Theme 4: Social and Cultural Changes - 1949-76 Flashcards
What marriage reform took place under Mao?
Mao introduced the new Marriage Law
What was the new Marriage Law (1950)?
-concubinage (an interpersonal and sexual relationship in which the couple are not or cannot be married) was abolished
-arranged marriages were to be discontinued
-the paying of bride-price was forbidden
-women who had been forced to marry were entitled to divorce their partners
-all marriages had to be officially recorded
(N)-clauses were added to the PLA regulations giving soldiers the right to over-rule their wives plea for a divorce
(N)-women took to many husbands and proved distruptive
What was the impact of collectivisation on women?
- women were allowed to own and sell property
- —>undermines Great Leap Forward
- —>capitalist
- women were expected to do the worm of men which could be dangerous physical labour
What was the impact of the famine on women + family?
- circumstances made it difficult for them to remain providers for their children
- psychological shock suffered by mothers
- divorce became common (less mouths to feed)
- wife selling became popular (obtain grain to keep rest of household alive
- prostitution became widespread
- after wife-selling and famine, women refused to go back to their original homes
What was life like for women before Mao?
many women forced into arranged marriages. they could not own property and had no political voice
What was life like for women under Mao?
“women hold up half the sky”
-women could earn equal pay for equal work on the communes
-more job and educational opportunities
HOWEVER
-women had burden of working and looking after children
-women tended to get less food then men
-job and educational opportunities not as good as mens
-women suffered the most during the famine
How involved were women in the politics of China?
Jiang Qing had a key political role within the party - showing women now possessed greater control in the way the country was run
HOWEVER
women jobs within the party were limited and did not go very far
What was education like pre-Mao?
- just 30% of men, 1% of women could read a simple letter
- males attended 4 years of schooling, females on 3 years
What was Mao’s educational reform?
- new form of written language was introduced in order to simplify the highly complex characters
- winter courses provided short courses for adult peasants
- ministry of education was set up
What were the primary school student rates?
between 1949-57, students increased from 26million to 64million
by 1959 100% of rural girls finished, compared to 38% pre-Mao.
Why did the government introduce a new written language?
- could be pronounced phonetically
- greatly improved communication
What were the failings of educational reform?
- mainly children of party officials and of the old bourgeoisie attended
- rural children mainly did not receive any education
- winter schools ineffective as peasants forget what they had been taught the year before
Why was manual labour introduced into the curriculum?
- to prepare students to expand china’s economic power
- during the Great Leap Forward, Mao promoted ‘half work half study’ curriculum that rejected traditional techniques
Why were schools and universities closed during the Cultural Revolution?
- red guards abandoned their education to travel to rallies
- young people denounced and attack their teachers
- the violence completely shattered China’s school system
What were the urban and rural education systems focused on?
urban - academic elite, qualified
rural - vocational, aid the economy
