The Chinese Revolution as Inspired by Marxist Theory - Term Paper Example

The Chinese Revolution as Inspired by the Marxist Theory: A Critical Review The Chinese Revolution is a topic of incredible significance. It came about with the collapse of the Manchu dynasty, a result of increasing internal disorders, pressure from foreign governments, along with the weakness of central government. The Chinese Revolution dealt with a series of great political upheavals in China between the time of 1911 and 1949 which eventually led to Communist Party rule and the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. The Chinese Revolution refers to the final stage of fighting (1946-1950) in the Chinese Civil War. What actually caused this event was a breakdown of peace talks between the Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party) and the Communist Party of China. After this breakdown, an all-out war between these two forces resumed. Ultimately, the People’s Liberation Army was victorious, and on October 1, 1949, Mao Zedong proclaimed the People’s Republic of China. The importance and significance of the Chinese Revolution is integral, and in order to come to a clearer and more knowledgeable understanding on this subject matter, certain political and economic issues must be addressed. As well, the historical factors and lessons learned from this occurrence must be included. The aim of this paper is to discuss all of this, along with other relevant and significant issues in regards to the Chinese Revolution. This is what will be dissertated in the following. The political and economic institutions of Revolutionary China (1949-1976) were very much inspired by Marxist theory on the transition from capitalism to socialism in several different ways. In China, Mao Zedong is remembered for many things. He is revered as the greatest of revolutionaries. However he has also been considered as among the worst politicians. “He knew well how to make a revolution, but once in power he could not put his love of revolution aside for the sake of governing.” (Compton’s Living Encyclopedia, 1995). Mao Zedong was born in Shaoshan, Hunan Province on December 26, 1893. During the Revolution of 1911-12 Mao served in the army for six months. Afterwards, he graduated from the First Provincial Normal School in Changsha in 1918. He was then sent to Peking University where he became embroiled in the Revolutionary May Fourth Movement. It was in 1921 when Mao helped found the Chinese Communist party, and it was only two years after this that he left work to become a full-time revolutionary. At the time of its founding in 1921, the Chinese Communist party was focused on organizing such things as urban workers, but resulting in achieving only limited success in this effort. The Communist Revolution was expected by Orthodox Marxism to begin among industrial workers, however, Karl Marx had developed his theories based upon highly industrialized economies, and the industrial sector in China was small and relatively primitive. “”It was Mao Zedong who adapted Marxist theory to the conditions of an underdeveloped, primary agricultural society.” (Compton’s Living Encyclopedia, 1995). Since the inception of the Chinese Communist Party, Marxism has been the guiding ideology for all of its actions. This theoretical framework is considered to have been enriched by what is called ‘Mao Zedong Thought’, which is seen as the sinification of Marxism by Mao Zedong. “Since the late 1950s, China’s ideological foundation is made up of two elements: Marxism as theory (or pure ideology) and Mao Zedong Thought as ‘thought’ (or practical ideology).” (Landsberger, 2000). According to Lin Biao, the studying of Marxism consisted for 99% of studying Mao’s Thought, and when Mao’s contributions were then reassessed in the late 1980s, it was interpreted as the collective wisdom of China’s veteran revolutionary leaders. The present Chinese economic reforms have resulted in incredibly significant progress over the last twenty years. There have been many major economic, social and political accomplishments made. For instance, despite the collapse of communism in most other nations of the world, even today, the People’s Republic of China remains staunchly communist. The economic accomplishments are especially dazzling. They have brought unprecedented growth, lifted millions from poverty, created the beginnings of a middle class and challenged the world with their trading prowess. The auto industry is another example of Revolutionary China’s economic accomplishments. Chinese consumers bought 1.2 million autos last year; the auto market grew by 80% through the first half of the year 2003. Social revolutions occur when “…(a) revolutionary political crisis emerges (due to the regime’s inability to cope with international pressure either because of landed upper class opposition to reforms which would endanger its wealth and status, or because of backward agrarian economy), and (b) the sociopolitical structures of the regime are conducive to peasant revolts (so the breakdown of administrative and military organizations during the crisis leaves the dominant class vulnerable to a revolution from below).” (Skocpol, 1979: 407). The radical transformation of China’s social and political organizations has brought about significantly remarkable progress in many different fields in the face of immense obstacles. Their new regime has taken measures to improve such things as: food; clothing and shelter; the stabilizing of the currency; the cleaning up of prostitution and beggary; the promotion of literacy; education and science; the expansion of public health and medical services; the introduction of social benefits for the aged and disabled; the breakdown of the patriarchal family; the giving of greater freedom and equality to the women and youth; as well as the building up and beautifying of many cities. All of these elements show a significant and highly important range of economic, social, and political accomplishments. In regards to the political aspects, we must first take a closer look at China’s political past in order to better understand the achievements they have made today. Before unification by the Qin Dynasty in 221 BC, China itself did not exist as a coherent entity. This was the time of the beginnings of the Confucian philosophy and that of many other philosophies which greatly influenced all of Chinese philosophy/political thought. After the Qin, China experienced 13 more dynasties, give or take a few, many of which continued the extensive system of kingdoms, dukedoms, earldoms, and marquisates. “The territory varied with several expansions and contractions depending on the strength of each emperor and dynasty.” (“Wikipedia”, 2006). Political power sometimes fell into the hands of powerful officials, and political relations with dependencies were often times maintained by international marriages. It was on January 1, 1912, when the Republic of China was established. This signaled the end to the Qing Empire altogether. Yuan Shikai then filled this position, and after Yuan’s downfall, China was politically fragmented, with “…an internationally-recognized, but virtually powerless, national government seated in Beijing.” (“Wikipedia”, 2006). It was only after all of this that Mao Zedong took over. There are many significant lessons that we could learn from the historical experience of Revolutionary China. The Chinese Revolution was without a doubt the most significant event of the post war period. However, history has proved that the Cultural Revolution (some of the leftist excesses that were evident in particular movements, finally culminating into the so called ‘Cultural Revolution’).” (Surjeet, 1999: 15(4)). The Chinese Cultural Revolution was an upsurge by Chinese students and workers against the bureaucrats of the Chinese Communist Party. Mao Zedong himself in fact declared the Cultural Revolution to have ended in 1969, and yet the term is widely used today to also include the period between 1969 and the arrest of the Gang of Four in 1976. “This dating of the Cultural Revolution has significant yet often neglected ideological implications. It represented a major political victory for supporters of the post-Mao leadership led by Deng Xiaoping, as it allowed them to portray all of the events between 1966 and 1976 as a single movement with catastrophic consequences under the leadership of the Gang of Four.” (“Wikipedia”, 2006). The victory of the Chinese Revolution is due to the success in creatively developing Marxism to suit the specific conditions of semi-feudal / semi-colonial China. Mao Zedong’s role in this entire process is also of great importance and significance. Rather than creatively applying Marxism to the new conditions of the Socialist China he decided to interpret Marxism dogmatically. A primary example is the instance when very similar developments took place in the Portuguese revolution and in Chile, where “…sections of the army and police actually approached the Popular Front government and asked what they should do to prevent a coup.” (Taaffe, 1980). In Chile, the Communist Party and the Socialist Party leaders actually did the exact same thing as China. This shows that even decades later, the Chinese Revolution is still used as a bias for many current significant decisions, even among other nations. Another important issue in regards to lessons learned is that of the family structure and what became of it during and after Revolutionary China. Bases such as political turmoil, loyalty to the party, reforms, and the escape from political scorn, were all relevant to this issue. This tore many Chinese families apart during the time of the Revolution, and the home family life was not only difficult, but often didn’t exist at all. There are many very important lessons to be learned for today from this incident. The success of the Chinese Revolution has affected the whole world of politics, especially in the colonial areas, and is sure to have even more impact over the next few decades. China has become the central powerhouse of the colonial revolution, especially so throughout Asia. The mighty accomplishments of Revolutionary China, their international radiations, and their prospects of progress have been significant to the world as a whole. The whole history of China has shown that the colossal revolts of the Chinese peasantry, finding no leader in the cities, were unable to guarantee the carrying through of land reform. China is still the largest country that is still governed by a communist party and the largest country to call itself socialist, although that term has now been modified to ‘market socialist’. The struggle of the Chinese Revolution has not been only to transform China economically and socially, but also to defend its territorial integrity and its very life as a nation. The Chinese Revolution was born into a brutal world, with a tremendous promise to liberate hundreds of millions of human beings from intense poverty, oppression and foreign colonial occupation. The class struggle has at times been intense in China since the revolution. Now it’s in a new form. The rewards and accomplishments which rise from the Chinese Revolution are never to be forgotten. Works Cited Book of the Week. (2001). 1949 Revolution Radically Transformed China. Book of the Week, 65(18). Compton’s Living Encyclopedia. (1995). Chinese Cultural Studies: Concise Political History of China. Retrieved April 9, 2006, from http://acc6.its.brooklyn.cuny.edu/~phalsall/texts/chinhist.html Editorial Board. (1997). Deng Xiaoping and the fate of the Chinese Revolution. Retrieved April 9, 2006, from http://www.wsws.org/history/1997/mar1997/dengx.shtml Jinglian, W. (2000). China’s Economic Reform: Past, Present, and Future. Perspectives, 1(5). Landsberger, S. (2000). Ideological Foundations – Marxism-Leninism. Retrieved April 9, 2006, from http://www.iisg.nl/~landsberger/if.html O’Toole, J. (2003). China’s fantastic growth is revolutionary in all ways. Retrieved April 9, 2006, from http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/03306/236126.stm Skocpol, T. (1979). States and Social Revolutions. Retrieved April 9, 2006, from http://www.gotterdammerung.org/books/reviews/s/states-and-social-revolutions.html Surjeet, H. S. (1999). The Invaluable Lessons of the Chinese Revolution. The Marxist, 15(4). Taaffe, P. (1980). The 1925-7 Revolution. Retrieved April 9, 2006, from http://www.socialistalternative.org/literature/china2/ch1.html “Tiscali”. (2006). Chinese Revolution. Retrieved April 9, 2006, from http://www.tiscali.co.uk/reference/encyclopaedia/hutchinson/m0005603.html “Wikipedia”. (2006). China. Retrieved April 10, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#Political_history Read More