China: Key words, concepts, people

Question 1

Guomindang/Kuomintang

Answer 1

Chinese Nationalist Party, which was the main political rival to the Chinese Communist Party

Question 2

National Revolutionary Army

Answer 2

the army of the Kuomintang.

Question 3

Sun Yat-sen

Answer 3

first provisional president of the Republic of China.

Question 4

Song Jiaoren

Answer 4

first president of the Kuomintang

Question 5

Chiang Kai-shek

Answer 5

Chairman of the Nationalist Government of China, 1928–31 and 1943–48, and President of the Republic of China, 1948–49 and 1950–75.

Question 6

Chen Duxiu

Answer 6

co-founder of the Chinese Communist Party.

Question 7

Li Dazhao

Answer 7

co-founder of the Chinese Communist Party.

Question 8

Mao Zedong

Answer 8

Chairman of the Communist Party,1949–76 and leader of the People’s Republic of China, 1949–58.

Question 9

Abdication

Answer 9

resigning from the supreme office of state.

Question 10

Gentry

Answer 10

a group who were of high social class.

Question 11

Merchants

Answer 11

people who buy and sell products which they do not make themselves.

Question 12

Monarchism

Answer 12

belief in the restoration or preservation of the monarchy.

Question 13

Provisional

Answer 13

temporary until the situation becomes clearer.

Question 14

Guerrilla campaign

Answer 14

campaign of unconventional warfare using tactics such as ambushes and raids to combat a larger and stronger army.

Question 15

Otto Braun

Answer 15

German communist who advised the CCP on military strategy during the Long March.

Question 16

Red Armies

Answer 16

the armies of the Communist Party of China.

Question 17

Zhou Enlai

Answer 17

Premier of the People’s Republic of China, 1949–76. A widely travelled Communist activist who was especially skilled as a diplomat and negotiator.

Question 18

Defect

Answer 18

abandon one’s cause or party and join the opposing group.

Question 19

Classless

Answer 19

without differences in terms of wealth, education, culture or social networks.

Question 20

Egalitarianism

Answer 20

political belief that all people should be treated as equals.

Question 21

Lin Biao

Answer 21

Chinese Communist military leader who was instrumental in the Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War; a brilliant general who had trained in the Guomindang armies.

Question 22

Intellectual

Answer 22

sophisticated and thoughtful person.

Question 23

Joseph Stalin

Answer 23

leader of the Soviet Union 1927–53.

Question 24

Landlord

Answer 24

owner of a property or land which is rented or leased to an individual or a business.

Question 25

Modern-day China

Answer 25

People’s Republic of China

Question 26

Modern-day Taiwan

Answer 26

Republic of China

Question 27

Commune

Answer 27

a community in which resources are shared.

Question 28

Co-operative

Answer 28

jointly owned enterprise created to meet common social, economic and cultural needs.

Question 29

Brigade

Answer 29

military unit within an army.

Question 30

Five-Year Plans

Answer 30

an attempt to boost Chinese industry and set China on the path to becoming a world-class power.

Question 31

Maoist

Answer 31

a follower of the teachings of Mao Zedong

Question 32

Dazhai

Answer 32

a North China village which Mao set up as an agricultural model for the rest of China.

Question 33

Nikita Khrushchev

Answer 33

leader of the Soviet Union 1953–64.

Question 34

Liu Shaoqi

Answer 34

Chairman of the People’s Republic of China 1959–68.

Question 35

Deng Xiaoping

Answer 35

leader of the People’s Republic of China 1978–early 1990s. a dedicated Communist who had tried to establish a Communist base in Guanxi province in 1929 and then served in the Jiangxi Soviet.

Question 36

Cultural Revolution

Answer 36

struggle for power within the Chinese Communist Party from 1966 to 1976, which led to widespread chaos and violence.

Question 37

Propagandist

Answer 37

someone who uses propaganda with the aim of influencing the opinions or behaviour of large numbers of people

Question 38

United Nations Security Council

Answer 38

branch of the United Nations which is concerned with maintaining international peace.

Question 39

38th parallel

Answer 39

the dividing line between North and South Korea before the Korean War.

Question 40

Richard Nixon

Answer 40

President of the USA 1969–74.

Question 41

Henry Kissinger

Answer 41

National Security Adviser to President Nixon.

Question 42

Vietcong

Answer 42

Communist army which fought the US and South Vietnam governments during the Vietnam War.

Question 43

Imperialism

Answer 43

building an empire through territorial conquest, or support for such empire-building.

Question 44

Veto

Answer 44

one person has the power to stop an action or a proposal going ahead.

Question 45

Ideology

Answer 45

a set of beliefs, aims and ideas.

Question 46

Deng Xiaoping

Answer 46

General Secretary of the Communist Party of China 1958–66.

Question 47

Cult of personality

Answer 47

in a totalitarian state, official encouragement of a heroic public image of the leader

Question 48

Faction

Answer 48

a group within a larger group.

Question 49

Jiang Qing

Answer 49

last wife of Mao Zedong and leader of the Gang of Four after Mao’s death.