Social and cultural changes - 1949-76

Question 1

What is Confucianism and how did it influence Chinese society?

Answer 1

• Confucianism was not a religion with set rituals, but an outlook on the world that emphasized human improvement and harmony.
• It viewed the afterlife as beyond human comprehension and focused on improving daily life.
• The core principles involved respect for others and learning from them, regardless of their beliefs.
• Over time, Confucianism emphasized obedience to authority and the preservation of social hierarchy, ideas that were later used by emperors to legitimize their power.

Question 2

How did the Communists intend to transform Chinese society and why was this important?

Answer 2

• The Communist rulers saw social and cultural policies as essential to ensure the permanence of their regime.
• These policies aimed to create a classless society and remove outdated practices like foot-binding, patriarchal traditions, and the capitalist mindset.
• Mao was determined to change society because he believed it would guarantee the long-term success of communism and secure his legacy beyond his death.
• Reforms aimed to elevate women, abolish the old social structures, and challenge the Confucian-based obedience and feudal practices, which were seen as hindrances to revolutionary goals.

Question 3

How did the status of women in China change between 1949 and 1976?

Answer 3

In theory:

• The Communists promised equality for women in all areas (political, economic, cultural, and social) through reforms such as the 1949 Common Program and the Marriage Law of 1950, which guaranteed women’s rights in marriage and divorce, as well as the abolition of arranged marriages.

In practice:

• Despite these laws, deeply rooted societal attitudes remained resistant to change, particularly in rural areas, where old practices continued, and some regions (like the Muslim areas in the west) resisted the reforms altogether.
• Although women’s legal status was greatly improved, entrenched male attitudes and traditional family roles continued to limit the impact of these laws in many communities.

Question 4

What were the key provisions of the Marriage Law of 1950, and how did they affect women?

Answer 4

The Marriage Law of 1950 introduced several groundbreaking reforms:

• It outlawed arranged marriages, dowries, and concubinage, making marriage a free choice between two individuals.
• It granted women the right to divorce, equal rights to property, and the right to keep property acquired before marriage.
• The law also stated that children born out of wedlock had the same legal rights as children born within marriage.
• The law was promoted through extensive government propaganda and grassroots campaigns to ensure compliance, but its impact was undermined by traditional resistance and difficulties in rural areas where old practices persisted.

Question 5

How did foot binding relate to traditional Chinese society, and what was its status after 1949?

Answer 5

• Foot binding was a traditional practice that involved binding young girls’ feet to deform them, often seen as a sign of beauty and status, but also a means to control women and restrict their mobility. It symbolized patriarchal control and subjugation of women.
• Although officially outlawed in 1911, foot binding continued in some rural areas, where it persisted well into the early years of Communist rule.
• The Communist government’s policy to ban foot binding helped bring an end to the practice, aligning with their broader efforts to dismantle feudal and patriarchal traditions in Chinese society.

Question 6

How did the Communists view and deal with feudalism in China?

Answer 6

• Feudalism in China referred to the hierarchical, land-based system that existed under imperial rule before 1911, in which the elite class held power over peasants, who were often subjugated.
• The Communists viewed feudalism as a symbol of the old, exploitative order, and aimed to destroy it entirely as part of their larger goal to build a socialist society.
• Through policies like land reform, the Communists sought to eliminate feudal structures and redistribute land to peasants. Social policies targeted to remove feudal concepts like Confucianism and patriarchy, and sought to create a society where traditional authority figures (landlords, fathers, emperors) were no longer revered or in control.

Question 7

What impact did the land redistribution campaign of 1950 have on women’s rights in China?

Answer 7

• The land redistribution campaign of 1950 allowed women to own land in their own name for the first time, marking a significant advancement in women’s emancipation.
• However, this change was short-lived, as the subsequent collectivisation scheme made private land ownership illegal for both men and women.

Question 8

How were the communes intended to benefit women, and what was the reality?

Answer 8

• In theory, communes were designed to offer support facilities like canteens, laundries, and kindergartens, which were intended to reduce women’s domestic workload and enable them to focus on agricultural or other communal enterprises.
• However, the reality was far less idealistic, as few communes had these facilities, and women continued to carry the burden of domestic chores.

Question 9

How did the working conditions in agriculture disadvantage women in the communes?

Answer 9

• Women typically earned fewer work points than men because the nature of agricultural work, which involved heavy physical labour, put women at a disadvantage in terms of productivity.
• Cadres, who were responsible for enforcing discipline, often held traditional, patriarchal attitudes, and were unsympathetic to requests from women for time off for pregnancy or menstruation, leading to harsher treatment.

Question 10

What were work points, and how did they impact women in the communes?

Answer 10

• Work points were awarded based on output and could theoretically be exchanged for rewards like cash or goods. However, in practice, work points became irrelevant in communes, where food was shared communally, and there were few rewards to be gained.
• Women, who often earned fewer work points, found little practical value in them, particularly when there were no goods to spend them on, which compounded their inequality.

Question 11

How did the famine years (1958-1962) affect women’s lives in the communes?

Answer 11

• During the famine, food scarcity increased women’s vulnerability as men, being considered the most productive workers, were allocated more food rations.
• Women, especially mothers, were forced to make difficult decisions about whether to feed themselves or their children, and the scarcity of food led to an increase in prostitution and divorce rates in badly affected areas.

Question 12

What social consequences did the famine have on women in affected areas?

Answer 12

• The famine caused a significant rise in the divorce rate, with areas like Gansu province seeing an increase of 60%. In many cases, one partner would leave to find work, and relationships would break down as a result.
• In desperate situations, families turned to wife-selling to stretch their limited resources and survive.

Question 13

What was the Communist Party’s approach to the traditional family, and how did it affect women’s roles?

Answer 13

• Mao and the Communist Party sought to destroy traditional family life, as it symbolized the Confucian values they aimed to overturn.
• The communes were central to this effort, attempting to reduce women’s roles as mothers and caregivers by separating men and women in many communes, allowing only occasional conjugal visits.

Question 14

What was the Communist Party’s ideal vision for family life according to the official view?

Answer 14

• The People’s Commune was presented as the new “family,” with the individual family framework being shattered for all time. The Party emphasized loyalty to the commune over the traditional family structure, as reflected in an excerpt from the China Youth Journal of 1958.

Question 15

How did the communal living and famine disrupt women’s lives and family structures?

Answer 15

• The communal living changes were implemented abruptly, causing disorientation among women. The famine (1958-1962) worsened the situation, leading to separation, divorce, and even the sale of wives to distant relatives in search of better conditions.
• Children without mothers
  were often sold or abandoned to reduce the number of mouths to feed, and elderly individuals who could no longer work were left to fend for themselves.

Question 16

How did the famine years (1958-1962) impact divorce rates and family stability in China?

Answer 16

• The famine years caused a significant rise in divorce rates, with families splitting due to the need for survival, particularly in provinces like Gansu. Some even resorted to wife-selling as a desperate measure.
• As conditions improved in the 1960s, many husbands sought to retrieve their wives, who preferred to remain in better circumstances elsewhere, highlighting the disruption caused to family life.

Question 17

What impact did the Cultural Revolution have on children and family relationships?

Answer 17

• During the Cultural Revolution, children were taught to regard Mao and the Communist Party as their true parents, disrupting family loyalty and causing children to inform on their relatives for holding old attitudes.
• Anchee Min, in her memoir The Cooked Seed, describes how her mother resisted Mao’s influence, even when her child was recognized as “MAO’S GOOD CHILD” for denouncing a teacher, illustrating the family disruption caused by the Revolution.

Question 18

How did the Cultural Revolution’s radical phase affect family stability, particularly with the Red Guards?

Answer 18

• During the radical phase of the Cultural Revolution, Red Guards were sent to the countryside, uprooting around 12 million teenagers between 1968 and 1972 from their families.
• Those who returned faced difficulties reintegrating, becoming part of China’s “lost generation”, highlighting the long-term disruption to family stability caused by this policy.

Question 19

How did Mao’s population policies affect women and the family structure in China?

Answer 19

• Initially, Mao celebrated population growth (from 540 million in 1949 to 940 million by 1976), viewing it as a sign of China’s rising power. However, by the mid-1950s, concerns about resources led to discussions about limiting population growth.
• The 1958-1962 famine intensified these concerns. In 1962, contraceptives were made widely available, and female cadres were tasked with encouraging family planning. Mao finally set a goal to reduce the birth rate to 2 percent by 1971, laying the groundwork for the one-child policy later introduced in 1979.

Question 20

What was the impact of the Marriage Law on women’s rights in China?

Answer 20

• The Marriage Law led to significant advances in women’s rights, including reducing the prevalence of arranged marriages.
• Over a million women used the new divorce system in the first year to escape unsatisfactory marriages.
• However, Rana Mitter argued that while the law reduced parental control, the state effectively replaced parents’ authority, particularly through the head of a woman’s work unit.

Question 21

How did the Marriage Law affect women’s freedom and employment opportunities?

Answer 21

• While the Marriage Law reduced parental power, many women faced new controls under state authority, especially in the workplace.
• Women made rapid progress in gaining paid employment, earning equal pay to men, though their output (and pay) was often lower due to the nature of their work.
• The proportion of women in the workforce grew from 8% to 32% between 1949 and 1976, but career advancement was limited due to male domination in higher management roles.

Question 22

How did industrial growth and higher education affect women’s work and opportunities?

Answer 22

• The First Five-Year Plan (1953-1957) contributed to an increase in women’s participation in heavy industry and the services sector, providing more employment opportunities.
• However, higher education was not free or compulsory, and many women were under pressure to fulfill domestic roles, making it harder for them to pursue higher education or career training.
• Women in higher education were underrepresented compared to men, reflecting gender disparities in career training.

Question 23

How did Communist propaganda portray women’s roles in society?

Answer 23

• Communist propaganda often depicted women as happy and fulfilled, showing them in traditionally male roles like soldiers, metal workers, and Red Guards.
• The propaganda emphasized gender equality by suggesting that women could perform the same roles as men, but it overlooked the fact that women were often pressured to abandon traditional feminine roles to fit these male-dominated roles.

Question 24

What was the effect of the Cultural Revolution on women’s rights and roles?

Answer 24

• The Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) reversed some of the gains made for women. Class issues were prioritized over gender equality, and women’s roles within the family were undermined due to attacks on the Four Olds.
• Women who became Red Guards had to adopt violent behaviors similar to their male counterparts, losing their distinct identities as women in the process, further diminishing their emancipation.

Question 25

Who was Deng Yulan, and how did her work impact the promotion of women’s rights?

Answer 25

• Deng Yulan was a woman whose work ethic caught the attention of the Women’s Federation, leading to her being used as a role model for promoting women’s rights.
• She won numerous awards and was invited to meet Chairman Mao in Beijing, but did not receive the same national propaganda coverage as her male counterparts.
• Her achievements became known through historians like Della Davin, who studied the archives for female model workers.

Question 26

How did rural resistance to female emancipation manifest in China, particularly in the Muslim provinces?

Answer 26

• Resistance to female emancipation was strongest in inland rural areas, where societal changes were slower to be accepted.
• In the Muslim provinces of the far west, arranged marriages were deeply ingrained in religious and cultural practices, and changing these traditional views was a difficult task left to cadres.
• Propaganda campaigns, often in the form of posters, supported the cadres’ efforts to change these attitudes.

Question 27

How did the Marriage Law and its implementation face male resistance, and what role did the All-China Women’s Federation play?

Answer 27

• Male resistance to the Marriage Law delayed its implementation in many areas.
• The government responded by stepping up propaganda campaigns in the early 1950s, using the All-China Women’s Federation to train cadres on the new law and to assure them it wouldn’t lead to chaos.
• Despite these efforts, male opposition to the Marriage Law remained strong in many regions.

Question 28

How did attitudes toward women’s pay for agricultural work change over time, and what was the effect of the Great Leap Forward?

Answer 28

• Attitudes toward women’s pay in agricultural work changed slowly, especially in the northern areas where women had rarely worked in the fields prior to the Great Leap Forward.
• While women filled labor shortages caused by the mass mobilization of men, gender-based pay inequality persisted, as women were often paid less than men for equal work.
• This inequality became more apparent when the communes were dismantled and replaced by small collectives, where work points were reintroduced.
• Despite women’s efforts, their output could not match men’s due to the physical nature of agricultural work, and no allowances were made for this.

Question 29

What is the significance of model workers in Chinese society, and why was Deng Yulan relatively unknown compared to male counterparts like Lei Feng?

Answer 29

• Model workers are celebrated in China as inspirational role models. While Deng Yulan was a prominent female worker, she remained relatively unknown compared to male figures like Lei Feng or Iron Man Wang Jin.
• Lei Feng’s diaries were publicized in 1963 to promote selfless dedication to military service, and Iron Man Wang Jin was celebrated for overcoming extreme conditions in 1960 to develop China’s oil field.
• Despite the People’s Daily condemning gender inequality and promoting equal pay for equal work, the Communist Party’s emancipated attitudes toward gender were not always reflected at the grassroots level.

Question 30

What is the role of the People’s Daily in Chinese society, and how does it relate to the Marriage Law and women’s rights?

Answer 30

• The People’s Daily is a government newspaper established in 1946, functioning similarly to Pravda in Russia by providing official information on government policies.
• It often echoed the Party’s views on women’s rights, including the promotion of equal pay and the Marriage Law. However, despite the Party’s rhetoric, the reality of gender equality was not always reflected in everyday practices, especially at the local level.

Question 31

Why did Mao reject traditional Chinese education, and what did he prioritize instead?

Answer 31

• Mao rejected traditional Chinese education for being elitist and overly influenced by the West.
• He believed learning should come from experience rather than formal education, and he aimed to create a more literate and educated society for both economic and political reasons, as technical specialists were needed for economic progress and communist ideas could spread more quickly among literate people.

Question 32

What was the state of literacy in China when the Communists came to power, and how did it change by the mid-1960s?

Answer 32

• When the Communists came to power, most peasants were illiterate, with the national literacy rate at just 20 percent in 1949.
• By 1960, the literacy rate had risen to 50 percent, and by 1964, it reached 64 percent. However, progress slowed after the Cultural Revolution, and by 1976, the literacy rate had only increased to 70 percent.

Question 33

What were the challenges in achieving higher literacy rates in China during the early years of Communist rule?

Answer 33

• Early progress was hindered by insufficient funding for primary education, with only 6.4 percent of the national budget allocated to culture and education in 1952.
• In 1956, fewer than half the children aged 7-16 were in full-time education.
• The government also spent considerable resources on the Korean War rather than education, slowing the pace of progress.

Question 34

How did elitist elements from the old education system persist after the Communist takeover?

Answer 34

Despite Mao’s desire to reform education, elitist elements persisted:

• Key schools attracted the best teachers and reserved places for the children of high-ranking

Party and government officials.

• Strict entrance exams determined entry to these schools, and the expansion of higher education and a focus on science and technology reflected the need for more technical experts.
• Before the 1959 split with the Soviet Union, many students also studied at Russian universities, but opportunities to study in the West were limited after 1949.

Question 35

What is Pinyin, and how did it help improve literacy in China?

Answer 35

• Pinyin is a modernized phonetic system for Mandarin, officially adopted in 1966 to address the lack of a standardized language, which had hindered literacy.
• Pinyin assigns symbols to the sounds of Mandarin, making it easier to learn and write.
  It gradually replaced other forms of written Chinese and helped literacy spread more quickly across the country. It also facilitated communication with other countries once it became widely accepted.

Question 36

What was the impact of the Cultural Revolution on education in China, particularly between 1956 and 1970?

Answer 36

• Between 1956 and 1970, schools and universities were largely closed during the Cultural Revolution, and the education of about 130 million young people came to a halt.
• Red Guards disrupted the education system, and even when they stopped attacking it, young people were sent to the mountains and country villages after 1968, preventing them from receiving schooling.

Question 37

What difficulties were faced when schools reopened after the Cultural Revolution?

Answer 37

• When schools reopened, restoring confidence in the education system was a significant challenge.
• Teachers had been attacked and ridiculed, the curriculum was dismissed as irrelevant, and the purpose of education was undermined.
• It took time to rebuild trust in the system, and the aftermath of the disruption left a lasting impact.

Question 38

How did the role of education change after the Cultural Revolution?

Answer 38

• During the Cultural Revolution, education’s primary purpose was to serve the revolution, and learning was not seen as intrinsically useful.
• After the Cultural Revolution, Zhou’s Four Modernisations sought to rebuild the education system, but the focus shifted towards practical work and vocational training, with fewer exams being taken.

Question 39

What was the role of barefoot doctors during the Cultural Revolution?

Answer 39

• During the Cultural Revolution, one million medical trainees were sent to rural areas as barefoot doctors.
• They provided rudimentary medical help to the rural peasantry, promoting basic hygiene, preventative health care, and family planning.

Question 40

How were the barefoot doctors trained, and what were the key features of their training?

Answer 40

• Barefoot doctors underwent six months of intensive training, with a focus on practical skills.
• Their education emphasized providing basic medical treatment and practical health care rather than academic learning, aligning with the revolutionary goals of the time.

Question 41

What were the three main purposes of the barefoot doctor program?

Answer 41

Medical Purpose:

• To address endemic diseases like cholera, malaria, and dysentery, and to reduce high mortality rates in rural areas.

Ideological Purpose:

• Exposing young intellectuals to peasant conditions to prevent them from adopting bourgeois mindsets and to ensure their education directly supported the revolutionary cause.

Economic Purpose:

• The program was cost-effective, with short training periods and lower wages for the barefoot doctors, which were funded by the local village government.

Question 42

How successful was the barefoot doctor program, and what were its impacts?

Answer 42

• The barefoot doctor program was highly successful on both health and propaganda levels.
  By 1976, 90% of villages were involved in the scheme, providing basic medical care to the rural peasantry.
• The scheme received international attention, and the World Health Organization endorsed it, seeing it as an effective model for universal health care.

Question 43

What were the patriotic health movements initiated by the Communist Party, and how were they implemented?

Answer 43

• Starting in 1952, the Communist Party launched patriotic health movements to promote hygiene and disease prevention.
• These campaigns were led by Party workers and involved street committees, neighborhood committees, and propaganda (posters, leaflets, and films) to educate the peasantry on the link between dirt and disease.
• The emphasis was on prevention, as there was a shortage of hospitals, doctors, and nurses.

Question 44

How did the Communist Party address waterborne diseases and hygiene issues in rural areas?

Answer 44

• The government worked to reduce death rates from waterborne diseases by promoting the digging of deeper wells for drinking water and the disposal of human waste in designated pits away from homes.
• The use of human waste (“night soil”) as fertilizer was discouraged because it contributed to disease.
• Campaigns also educated the peasantry on controlling snails that spread schistosomiasis, a serious infection.

Question 45

What was the four pests campaign, and what were the results of this initiative?

Answer 45

• During the Great Leap Forward, the Party initiated the four pests campaign to eliminate flies, mosquitoes, rats, and sparrows.
• This campaign was particularly popular with children, although the sparrowcide (killing of sparrows) backfired and caused ecological damage.
• Eventually, bed bugs replaced sparrows in the campaign, but this substitution was less successful.

Question 46

What was the state of hospital care and healthcare facilities in China during the early years of Communist rule?

Answer 46

• Hospital facilities were limited, with urban workers in industrial enterprises having the best access to treatment.
• In rural areas, county hospitals had trained doctors, but most care was provided at a lower level through village health centres and out-patient care.

Question 47

Despite limited spending on healthcare, what were the overall health improvements in China by 1970?

Answer 47

Despite insufficient government spending, there were significant health improvements:

• Life expectancy rose from 41 years in 1950 to 62 years by 1970.
• Infant mortality rates also fell during this period.

Question 48

Why did the Communists attempt to change Chinese culture after the revolution?

Answer 48

• Mao believed that changing Chinese culture was crucial for the long-term success of the revolution. He thought that only by transforming daily life—how people expressed themselves, behaved, and spent their leisure time—could the gains of the revolution be protected and its future secured.
• Culture was to reflect ordinary people’s concerns, and writers, artists, and musicians were expected to represent the proletariat (working class), not an elite intellectual class.

Question 49

What does the term proletarian mean in the context of Chinese culture under Mao?

Answer 49

• In Marxist terms, the proletariat refers to the working class, which does not own property and sells its labor to survive.
• Proletarian culture was to be produced by the proletariat, for the proletariat, and should reflect the life and concerns of working-class people, rather than the intellectual elite.

Question 50

How did the Ten Great Buildings and the remodelling of Tiananmen Square reflect the political purpose of cultural change?

Answer 50

• The Ten Great Buildings and the remodelling of Tiananmen Square were part of a larger effort to demonstrate the power and ideology of the Communist Party.
• Tiananmen Square was redesigned to accommodate over 500,000 people, making it larger than Red Square in Moscow, with no trees or benches to obstruct rallies.
• Buildings like the Great Hall of the People and the Revolutionary History Museum were constructed to emphasize the revolutionary spirit and the authority of the Communist Party.

Question 51

What were the Ten Great Buildings, and what was their purpose?

Answer 51

• The Ten Great Buildings were a set of prominent structures in Beijing, built in 1958-59 to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Communist rule in China on 1 October 1959.
• They included the Cultural Palace of Nationalities, Workers’ Stadium, and several state hotels and railway stations, designed to showcase the new China.
• Their architectural style blended influences from Soviet advisors and traditional Chinese architecture to symbolize China’s transition to a modern, socialist state.

Question 52

Why did the Communist Party seek to destroy old cultural attitudes, and what role did Confucianism play?

Answer 52

• Establishing proletarian culture required eliminating old attitudes rooted in the past.
• Since May 1919, intellectuals viewed Confucian culture as the main obstacle to progress.
• Confucianism was deeply tied to the land tenure system and patriarchal society, reinforcing traditional power structures.

Question 53

What was the significance of the May Fourth Movement of 1919?

Answer 53

• Sparked by protests against the Treaty of Versailles, which awarded Germany’s former Chinese colonies to Japan.
• Represented broader demands for modernization and reform in China.
• Influenced revolutionary movements in the decades that followed.

Question 54

How did the 1950 Land Reform impact traditional values, and what was the Communist Party’s goal?

Answer 54

• The Land Reform of 1950 dealt a major blow to Confucian values by breaking the power of landowners.
• Communist propaganda emphasized 1949 as a fresh start that required new attitudes.
• Peasants were now expected to work collectively under the state’s protection, shifting their loyalty from landlords to the Communist Party.

Question 55

How did the Communist Party control peasant life and undermine traditional customs before the Cultural Revolution?

Answer 55

• The creation of collectives and then communes allowed for strict control over peasants’ daily lives.
• The Party used this structure to stop traditional social customs and rituals.
• In their leisure time, peasants attended political meetings where new values were reinforced.
• Agit-prop touring groups performed shows and propaganda films that promoted Communist ideology in an entertaining way.

Question 56

What were agit-prop touring groups, and how did they spread Communist ideology?

Answer 56

• Agit-prop (short for agitation propaganda) groups, modeled after Soviet Russia, performed simple plays.
• The plays depicted peasants and workers as heroes triumphing over traditional enemies like landlords and religious figures.
• Audience participation was encouraged—people were expected to jeer the villains and cheer for the proletarian heroes.
• These performances helped to reinforce Communist ideology in an engaging and memorable way.

Question 57

How did the Cultural Revolution intensify attacks on traditional culture, and what role did the Red Guards play?

Answer 57

• In June 1966, Chen Boda’s editorial in the People’s Daily urged Red Guards to “sweep away the monsters and demons.”
• “Monsters and demons” referred to anyone associated with privilege or traditional values, making them targets.
• Over the next two years, Red Guards operated with little restraint, attacking both people and cultural artifacts.
• Museums and libraries were closed, and vast numbers of books, manuscripts, musical instruments, and paintings were destroyed.

Question 58

What was Jiang Qing’s role in cultural policy during the Cultural Revolution?

Answer 58

• Mao appointed his wife, Jiang Qing, to oversee cultural policy and direct the destruction of old values.
• Her role was to eliminate traditional cultural elements and replace them with proletarian culture.

Question 59

Who was Jiang Qing, and what was her role in shaping Chinese culture?

Answer 59

• Jiang Qing was Mao Zedong’s wife and a key figure in controlling Chinese culture during the Cultural Revolution.
• After her arrest, she defended her actions by stating: “I was Chairman Mao’s dog—whoever he asked me to bite, I bit.”
• Though she did not create cultural policies, she ruthlessly enforced them with the support of the Central Cultural Revolution Group (CCRG).
• She worked closely with the Minister of Culture and artists to ensure artistic works aligned with revolutionary ideals.

Question 60

How did Jiang Qing impose censorship and control over the arts?

Answer 60

• Established rigid censorship that prevented any artistic work from being released unless it met her standards of “cultural purity.”
• Most Western influences were banned as bourgeois, but piano music and oil paintings were exceptions due to her personal taste.
• Traditional stories had to be rewritten to reflect contemporary revolutionary themes.
• Artists unwilling to comply were either left unemployed or sent to labor camps for re-education.

Question 61

How did Jiang Qing use her power for personal revenge?

Answer 61

• She targeted former rivals, such as actresses who had won roles over her in the 1930s.
• Anyone who knew compromising details of her past also became a target.
• Personal vendettas influenced her strict control over cultural policies.

Question 62

What impact did Jiang Qing’s control have on creativity in China?

Answer 62

• Completely stifled artistic creativity, as only formulaic and predictable works were allowed.
• To fill the artistic void, she commissioned eight opera ballets, each portraying workers’ triumph over class enemies.
• These “model works” were the only theatrical entertainment available and were frequently broadcast nationwide.

Question 63

How were the eight model works received by the public?

Answer 63

• They were performed before massive audiences, who were expected to show approval.
• US President Nixon, during his 1972 visit, was impressed by the technical skill of The Red
  Detachment of Women, though he found the story shallow.
• Deng Xiaoping criticized them for lacking variety and entertainment value—Jiang later had him purged twice.
• Many were made into films, which dominated cinema between 1966 and 1973, as no other full-length films were produced and foreign films were banned.

Question 64

How widespread was the influence of Jiang Qing’s model works?

Answer 64

• The film adaptation of Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy had been viewed 7.3 billion times by 1974—equivalent to every Chinese person watching it seven times.
• The figure reflects both the lack of alternative films and the use of rural projection units to spread revolutionary propaganda.

Question 65

How did Jiang Qing influence painting and visual art?

Answer 65

• The Communist Party had already trained peasant women in Huxian, Shaanxi province, to create propaganda paintings during the Great Leap Forward.
  During the Cultural Revolution, professional artists were sent to train them further as part of a campaign to prove proletarian art had become a reality.
• These peasant artists were even sent to exhibit their work internationally, including in Paris in 1975.
• However, these efforts failed to disguise the decline in both the quality and quantity of artistic production under Jiang’s control.

Question 66

What was the overall effect of Jiang Qing’s cultural policies?

Answer 66

• Despite her strict control, no substantial body of new proletarian art emerged to replace what had been destroyed.
• Literature suffered immensely—only 124 novels were published during the Cultural Revolution, as writers feared censorship.
• Poet Yan Yen described his generation’s cultural trademark as “the lack of culture.”
  Jiang retained her grip on the arts until Mao’s death, after which her influence collapsed.

Question 67

What was the Communist Party’s general stance on religion?

Answer 67

• Article 5 of the Common Program promised freedom of religion, but in practice, the Communist Party sought to eliminate religious influence in China.
• Religion was viewed as a tool of the bourgeoisie to pacify the masses and prevent them from revolting.
• Mao was especially critical of Christian missionaries, seeing them as remnants of Western colonialism.
• The official policy dictated that religious institutions could continue to exist only under state control, following the Soviet model.

Question 68

How did the Communists attack Buddhism, particularly in Tibet?

Answer 68

Strategic reasons:

• Tibet was seen as a vulnerable buffer zone bordering India, and China sought to ensure full control over the region.

Brutal suppression:

• The PLA (People’s Liberation Army) crushed Tibet’s resistance in the 1950 invasion.
• Public practice of Lamaism (Tibetan Buddhism) was banned, and the Tibetan language was replaced by Mandarin.
• Buddhist monks and nuns were beaten, arrested, and expelled from monasteries.
• The Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 after an unsuccessful Tibetan uprising.

Deliberate famine and destruction:

• Policies such as the restructuring of Tibetan farms during the Great Leap Forward contributed to famine, killing 25% of Tibet’s population.
• During the Cultural Revolution (1965–1968), 6,000 monasteries were destroyed, and thousands of Buddhists were killed by Red Guards.

Long-term impact:

• While outward signs of Buddhism were largely eradicated, Buddhism remains the most widely practiced religion in China today.

Question 69

How did the Communists attack Confucianism?

Answer 69

Historical opposition:

• Confucianism had been criticized since the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1911 for allegedly holding back modernization.

Philosophical conflict:

• Confucian values emphasized respect for authority, family hierarchy, and social harmony, which contradicted Communist ideals of class struggle and revolution.

Cultural Revolution attacks:

• Communist propaganda denounced Confucianism as a relic of China’s feudal past.
• Students were sent to ransack Confucius’ home town of Qufu.
• The label “Confucius and Co.” was used to attack anyone seen as representing outdated traditions.

Continued influence:

• Some Confucian values, such as family loyalty and social harmony, proved too ingrained to eradicate and have since been reconsidered by Communist leaders.

Question 70

How did the Communists attack Christianity?

Answer 70

• “Patriotic churches” were established, which functioned under strict state supervision.
• The Three-Self Patriotic Movement was formed in 1953 to control Protestant Christianity.
• In 1957, the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association was created, leading to a break with the Vatican.

Cultural Revolution impact:

• Clergy were arrested, and public worship was banned.
• Christian churches were closed, their property confiscated, and religious leaders subjected to struggle sessions.

Long-term effects:

• Christianity survived in a diminished form, with underground churches continuing to operate.

Question 71

How did the Communists attack Islam?

Answer 71

Ideological conflict:

• Islam’s religious beliefs, particularly its views on gender roles, clashed with Communist atheism and policies on gender equality.

Strategic concerns:

• Most of China’s Muslim population lived in the northwestern provinces (Xinjiang, Gansu, Qinghai), making them a security concern due to their proximity to Soviet-influenced Muslim states.
• The PLA targeted these regions in the reunification campaigns of 1950.
• Han Chinese settlers were moved into Muslim-majority areas to dilute local identity.

Persecution and propaganda:

• The Chinese Islamic Association was formed to control Muslim practices.
• Many mosques were closed or vandalized, particularly during the Cultural Revolution.
• Muslim leaders were humiliated in public and forced to renounce their beliefs.

Ongoing oppression:

• While there has been a modest revival of Islam since 1976, restrictions on Uighur Muslims remain severe due to their geographic and political situation.

Question 72

How did the Communists attack ancestor worship?

Answer 72

Traditional beliefs:

• Ancestor worship involved maintaining graves and building ancestral temples to honor the dead, with the belief that neglecting these duties could result in bad fortune.
• It was closely tied to Confucian ideals of filial piety and family hierarchy.

Communist opposition:

• The practice was condemned as a feudal superstition that had no place in a socialist society.
• Communes made it easier to monitor and suppress ancestor worship ceremonies.

Public grief as political resistance:

• The government reacted harshly to public mourning, interpreting it as a sign of political dissent.
• The mass demonstrations following Zhou Enlai’s death in 1976 were seen as a revival of ancestor worship and were violently suppressed.

Long-term survival:

• Despite Communist efforts, ancestor worship remained deeply embedded in Chinese culture and continues to be practiced today.

Question 73

What was the overall impact of Communist religious policies?

Answer 73

Short-term success:

• The government successfully destroyed many religious institutions, exiled or arrested religious leaders, and suppressed public religious expression.
• State-controlled religious organizations allowed the Party to monitor and control remaining religious activity.

Long-term limitations:

• Some religious traditions, such as Buddhism, Confucianism, and ancestor worship, proved too deeply rooted to be completely eradicated.
• Underground religious movements persisted, and post-Mao reforms led to the revival of some religious practices.

Continued religious suppression:

• While the Cultural Revolution represented the peak of religious persecution, restrictions on religious freedom continue, particularly in regions like Tibet and Xinjiang.