China- topic 4 Flashcards
the traditional attitudes towards women
inferior position, traditional obedience to the three obediences- your farther, your son and your husband, forced marriages to provide children for their new husbands, many women had the expectation of foot binding to look good, leaving them physically crippled by foot binding, stopping them from walking properly as they became deformed, gender discrimination extended to education,
the marriage law 1950
Mao was committed to improving women’s lives, for the first time they received legal equality, holding property and seeking divorce, end to child marriage, no more paying of dowries, it started to become clear that legal changes were not enough to transform women, many men were not happy as they had lost their ‘financial investment’ with more widespread violence from the male figures, areas in Muslim communities remained unchanged and restricted to their way of life.
impact of collectivisation and communes on the role of women
not only was collectivisation the mass mobilisation of men but was also women, Mao believed that liberating women through labour represented a form of equality, with so called ‘iron women’ which was similar to the propaganda of the soviet Russia as women were encouraged to work and make improvements in production, creation of Kindergartens would allow women to have more time to work, but they became distressed with leaving them, with them being provided with less care within their childcare, in bad conditions- eg- the elderly were in charge but they were not mobile enough to care for a large number of energetic children- not being provided with proper childcare. IN BEJIING 90% OF CHILDREN BECAME SICK. Even though Mao assumed that collectivisation would reduce women’s domestic work, they still had to balance the domestic chores with work- double burden. Whilst doing domestic chores, they were working on the fields ploughing or helping to run factories.
work point systems in collectivisation
Despite the encouragement of equality, the work point system disregarded women, meaning they would receive less food. This is because they would usually receive less work points, regardless of their skills and productivity which was important to be provided in the communal kitchens.
prostitution during collectivisation
there was a rise in prostitution for women during the famine as they were in need of buying food, ultimately they would trade sex for food. Many women resulted in suicide as the double burden became too much and the collectivisation made matters worse, DIKOTTER SAYS THAT ‘ COLLECTIVISATION DESIGNED IN PART TO LIBERATE WOMEN FROM THE SHACKLES OF PATRIARCHY’.
the Women’s association
communists created mass organisations like the Women’s organisation to encourage political activism, proclaiming the achievements of the party and women to even greater efforts. For example, the association set up lessons to improve illiteracy and allow them to read and write. This would allow them to study political ideas. This clearly encouraged them into political progression, whilst assisting them with issues like prositiution or abuse.
cultural revolution impact on the role of women
women and men wore the same Maoist uniform during the Cultural Revolution, supposedly escaping the gender expectations. - women involved in being the red guards- mainly due to the ideological background for Mao.
education before reform
low education levels during the nationalists, for example only 1% of all females over 7 could read a simple letter with only 2.2% of women receiving any type of schooling. The system remained elitist, with the best kindergartens and best primary schools being in the wealthy parts of the cities as they would charge fees and set entrance examinations.
educational reform after 1949
Mao sought to reform education by improving literacy. They done this by having a new form of language to simplify the traditional complex characters. BETWEEN 1949 AND 1957 THE NUMBER OF PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN INCREASED FROM 26 MILLION TO 64 MILLION. Higher education also had a focus, with them setting up a Ministry of Education in 1952, to co-ordinate the introduction of teaching plans, materials and textbooks. Russians were involved in the support of education reform, with them helping teaching in lessons, with Chinese students being taught in Russian universities. BY 1953, 63% OF STUDENTS WERE IN MEDICINE, ENGINEERING AND AGRICULTURE.
the introduction of pinyin
different areas of China had different ways of communication and languages with no standardised written alphabet. Instead, they introduced Pinyin, with the letters meaning words in Mandarin. With this being the main language, people were able to learn this and have Mandarin pronounced correctly.
the failures of education reform
it still remained elitist, as people had to have requirements to be allowed into schools, with the teachers always favouring the children from the privileged class. Many rural children still did not receive an education, especially with universities being in urban areas.
education during the Cultural Revolution
education was seen as a last priority for the red guards and it was abandoned. Instead of normal schooling, students were given the opportunity to attend rallies by Mao instead. Teachers were heavily attacked during this period, experiencing the struggle meetings. This had a lasting effect on students, making them lose out on years of their education, with many having a bad attitude towards learning once it was over. Many were also sent into the countryside to be reformed through a campaign, meaning they were doing manual labour instead of going back to normal learning. - 130 MILLION CHILDREN STOPPED ATTENDING SCHOOLS DURING THE CR.
what was the literacy rate in 1949 compared to 1976
1949= 20% 1976= 70%
what main areas held back education?
lack of spending, for example there was a lot of military spending on the Korean War, the cultural revolution impact on attitudes, the Key schools were much easier to get into if you were a child of an official or someone important within the party, or those with privileged parents.
what was the patriotic health movements
campaigns to teach peasants the link between dirt and disease- an attempt to increase hygiene
