Chapter 31/Section 1
The Emergence of Modern China
China’s Beginnings
• The Emergence of Modern China
• China has been rooted in agriculture since its
beginnings.
– Began along the Huang He River in northern China
around 3000 B.C.
• Confucianism guided emperors who considered
themselves the fathers of the people.
– Their main responsibilities were to see to the people’s
needs and rule by setting an example of fairness.
• Technology, both military and civilian was
looked down upon, due to the use of mass
population in both areas.
• Mid 1800’s, the lack of military technology
allowed western powers to influence China.
– United States and other European powers.
• These powers upset internal trade network of
China.
– Rebellions broke out across the country and a
period of turmoil follows.
The March to Communism
• By 1900 China had been separated into spheres
of influence.
– Areas in which foreign powers had some political and
economic control.
• To change this, the people of China advocated
three ways of doing so:
– One train of thought was to drop Chinese culture and
adopt Western ways altogether.
– A second choice was to reject the West entirely.
– The last choice was to adopt certain Western ideals,
such as technology to preserve tradition and culture.
March to Communism (Continued)
• In 1911, after a series of revolts, a new party
called the Nationalists party forced the
emperor of China to abdicate.
– The Nationalists declare China a republic with Sun
Yat-sen as their first President.
• Sun Yat-sen had been educated in the US. He wished to
adopt Western democratic practices.
Struggle for Power
• During the 1920’s, Sun Yat-sen dies and a new
leader named Chaing Kai-shek comes to power.
– Fighting breaks out between the Nationalists and local
warlords.
• Chaing is a trained soldier, and forms a disciplined
Nationalist army. He defeats warlord after
warlord.
– After finally controlling most of the country, he
establishes himself as president of the Republic of
China.
The Long March
• In the late 20’s the Nationalist party began to
fracture. Some had started to adopt Communist
beliefs.
– Those who adopted Communism believed that
Communism would solve the foreign intervention in
China by a worker’s revolution.
• Chaing Kai-shek ordered those who believed in
Communism to be shot.
– Those who survived the purge built a stronghold in
Jiangxi, which was attacked in 1933 by Kai-shek.
– This forced the Communists on a 6,000 mile trek
called the Long March.
The Long March (Continued)
• Disease, hunger, and constant attacks by the
Nationalists took their toll.
– Of the 100,000 that had started out on the march,
only 8,000 safely made the trip to Shaanxi.
• There, the Communists safely established a
new headquarters under the leadership of
Mao Zedong.
Communists Take Over
• The Japanese invasion during World War II forced
both the Communists and the Nationalists to join
forces and defeat the invaders.
– After the war ends, the sides continue fighting in the
Chinese Civil War.
– During the war, Mao established many reforms which
aimed at influencing the peasants of China to join the
Communist cause.
– The Nationalists were defeated in 1949, and Chaing
Kai-shek flees the mainland to Taiwan.
– Mao and his Communists establish the People’s
Republic of China.
A Communist Nation
• After both World War II and the Chinese Civil
War, much of China laid in ruins.
– Mao still invoked more reforms to increase
agriculture.
– Mao believed that replacing private ownership
with collective farms coupled with modern
technology would multiply the agricultural output.
– By 1956, 110 million families (82% of peasants)
worked on collective farms.