China since 1945 From 1945 to 1949 China was involved in a civil war In 1949 the Communists win and establish the People’s Republic of China Mao becomes the leader of China Mao Tse-tung

China since 1945 Mao declared that China was against imperialism, feudalism, bureaucracy and democracy He had many plans to change China and immediately put them into action His new government enacted many plans to fix problems such as inflation and low production

Mao’s Plans for China The Great Leap Forward –Created communes (self- sufficient settlements containing farms and industries) –They did not work at all: production fell, life was difficult, China experienced bad weather, rewards were limited –The plan was abandoned after two years “Long live the general direction! Long live the Great Leap Forward! Long live the People’s Commune!”

Mao’s Plans for China After the failure of the Great Leap Forward Mao attempted a Cultural Revolution The goal of the Cultural Revolution was to change the old order and establish a new socialist society The Red Guard (young men and women) would enforce the policies of the revolution

Mao’s Plans For China The revolution was to destroy the four olds: old ideology, old thoughts, old habits and old customs Those who opposed Mao were publicly punished Farm production fell, factory work stopped and schools closed As a result there was no economy, many people had left and there was no education It was an enormous failure and Mao ended it in 1969

Question Time! Why would the people of China still support Mao after two very large failures? Take a few moments to think about why the people might still be behind Mao. Can you think of any examples in our history of when a president has a great failure and we still support him?

Growing Division ( ) Mao Zedong vs. Deng Xiaoping charismatic leadership vs. bureaucracy Deng Xiaoping

Cultural Revolution ( ) Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution –commitment to revolution and “class struggle” –power struggle to succeed Mao Phase I: the rise and fall of “red guards” Phase II: the rise and fall of Lin Biao Phase III: the rise and fall of the “Gang of Four”

Phase I: Red Guards ( )

Purge of party cadres –Deng Xiaoping Purge of intellectuals

Phase II: Lin Biao ( ) the putative successor to Mao Zedong (tse-tung) In 1971 Lin allegedly tried but failed –to assassinate Mao –had to flee to Soviet Union His departure eroded the credibility of the entire leadership

Phase III: the “Gang of Four” 1972 – 1976 power struggle between –the radical “Gang of Four”, led by Jiang Qing, Mao’s wife –Goal continue Cultural revolution…failed when Mao dies and his power is gone…gang of 4 put on trial and convicted….Dang Xiaoping takes power

Diplomatic Breakthrough 1971, PRC became the representative of China in UN (replaced ROC)

Diplomatic Breakthrough 1972, President Nixon visited Beijing

Mao and Zhou Died in 1976 Turning point in China’s postwar era “Gang of Four” were arrested End of the Cultural Revolution

Mao’s legacies

Reforms and Opening up The 3rd Plenum of the 11th CCP Central Committee in 1978 –Deng Xiaoping’s ascendancy –economic modernization became focus US-PRC diplomatic relations in 1979

China since 1945 Mao dies in 1976 and Deng Xiaoping comes to power. Deng institutes the Four Modernizations, which focuses on improving agriculture, industry, science and technology as well as defense. Deng was in power until his death in 1997

Government in China Today Currently known as the People’s Republic of China (PRC). It is a single-party socialist republic (one party, in favor of the working class) The Communist party holds power The current president is Hu Jianto Beijing is the capital city

Review of China’s Population Over 1.3 billion people (1/5 of the world’s population) 56 recognized ethnic groups. The Han are the largest (92%) Large population can be attributed to Mao

Population in China Efforts were made to limit the population –Only 2 children per family law –One Child Policy Policies did not work that well –Rural families did not comply –Males regarded more highly than females

Geography Review China is the world’s second largest country by land area (9,326,410 km2) China has a wide range of topography There are numerous plains, plateaus, basins and mountains Only 14% of the land is arable

Chinese Language Many dialects are spoken in China, but Mandarin is the most widely spoken 70% of the people in China speak it It is the most widely spoken language in the world (100 million people speak it worldwide

Facts about the Chinese Language It is nonphonetic-the written form gives no clues to its pronunciation There are over 20,000 different characters There are four major tones and a “toneless” pitch used. The meaning of a word can change depending on the tone They use a base-ten number system (terms for 1 to 10; 11 would be “ten one”)

Chinese Food Cantonese and Chaozhou –Steaming, boiling and stir-frying –Dim Sum Beijing and Shandong –Steamed bread and noodles rather than rice –Beijing duck Dim Sum Beijing Duck

Chinese Food Eastern China –Most diverse cuisine –Soups; “Red Cooking” (cooking in a stock of soy sauce and red wine) –Seafood along the coast Wuxi Spare Ribs

Chinese Food Sichuan (Szechuan) –Southwestern China –More than 4,000 dishes –Hottest and spiciest cuisine in China –Numerous sauces –Stir-frying, steaming and braising Kung Pao Chicken Twice Cooked Beef

Religion in China China is officially secular and atheist, but religion is allowed Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism have been the dominant religions for almost 2,000 years Some people practice Christianity (3-4%) and Islam (1-2%)

Taoism Daoism Indigenous religion of China; the folk religion of China Philosophy is centered on “the way”--recognizing the true nature of the universe Emphasizes non-action, emptiness, detachment, flexibility, receptiveness, spontaneity and ways of speaking and guiding behavior

Buddhism “Teaching of the awakened one” Buddhism traveled from India during the Han dynasty It has been popular among both commoners and emperors It is estimated that there are between 280 million to 350 million Buddhists. It is the world’s fifth largest religion % of China’s population is Buddhist

Buddhism The Four Noble Truths: in life their exists suffering which is caused by desire –Suffering –The cause of suffering –The cessation of suffering –The way leading to the cessation of suffering Suffering can be ceased by following the Noble Eightfold Path

Buddhism The Noble Eightfold Path –Sila: morality Right speech--one speaks in a non hurtful, truthful way Right actions--avoiding actions that do harm Right livelihood--one’s way of life does not harm any one –Samadhi: developing mastery over one’s mind Right effort--making an effort to improve Right awareness--mental ability to see things for what they are Right concentration--being aware of the present reality –Prajna: wisdom that purifies the mind Right thoughts--change in the pattern of thinking Right understanding--understanding reality as it is, not as it appears to be

Buddhism The guiding principle of Buddhism is the Middle Way. It is the practice of non-extremism; a path of moderation. All Buddhist branches have these commonalities: –All accept the Buddha as their teacher –All accept the Middle Way, the Four Noble Truth and the Noble Eightfold Path –All accept that everyone can pursue the path toward enlightenment –All accept the three types of Buddha and consider Buddhahood to be the highest attainment

Confucianism Developed from the teaching of Confucius System of moral, social, political and religious thought Greatly influenced China up until the 21st century

Confucianism Elements of the religion: –Ritual: system of norms for followers –Relationships: people hold different statuses in relationships –Filial Piety: respect shown to elders –Loyalty: respect show to ruler –Humaneness: the Golden Rule –Gentleman: everyone should strive to be a gentleman