The People's Republic of China Flashcards
Autonomous Regions
A territorial unit that is equivalent to a province and contains a large concentration of ethnic minorities
Cadres
A person that exercises a position of authority in a communist party-state.
Central Committee
The top 350 or so leaders of the Chinese Communist Party. It meets annually for about two weeks and is charged with carrying on the business of the National Party Congress when it is not in session
Central Military Commission (CMC)
The most important military organization in the People’s Republic of China. Headed by the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, who is the commander-in-chief
of the People’s Liberation Army.
Chiang Kai-Shek
A Chinese political and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China between 1928 and 1975.
Chinese Communist Party
The founding and ruling political party of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
Collectivism
The theory and practice of the ownership of land and the means of production by the people or the state.
Confucianism
A system of philosophical and ethical teachings that has shaped Chinese culture.
Cultural Revolution
A chaotic mass movement in the People’s Republic of China. Mao Zedong launched it in 1966, claiming that elitists were undermining the government and Chinese society
Deng Xiaoping
Was a Chinese revolutionary and statesman. He was the paramount leader of China from 1978 until his retirement in 1992 (economic reforms!!)
Floating Population
Migrants from the rural areas who have moved temporarily to the cities to find employment
Free Market
An economic system in which prices are determined by unrestricted competition between privately owned businesses
General Secretary
The formal title of the head of the Chinese Communist Party. From 1942 to 1982, the position was called “chairman” and was held by Mao Zedong
Great Leap Forward
A utopian effort to speed up the country’s development so rapidly that China would catch up economically with Britain and the United State in just a few years. (backyard steel mills)
Guanxi
A Chinese term that means “connections” or “relationships” and describes personal ties between individuals based on such things as common birthplace or mutual
acquaintances.
Han
The great majority of China’s citizens that are ethnically Chinese
Household Responsibility System
The system put into practice in China beginning in the early 1980s in which the major decisions about agricultural production are made by individual farm families based on the
profit motive rather than by a people’s commune or the government
Hu Jintao
Leader of China between 2002 and 2012
Iron Rice Bowl
A feature of China’s socialist economy during the Maoist era (1949-1976) that provided
guarantees of lifetime employment, income, and basic cradle-to-grave benefits to most urban and rural workers
Li Qiang
Current Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China
Mao Zedong
A Chinese Communist revolutionary and the founding father of the People’s Republic of
China
Maoism
The communist doctrines of Mao Zedong as formerly practiced in China, having permanent revolution as a central idea and stressing the importance of the peasantry, of
small-scale industry, and of agricultural collectivization
National Party Congress
The symbolically important meeting held every five years for about two weeks with about 2,200 representatives of the Chinese Communist Party, who endorse policies and the allocation of leadership positions that have been determined beforehand by the party’s much smaller ruling bodies
National People’s Congress
The legislature of the People’s Republic of China. It is under the control of the Chinese Communist Party and is not an independent branch of government.
