focus of study

Question 1

mao’s four main aims

Answer 1

• make up for the great leap forward
• rid china of anti-revolutionary powers
• re-mould chinese society to return to revolutionary path
• restoration of mao’s power

Question 2

mao’s main methods

Answer 2

• Circumvention of the party through disruption
• Cult of personality
• Reliance on radicalised youth
• Use of ideology to defeat opponents
• Use of allies in positions of power (Gang of Four)
• Power base of the PLA

Question 3

Gang of Four members

Answer 3

Jiang Qing, Zhang Chunqiao, Wang Hongwen and Yao Wenyuan

Question 4

Four Olds

Answer 4

• Ideas
• Culture
• Customs
• Habits

Question 5

cultural revolution deaths

Answer 5

In August and September, 1966, there were 1,772 people murdered in Beijing alone. In Shanghai, in September, there were 704 suicides and 534 deaths related to the Cultural Revolution.

Question 6

deng is purged

Answer 6

He was sent to May7School in Jiangxi in 1969 for re-education through labour and worked in a tractor shop until 1973. Deng re-emerged in 1973 and became China’s paramount leader in 1976

Question 7

flight of Lin Biao

Answer 7

after rumoured 571 fair, he fled for the USSR on 13th September 1971, however the plane crashed over Mongolia with no survivors

Question 8

impact of cultural revolution - social

Answer 8

Between 500,000 and 20 million people were killed. Tens of million were exposed to humiliation, physical injury, hard labour and job loss, growing disillusionment of ordinary people with politics, the destruction of traditional relationships and respect for elders, poor public health outcomes. Life expectancy increased from 36 in 1949 to 65.

Question 9

impact of cultural revolution - political

Answer 9

exposed lack of party unity
power of party over society was lost
over 90% of party members were attacked in some way.

Question 10

impact of cultural revolution - education

Answer 10

Education focused on revolutionary values, and long term changes to the educational system reduced the length of school education and access to tertiary education. Between 1966 and 1970, 130 million young people did not receive education.

Question 11

impact of cultural revolution - culture

Answer 11

Strict censorship was used to ensure all cultural works reflected proletarian values. There was a ban on traditional Chinese and Western culture, and denunciation and purges of artists, writers, musicians and composers who did not comply.

Question 12

impact of cultural revolution - economy

Answer 12

significant reduction in industrial production, slight drop in agricultural production and increased national deficit. Austerity measures introduced and ‘iron rice bowl’ ensured wage equality. In Guangdong, only 1/3 of products reached agricultural standards and 50% of goods were classified as ‘faulty.’
A black, free market emerged
When Deng took power, he inherited 6.5 million yuan in debt, 20 million unemployed, 100 million undernourished and an out-of-date military.

Question 13

official response to zhou enlai’s death

Answer 13

• He was given a low-key funeral
• Armbands and chrysanthemums were banned by Jiang
• The funeral route was not made public
Mao’s response demonstrated his jealousy and fear of Zhou’s legacy surpassing his own.

Question 14

unofficial response to zhou enlai’s death

Answer 14

Tens of thousands of mourners took to the street during the funeral procession thousands of wreaths were laid to honour Zhou at the monument to revolutionary martyrs On April 5, 1976, the night of the festival, the crowd turned violent. 10,000 militia, 3,000 police and 5 battalions of security surrounded the square and ‘counter-revolutionaries’ inside the square were beaten and arrested.

Question 15

mao’s death

Answer 15

September 9, 1976, Mao died after suffering three heart attacks since June

Question 16

fate of gang of four

Answer 16

Jiang and Zhan were sentenced to death, but had this commuted to life in prison. Wang was sentenced to life in prison and Yao was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Question 17

mitter quote - deng

Answer 17

“Deng recognised that the Cultural Revolution’s profound anti-intellectualism and xenophobia were proving economically damaging to China” (Mitter, 2016)

Question 18

four cardinal principles

Answer 18

following the socialist road, a ‘dictatorship’ of the proletariat, CCP’s leadership was inviolate, the supremacy of Marxist-Leninist-Maoist thought.

Question 19

four modernisations

Answer 19

agriculture, industry, science and technology, and national defence.

Question 20

agricultural decollectivisation

Answer 20

allowed to lease land and sell surplus crops for profit. First in Anhui - by 1983, 98% of peasants were part of the system.
In the 1980s, agricultural production increased by 9% per year.
textiles, small electronics and component parts and plastics enterprises rose. Such enterprises accounted for 58% of rural output, and 25% of enterprises were run by women.

Question 21

state owned stuff

Answer 21

, the tax on total revenue was lowered from 55% to 33% in 1983-4. However, progress was slow in shifting industry to this new state. By 1990, 54% of industry remained state-owned and urban unemployment was rising.

Question 22

sez tax rates

Answer 22

The 15% tax rate was waived for the first and second years of profitability and there was a 50% tax exemption in the third and fourth years.

Question 23

loans

Answer 23

In 1980, China received its first loans from the IMF and World Bank, which was used to improve technology and manufacturing equipment

Question 24

besties with japan

Answer 24

In 1978, China signed the Treaty of Peace and Friendship with Japan. This helped ease the wounds of the WW2 invasion and helped boost China’s economy as technological knowledge and capital were transferred from Japan.

Question 25

education reforms

Answer 25

Of the CCP, 60% of those below the politburo had university degrees. Education became compulsory and mostly free for 9 years. From 1992, universities could set their own fees, which led to rapidly rising costs, limiting education to the elites

Question 26

costs of deng’s reforms

Answer 26

• Increased disparities between rural and urban areas
• High inflation – 30% per year by 1988
• Drop in real wages
• Mass migrant labour force
• Growing unemployment and underemployment – 20% in the cities by 1988-89
• Growing discontent in rural areas
• Living standards stagnated and then declined in the late 80s
• Disillusionment with a growing privileged elite
• Environmental problems from rapid industrial expansion

Question 27

benefits of deng’s reforms

Answer 27

• Increased crop yields, with China becoming the biggest agricultural producer in the world
• Establishment of township and village enterprises
• Improved levels of education
• More flexible labour market
• Increasing competition and productivity
• Significant increase in foreign trade and foreign investment
• Modernised, although smaller, army

Question 28

reform quote

Answer 28

“There was uncertainty at all levels of society as to how China should deal with what was seen as strange and alien views coming from the West and Japan” (Dillon)

Question 29

1986 changes for graduates

Answer 29

They had to do 2 years assigned labour before beginning. 30% of graduates had to accept jobs within the government.

Question 30

cause of june 4th incident

Answer 30

• Growing urban discontent and unrest
• High inflation and growing unemployment
• Concerns about loss of protection and ‘iron rice bowl’
• Growing disillusionment with party and government
• Pro-democracy movement calling for freedom of information, freedom of press and some calling for a more representative government
• Discontent with corruption in government and party
• Wave of student protests since 1978 culminating in 1989 in conjugation with other events and wider social and economic discontent
• Death of Hu Yaobang in 1989 – 15 April
• 1989 visit by Gorbachev accompanied by international press
• Reform movements in Eastern Europe
• Divisions in the Party between left and right
• Deng Xiaoping reasserting the four cardinal principles
• Reaffirming party focus on political authoritarianism for China and no tolerance for democracy movement
• PLA troops in first attempt to impose martial law are convinced by protesters not to use violence
• Some small level of insubordination from commanders unwilling to execute orders
• Party needs to reassert control of PLA to ensure it can be used as a tool to back political authoritarianism

Question 31

military response to protests

Answer 31

On 3 June, an estimated 200,000 soldiers surround protesters and open fire, killing and injuring many unarmed citizens. Estimates of the death toll vary from hundreds to thousands, with thousands more injured.

Question 32

francois mitterand (french president)

Answer 32

“A regime that shoots on its own youth has no future”

• froze relations with china

Question 33

margaret thatcher

Answer 33

communism stands ready to impose its will by force on innocent people. Clearly, normal business with Chinese authorities cannot continue.”

• relaxed visas for hong kong

Question 34

bob hawke response to protests

Answer 34

during a memorial service, he shed tears and offered all Chinese students a four year visa