Mao's China 1949-1976 Flashcards
1
Q
Backyard Furnaces
A
Small furnaces that Mao demanded the peasants build during the Great Leap Forward. Mao ordered the peasants to melt down their belongings including cooking utensils and farm tools to make steel. He believed that this would radically increase China’s steel production and aid his plan to modernise the economy. However, the steel created in the small furnaces was of such poor quality that it was of no use.
2
Q
Bourgeois feudal class
A
A term used by the Communists to denounce opponents as counter-revolutionaries. The Bourgeois were property owners and therefore a class enemy.
3
Q
Bourgeoisie
A
In Marxist thought, the Bourgeoisie are a wealthy class of property owners who are dedicated to retaining their economic power and influence.
4
Q
Bureaucratic
A
A bureaucracy is a very hierarchical system of government administration acting according to set rules.
5
Q
Cadres
A
Dedicated and ideologically committed Communists who were given the task of putting Mao’s policies into practice.
6
Q
Capitalism
A
Economic system that advocated free markets and competition for profit between private owned businesses. Derided as inherently unequal by the Communists because it led to some people earning great wealth whilst others, they believed, were exploited and paid low wages.
7
Q
Capitalist Roader
A
A believer in capitalism. Often a convenient label used by the Communists to identify anyone as an opponent who did not agree with the regime.
8
Q
Christian missionaries
A
Christians who travelled to China to spread the message of the Bible.
9
Q
Clans
A
Social organisation made of people with shared ancestors and surnames, sometimes living in the same house. The CCP needed to break down the kinship ties and traditionally close loyalties within these clans to impose its class based ideology.
10
Q
Class-consciousness
A
According to Marx, before revolution could take place, the people had to acquire a sense that they belonged to a social class. Instead of identifying themselves according to racial, regional or ethnic group, they need to see themselves as suffering the same kind of exploitation as other members of their class.
11
Q
Common Program for China
A
Interim Constitution approved by the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in 1949. It set out the structure of the new government and acted as the constitution of China until a permanent constitution was written in 1954.
12
Q
Concubines
A
Women kept as mistresses by married Chinese men. Emperors of China kept thousands of concubines for their sexual pleasure. The practice was banned by the Communists.
13
Q
Confucian
A
The beliefs of the Chinese philosopher, Confucius, who was born in 551BC. His ideas about ethics, family loyalty and respect for authority were hugely influential in China.
14
Q
Conscripted
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Being forced to join the army, as opposed to volunteering to join. A conscription law was officially introduced in China in 1955, recruiting approximately 800,000 people a year.
15
Q
Constitution
A
Written document that sets out powers of the government and the rights of people. First introduced in China in 1954.
16
Q
Aftermath of Civil War 1946-1949
A
The war between the Nationalists and Communists had killed millions, destroyed infrastructure and spread poverty and malnutrition. Refugees clogged up what remained of transport networks and filled the streets of the cities. China’s economy was devastated.
17
Q
Co-operative farms
A
Farms where peasants pooled their labour and resources such as animals, tools and fertiliser.
18
Q
Counter-revolutionaries
A
A label used to identify opponents of the Communist revolution.
19
Q
Chinese People’s Consultative Conference (CPPCC)
A
Meeting organised in 1949 after the Communist victory in the Civil War. Representatives from 15 parties were invited to discuss the creation of the new Chinese state. It acted as the provisional parliament until 1954 and was responsible for passing essential legislation to set up the new China.
20
Q
Cult of Personality
A
An idealised propaganda image created to convince the masses that a leader has near super-human and divine powers. Mao’s Cult of Personality, which described Mao as ‘The Great Helmsman’ who would steer China to a utopian future reached absurd heights during the Cultural Revolution.
21
Q
The state of China’s industry in 1949
A
China’s industry had been badly damaged by the years of war and much of China’s industrial equipment had been destroyed. In places, retreating Nationalist forces had attempted to sabotage industrial sites to prevent them falling into the hands of the Communists. Areas where local power stations had been bombed or where coal stocks were low had no electricity.
22
Q
Democratic Centralism
A
System of government created by Russian Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin, and adopted by the CCP. It was a mixture of democracy and central government authority. Elections for representative bodies such as local people’s congresses were meant to provide an opportunity for democratic debate and discussion. However, in practice decisions were made at central government level and all party members had to stick to those decisions.
23
Q
Dowry
A
Payment or gifts given by the family of the bride to the family of the groom when a marriage takes place.
24
Q
Emancipation
A
The awarding of political and economic rights or legal equality to a social group who had previously been exploited or disenfranchised.
25
The state of China's agriculture in 1949
Agricultural tools and livestock were in short supply and the most common fertiliser used by the peasants remained human waste, which spread disease. During the Civil War, many peasants had been forcibly conscripted into the Nationalist forces - these farmers were dragged from their fields. With the farms left unattended, the crops wilted and died. This reduced food supplies to dangerously low levels.
26
Barefoot Doctors
Doctors who received basic first-aid training and were sent out to remote rural areas where there were no trained doctors in order to provide health care to the peasants.
27
Feudal
Society based on feudal power structure with a dominant baron or landlord demanding loyalty from poor peasants who paid them in food or taxation in return for rights to live on and work the land.
28
The state of China's infrastructure in 1949
Transport networks were badly damaged - an estimated half of he railway network had been destroyed. Blowing up railway tracks had been a key tactic of the Communists during the Civil War because it disrupted the Nationalists' ability to move their troops into battle, but now it created a major problem for the new government.
29
Filial piety
A concept from Confucian philosophy that argued that all people should be loyal to their fathers, elders and ancestors.
30
Forbidden City
The traditional home of the Chinese emperors in Beijing.
31
GMD
The Kuomintang (KMT), the official name of the Chinese Nationalist Party who fought against Mao's Communist Party in the Civil War.
32
Gradualists
Members of the Communist Party who argued that China should take the transition to Communism in a careful and thoughtfully planned out manner.
33
Grain requisitioning
The process by which the regime forcibly took food from the peasants to give to the industrial workers in the cities or to sell as exports.
34
Great Leap Forward
Introduced in 1958. Mao sought to increase agricultural and industrial production at the same time ('walking on two legs'). The people were over-worked and exhausted and crops were left rotting in the fields. Led to the largest man-made famine in human history.
35
Han Chinese
The dominant ethnic group in the People's Republic of China.
36
Heavy industry
Large scale factory production such as steel, coal and electric power. China had little heavy industry in 1949 and Mao desperately wanted to change this, believing that industrial production was the key to making China modern.
37
Centrally planned economy
An economy where the government makes decisions such as what and how much to produce, rather than letting consumers and businesses decide.
38
Hyperinflation
Out of control inflation whereby the value of currency falls at such a spectacular rate to render it practically worthless.
39
Industrial labourers
Workers in the cities who laboured in factories.
40
Industrial revolution
The rapid move from an economy based on agricultural production to one dominated by use of machines and large-scale factory production. This took place during the 18th and early 19th centuries in Europe. China was very slow to adopt advanced manufacturing production techniques and therefore the economy lagged far behind that of its rivals.
41
Infanticide
The intentional killing of babies.
42
Kindergarten
A pre-school educational facility for young children.
43
Kuomintang
Nationalist enemies of the Communists, lead by Chiang Kai-Shek. Fought the Civil War against the Communists before being defeated and fleeing to Taiwan.
44
Labour camp
Camp set up to imprison opponents of the regime and force them to undertake harsh physical labour and undergo 're-education' to teach them that their opposition to the regime was a mistake. In China they provided valuable slave labour for Mao's economic plans.
45
Legislature
Institution of government responsible for making laws.
46
Liberal arts
Education in the liberal arts includes the learning of literature, philosophy, history and music. Damned by the Communists as irrelevant, they advocated education in more vocational subjects that were economically productive.
47
Light industry
Small scale machine based production.
48
Central Cultural Revolution Group (CCRG)
An organisation created in 1966 that was filled with Mao's supporters who wanted to take a radical path towards creating Communism. During the Cultural Revolution, it became more important than the Politburo as the main decision-making organisation of government.
49
Militia
A military force of non-professional and part-time soldiers. Used by the CCP to keep control of the Communes.
50
Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
Founded in 1921, the CCP seized power through victory in the Civil War. In 1949, it announced the formation of the PRC. This is the ruling part in China to the present day.
51
National People's Congress
The law-making parliament of the People's Republic of China.
52
Nationalist
Opponents of the Communists during the Civil War.
53
Party Congress
Meeting of members of the CCP in Beijing. Although theoretically important, it did not make major decisions or pass new laws.
54
People's Liberation Army (PLA)
The armed forces of the People's Republic of China. It included the army, navy and air force. Today it is the biggest army in the world.
55
People's Republic of China (PRC)
The name given to China by the Communists in 1949.
56
Public Security Bureau
Government controlled police force, answerable to the CCP. Responsible for law enforcement and guaranteeing social order.
57
Purge
Removal of opponents of the regime. Included being humiliated a struggle meeting or imprisoned in the Laogai.
58
Radicalism
Belief that Communist principles should be introduced completely, quickly and forcibly, with little account for opposition or for the human cost. Mao believed in radicalism and was opposed by leaders like Liu Shaoqu and Deng Xiaoping, who advocated a more gradual transformation towards Communism.
59
Reactionaries
Enemies of the Communists who opposed the revolution and wanted to return to the traditional social and political structures that existed before 1950.
60
Rectification campaign
Mass movement to identify and violently remove opponents of Mao from the CCP as part of the Cultural Revolution.
61
Red Guard
Young people mobilised by Mao into paramilitary groups during the Cultural Revolution. Totally indoctrinated by propaganda, Mao urged them to destroy symbols of old Chinese culture as well as any opponents that were not totally loyal to Mao.
62
Reunification campaigns
Military campaigns launched after the Communists came to power to seize control of areas of China such as Xinjiang, Tibet and Guandong.
63
Rightist
Someone who believes in so-called 'right-wing' ideas such as capitalism. Often used as a label in Mao's China to denounce anyone who dared to oppose the regime.
64
Right-wingers
Believers in right-wing ideas opposed to Mao, whose ideas were very radical, Communist and therefore 'left-wing'.
65
Saboteurs
Opponents of the Communists who hoped to sabotage the revolution. During the Civil War this included retreating nationalists who sabotaged industrial machines to avoid it being used by the Communists.
66
Separatist
Those who advocated separation of a region, religious or ethnic group in China. Rebels in Xingjiang and Tibet demanded separation from the PRC.
67
Socialism
Political theory that advocates common, shared ownership of resources and co-operative management of the economy.
68
Struggle meetings
Meetings in which opponents of the regime were denounced, often by large crowds who shouted abuse at them. The targets were forced to confess their crimes and beg for forgiveness. Often they were beaten, sometimes they were killed.
69
Trade embargo
A block on trade between nations. Introduced by the USA against China as a result of the Korean War.
70
Work teams
Party officials sent by Liu Shaoqi in 1966 into university campuses. Their job was to prevent the radicalism and violence of the Red Guards loyal to Mao getting out of hand and attacking the CCP. Liu's support for the work teams was later used by Mao as evidence that Liu was a counter-revolutionary.
71
Collectivise
The process by which private land was taken away from its owners and controlled instead by the state.
72
Communists
Believers in the ideas of Karl Marx, who encouraged the working classes to revolt against capitalist employers who, he believed, exploited them. Once the upper classes had been destroyed, the workers would organise a communist state where resources were shared out.
73
Danwei
A 'work unit' to which all Chinese workers belonged. Created by the Communists as a way to organise the workers, it controlled access to rations, housing and permits to travel or to get married.
74
February Adverse Current
During the Cultural Revolution, radical Red Guard violence got out of hand. The 'Adverse Current' was an attempt by more conservative forces to keep the Red Guards from creating anarchy and civil war.
75
Gang of Four
A group of communist leaders, including Mao's wife Jiang Qing, who wanted to follow a radical and violent revolutionary path towards turning China into a communist country. The other members were Zhang Chunquiao, Yao Wenyuan and Wang Honwen.
76
Little Red Book
Collection of Mao's sayings that was published by Lin Biao in 1964. People were forced to read and recite the sayings as a way to indoctrinate them into supporting Mao.
77
First Five-Year Plan, 1952-1956
The target of the plan was to quickly increase China's heavy industries like coal and steel, constructing advanced industrial plants with modern machines. As a result, China experienced an annual growth rate of over 9%. Most of the targets set by the Plan were reached or even surpassed. Some spectacular engineering works were undertake - such as a massive river across the Yangtze River. The population of towns and cities doubled to over 100 million. However, in order to reach output targets, many factories sacrificed quality for quantity. Also, officials often lied about the output of their factories.
78
Politburo
The key decision-making body of the CCP, just as in the Soviet Union Communist Party. There were up to 14 members, but decisions were usually made by the five-man standing committee of Mao Zedong, Liu Shaoqui, Zhou Enlai, Chen Yun and Zhu De. Such decisions became laws when the legislature (known as the National People's Congress) approved them - which it always did.
79
Proletarian party
A political party dedicated to defending the rights of the working class.
80
Sino-Soviet
Referring to relations between China and the USSR, the two largest Communist nations in the world in the 20th century.
81
Xinjiang
A region in north-west China. The population was/is largely Muslim. Bordered Soviet-controlled Outer Mongolia & the CCP feared it would fall to Russian influence. As part of 're-unification campaigns', the PLA took control of if by March 1950, paving the way for in-migration of Han Chinese.
82
Dangan
A dossier containing detailed personal information on anyone that came to the attention of the Party. Access to jobs, housing or pensions depended on the contents of this file, and the file was constantly updated once it was opened.
83
Thought reform
A form of mental torture where prisoners had to demonstrate that they had totally changed their way of thinking. It involved attending endless struggle sessions with other prisoners, where the only way of proving you had changed was by beating up other prisoners.
84
Peasant associations
Organisations originally created in the 1920s to help peasants to defend their rights and campaign for lower rents. They were revived in the 1950s by the work teams in order to get the villagers used to the idea of collective activity.
85
Walking on two legs
The idea of developing agriculture and industry at the same fast pace - as part of the Great Leap Forward.
86
Wall poster campaign
Wall posters, handwritten in large writing, were a traditional method of spreading protest propaganda (during the Cultural Revolution) that the Red Guards used widely to denounce their intended victims.
87
Diary of Lei Feng
Fabricated by the government's propaganda department, this claimed to be the journal of a PLA lorry driver, whose every thought and action was inspired by his devotion to Mao. This found its way into the mainstream of everyday life and the school curriculum.
88
Bad classes
These were usually listed as: landlords, rich peasants, reactionaries, bad elements and rightists.
89
Defending the country
By the time of the Cultural Revolution, China's southern and northern borders were under threat. To the south, the increased American involvement in the Vietnam War posed a risk. Meanwhile, relations with Russia had deteriorated to such an extent that border disputes over Xinjiang in the north-west and Manchuria in the north-east were worsening and would almost lead to war in 1969. Mao could not allow national security to be jeopardised by subjecting the army to the same level of scrutiny as the Party had endured.
90
Bonaparte
It was a common fear among Communists that the revolution might be derailed by the rise of a military dictator, as had happened when Napoleon Bonaparte had taken power in France. By 1971 Mao feared that Lin Baio might combine his military and political support to become a Chinese Bonaparte.
91
Rustication programme ('Up to the mountains and down to the villages')
This involved the compulsory movement of 5 million young people from cities to the countryside between 1968 and 1970. It served a number of purposes: 1) it eased urban unemployment, 2) dispersed may former Red Guards to areas where they could cause less trouble, 3) taught the urban young about of the life of the Chinese peasant, 4) it reinforced the army's control of the young because many of the farms they worked on were under military control.
92
Bride price
An amount paid by the family of the groom to the family of the bride, which reflected her perceived value.
93
Work points
Awarded according to output on the communes. In theory, they could be converted into cash or material rewards. In reality everything was shared in the communes so there was nothing to spend the points on anyway.
94
Proletarian
The proletariat, in Marxist vocabulary, are the non-property-owning working class who sell their labour to the bourgeoisie in order to survive.
95
Ten Great Buildings
These buildings were designed to showcase the 'new' China, and were rapidly constructed in 1958-59, in order to be ready for the PRC tenth anniversary celebrations in 1959. They included Beijing's new railway station, the Cultural Palace of Nationalities, and the Workers' Stadium.
96
Three Antis Campaign
August 1951-July 1952. This was directed against corruption, waste and obstructionist bureaucracy in government.
97
Five Antis Campaign
February-May 1952. This was dedicated to ending bribery, tax evasion, theft of state property, cheating on government contracts and stealing state economic information.
98
Tibet
Mao declared that he sent the PLA to invade Tibet officially in order to 'liberate it from imperialist oppression'. In reality, the invasion of October 1950 was to remove the threat of a rival belief system - Buddhism. Part of the 'reunification campaign'.
99
Guangdong
This southern province had traditionally been a pro-nationalist stronghold and the regime feared that enemy spies and saboteurs remained. An estimated 28,000 people were estimated in Guangdong during the 'Suppress the Counter-Revolutionaries' campaign of 1950.
100
The Hundred Flowers Campaign, 1957
Mao encouraged criticism of the Party by intellectuals, asking them to engage in a debate and discussion about future policies. We don't exactly why Mao did this, but a number of reasons have been suggested: 1. To ask intellectuals for help on how to improve the economy; 2. It was a genuine attempt to find out what problems still existed in China; 3. It was a chance to get rid of more conservative elements within the CCP; 4. In Russia Khrushchev had started to criticise Stalin & Mao wanted to appear like he wasn't a dictator; 5. Mao genuinely didn't expect any criticism - he was over-confident about the achievements of the CCP to date.
101
Laogai
The Communists created a vast network of labour camps in order to imprison their enemies. They were called Laogai, meaning 'reform through labour'. By the start of 1955 there were more than 1.3 milllioon people undergoing forced labour. Conditions were terrible and death by disease was common. They were forced to attend meetings where they were brainwashed with Communist propaganda. Some committed suicide as the only way to escape.
102
Anti-Rightist Campaign, 1957
Mao's response to the criticism he received during 'The Hundred Flowers' campaign. According to Mao, right-wingers had abused their freedoms and he demanded a campaign of class struggle against them. It is estimated that between 400,000 and 700,000 intellectuals were purged and sent to the countryside or the Laogai for 'labour reform'.
103
Korean War
On 25th June 1950, a 135,000-strong army of Communist North Korean troops invaded capitalist South Korea. When a coalition of UN forces, led by the superpower USA, repelled the invasion and advanced close to the North Korean border with China, Mao took military action. The PRC, just a year old, was now at war with 15 nations. Against great odds the Chinese army, the PLA, fought the UN nations to a standstill. Of the 3 million Chinese soldiers sent to Korea, 400,000 died. Hostilities ended with a ceasefire in 1953.
104
Agrarian Reform Law 1950
This country-wide land reform removed legal protection from landlords, leaving them powerless to keep hold of their land. Sometimes the violence went beyond that encouraged by the Work Teams. By the summer of 1952, 43% of the land hand been redistributed to 60% of the population. Rural production boomed - between 1950 & 1952 total agricultural production increased at a rate of 15% per year. An estimated 1 to 2 million landlords were executed in this period.
105
Mutual Aid Teams (MAT's)
Introduced by the CCP in 1951. Peasants were organised into teams of up to 10 households. They shared resources like tools, fertilisers and animals, and pooled their labour for the benefit of the whole community. The buying and selling of land and hiring labourers was still allowed. This was the first step towards full collectivisation.
106
Agricultural Producers' Co-operatives (APC's)
After MAT's, the next stage towards full collectivisation were APCs. They were made up of 30 to 50 households. Although land remained in private ownership, local parties reorganised landholdings into larger units which could be farmed more efficiently and profitably. The state took a share of the harvest and the peasants then received money or grain back in payment. Many richer peasants did not want to join and slaughtered their animals rather than give them to the APC. The results were disappointing - in 1953 & 1954 grain production rose by less than 2%.
107
Communes
From 1958, the peasants were organised into communes, with the intention of increasing both agricultural and industrial production ('walking on two legs'). The communes were vast - they had an average size of 5,500 households. The first commune was organised in Henan province in July 1958. By the end of 1958, the CCP claimed that 99% of the peasant population had been moved into communes - almost half a billion people.
108
Lysenkoism
Trofim Lysenko was a Soviet agrobiologist whose ideas had been supported by Stalin in the 1930s. In the mid-1950s, Mao adopted many of Lysenko's ideas and made them official government policy. Some of the methods were catastrophic for Chinese agriculture. For example, Lysenko claimed (incorrectly) that crop yields would be increased if seeds were exposed to moisture and low temperatures before they were planted deep in the ground and close together. Lysenkoism proved to be utterly fraudulent, causing crop yields to fall dramatically and helping to unleash the disastrous famine of 1958-1952.
109
The Great Famine, 1958-1962
In total between 30-50 million people died. Starving peasants launched desperate attacks on food stores. Anyone discovered trying to steal food was sentenced to death. Many, especially children and the elderly, died of diseases they could not resist because of malnourishment. People ate frogs, worms or the bark from trees. There were outbreaks of cannibalism and men sold their wives into prostitution for food. The famine was made worse by terrible weather, including floods in South China and drought in Shandong.
110
Sino-Soviet Mutual Assistance Treaty, 1950
China and the Soviet Union agreed to 'render the other all possible economic assistance and carry out necessary co-operation'. The Soviet support was extensive and essential. It included a loan of $300 million over five years, help with the construction of iron and steel plants, electric power stations and machinery plants. 11,000 experts from the USSR and Communist Eastern Europe were sent to China to provide training, advice and technical help.
111
Lushan Conference, 1959
At this conference, Minister of Defence Peng Duhai voiced doubts about the reports of a record grain harvest (375 milliion tons). He had long been a close colleague of Mao's, a brilliant military leader, a hero of the struggle against the Nationalists and of the Korean War. However, Mao felt betrayed. He made Peng's letter public and accused Peng of colluding with Soviet leader Krushchev behind his back. Peng was replaced by a devoted ally of Mao, Lin Biao.
112
Cultural Revolution 1966-1976
The Cultural Revolution broadened from an internal party purge to a national movement with a poster campaign in the summer of 1966. On Mao's instructions, Lin Biao organised students and radical teachers in the universities to put up wall posters attacking the education system for its divergence from the revolutionary path. Mao encouraged young people to join the Red Guards, and attack the 'four olds'. The enthusiasm with which the students abandoned their classes and attacked their teachers and other authorities caused such unrest that even Mao had to bring it to an end.
113
August 1966 rally
The official starting date of the Cultural Revolution was May 1966 when the Central Cultural Revolution Committee came into being. However, the event that first brought the Cultural Revolution to the attention of the Chinese people and to the outside world was 18th August 1966. On this day, over 1 million people, the majority of them in their teens or early twenties, packing into Tianamen Square in Beijing. Waving their Little Red Books, they screamed themselves hoarse in an outpouring of veneration for Mao.
114
Attack on the 'four olds'
As part of the Cultural Revolution, the young were encouraged to attack the 'Four Olds': old ideas; old culture; old customs; and old habits.
115
Cultural destruction
Cultural objects related to the 'Four Olds' were attacked by hordes of Red Guards. Sculptures, statues and artefacts were defaced and desecrated. Libraries with Western books or traditional literature were burned. Temples were ransacked and priceless cultural relics destroyed.
116
Foot binding
Girls would have their feet bound at the age of six, their toes turned under their feet and held there by tightly wound bandages. The process was designed to stunt their growth because small feet were considered to be sexually appealing to prospective suitors, who would be willing to pay a higher 'bride-price' for a more attractive wife.
117
1950 Marriage Law
As a result of this: concubinage and arranged marriages were banned; husbands and wives were to have equal status in the home; the exchange of money or gifts in return for marriage was prohibited; a wife could now inherit her husband's property; and, divorce became much easier.
118
The Women's Association
This was dedicated to encouraging political activism among women. It had an official membership of 76 million. It campaigned against prostitution and domestic violence.
119
Growth of literacy
The Communists introduced a national primary school system for the first time. Between 1949 and 1957, the number of primary school students increased from 26 million to 64 million. The literacy was up to 64% by 1964.
120
Pinyin
Before 1949 the Chinese language was very difficult to learn. Instead of an alphabet it used ideograms (pictures that represented words). These symbols varied greatly from region to region. A new form of written language was introduced in order to simplify the written characters - called Pinyin, it became the official language of the whole of China.
