Communist China under Mao
“We must have faith in the
masses and we must have faith in
the Party. These are two cardinal
principles. If we doubt these
principles, we shall accomplish
nothing.”
Mao Zedong
“Protect the interests of the youth, women and
children - provide assistance to young students
who cannot afford to continue their studies, help
the youth and women to organize in order to
participate on an equal footing in all work useful to
the war effort and to social progress, ensure
freedom of marriage and equality as between men
and women, and give young people and children a
useful education....”
Mao Zedong
Questions
• What does this mean?
• What does this say about the Chinese
government under Mao?
Mao
• Wanted to help China by…
– Helping poor farmers
– Create economic equality
– Set up a dictatorship to force changes
• Totalitarian = government w/ total control
• In other words, he was a hardline communist
Great Leap Forward
• 1950s
• Wanted China to take a great leap forward by
using peasants to industrialize
• Created communes of collective farming
– Farmers forced to meet quotas & turn harvest
over to government
• Huge failure – resulting in famine
– Peasants too uneducated to industrialize
Cultural Revolution
• 1960s
• Effort to keep communist energy &
revolutionary spirit going
– Create youth groups called Red Guard
– Wrote book called: Little Red Book
• Tried to end old ideas & capitalism
• Huge failure: Attacked educated professionals
Cultural Revolution docs
1. Everyone read Origins of Cultural Rev.
2. Second reading, read 1 of:
– Cult of Mao
– Destroy Four Olds
– Rustication of Youths
• In groups of 3, discuss specifics of program
Communist China under
Deng Xiaoping
Deng
• Led China in 1980s
• Wanted to help China develop with more
economic freedoms
– Industrializing & focusing on manufacturing
– Wanted to allow for profits (motivation)
– Kept tight Communist control of government
• No democratic reforms
• 1-Child Policy to reduce population
• In other words, he was a dictator who wanted to
keep Communists in power without using
communist ideas.
Four Modernizations
• Special Economic Zones
– Cities allowed to trade
• Responsibility System
– Farmers given reduced quotas so extra harvest
could be sold for profit
Tiananmen Square Massacre
• 1989
• Students protest for democracy
• Government massacres 2000 protestors
Closure
• What is the difference between Mao Zedong
and Deng Xiaoping? What the similarity
between Mao and Deng?
China Today
China Today
• 2nd largest economy
– …but divided among almost 2 billion people
• Average Chinese person makes $10,000
• Average American makes $45,000
• Industrialized
– Economy based on manufacturing small, cheap
goods
– …but lots of pollution
How has Chinese family life changed?
• Tried to weaken influence of family
• Women gained legal equality
– Allowed choice in marriage
– Ended footbinding
– Work & school opportunities
What is China doing to limit
population growth?
• Population doubled under Mao
• One Child Policy
– Limits all couples to 1 child
– Fines families with more than 1
Why is China criticized for its views on
human rights?
• Does not allow any democracy
• Harshly punishes those who criticize
government
– Tiananmen Square
How has China’s relationship with
Hong Kong changed since 1997?
• Britain returned control of its colony won in
the Opium War to China
What is China’s relationship with
Taiwan?
• Tense
• Nationalists fled to Taiwan after losing civil
war
– Government in exile
– Waiting for Communist government to fall