Contemporary Chinese Culture - Assignment Example

Running Head: CONTEMPORARY CHINESE CULTURE Contemporary Chinese Culture Name Course Lecturer Date Contemporary Chinese Culture: Short Answers The 1911 Revolution The 1911 revolution in China brought relief to the country after the end of the rule of the Qing Dynasty and the ultimate end of the imperial system. The Qing Dynasty forcefully held into power thus led to inefficient emperors and deprived the Manchu enough power that it deserved. There was serious corruption right from top government officials and oppression against the poor was on the increase. Yujiro (2012) asserts that the contemporary China is a land of economic, cultural and political freedom. Unlike the Qing dynasty, people from China and the mainland are now doing business together, learning form one another and interacting freely. The subsequent presidents after the revolution including the current one, President Ma Ying-jeou, have emphasized the use of dialogue with the mainland based on the concept of flexible diplomacy. Besides that the revolution enhanced introduction of western, modern ideas into China. This came about due to introduction of treaty-ports and missionary efforts which rough about the concepts of republicanism and democracy which were further reinforced by several Chinese intellectuals. The revolutionary saw a great deal of Chinese intellectuals, who were living in foreign countries during the Qing Dynasty, came back to the country and develop it in social, economic and political perspectives (Yujiro, 2012). The 21 demands The 21 demands were imposed on China by Japan for taking advantage of the European countries entanglement in the WWI. In the demands, Japan stipulated its intentions to migrate millions of its citizens into spheres of Inner Mongolia and Manchuria, where Japan holds exclusive control over coastal China. Japan also demanded various levels in Chinese government and that it could lease Port Arthur for 99 years. However, China only agreed to nine clauses among the 21 demands in exchange of Japan acknowledgement of Yuan Shikai’s coming imperial enthronement. The final results of the 21 demands were more negative on Japan than positive. For instance, the government of US expressed negative reactions towards Japan for encroaching Chinese sovereignty. In China, the overall reaction towards the 21 demands was negative with many people developing ill-will against Japan. It actually resulted to the birth of May Fourth Movement which later led to the upsurge in nationalism. According to… the 1915 Japan’s 21 demands intended to reduce China to a protectorate. This therefore, implies that Chinese culture had been compromised during the era (Xiang, 2012). “New Youth” magazine The new youth magazine also referred to as the La Jeunesse magazine played an influential role in the spread of May Fourth Movement and during the initiation of the New Culture Movement. The magazine exploited issues of Cultural Revolution in order to support political change. “New year’s sacrifice” and “My Views on Chastity” were some of the most influential readings in the magazine that empowered women over their destiny. They attacked traditional systems of the family like those that prohibited women from remarrying after the death of their husbands. The magazine has detailed a lot of Lu Xun writings in relations to matters pertaining to women. He explored restrictions placed on women especially on political and economic spheres. For instance, a woman without an heir had no right to claim inheritance of her husband’s property. Arguably, the new youth magazine contributed to political reforms in China through cultural and educational reforms. In contemporary China, women are more empowered as depicted by their increasing numbers in the business world, politics and in all education platforms. Hu Shi (Hu Shih) Hu Shi (Hu Shih) was a Literary Revolution leader who was on the forefront in fighting against the Japanese claim over the Chinese territory. He was renowned for popularizing student’s publications that made a hallmark in 1919. These publications were written in pai hua. In actual fact, The New Youth magazine was developed to appreciate the likes of Hu Shi who had made remarkable contribution in China’s New Culture Movement. According to editors and interpreters of Hu’s articles, his proposals were geared towards making a “literary revolution”. The New Youth Magazine later adopted Hu’s style for its operative policies. In his writings, Hu contended that Chinese intellectuals should quit politics and concentrate on intellectual transformation and non-political cultural matters. For a long time, China was regarded as having no experience as a democratic political system. For this reason, Hu strived to see the country grow into democracy from the intellectual origin. According to his thoughts, democracy is a state of the mind that works best in given set of social conditions and not necessarily a system of political institutions. Hu is considered as a modern day pinnacle figure and his contribution ha significant contribution in development of Chinese rhetoric and western rhetoric tradition. He brought a transition in the Chinese culture. Rather than emulating other modernized nations, Hu searched for source materials from his own country’s ancient development of scientific and logic thoughts in order to find uncertainties of the modern age (Butterfield, 2012). The Baihua movement The original idea to begin the movement was to solve the Chinese language and communication. The movement was initiated by Hu Shi immediately after his publication named “ Some tentative suggestions for the reforms of Chinese literature”. According to Hu, wenyan was no longer compatible with Chinese contemporary experiences and thus his proposal of the baihua would revitalize Chinese overall literature. According to Lu et al (2002), introduction of baihua movement spread across China like a wild fire and became one of the most magnificent cultural concepts of the 20th century. Amidst many debates and resistance, many Chinese intellectuals viewed the movement as a reform of communication where language was not just a tool of communication but a message of communication. Hu maintained that literary liberation could only be achieved by prior liberation of script and style. There is a strong relationship between content and form. Thus, constraints in form inhibit sufficient expression of ideas. Fruits of the baihua movement are clearly evident in contemporary China. Today, people can freely interact with each other, share ideas and interests thus enjoy the freedom and fullness of their interaction. Chen Duxiu (Ch’en Tu-Hsiu) Chen Duxiu was one of the major leaders of the Cultural Revolution in China. He was the establisher of the youth magazine which was later renamed the new youth magazine. In his articles, he constantly persuaded the youths of China to undertake vast cultural, literary and intellectual revolution in order to rejuvenate the country. In his writings he collaborated with other cultural and political activists such as Hu Shi, Li Dazhao and Mao Zedong. During his reign, Chen rejected Chinese traditional values and embraced Marxism which he regarded an easier means to achieve mass democracy. However, he recognized the role played by bourgeoisie in achieving Chinese revolution. He founded the Chinese Communist cell in 1920 and was appointed the secretary general of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1921. Chen’s participation in the CCP, as the secretary general is what many scholars in the contemporary China have researched about. Chen made history for making one of the largest networks of people ever. Through him together with his associates, ideas were able to travel to the modern society. Chen’s life meaningfully intersected into the lives of many people in the nineteenth and twentieth century (Chao, 2009). The Versailles Peace Conference The Versailles Peace Conference in France took place beginning the 18th of January 1919 which saw the signing of major peace treaties between Germany and Allied powers namely, Britain, U.S.A, France and Italy at Versailles Palace near Paris. (Brezina, 2006) The Versailles treaty was signed on the 28th day of 1919 but China did not sign the treaty. The conference concluded that Germanys began the war and saw it loose many colonies all over the world and face major restrictions on military, imports and legal among other harsh conditions including payment of reparation. Germany was to either sign the treaty or have the Allied invade her. The Far East nations like China and Japan issues were to be discussed as well. For instance, the ineffectiveness of Chinese government was topic to handle. China had sent her delegation to the conference to table some issues of interest to her among them , the restoration of Shandong to china from Germany as Britain had promised in 1914. However, she was not invited at the inner council of the 3 powers: Britain, France and U.S.A during the decision making on the issue and had to wait for a while to know the way forward. The information on the proceedings had leaked and terms at the conference annoyed the Chinese back home, Shandong province of China formerly under German was to handed over to Japan. This catalyzed the students into mass action on the 4th of May 1919, and stikes (Andelman, 2008). The events of May 4th 1919 4h May, 1919 is a crucial and memorable date in the history of China`s revolution. The events of the 4th of May 1919 refer to all incidences that occurred on that date. In the morning a meeting was held by student representatives from thirteen local universities and colleges held a meeting in Beijing. Imperialism, dissatisfaction by results of the Versailles Peace Conference in Paris which handed Shandong province to Japan by rather than returning it to China from Germans and the incompetence of Chinese leaders in liberating the country from foreign colonizers were key issues. Certain resolutions were drafted. These included, the opposition of handing over Province of Shandong to Japan, calling for meeting to take place in Beijing, mobilize formation of a Beijing student union and called a protest against Treaty of Versailles later that afternoon as well as removal from power of Lu, Chang and Ts`ao who were held accountable bad treat conclusions. In the afternoon at about 1:30 pm, around 3,000 students had assembled by the Tiananmen Gate ready to begin protest despite a warning not to by the authorities. A national wide mass demonstrations and strikes began with university and college students and later joined by businessmen and workers by day .It began peacefully but later changed to opposition from police and increase of crowd. They chanted statements and held pamphlets conveying their demands. During the riots, a house of house a official of government was burnt down leading to wounding and arrest of many students. This caused a more peaceful protest around Beijing and around other provinces. The may 4th events caused students to keep demonstrating and meeting often to plan which also lead to formation of China first ever United organization for student on may 6th 1919. The strike went on until 22n July when the student union called of the strike (Lianfen, 2010). The New Culture Movement The movement was established starting mid 1910’s to 1920’s following frustration by the government to address problems related to the traditional Chinese culture. The movement was initiated by political figures such as Chen, Hu Shi, Lu Xun and Cai Yuanpei who were all against Confucian culture. They lobbied for introduction of a new culture that reflected western and global standards especially with regard to science and democracy. Since its upsurge, western cultures and doctrines have become more popular and fashionable in China. For instance anarchism which was quite influential years before the revolution was largely displaced with socialism which persists to date. Even so, there were many critics of the movement such as Indian Nobel Laureate Rabindarantath Tagore who felt that incorporating too much civilization into Chinese culture would lead to detrimental effects. Nevertheless, The New Culture Movement has evidently supported China in developing through increased democracy and science. According to Jing (2008), science has become a vital interment in discarding the darkness of superstition and ignorance. Besides that feminism has been embraced as evidenced by increasing number of women in political and business arenas. The movement has also boosted other areas including individualism and technology. “The Diary of a Madman" Lu Xun story of “Diary of a madman” has indeed stood as a cradle of contemporary Chinese literature. Lu Xun makes significant reference to the work of Nietzsche ideas in this story. This however, has brought a lot of contention among Japanese authors who feel that the work done by Lu Xun were merely translation variants of Nietzsche’s previous works. The story makes note of the fact that Chinese traditional literature had already connected “madness” to a rebellious or even critical attitude towards the established dominant ideology. The western tradition view madness as a form of critical perspective while according to Makism Gorkij, madness is precisely the symptom of special social conditions (Jones, 2011). References Andelman, D. (2008). A shattered peace: Versailles 1919 and the price we pay today. Hoboken: Wiley J $ Sons. Andelman, D. (2008). A shattered peace: Versailles 1919 and the price we pay today. Hoboken: Wiley J $ Sons. Brezina, C. (2006). The Treaty of Versailles, 1919: a primary source of treaty examination of the treaty that ended World War 1. New York: Rosen publisher Group. Butterfield, R. (2012, May). China's 20th Century sophist: Analysis of Hu Shi's ethics. logistics and pragmatism. A dessertation . Chao, A. (2009). Chen's Duxius Early Years: The importance of perosnal connection in the social and intellectual tranformation of China 1895-920. Houston: A thesis submitted in partila fulfillment of the requirements for the degree. Jing, L. (2008). The new culture movement and the breakthrough in Chinese academic library reform. LIbrary history, 24(1) , 37-47. Jones, A. (2011). Developmentalmfairy tales: evolutionalry thinking and modern Chinese culture. Cambridge: Harvard university press. Lianfen, Y. (2010). The Absence of Gender in May Fourth Narratives of Woman`s Emancipation: A case Study on Hu Shi`s The Greatest Event in Life. New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies 12 (1) , 6-13. Lu, X., Wenshan, J., & Heisey, D. (2002). Chinese communication sudies:context and comparisons. Westport: CT Ablex publishers. Xiang, A. (2012). First world war and China- Japan's Twenty-one Demands . Retrieved 8 13, 2012, from http://www.republicanchina.org/Japan_Twenty-one_Demands.pdf Yujiro, M. (2012). The regional structure of the 922 revolution: The North and the South Chinese history. Journal of cultural interaction in the East Asia, 3 , 8-14. Read More