Focus Study - China Flashcards
Confuciousinism
Developed in the 6th-5th century B.E. and followed by the Chinese people for more than two millennia.
Promotes the idea that relationships between people are unequal and that everyone should have defined hierarchical roles.
The importance of age is emphasised in Confucianism as ‘filial piety.
Developed 2 relations that were models of hierarchy
Sovereign-subject
Husband-wife
Social stratification
Ideal Confusianium scheme of ranking
Scholars then farmers, then artisans, with merchants and soldiers in last place.
Favours those who contribute to society over individual gains
Social Structure - Culture
- Collectivist culture
- Face
Encouraged to share the same mentality or goals as their family, work and government. In return for demonstrating loyalty and commitment to duty, an individual gains a sense of protection and unity.
Conservative conduct is the norm, as people don’t want to stand out and/or risk losing face by doing something that is considered inappropriate.
Social Structure - interpersonal interactions
- Saying
The principle of guanxi commits friends, family and business colleagues to assist another.
Guanxi often refers to ‘networking, which is reflected in the Chinese saying, “nei wai you bie” (insiders are different from outsiders].
Power and Authority on Macro Level
- History of CCP
- Xi Jinping role
- Quote
The CCP, Mao Zedong founded the People’s Republic in 1949.
As general secretary of the CCP, Xi Jinping sits atop the party’s power structure. Also China’s head of state as president and the head of the military.
As Ian Johnson writes, “Run the party and you run China.”
Challenges to Authority COVID-19
- China’s approach to COVID
- Cause of protest
“Zero COVID” policy: mass testing, quarantined the sick in government facilities and imposed strict lockdowns
An apartment fire that killed 10 in capital city of Xinjiang. Many users of Weibo and Wechat shared stories, concerns and essays on the policies.
- Eventually relaxed the ZERO COVID
Dr quote about China protests
Only small protests prior to COVID
Dr Willy Lam says the major protests in November marked a turning point.
- “… people of all sectors, all classes from across the political and economic spectrum have been hurt.”
COVID protests
- Example
- Government response
Sitong Bridge Protest 2022
- “The white paper represents everything we want to say but cannot say,” a 26-year-old man
- “We want food, not PCR tests. We want freedom, not lockdowns.”
Posts containing the words “Beijing”, “bridge” strictly controlled, and a song
Challenging Power and Authority of China
- Examples
RiceBunny
Posted on the Chinese social media platform Weibo.
- Accompanied by emojis of rice bowls and bunny heads to expose female sexual harassment
- “Grass-mud horse”
Individuals adapted to it by using emojis against the Great Firewall
How #MeToo
Woman harrassed at Beihang University by professor
Students and alumni from over 50 colleges have signed online petitions, demanding their schools develop mechanisms to prevent and deal with sexual harassment on campus.
Feminists as ‘trouble-makers’ in Chinese society
- Examples of activists
In 2015, 5 right activists were arrested by Chinese authorities for “provoking trouble” by organising protests against sexual harassment on public transport.
In 2017, Zhang Leilei, an activist based in Guangzhou city attempted to crowdfund a nationwide anti-sexual harassment advertising campaign.
- Zhang herself was asked to leave the citv.
Power and Authority: China bans children from playing video games during the week
The National Press and Publication Administration increase the frequency and intensity of inspections for online game
Under 18 years old will be limited to playing online games to only 3 hours a week.
The impact of continuity and change - Micro
- Family life and populaton
Sibling-less people pose issues, small businesses won’t have successors. Working class shrinking, financial issue to support older.
More and more weighs on single children since they don’t have anyone to rely on 4-2-1
The impact of continuity and change - Meso
- Urban Chinese Elders
- Unmarried men
66% Pension (2010) Urban Chinese Elders rely on income from this, while 22% by relatives transferring money to them.
Approx 30 million men are unmarried.
Men becoming leftover struggle to marry, sex ratio. Single men lead high crime rates, isolation and depression
The impact of continuity and change - Macro
-Siblingless
- Rural relying on
- Unmarried women
By 2050, more than 1/3 will have no siblings.
Half (47.7%) of rural elders rely on families
30-34 (47.7% unmarried) despite the age peak to have children.
One-child stats
- Lonely and selfish
- Divorce
- One child is enough
A 2005 survey between 15 and 25 found 60% of one-child respondents admitted being lonely and said they were selfish
One in five marriages ends in divorce, double the figure a decade ago, and figures are expected to go up
65 percent of China’s only child generation admitted that “one child is enough”, given the financial burdens of raising a child
Hidden Children Stats
- Two child and Three child policy
In 2010 (census data), 13 million children were denied birth registration and proof of identity, known as hukou (household registration)
Two child policy in 2014 and three child child policy in 2021
Hidden Children Micro Level Impact example
Ms Yuan, Beijing resident her son is already 8 years old, and has no birth registration and thus no legal documentation.
- He has been denied the hukou because he a second child born without permission.
One Child Policy impact on Family Life and Population OVERVIEW
Shrinking working-age population
4-2-1 families restructuring kinship systems
Unequal gender distribution
‘Hidden Children’, ‘Little Emperor Syndrome’
Impact of continuity - China updates gender law to tell women to ‘obey family values’ in growing push to adopt domestic roles
Amendment to Women’s Rights introduces list of moral standards women should abide by (“obey” family)
Record low birth rates and marriage numbers result in pressure for women to revert to traditional caregiver roles = by Xi Jingping
Impact of continuity - A ‘Masculinity Crisis’? China Says the Boys Are Not All Right
The Education Ministry has emphasised facilities and masculine activities
→ emphasising the ‘spirit of yang’
Ear piercings of male pop stars have been blurred on Chinese television
→ Boys enrolled in boot camps
Impact of continuity - How China’s ‘leftover women’ are using their financial power to fight the stigma of being single
- Example
- What they are referred to
33-year-old woman told ‘The Conversation’
“During family gatherings…I need to defend my parents [so] I constantly upgrade my own self-image by buying myself more expensive clothes to wear…”
Female, educated and unmarried by the age of 27 in China referred to as “Sheng-nu” which translates to “leftover women”.
- Portrayals of single women are lonely, desperate, overqualified and intimidating
Continuity in family life and population
Ancestor worship
1. After death, people continue for a time to exist as spirits
2. Regular offering of food and drink to deceased members of the family
Among males, seniority was the principal index of authority.
Brides were married “out of” their natal families
- Knowing that after death they would be dependent on their descendants for sustenance as spirits
- Daughters were useful only if an opportunity arose to marry them off to families higher up on the social and economic ladder.
Change in family life and population changes
BEFORE: Jia: A large, extended family unit with several generations living under the same roof.
4-2-1 problem
10th century CE “footbinding” feet of young girls intentionally reshaped to render it small.
- Reflection of grace and femininity, and attractive to men
Continuity in family life and population change
- Example of the conservative role of women in poem
- Quote on Weibo
- Childcare
Book of Poetry concluded: “women should devote themselves to tending silkworms and weaving.”
Xu Youzhen CEO China online game wrote on Weibo:
“feminism is what stupid women use to repress traditional women.”
A decline in state-supported childcare facilities forced many women to stay home to take care of their children, according to the PIIE (Peterson Institute for International Economics) report.
Is all change necessarily progress? - Positives
- Economic circumstance
- Poverty
Improved economic circumstances overall. This may be due to:
1. Lower fertility leads to a higher level of schooling per child.
2. Lower fertility may facilitate parental migration, thus enabling the reallocation of the labor force from rural to urban areas.
Chinese population estimated to be living in absolute poverty fell from between 200 million 1980 to 70 million in 2018.
Is all change necessarily progress? - Negative
- Family structure
- OCP
- Human rights
The 4-2-1 problem, where one child is pressured to look after his/her two parents and 4 grandparents
The rise of the ‘little emperor’ syndrome. Not having siblings can hinder social and emotional development
Issues associated with human rights.
eg. forced abortions, mass sterilisation and due to unregistered children not legally existing they cannot attend school
Groups that benefit from change
- Cause of creating ‘winners’ and ‘losers’
Youth - willing to embrace change, accustomed to rapidly developing technology.
e.g. Little Emperors
Wealthy - they can afford change and benefit earlier from advances in modernisation and new technology.
Powerful people - initiate and resist change. Han population makes 92% of China’s pop = similar beliefs
e.g. Xi Jinping, CCP, government officials
Groups that benefit from change - Women
12th National Women Congress held by Jinping and All-China Women’s Federation made arrangements for the development of the causes pertaining to women in the next five years.
→ Policies and arrangements fully demonstrated the Party’s high attention in promoting gender equality
Groups that benefit from change - Urban children
- Income of adults
- COVID
- Where they reside in
Income for urban areas is 3x as high than rural areas (can afford high school tuition)
COVID - Only 5% of urban students have zero access to online classes (compared to 50% in rural areas)
1950 15% + 60% by 2030 = urban pop.
Groups that do not benefit from change -Urbanisation
- Disparity
Disparity within the floating population, top 20% earning 4x more than the bottom 20%
Floating Population: System provides temporary residency permits and access to some public services to migrant workers
The govt sets minimum wages but ignored by employers who know that unskilled villagers are often desperate for work.
Groups that do not benefit from change - One Child Policy
- Elderly
- Women
- Single men
2016 5 work adults to support 1 retiree
- Predicted that by 2036 1 working adults to support one retiree
Women: An estimated 20 million baby girls went ‘missing’ from the population between 1980 and 2010 due to a preference for boys.
Single Men: 30 million more men than women
Internet censorship in China: Firewall and Social Credit - A surveillance state
- How they are monitoring citizens
In Xinjiang, the Integrated Joint Operations Platform (IJOP) gathers data on residents using CCTV cameras with face and voice recognition, and DNA sampling.
Internet censorship in China: Firewall and Social Credit - Limiting freedom of speech
- Quote
- Statistics of camera installed
Since Jinping came into power “intention to suppress protest activity and limit freedom of speech through these technologies,” says Robin Barnwell, director of Inside China’s Digital Gulag.
2017 BBC reported there were 170 million cameras in place and plans to install 400 million more cameras over the next 3 years
Technology use being limited by Chinese individuals
- Govt restriction
- What wumao is
- Research by Harvard University
Ordinary citizens up to 3 years in jail for spreading rumors if posts viewed more than 5,000 times or reposted 500 times.
The ”wumao” (the 50-cent Party) are supposedly given half a renminbi ($0.08) for every post praising the government or denigrating its critics.
Govt-directed accounts generate nearly 450 million posts a year, with intense bursts of “cheerleading” or “distraction” around specific events or at sensitive times.
Functionalist theory example China
Equilibrium dynamic
- Rule of the CCP
- Social credit system
- Hukou system
- COVID protest = Relaxing laws
- #MeToo, #RiceBunny
- One Child Policy
- WeChat, Social Media
Peak Family - Future Direction
- Living parents
- Cousins
1950 only about 5% of men and women in their 50s had any living parents; today exceeds 60%.
1 in 4 Chinese people in their 30s had 10 or more living cousins in 1950, but more than 90%
- Big families helped their members navigate the upheavals and transformations in the Chinese economy.
Related core concepts
continuity and change
modernisation
sustainability
tradition
beliefs and values
empowerment
westernisation
cooperation and
conflict
Empowerment, westernisation and modernisation current trend + future direction
Current trend
- #RiceBunny = Challenging the CCP
- Technology = AI, surveillance
- Great FireWall
Future direction
- Women will continue to be empowered due to globalisation and westernisation
- Strengthen technological advancement
The impact and implications for the aspect - Population
Likely changes
- Increase of elders, decrease of the youth
Likely changes
Number of citizens between 15 and 59 have dropped by 7% while the number of people over 60 rose by 5.5%
Relationship between men and women
Likely changes
Probable continuities
Likely Changes
Dating Apps have become common, including gay dating apps
- LGBTQI+ to express their gender identity
- Nature of dating has become more romantic, with it previously it was taboo.
Probable Continuities
Chinese parents arrange marriages
Negative view of singles as ‘bare branches’ and ‘leftover women’
Likely changes example
- Marriage
- Reasons for fewer marriages and children
In 2005 most women in Shanghai were married by the time they were 23, in 2019 at age 29 and most women here will have just one child as opposed to 2.4 average worldwide
996; Working from 9 am to 9 pm 6 days a week
The importance of technologies examples
Great FireWall
February 2011, an online appeal calling for people in China to mirror the Arab Spring uprisings resulted in small gatherings
- Govt reacted, 100 of the country’s most outspoken critics and forcibly “disappearing” many of them for months, without any legal procedure, subjecting them to forced sleep deprivation, abusive interrogations and threats.
The importance of technologies examples
China Using Artificial Intelligence in Classrooms
Students wear uniforms with chips that track their locations.
Surveillance cameras that monitor how often students check their phones or yawn during classes.
A program that’s supposed to boost students’ grades while also feeding powerful algorithms.
Teachers say the students now pay better attention during class and that has made them study harder and achieve higher scores.
The importance of technologies examples
COVID19
- A national ID card is needed to do anything from buying a mobile phone to using any app everything you do leaves a data
- Phone location data used to map where the person visited in the 2 weeks
- Text message sent out through one of the major apps alerting those at risk every person is being assigned
