic regression, with 1958- through to 1962 being the only period of in
which Chinas economy shrank. Political economist 10Dwight Perkins argues that
the enormous amounts of investment produced only modest increases in
production or none at all , in short the great leap forward was a very expensive
disaster. The state controlled the economy and economists argue that 11Maos
emphasis on heavy industry lacked the foundation of heavy industry. This idea
coupled with the belief of his unrealistic targets for industrialized production, and
proclaimed that 12in 15 years, China would catch up or exceed with the UK. His
overambitious goals for industrialization were shown at an international
Communist meeting in Moscow 1957, where he stated that: 13The East wind is
bound to prevail over the West wind, because we are powerful and strong. This
shows Maos firm belief that China would surpass the Western countries. Thus,
this suggests that Maos great leap forward lacked the basic understanding to
achieve success in industry, traditionally, China refused to trade, it was
protectionist and was known as the kingdom in the middle, this lead to
problems and left china with a falling economy it now realised that it had to
catch up. Mao had changed this as it highlighted his attempt to industrialise the
nation even though it was an economic disaster and demonstrated the increase
of production so he could trade, particularly the Soviet Union.
10 Dwight Perkins China a History - Tanner
11 Modern China12
13 A guide to china pg. 234

Athia Ashfaq - History course work

In conclusion, the PRC rather than being a breakdown from Chinas past was in
all major respects a continuation of it. The major question facing the PRC at the
time of its presence was how it could establish the stability and permanence that
all the proceeding regimes failed to provide since the Qing in 1911 had failed to
achieve. The political character of China after 1949 has been much analysed and
discussed. It is possible to argue that the PRC was no different in essentials from
the traditional Chinese political system. Despite its title the peoples republic of
China, the PRC allowed no involvement in government by the vast majority of the
people. The rule of the PRC was uncompromising, self-perpetuating as that of the
emperors, this was clearly demonstrated through the economic loss that china
endured from the great leap forward, the extent to which woman were liberalised
and the educational changes that have been introduced. Maoist China was not
therefore a new China except in certain outward appearances. The change in
1949 was one of form rather than substance. Despite its revolutionary claims,
China remained a politically reactionary society. All authority came from the top
and the peoples duty was to obey.