theme 4: Social and Cultural changes 1949-76 Flashcards
What did Confucianism say?
Men superior to women
Respect ancestor (ancestor worship)
Specific gender roles
What was foot binding
The breaking and binding of feet to make feet small which was considered attractive
When was foot binding outlawed
1911 but still continued in some rural areas
When was the marriage law
1950
What did the marriage law ban.
Arranged marriages, bride price, concubinage and polygamy.
Men could not divorce wife is she was pregnant or within a year of giving birth
What did marriage law allow.
Divorce, women could keep property already owned after marriage
How did mao try and implement marriage law?
Launched huge propaganda campaign initially an a second one in 1953
When was the land distribution campaign?
1950
What did he land distribution campaign allow
Women could own land in their own name. Short lived as collectivisation meant no one could own their own land
Why should have communes been good for women
Nurseries, launderers and canteens were provided
Why weren’t communes good for women?
Few communes had good facilities
Work points meant women earned less due to physical limits f
Why weren’t work points good for women
Physical labour meant women earns less. In times of famine men were prioritised for food as they were more productive. Caused many to turn to prostitution
Was there an increase in divorces during famine.
Yes. In gansu province divorce rate increased by 60 % during famine
How did the removal of family value impact children and old people
Children without mothers were sold or abandoned
Old people were abandoned and left to fend for themselves especially during famine
During cultural revolution what were children told
The CCP and mao were there real parents
What was the “lost generation”
The teenagers sent to the countryside when red guard disbanded as they found it difficult to reintegrate in society
Mao and birth rate
Mao was originally in favour of a huge population for mass mobilisation campaigns but realised there wasn’t enough resources for huge population.
In 1962 contraception became widely available
In 1970s mao wanted the birth rate to be reduced to 2%. Later pressurised women into limiting number of children to 2
What did maos ideas on birthdate lead to
One child policy in 1979
In first year of marriage law how many women divorced
1 million
How many women were in the workforce
1949-76 number of women in industry quadrupled
Still less than 1/3 of the work force
What did women have to sacrifice for emancipation?
Any feminine roles
Where was the strongest resistance to female liberation
Rural area specifically Muslim areas where arranged marriage was part of their culture
Example of resistance to women’s role changing
Many party officials disagreed so did not enforce policies such as the marriage law
Practices like foot binding continued in places such as xiangxi
Literacy in China
Majority of peasant illiterate
1950s set up national primary education system
Literacy increased from20% in 1949 to 50% in 1960
Cultural revolution slowed progress and by 1976 only 70% literate
How many children in full time education 1956
Less than 1/2 aged 7-16
Where was there inequality in education
Key schools attracted the best teachers and they had strict entrance exams and places were reserved for the children of party officials
What did lack of technical experts in higher education cause
Many students went to Russian universities until Sino-soviet split in 1959
When was pinyin introduced
1956
What was pinyin and why was is good
Had an alphabet and was pronounced phonetically compared to mandarin. Helped growth in literacy significantly
What happened to education in cultural revolution
1966-70 schools and universities closed
Education of around 130 million young people stopped
What happened to education after cultural revolution?
- red guard teens still not schooled as sent to countryside
- education undermined after teachers humiliated and curriculum dismissed
- focus on vocational training and practical work in education
How many barefoot doctors
1 million
What were barefoot doctors
Medical trainees
How much training did barefoot doctors get
6 months
What did barefoot doctors do?
Promoted simpl hygiene, preventative health care and treated common diseases
How were barefoot doctors good ideologically
Hoped to expos young intellectuals to peasant conditions so they wouldn’t slip into bourgeois mindsets so spent half their time working in agriculture
how many villages involved in barefoot doctor scheme?
1965 - 1976: 90% of villages had joined scheme
What was the international response to barefoot doctors
Successful. Received attention and World Health Organisation endorses similar schemes around the world
What were barefoot doctors another example of
Mass mobilisation campaign as there were huge propaganda movements where people travelled to spread health care messages
Why was there an emphasis on prevention over cure
Lack of sufficiently trained doctors and nurses and lack of hospital facilities
What was launched to help health care get off the ground
Germ warfare scare during Korean War
Where was there success in health care
Reduced death rate from waterborne diseases
Life expectancy increased from 41 in 1950 to 63 by 1970
Infant mortality rate fell
How did barefoot doctors reduce death from waterborne diseases
Encouraged digging deeper wells and careful disposal of human waste
What was bad about health care provision
Imbalance as better quality care was available in cities
What did land reform act and destroying village life do to culture?
Bought an end to festivals such as festival of lateens and new year festival.
What did reunification campaign do to culture?
Devastating effect on Tibetan and Xinjiang culture
What were agit-prop grouls?
Agitation and propaganda groups. Toured the country to persuade people to abandon traditional culture
What was the result of the August 1966 attack on the four olds
Religious artefacts and temples destroyed and philosophical books burnt. Religious shrines in houses replaced with pictures of mao
What happened to monks in Tibet?
Denounced. Some forcibly enlisted into military academies or killed at struggle meetings.
During GLF they were physical labourers
When was there an intense anti-Buddhist propaganda campaign
1958
Numbers for China getting rid of missionaries?
1851 there were over 3000 missionaries, by 1954 there were 354
How was Catholicism attacked?
Wearing of religious symbols such as roasaries or crucifixes were banned
What gave mao the appearance of religious tolerance?
Patriotic churches. State run churches in which individual priests were coerced into joining
Why were catholics cracked down on and how?
They refused to accept patriotic churches. Subject to surveillance and self criticisms
Where was Islam most associated with
Xianjiang and gansu provinces
What happened to Islam in China?
Mosques seized and converted into meeting halls for struggle meetings
Mosques closed in CR and leaders were killed or forced to do humiliating jobs. In some places r Liguria leaders were forced to raise and eat pigs
Islamic intellectuals forced to shave their beards
How many catholics were there in China before 1949
3 million
rural china 1930s boys vs girls
1% girls literate
30% boys literate
% girls in primary school 1978
by 1978 45% primary school children girls
However this percentage decreased when it came to higher education
