4 - Reforming in China Flashcards
In this chapter you will learn about: -the process of land reform and how this affected Chinese peasants -how the Chinese revolution changed the role and status of women -the progress made in establishing a system of universal education in China -the progress made in improving public health
Who was the Common Programme drawn up by? When?
- The Chinese People’s Political Consultative Committee
- September 1949
What did Article 5 of the Common Programme guarantee?
the Rights of
- freedom of though
- speech
- publication
- assembly
- association
- correspondence
- the person
- domicile
- movement
- religious beliefs
- freedom to hold processions and demonstrations
to everybody but ‘political reactionaries’
I don’t think you need to remember all that. The answer should be ‘basic rights to all people of China apart from those labelled as ‘political reactionaries’
How did the Common Programme promise economic change?
Through land reform
Name the 2 key clauses in the Common Programme that addressed social change?
- equal rights for women, ending their lives of ‘bondage’
- emphasis on the need for universal, free education
Before 1949 which 2 methods regarding land had Mao used to gain the support of the peasants?
- rent reductions
- land confiscation
Now that the CPC were in power, how did Mao go about his land reforms?
- confiscation
- redistribution
Who did Mao confiscate land off? Who did he give it to?
- rich landlords
- poorer peasants and landless labourers
Who did Mao specifically not confiscate land off? Why?
- better-off peasants
- because he recognised that the food produced by the wealthier peasants was essential to the nation as a whole
What were local peasants encouraged by the CPC cadres to do?
Identify and humiliate or attack their landlords
What did the CPC do to the relationship of the peasants and landlords? Why?
- stoked up class-conflict
- in order to cement the relationship between CHina’s peasants and the communist revolution
What was the effect of the land reforms?
- broke the power of the landlord class
- surviving relatives cowed into submission
“Collective agriculture was seen as the best way to bring more modern methods of farming to the Chinese countryside.” True or False?
True
What was hoped would be achieved by collectivising agriculture?
Increase food production
Why did Mao not force the peasants into larger collective farms at first?
He believed it would encounter resistance that would threaten to undermine peasant support for the revolution
What were mutual aid teams?
Groupings of about 10 families that pooled labour and equipment
Who did women owe obedience to?
- ‘proper’ authority
- wife to husband
- daughter to father
- widow to eldest son
Name 3 practices involving women that were common in the early 20th Century (in China)?
- foot binding
- arranged marriages
- concubines (mistresses kept by powerful men)
Why were the lives of female peasants particularly hard?
Expected to
- work in fields
- raise children
- carry on handicraft work at home
Mao’s concubines.
Officially referred to as the PLA dance troupe they were treated as ‘imperial concubines’ expected to provide for the Chairman’s sexual needs
What percentage of uni students were female in 1922?
2.5%
What was the rate of social change in the countryside?
Non-existent or very slow
What happened in the Jiangxi province in the 1930s?
- arranged marriages were outlawed
- it became illegal to purchase wives
- women given the right to vote
- Mao stipulated that 1/4 of those elected to representative bodies had to be women
What did the Communists address after they took power in 1949?
Women’s rights
When was the New Marriage Law?
1950
What did the New Marriage Law do?
- outlawed arranged marriages and the payment of dowries to a husband/family
- concubinage banned
- unmarried, divorced or widowed women give same rights to own property as men
- divorce made available to men and women on equal terms
What helped change attitudes in rural areas?
- new educational opportunities
- reforms
- social and legal framework
What was education in China traditionally viewed as?
A means to gain entry to the imperial civil service
What was entries to schools and universities restricted by?
High costs
What percent of people passed their imperial exams in any one year?
5%
What did the low percentage of people passing the exams ensure?
It produced an elite class of administrators
How many Western schools and universities were there in China by 1949?
- 31 run by British or American foundations
- 32 run by Christian missionary organisations
What were the educational opportunities like for peasants?
Virtually non-eistent
What percentage of Chinese adults were literate in the early 20th century?
30%
What percentage of Chinese children attended primary school before 1949?
20%
Where did Mao believe learning should come from?
Experience
What did Mao oppose in Chinese schools and universities? Why?
- western influence
- he regarded it as a form of cultural imperialism
What was the only way Mao could successfully politically indoctrinate everybody?
Mass literacy
1956 full time education fact.
Less than half of children between 7 and 16 were in full-time education.
<0.5 children age 7-16 in full-time ed.
1956
1976 primary education fact.
96% of primary-age children enrolled in schools
1976
Why was there such a slow change in education?
- it started from a very low base
- communist gov. did not spend much on education
- -1952 investment by the State in education and culutre combined amounted to 6.4% of the total budget
- -1952 investment by the UK gov. in education amounted to 9% of the total budget and I bet they had more money at hand too
What were key schools?
- best teachers sent here
- tough entrance examination
- heavy emphasis on testing, examinations and physical education
- however, mostly attended by children of high-ranking officials
What happened to higher education?
- remodelled
- concentrated more on technical and scientific subjects
- reflected the countries need for specialists
Where were large numbers of students sent to study?
USSR Uni until the late 1950
What was the provision of healthcare like before the communist regime took over?
- uneven
- 19th C western style med brought by missionaries
- they built hospitals and medical schools in the largest cities
- GMD regime in 1920s/30s showed improvements in medical care
- GMD regime discouraged traditional medicine
- medical needs of rural areas not addressed
- high infant mortality rates
What did the communist regime place emphasis on (with regards to health care)?
Preventative rather than curative because of the lack of trained doctors
like the Romans
What did health reform take the form of?
Mass campaigns using street and neighbourhood committees
Name one of the Communist health campaigns.
Patriotic Health Campaign
What was ‘night-soil’
Shit. Plain shit.
What was a major cause of disease in rural areas?
night-soil
What was schistosomiasis?
A disease that cased internal bleeding and was common in the Chinese countryside
What sort of health care system was adopted at a rural level?
- a three-tier system
- -village level - catered for by paramedics
- -township - had a health centre providing out-patient care + a limited number of beds for in-patient care
- -serious cases - referred to county hospital staffed by fully trained doctors
What percentage of the state budget was spent on health care?
1.3% in 1952
