China 4 - social and cultural changes Flashcards
How much did divorce rates increase by in 1963 compared to 1949?
12 x
How many work points did women get compared to men in the Communes?
8 max compared to 10 for men
How many members of the Women’s association by 1953?
76 million members
Before 1949 what were 5 important parts of a woman’s subservient role in society?
- arranged marriages and concubinage
- female infanticide
- foot binding
- no educational opportunities
- ‘3 obediences’ to father, husband and son
Mao quote on women 1949
‘women hold up half the sky’
5 points of the New Marriage Law 1950?
- banned arranged marriages and concubinage
- money/ gifts in exchange for marriage prohibited
- wives could inherit husbands property
- divorce made easier
- husbands and wives to have equal status in the home
What caused a ‘double burden’ for women?
Having to work on collective farms whilst still maintaining domestic responsibilities
Issues for women within the communes? (3)
- during the famine there was very little food provided for women - as food was allocated based on amount produced. Women turned to prostitution for food.
- sexual abuse was common
- pregnant women forced to work throughout pregnancy - increasing risk of miscarriage
What had become very rare by the 1960s?
Child marriages and arranged marriages
What percentage of girls completed their primary education between 1939-49 compared to those starting after 1959?
from 38% to 100%
What percentage of primary school children were girls by 1978?
45%
How did the PLA provide opportunity for women?
Women were encouraged to join up and could even reach Officer rank
Issues of changing traditional views on women? (4)
- men still viewed housework and childcare as women’s work
- many party cadres didn’t enforce legislation such as the New Marriage Law
- arranged marriages and foot binding still continued in extremely remote areas
- Female communist officials such as Song Qingling complained her views were not treated equally
Evidence of the improved status of women?
- propaganda such as ballets (Red Detachment of Women) which challenged traditional gender views
- ability to speak at ‘speak bitterness’ meetings
- rise in divorce rates
- Wearing the Maoist uniform in the cultural revolution was a symbol of equality - and women could gain prominent positions in the Red Guards
What percentage of the Chinese population were illiterate in 1949?
80%
Increase in primary school students between 1949-57?
26 million to 64 million
How many peasants attended ‘winter schools’ in the winter of 1951/2?
42 million - (claimed by the party)
What became the official language of all of China to simplify the complex characters and regional differences?
Pinyin
What percentage of the budget was spent in culture and education in 1952?
6.4 %
What schools needed an entrance exam and who did these schools end up being for?
Key Schools
- mostly party officials children
How many young people did not receive formal education due to the Cultural Revolution closing schools and unis?
up to 130 million
How much training did barefoot doctors receive?
6 months
How many new doctors had been trained by 1973?
Over 1 million
Successes of health care reform in China 1949-76? (6)
- posters and Patriotic Health Movements educated peasants on hygiene, how to catch pests, not using human waste as fertiliser and overall preventing illness
- many diseases such as cholera, typhus and schistosomiasis were eliminated
- life expectancy rose
- infant mortality fell
- anti- drug campaigns reduced use of opium
- villagers drained swamps to prevent malaria due to mosquitos breeding
Failures of health care reform 1949-76? (4)
- uneven healthcare provision
- impact of famine negating benefits of medical clinics in the communes
- doctors attacked during Antis campaigns in the 50s and sent to Laogai
- doctors denounced in Cultural Revolution
Mao’s attacks on traditional culture?
- ended traditional festivals like the Lantern Festival, New Year etc.
- agit-prop groups toured the country encouraging people to abandon old traditions and customs and to follow communism
Customs attacked in four olds campaign example?
Burning paper for ancestors at the Qingming festival
Jiang Qing’s attacks on traditional chinese culture as ‘cultural tsar’ during the Cultural revolution?
- censored music, theatre and art
- plays re-written to include pro communist characters and ideas
- sometimes attended play rehearsals to advise on how communism could be portrayed more positively
Jiang Qing personal attacks in the Cultural Revolution?
Purged anyone who knew about her bourgeois past as an actress in Shanghai in the 1920s
When did Jiang Qing join the Politburo?
1969
Slogan for new plays and operas in China?
‘make it revolutionary or ban it’
How many new ‘model dramas’ were created?
8
By 1974 how many times did the people of Guangdong province have to watch the propaganda films, brought by teams with projectors?
10 a year
Reunification campaigns in Tibet?
In the 1950s, Lamaism was the primary form of Buddhism in Tibet. Monks were sent to the Laogai to be ‘reformed’. Reasons for this were partly due to Tibet’s proximity to India (a Western ally) as well as the religious and cultural reasons
What philosophy was continuously condemned by the CCP?
Confuscianism
What communist festival replaced the Qingming festival?
National Memorial Day. People were urged to honour the fallen Communist heroes from the civil war rather than their ancestors
Evidence that the CCP did not succeed in wiping out the practice of ancestor worship?
When Zhou Enlai died in 1976, memorials in Tiananmen Square during the Qingming festival and public attendance of his funeral were very much like ancestor worship and there was a huge outpouring of grief. The PLA clashed with those laying wreaths at a monument to Zhou at the 1976 Qingming festival
Communist replacement for chrisitianity?
Patriotic Church Movements
When did the PLA invade Xinjiang province, as part of the reunification campaigns? What happened?
In October 1949 the communist forces closed down muslim schools, redistributed land from mosques and encouraged the inward migration of Han Chinese in an attempt to dilute the muslim communities
