15. Social Change in China 1962-66 Flashcards
How did the GLF affect the lives of women (3)?
1) The GLF encouraged women to engage in productive labour outside of the home. However, after its
failure, propaganda emphasised the domestic role of women.
2) Fewer babies were born.
3) Infant mortality rose, most likely due to the famine.
In what areas was birth control emphasised in?
Rural areas.
How did the state planners restrict population growth (2)?
1) in 1964, the State Council established the first Birth Planning Commission.
2) Population planning became an element of the Third Five Year Plan, launched in 1966.
How did the Health Ministry encourage birth control (2)?
1) The Health Ministry issued guidance on contraception, encouraging restrictions on family sizes through
the slogan ‘Later, Longer, Fewer’.
2) They promoted this through propaganda, rather than making it compulsory.
What did Zhou Enlai say regarding family planning?
‘It is good to have lots of manpower but only if it is coordinated with economic development’.
How successful was the birth control campaign of the early 1960s (2)?
The campaign seemed successful, as seen in Hebei province:
1) 350,000 propagandists were employed in the campaign.
2) By 1965, local officials claimed 70% of families were using contraception.
What did Mao mean by cultural imperialism?
That Westerners were using their control over education and culture in China to influence the minds of the
youth to become Westernised.
Why did Mao reject traditional forms of education, and how did he want China to learn?
Mao rejected traditional education because of its elitism, its old fashioned curriculum, its teaching methods,
and its reliance on book learning. Mao believed in education through experience.
Why did Mao see education as vital for building a socialist society (2)?
1) In order to achieve economic development, large number of skilled specialists were required.
2) Political indoctrination could only be achieved through improving mass literacy.
What were key schools?
Each district had key schools, where the best teachers were sent, and children had to sit a tough entrance
exam. There was a heavy emphasis on testing, exams, and physical education. Although selection was meant
to be based on merit, in practice, the children of high ranking officials occupied these schools.
How successful was the development of primary education in China in the 1950s (2)?
1) In 1956, less than half of children aged 7 - 16 were in primary education.
2) In 1952, state investment in education and culture amounted to only 6.4% of the total budget.
What was the impact of the GLF on children (4)?
1) Teaching was suspended in many rural schools, as children were sent to the fields to work.
2) High rates of truancy in schools.
3) Many accidents involving children at work, due to tiredness and a lack of familiarity with the machinery.
4) Fewer children were born, and during the famine, there was an increase in the sale or abandonment of
children by peasant families, who were unable to feed them.
How did higher education in China differ in 1962-66, compared to in the 1950s?
1) In the 1950s, higher education was expanded, with universities remodelled to to concentrate on technical
and scientific subjects. Students were also sent to study at universities in the USSR.
2) As China was recovering from the GLF, employment opportunities diminished for the youth, whilst after
the Sino-Soviet Split, students could no longer study in the USSR. This led to the CCP introducing a scheme
to encourage the urban youth to spend time in the countryside to ‘learn from the peasants’.
What was the Communist Youth League (CYL) (2)?
Set up in the 1920s, it was a youth group for those aged 14 - 28 to become involved in the Party’s work, and
prepare for full CCP membership.
What was the Young Pioneers youth group?
A communist youth group for children aged 6 - 14.
What was the role of the CYL (2)?
1) To indoctrinate young people into the CCP.
2) To monitor and control youths in schools and universities. E.g. during the Thought Reform campaign,
CYL members were placed on every dining table and in every dormitory. They were tasked with spreading
propaganda, and to keep notes on the behaviours of other students.
How did Mao view culture, and why did he believe that it was important?
Mao saw culture as a reflection of the society from which it had developed from, and understood its
importance as a means to influence people. Mao believed that in order to achieve a socialist society, a new
revolutionary culture emphasising class struggle, struggle against imperialism, and the peasants, had to be
created in order to mould the Chinese consciousness.
How did the Thought Reform campaign crackdown on cultural influences (5)?
1) Book publishers and editors had to register with the government, and submit regular reports on their work.
2) Many public libraries were stripped of traditional and Western novels, and books were burned. E.g. a
bonfire of 300,000 books burned for 3 days in Shantou, May 1953.
3) Nightclubs were closed and jazz music was banned in Shanghai.
4) The viewing of Hollywood films ended, and were replaced by Russian films.
5) The Ministry of Culture established bureaucratic control over culture by creating a Drama Reform
Committee, overseeing changes to theatre and opera, and also a Film Steering Committee, overseeing
changes to the film industry.
What were the Shanghai Radicals’ views on opera, and how did they transform it?
They believed that opera, and culture in general, should portray class heroes from the ranks of workers,
peasants and soldiers. Jiang Qing developed her own revolutionary plays and operas doing such.
What was the significance of film under the CCP 1949-65 (6)?
1) The CCP recognised the importance of film as a propaganda tool, especially when the majority of society
were illiterate.
2) Private studios were taken over by the state-run Shanghai Film Studio.
3) Chinese film-makers were sent to the USSR to study Soviet film-making techniques.
4) In the period, 603 feature films, and 8342 documentaries were produced, as well as many animated films
for children.
5) The CCP paid for mobile projectors to bring film to peasants, with films able to be watched free of charge.
6) There was a brief outpour of films that were critical to the CCP during the Hundred Flowers campaign.
Why did Mao oppose religion?
For Mao, it was associated with superstition, and a relic of China’s feudal past, apart from Christianity, which
represented Western cultural imperialism.
What is Daoism?
A Chinese philosophy based on the Dao (‘the way’). It is extremely diverse, with different sects worshipping
different deities. Daoists believe that the Dao will become clear through meditation.
Why did the CCP see religion as an obstacle to a unified, socialist China?
Religions were tied to ethnic minorities in China, such as Islam amongst the Uighurs, and Buddhism in Tibet.
This created a national identity, separate to that of the Han Chinese, therefore opposing a unified China.
How did the CCP regulate religion (3)?
To be allowed to continue, religions had to be officially sanctioned and subject to regulations laid down by
the Ministry for Religious Affairs. Preaching was only allowed in private houses or designated religious
buildings.
