IBWT Mao Vocab

Question 1

Pu Yi

Answer 1

Last emperor of the Qing Dynasty at age 3 and later became head of the Japanese-controlled puppet state, Manchukuo

Question 2

Yuan Shikai

Answer 2

Military leader, President of the (new) Republic of China after Sun Yat-Sen, declared himself emperor for a hundred years, but died three months later, left instability and a power vaccuum

Question 3

Guomindang (GMD)

Answer 3

Nationalist political party that governed China from 1928 to 1949 and subsequently ruled Taiwan under Chiang Kai-shek; Initially cooperated with CCP but Civil War broke out later

Question 4

Chinese Communist Party (CCP)

Answer 4

political party of China since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, founded by Li Dazhao and Chen Duxiu after May 4th mvmt, revolutionaries increased in 1920s, partnership with GMD was successful, but the CCP was later ousted launching civil war

Question 5

Sun Yat Sen

Answer 5

Leader of the GMD, known as the father of modern China; influential in overthrowing the Qing dynasty, served as the first provisional president of the Republic of China (1911–12) and later as de facto ruler (1923–25)

Question 6

Chiang Kai Shek

Answer 6

soldier and statesman, head of the Nationalist government in China from 1928 to 1949 and subsequently head of the Chinese Nationalist government in exile on Taiwan, power after Sun Yat-sen, was held captive leading to his alliance with CCP

Question 7

Mao Zedong

Answer 7

principal Chinese Marxist theorist, soldier, and statesman who led his country’s communist revolution, leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1935-death, and he was chairman of the PRC 1949-1959 and chairman of the party also until his death; grew up poor, identified the agricultural peasantry as the source of the communist revolution in China; worked under National government to gain power, led the Long March

Question 8

Zhou Enlai

Answer 8

leading figure in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and premier (1949–76) and foreign minister (1949–58) of the People’s Republic of China;

Question 9

Lin Biao

Answer 9

Chinese military leader, field commander of the Red Army; played a prominent role in the first several years of the Cultural Revolution (1966–76), but in 1971 he allegedly sought to remove Chinese leader Mao Zedong and seize power; his plot was discovered, and he died under obscure circumstances

Question 10

Deng Xiaoping

Answer 10

leading political and military organizer in the Jiangxi Soviet; maintained status and power within the CCP, but disagreed with Mao, more moderate (advocated for material incentives), later persecuted and disappeared from public eye, later regained power under Zhou, back and forth power disputes; major policy decider in the late 1900s, instituted the One-Child Policy

Question 11

Liu Shaoqi

Answer 11

chairman of the PRC (1959–68) and chief theoretician for the CCP, considered the heir apparent to Mao Zedong until he was purged in the late 1960s

Question 12

Dalai Lama

Answer 12

14th Dalai Lama, highest spiritual leader and head of Tibetan Buddhism; subsequent to the annexation of Tibet by the People’s Republic of China, during the 1959 Tibetan uprising, the Dalai Lama escaped to India, where he continues to live in exile while remaining the spiritual leader of Tibet

Question 13

President Nixon

Answer 13

NIxon worked to relax Cold War tensions; part of this was visiting China and recognizing the legitimacy of the PRC, famous photo of Mao and Nixon shaking hands in Beijing

Question 14

Chinese Revolution (1910)

Answer 14

Nationalist democratic revolt that overthrew the Qing (or Manchu) dynasty in 1912 and created a republic;

Question 15

May Fourth Movement (1919)

Answer 15

intellectual revolution and sociopolitical reform movement in China in 1917–21, directed toward national independence, emancipation of the individual, and rebuilding society and culture; more than 3,000 students from 13 colleges in Beijing held a mass demonstration against the decision of the Versailles Peace Conference which transferred German territories in Asia to Japan

Question 16

First United Front (1923-1927)

Answer 16

coalition between GMD and CCP, begun in 1924, together they formed the National Revolutionary Army and set out in 1926 on the Northern Expedition, unstable but effective agreement

Question 17

White Terror

Answer 17

violent suppression of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) organizations and leftist elements in Shanghai by GMD forces, full-scale purge of communists in all areas under their control, and violent suppression occurred in Guangzhou and Changsha; killed more than one million people, primarily peasants.[14] More than 10,000 communists were executed in Changsha within 20 days

Question 18

Shanghai Massacre

Answer 18

12 April 1927, the April 12 Purge or the April 12 Incident, initiated the White Terror, end of the First United Front, led to split within the GMD

Question 19

Long March

Answer 19

one year, the 6,000-mile historic trek of the Chinese communists, which resulted in the relocation of the communist revolutionary base from southeastern to northwestern China and in the emergence of Mao Zedong as the undisputed party leader

Question 20

Jiangxi Soviet

Answer 20

independent government established by Mao and his comrade Zhu De in Jiangxi province in SE China, 1931-1934; here that Mao gained the experience in guerrilla warfare and peasant organization that he later used to accomplish the communist conquest of China in the late 1940s

Question 21

Yan’an Soviet

Answer 21

a soviet governed by the CCP during the 1930s and 1940s. In October 1936 it became the final destination of the Long March, and served as the CCP’s main base until after the Second Sino-Japanese War

Question 22

Marxism

Answer 22

the social and economic theory developed by Karl Marx in the 19th century; describes the capitalist system of production as inherently unfair to the workers, who represent most of the population

Question 23

6 principles of the Red Army

Answer 23

Rules followed by the Red Army that endeared them to the people. Included: be polite to all, give back any item borrowed, repair any items broken, pay for any necessary items, etc

Question 24

Chinese Civil War

Answer 24

fought between GMD and CCP, armed conflict continuing intermittently from 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949, resulting in a Communist victory and control of mainland China in the Chinese Communist Revolution and proclamation of the People’s Republic of China

Question 25

People’s Liberation Army

Answer 25

roots in the 1927 Nanchang Uprising of the communists against the Nationalists; Initially called the Red Army, grew under Mao Zedong and Zhu De from 5,000 troops in 1929 to 200,000 in 1933; Only a fraction of this force survived the Long March; grew again to defeat the GMD army

Question 26

Mao becomes Chairman of the PRC (Oct 1949)

Answer 26

chairman is leader of the party; Mao became chairman in 1949 in replacement of Zhang Wentian after being the de facto leader of the party

Question 27

Suppression of Counter-revolutionaries (1950)

Answer 27

first campaign of political repression launched by Mao designed to eradicate opposition elements, especially former GMD functionaries accused of trying to undermine the new CCP government; resulted in mass trials, arrests, labor reform, and executions

Question 28

Maoism

Answer 28

doctrine composed of the ideology and methodology for revolution developed by Mao Zedong and his associates in the CCP from the 1920s until Mao’s death in 1976; focused on unification, raising of peasants, and collectivization

Question 29

Rectification Campaign (1942-1943)

Answer 29

program aimed at giving a basic grounding in Marxist theory and Leninist principles of party organization to the many thousands of new members; took, for a time, the form of a harsh purge of elements not sufficiently loyal to Mao; campaign aimed at "rectifying mistaken ideas" and not the people who held them

Question 30

PRC introduces Constitution (China becomes a one-party state) (1954)

Answer 30

first constitution of socialism in China; stipulated the task for the ongoing Chinese communist state; Compared with the Common Program of 1949, the constitution of 1954 narrowed the definition of the regime in China; Under this situation, China finally became a Communist country

Question 31

Thought Reform Movement (1951)

Answer 31

aka ideological remolding or ideological reform, campaign to reform the thinking of Chinese citizens into accepting Marxism–Leninism and Maoism from 1951 to 1952; Techniques employed included indoctrination, "struggle sessions", propaganda, criticism and self-criticism, and a variety of other techniques

Question 32

Reunification Campaigns (49-50)

Answer 32

Through 1949 and 1950, China was looking at the outer regions as risks to their unity and stability; purpose of campaigns was for CCP to gain full control of the borders of a united China; PLA soldiers were sent south and west to invade regions like Tibet and Xinjiang

Question 33

Little Red Book

Answer 33

"Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung"; a book of statements from speeches and writings by Mao, published from 1964 to 1979, widely distributed during the Cultural Revolution; most popular versions were printed in small sizes that could be easily carried and were bound in bright red covers, thus commonly becoming known internationally as the "Little Red Book".

Question 33

Hundred Flowers Campaign (1956)

Answer 33

period from 1956-1957 in which the CCP encouraged citizens to openly express their opinions of the party; differing views and solutions to national policy were encouraged based on the famous expression by Mao Zedong: "The policy of letting a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend is designed to promote the flourishing of the arts and the progress of science."

Question 34

Anti-Rightist Campaign (1957)

Answer 34

1957-1959, political campaign to purge alleged "Rightists" within the CCP and the country as a whole; The campaign was launched by Chairman Mao Zedong, but Deng Xiaoping and Peng Zhen also played an important role; The Anti-Rightist Campaign significantly damaged democracy in China and turned the country into a de facto one-party state.

Question 35

Struggle Sessions

Answer 35

violent public spectacles in Maoist China where people accused of being "class enemies" were publicly humiliated, accused, beaten and tortured, sometimes by people with whom they were close, part of thought reform

Question 36

Laogai

Answer 36

reform through labor, is a criminal justice system involving the use of penal labor and prison farms in the

Question 37

Laojiao

Answer 37

Re-education through labor; was a system of administrative detention on mainland China; Active from 1957 to 2013, the system was used to detain persons who were accused of committing minor crimes; generally sentences of 1-3 years

Question 38

Mao Crosses the Yangtze River

Answer 38

point of Mao’s swim was to demonstrate his physical prowess and good health, defying rumors that his age and time out of the spotlight suggested he was anything less than a capable leader; propaganda greatly exaggerated the event (he supposedly swam 9 miles in just over an hour)

Question 39

Politburo

Answer 39

the highest political body of the Central Committee of the CCP; headed by a General Secretary; further centralized in the Politburo Standing Committee, a group of 7 individuals; believed to be a self-sustaining/electing body

Question 40

Cadres

Answer 40

methods and institutions employed by the CCP to train, organize, appoint, and oversee personnel to fulfill a wide range of civil service-type roles in Party, state, military, business, and other organizations across the country

Question 41

New Currency “Renminbi”

Answer 41

official currency of the PRC; introduced in Dec 1948; became a unifying currency throughout communist dominated areas, and attempted to help control hyperinflation during conflict with GMD

Question 42

Agrarian Land Law (1950)

Answer 42

the property of rural landlords was confiscated and redistributed, which fulfilled a promise to the peasants and put an end to feudalism

Question 43

Purge of Landlords

Answer 43

Landlords were subjected to public struggle sessions organized by the CCP where they were accused of crimes against the peasants and sometimes sentenced to death, including being killed in public by peasants at these mass meetings; many landlords killed by peasants during land reform

Question 44

First Five Year Plan (1953-1957)

Answer 44

deeply influenced by Soviet methodologies and assistance from Soviet planners; primary goal was industrial development; increased government control of industry and collectivization; sparked urbanization

Question 45

Collectivization

Answer 45

grouped land and production together into communes to remove individualistic ownings; farced labor to meet quotas was enacted; mutual aid teams --> cooperatives --> communes

Question 46

Communes

Answer 46

several cooperatives joined together; decisions on farming methods and the price of crops were centralised; incorporated political, economic, agricultural, educational and military affairs into a single unit

Question 47

Great Leap Forward / Second Five Year Plan (1958-1962)

Answer 47

campaign undertaken by the Chinese communists between 1958 and early 1960 to organize its vast population, especially in large-scale rural communes, to meet China’s industrial and agricultural problems; hoped to essentially speedrun industrialization

Question 48

Great Famine (1958-1961)

Answer 48

1959-1961; widely regarded as the deadliest famine and one of the greatest man-made disasters in human history, with an estimated death toll due to starvation that ranges in the tens of million; largely due to failure of Great Leap Forward and communes and other insufficient/ineffective reforms

Question 49

The Four Pest Control

Answer 49

one of the first actions taken in the Great Leap Forward in China from 1958 to 1962; authorities targeted four "pests" for elimination: rats, flies, mosquitoes, and sparrows

Question 50

Marriage Law (1950)

Answer 50

provided a civil registry for legal marriages, raised the marriageable age to 20 for males and 18 for females, and banned marriage by proxy; not entirely enforced but did represent major change from old customs

Question 51

Three Antis Campaign (1951)

Answer 51

aimed at members within the Chinese Communist Party, former GMD members and bureaucratic officials who were not party members; The 3 antis imposed were: anti-corruption, anti-waste, anti-bureaucratism

Question 52

Five Antis Campaign (1952)

Answer 52

key campaign in the Communist Party's effort to eliminate private property; The 5 antis were: anti-bribery, oppositional towards theft of state property, oppositional towards tax evasion, oppositional towards cheating on government contracts, oppositional towards stealing state economic intelligence

Question 53

Cultural Revolution (1966-1967)

Answer 53

a sociopolitical movement in the PRC, stated goal was to preserve Chinese communism by purging remnants of capitalist and traditional elements from Chinese society; Cultural Revolution marked the effective return of Mao to the center of power

Question 54

Barefoot Doctors

Answer 54

healthcare providers who underwent basic medical training and worked in rural villages in China; taught young people about basic hygiene practices, family planning, and preventive healthcare

Question 55

Patriotic Health Movement (1950)

Answer 55

campaign aimed to improve sanitation, hygiene, as well as attack diseases; health posters were frequently used to communicate medical knowledge visually to the masses

Question 56

Danwei

Answer 56

work unit; name given to a place of employment in the People's Republic of China; initially referred to state controlled jobs

Question 57

Hukou

Answer 57

system of household registration used in mainland China; helped identify and track population

Question 58

Destruction of the "Four Olds"

Answer 58

campaign to change the old ideas, customs, culture, and habits of mind; mobilized youths to inspire greater revolutionary spirit; did lead to violence and outrages

Question 59

Yangbanxi (Revolutionary Opera)

Answer 59

form of Chinese entertainment that flourished during the Cultural Revolution (1966–76); works combined elements of traditional Chinese dramas, particularly jingxi (Beijing opera or Peking opera), with modern Western drama to treat contemporary topics and feature proletarian protagonists; had eight model works

Question 60

State Atheism

Answer 60

religion became a target during the Cultural Revolution; religious activities were banned and religious personnel were persecuted

Question 61

Tibetan Uprising (1959)

Answer 61

began on 10 March 1959, when a revolt erupted in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, which had been under the effective control of the People's Republic of China (PRC) since the Seventeen Point Agreement was reached in 1951; fueled by fear of potential arrest of Dalai Lama, anti-chinese sentiment, and separatism, turned violent

Question 62

Oppression of Uyghurs

Answer 62

1950s to the 1970s, the Chinese government sponsored a mass migration of Han Chinese to Xinjiang and introduced policies designed to suppress cultural identity and religion in the region

Question 63

Cultural Unity

Answer 63

worked to make China one culture; a massive country with many subgroups to be consolidate under maoism

Question 64

Socialist Education Movement (1962)

Answer 64

1963–1965; "purify politics, purify economics, purify the organization, and purify thought" in opposition to revisionism. Mao sought to make Communist Party cadres closer to the people and to increase revolutionary consciousness among younger people who had grown up after the founding of the

Question 65

Pinyin

Answer 65

most common romanization system for Standard Chinese, Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, developed in the 1950s by a group led by Chinese linguists; introduced to primary schools as a way to teach Standard Chinese pronunciation and used to improve the literacy rate among adults

Question 66

Increase Literacy

Answer 66

major goal for CCP; would aid in all sorts of reforms moving forward; literacy taught through the Little Red Book and Maoist teachings, led to higher standard of living across China

Question 67

Agricultural Middle Schools

Answer 67

taught communist ideology, school system modeled after Soviet Union; developed during the Great Leap Forward, pupils were expected to perform some manual labour, allow pupils from rural areas to be able to attend school and work in the fields when they were needed

Question 68

Red Guard

Answer 68

groups of militant university and high school students formed into paramilitary units as part of the Cultural Revolution; pledged to eliminating all remnants of the old culture in China, as well as purging all supposedly bourgeois elements

Question 69

“Up the Mountain and Down the Countryside” Movement

Answer 69

the urban-to-rural migration; implemented where students from urban areas were sent to the countryside to experience a peasant’s life; deprived an entire generation of their youth, ripping millions of families apart

Question 70

Chinese Communist Youth Movement (CYL)

Answer 70

youth between the ages of 14 and 28; vehicle that could promote the future careers of CCP officials; major mass organization which had an important role in political mobilization and implementing party-state policies

Question 71

Youth Pioneers

Answer 71

mass youth organization for children aged six to fourteen; under control of CYL, temporarily replaced by the Little Red Guards, who were the younger counterparts of the Red Guards, the implementers of the Cultural Revolution

Question 72

Comintern

Answer 72

international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism, supported global communist movements; Mao wanted to lead the Comintern

Question 73

2nd Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945)

Answer 73

conflict that broke out when China began a full-scale resistance to the expansion of Japanese influence in its territory, declared Dec 9, 1941 but conflict started much earlier

Question 74

2nd United Front

Answer 74

formally established in 1937, after Xi'an incident (kidnapping of Chiang Kai Shek); "united" against Japan but faced serious infighting, led to all out civil war

Question 75

“Resist America & Aid Korea” Campaign (1950-1953)

Answer 75

After China entered the Korean War in October 1950, the CCP waged ideological and cultural warfare on the home front to win over the Chinese public, and it promoted anti-Americanism through propaganda and mass campaign

Question 76

Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship (1950)

Answer 76

bilateral treaty of alliance, collective security, aid and cooperation between PRC and USSR; superseded previous agreement between GMD gov't and USSR; laid the groundwork for Sino-Soviet cooperation and partnership; provided China with security guarantees, increased the scope for economic cooperation; did not prevent Sino-Soviet split

Question 77

China attacks USSR’s policy of “Peaceful Coexistence”

Answer 77

amidst gradual deterioration of relationship throughout Sino-Soviet split, China publicly rejected USSR's policy of coexistence with the western world, seeing this as a failure to communism

Question 78

China produces atomic bomb (1964)

Answer 78

october 1964, China tests first atomic weapon, China became the fifth nuclear power in the world and the first Asian nation to possess nuclear capability; first of 45 successful nuclear tests China conducted between 1964 and 1996; developed in spite of Cold War tensions and other moves to ban nuclear weapons at the time