China 2.4 Flashcards
What was traditional Chinese society like to women and what were women subjected to?
Traditional Chinese society was patriarchal and based on Confucian values, women were subjected to the ‘three obediences’ - their father when young, to their husband when married and to their son in old age.
What was Clause Six of the Common Program of 1949?
Clause Six of the Common Program of 1949 promised the abolition of restrictions affecting women and affirmed their right to equal treatment with men.
What did the CCP want to do to China’s traditional society?
The Communists’ commitment to eradicating all signs of China’s feudal past also required destroying the concept of the family as the basic social unit, as family relations embodied the Confucian values of obedience to elders and because the existence of the family encouraged a bourgeois mindset (personal attachments).
What was Foot binding?
Breaking the toes of young girls and folding them back under the foot, which was then tightly bound. Restricted foot growth, regarded as a sign of beauty.
What was the viewpoint of many husbands towards their wives in traditional Chinese society?
Having paid for marriages, many husbands treated their wives as private property and expected them to carry out domestic work with a subservient attitude. Husbands often beat their wives. Even the death of a husband did not provide relief - Confucian ethics abhorred the remarriage of widows, leaving them economically vulnerable.
Why did Mao introduce the Marriage Law of 1950?
What did Mao have to say about the old marriage system?
As a 14-year-old, Mao had rebelled against his father by refusing to go through with his own marriage, to somebody 7 years senior, despite the bride price already being paid. In 1919, he had become embroiled in a bitter controversy in Changsha - an unhappy young bride had cut her own throat and bled to death in front of the guests, rather than go through with her wedding.
This had inspired Mao to write a series of articles condemning the marriage system, which he claimed turned women into slaves. He referred to women as holding up half the sky, and without at least their implied support, revolution could not be achieved.
What were the main clauses of the 1950 Marriage Law?
Practice of arranged marriages and the payment of dowries were outlawed.
Men and women who had been forced to marry previously had the right to divorce.
Polygamy and Concubinage (keeping a mistress - did not apply to Mao) was outlawed.
All marriages and divorces had to be registered with the local government.
Divorce was available, but a man could not divorce his wife if she was pregnant or within a year of her giving birth.
Why was the timing of the law significant?
The importance the Communists attached to the law is shown by the speed with which they tackled this issue, drafting it while the civil war was still going on. They launched a huge propaganda campaign in the press, radio posters. Party cadres were urged that the law was actually being applied.
Between 1946 and 1949, what percentage of marriages had bride who were 16-17 and what did this each by 1958-65?
Was successful, between 1946 and 1949, in 18.6% of marriages the bride was aged 16 to 17. This fell to 2.4% by 1958-65.
What was the divorce rate by 1953 and why?
Divorce rates reached 1.4 million in 1953. Many men were upset that they lost what they perceived as a financial investment.
What did a 1950 report have to say about resistance?
A 1950 report observed ‘Cadres with conservative views and backward feudal ideas are unwilling and feared to educate the masses.’
When and why was a second propaganda drive launcehd?
A second propaganda drive was launched in 1953, but this too was undermined by the outlook of cadres, many of whom resented the changes.
Why was land redistribution significant for women?
The land redistribution campaign of 1950 gave women the chance to own land in their own name for the first time. However, this gain was short-lived.
In theory, why should the communes have been beneficial for women? Why was the reality different?
In theory, the communes should have been beneficial for women, because it envisaged keeping women free from domestic chores, enabling them to concentrate on working. However, since few communes could supply this range of support facilities, the reality was far less liberating.
Why were women given fewer work points than their male counterparts?
Typically, they earned fewer work points than men because their productive capacity was frequently lower and because agriculture involved heavy physical labour.
How did cadres make the lives of women worse?
The cadres usually held sexist values and were intolerant of requests for absence from women who were pregnant or during menstruation. Cadres took advantage of their position. DIkotter found overwhelming evidence of discrimination against women. Expectant mothers, forced to work throughout their pregnancy, miscarried. Sexual abuse was rife - separated from husbands and became victims.
As mothers and wives, why was life more difficult during the famine? What did the divorce rate in Gansu reach?
By doing more work, during the famine, men could claim more of the food rations. As mothers, women had to decide whether they or their child would eat first. Lack of food is often cited as driving more women into prostitution during the famine. Divorce rate also increased, in Gansu province the divorce rate rose by 60% in the famine. Wife-selling was a desperate remedy to make resources go further.
What was Dikotter’s quote about women and collectivisation?
Dikotter - ‘Collectivisation designed in part to liberate women from the shackles of patriarchy made matters worse’.
What was Dikotter’s quote about rape? In Hunan, what did the local factory bosses force women to do?
Dikotter ‘rape spread like a contagion through a distressed moral landsacpe’. In Hunan local factory bosses forced females to work naked.
How were families broken up in collectives?
The Party was so determined to destroy the traditional family that in many communes, men and women were made to live in separate quarters. Separation, divorce and wife-selling during the famine also broke up family units.
Who were the main victims of the Famine?
Although women suffered badly from the Great Famine, the main victims were the very young and very old. Children in families that were left without mothers were frequently sold or abandoned, so there were fewer to feed. Old people who could no longer work were left to fend for themselves.
How were children treated during the Famine?
Mothers became distressed as, once they left their children at the communal kindergarten, they could be separated for weeks at a time. With priorities given to economically productive activities, the kindergartens were uncared for. In Daxing country children slept and ate on the floor. Overwhelmed by the numbers of children, standards of care were appalling. The kindergartens reeked of urine + disease was high. During the famine, the food supplies meant for the children were stolen by starving adults.
When was contraception made widely available and what was the role of the Women’s Federation in respect to family sizes?
Contraceptives were made widely available in 1962, and female cadres in the Women’s Federation were given an increased role in encouraging mothers to restrict the number of children they had.
What was the most obvious advance for women?
Most obvious advances came about because of the marriage law. In that first year, over a million women used the new divorce system to extricate themselves from arranged marriages.
How many staff did the Women’s Federation have across how many cities? How many members did it have and what did it encourage?
It had 40,000 staff in 83 cities. Membership of 76 million and encouraged political activism.
What did they for women?
It published books and newspapers proclaiming the accomplishments of the Party. They set up ploughing lessons for women, organised classes to improve literacy and for the study of political ideas. The Association clearly provided women with an avenue for social and political progression, as well as assisting in the campaigns against issues relevant to them, like prostitution.
What proportion of Party cadres were women between 1958 and 1968, and what did this reach by 1970 and 1974?
Maoist uniform and many women and girls led Red Guards. In one study of Party cadres, women comprised between 8-12% from 1958 to 1966, but 16-21% from 1970 to 1974.
What was the proportion of women in the workforce in 1949 and in 1974?
1949 - 8%
1976 - 32%
Why was this still an issue?
Yet still represented less than a third of the workforce and there was little opportunity for career advancement since hierarchies were dominated by men.
By 1978 what percentage of primary school children were girls?
45%
Why were women sent for military service, specifically to Xinjiang? What did one military leader say about them?
Specifically for young unmarried women sent to military academies, specifically to Xinjiang, in order to become wives for the soldiers stationed there.
‘We want them to come and be good workers, good wives and good mothers,’ said one military leader.
Name a programme that made life better for women?
In Feb 1952, an advertisement in the New Hunan Daily aimed to recruit professionals and female students to form a female work team to go to Xinjiang to exploit its natural resources. Offering incentives such as paid Study in the USSR.
What did this allow women to do?
Allowed rural women to escape poverty and become educated or be enlisted in the PLA. A military career was a chance to prove their commitment to the new regime for those who had been marginalised for their class.
Was this programme completely successful?
However once they finished, home making and child rearing became again their primary focus.
Where was the greatest resistance found?
Greatest resistance came in the inland rural areas and Muslim provinces where arranged marriages formed an integral part of the religious culture. Cadres had the difficult task of changing these rules, who used propaganda.
How did the government try to reduce resistance towards the Marriage Law?
Aware that male resistance to the Marriage Law was delaying its implementation, the government stepped up its promotional propaganda campaigns in the early 1950s - the All-China Women’s Federation to train cadres and to persuade them it would not lead to chaos. Only partly successful though.
Who was a model work and how did the Party use her?
Model worker - Deng Yulan in Jehol province - work ethic attracted the attention of the Women’s Federation. Deng won numerous awards and was even invited to Beijing to meet Chairman Mao, but she never received the national coverage afforded to her male counterparts. Her achievements are only known because of historians.
How far did the CCP go to attack gender inequality?
The People’s Daily condemned gender inequality and the Central Committee felt obliged to reiterate its line that women and men should receive equal pay for equal work.
Why did Mao want an educated society?
Mao needed a literate and educated society for economic (economic progress depended on China producing its own technical specialist), political (propaganda) reasons and ideological (1927, Mao ‘In China education has always been the exclusive preserve of the landlords…..the peasants have no access to it’.)
Pre-revolution, what percentage of all males over the age of seven, and what percentage of females of the same age, could read a simple letter?
30%
1%
Where did the modern schools exist and who were they only available to?
In the cities to the elite.
What was set up in the mid 1950s?
A national system of primary education.
What did the literacy rate rise to by 1960? By 1964? By 1976?
20% to 50% by 1960, 64% by 1964 and 70% by 1976 (Cultural Revolution slowed progress).
What was the number of primary school students in 1949 and what did this reach by 1957?
1949 - 26 million
1957 - 64 million
Why could earlier progress have been faster?
By 1956 what proportion of children aged 7-16 were in full-time education?
However, earlier progress would have been faster if the government had spent more money on education (only 6.4% of the budget went on culture and education in 1952) and by 1956, fewer than half the children aged 7-16 were in full-time education.
What did the Common Programme say about reforming education?
Mao’s rejection of traditional schooling and the references in the Common Programme to reforming the old system in a systematic manner.
What new system had Mao’s reform only served to create:
A new system of elites. Many of elitist elements of the old school system still lived on. ‘Key schools’ attracted the best teachers, where places were reserved for the children of high-ranking Party and government officials.
By 1959 how many Chinese students had trained in Russian universities?
38,000
How many new polytechnics and engineering institutes were created?
Twenty new polytechnics and 26 engineering institutes were created.
When was Pinyin introduced and by who?
1956
Zhou Youguang
Why was it introduced?
To assist the spread of literacy, which was handicapped by the lack of a standardised form of language that everyone could understand. Mandarin’s pronunciation varied regionally, it had no alphabet (each ideogram had to be learned separately). 80% of the population spoke Mandarin.
What did Pinyin allow?
It made Mandarin much more straightforward to learn and write and facilitated communication with other countries, whilst enabling literacy to spread faster,
This now meant little would be able to read and write traditional chinese - censorship in action. People could only read whatever the PRC published - indoctrination.
When was the ‘Directive on education work’ issued and what did it say?
A ‘Directive on education work’ issued in Sept 1958 criticised bourgeois ideas - ‘education can only be led by experts’.
What was introduced during the Great Leap Forward and why?
Manual labour was introduced into the curriculum to prepare students to help expand China’s economic power. This was Mao’s ‘learning through experience’ in action.
How did this work in practice?
Mao promoted a ‘half work half study’. New agricultural middle schools ran vocational courses on agricultural techniques along with basic maths and languages. Reducing the dependence on urban universities and schools would contribute to Mao’s goal of reducing inequalities and ‘fostering students who are socialist minded’
By 1960 how many of these schools were there and for how many pupils?
By 1960, there were roughly 30,000 schools, one per commune, with a total of 2.9 million students.
What was the Education Minister forced to admit about education during the Great Leap Forward?
‘schools cut too many classes for the sake of their productive labour activities’.
Where there still inequalities in education?
In rural areas children advanced from primary school to ‘agricultural middle schools’. In contrast, in the cities an elite school system was developed at all levels of the full-time education system from kindergarten to university.
What were ‘Key point’ schools and what system did they create?
‘Key point’ schools got the best funding and their primary function was to produce applicants for higher education.
By the early 1960s, the educational system was even more elitist than it had been before.
What did Mao say about education just before the Cultural Revolution?
In early 1964. Mao complained that the education system was too long, examinations were too rigid and that students are not prepared for manual labour. Mao - ‘there is too much studying going on, and this is exceedingly harmful’.
How many children had their education stopped during the Cultural Revolution?
130 million
What was the fate of teachers?
Many forced their teachers into struggle sessions where they were forced into ‘the aeroplane position’ for hours.
Why was it difficult to restore the education system after the Cultural Revolution?
When schools did reopen, it was difficult to restore belief in the system: teachers had been attacked, the curriculum dismissed as a waste of time and the whole purpose of education undermined.
What was the main failure of the educational policy?
Inequality. The Communists succeeded in creating a new communist elite which replaced the old imperial one, and succeeded in failing to educate peasants, a reform they had outlined in the Common Program.
