Remaking Chinese Society,1949-Present - Essay Example

Remaking Chinese Society, 1949-Present The history of China took shape in the 20th century. This period saw fundamental changes that transformed China from a slow economy to a robust economy. In fact, China growth overtook other major developed countries. China emergence took place just in a few decades more than some countries, like United States that took long to achieve the same status. This period can be considered as a major rise of China major sectors that propelled the economy. Mao Zedong was a leader during this transformation of China. Mao rise to power was based on various uprising and civil war. He is considered one of the greatest leader ever existed in China. He initiated several changes during his reign and he was instrumental in emergence of China in all aspects. Mao reign began at the onset of Second World War and lasted until 1976 (History Learning Site, 2012, P.1). As a leader, he used several policies, political movements, and war in changing China. His policies were based on communism ideologies. He also embarked on people power in the implementation of various changes he brought to the system. His ideologies were mainly focused on betterment of the life of common person especially the poor and the weak in society. Mao initiated some of the major prosperity China is enjoying today after liberation and formation of the People Republic of China (Gay, K 2007, and P.49). Mao Zedong focused on the unification of warring faction in China. However, at the end of Mao reign there was some few weakness that was criticized by many. This paper seeks to discuss the remaking of Chinese society from 1949 to present majorly focusing on the leadership of Mao Zedong. This paper is in total agreement that Mao was 70% good and 30% bad. A finer analysis on leadership of Mao will provide evidence of the above statement. The 70% goodness of Mao is seen on various transformations he carried out during his reign in People Republic of China. Mao changed China from a state that was poor and weak economically to a modern nation with technological advancements. China was transformed into one of the major superpower. The Long March, Five Year Plan, Great Leap Forward, and Cultural Revolution affected China in various ways (Karl, 2010, P.159). At this time, there was great social, political, and economic transformation. All this transformation is credited to Mao strategies and use of power. Initially, Mao capitalized on the elimination of Chiang Kai-shek’s army as he was against the national form of government. This protracted battle took place in poor terrain and hence was known as the long march. Though much causality resulted from this war, Chiang was finally defeated and China was liberated. After this war, Mao focused on unification of China people (History Learning Site, 2012, P.1). This saw the end of war that characterized the system. China was transformed into communist country. Additionally, it was declared as a People Republic of China under the leadership of Mao. He focused on changing people lives especially the peasants. The five-year plan was an important step that Mao took in transformation of China. This was a Chinese communist party policy to making China self-sufficient and stopping overreliance on foreign assistance. The five-year plan revolutionized China industries and boosted the country economy to the level of excellent superpower (History Learning Site, 2012, P.1). At the onset of his reign, Mao took over China when it was lagging behind other industrial nation of the time. As a result, Mao focused on changing this trend. Due to Mao communist idea, his attention was focused on Russia, as it was also a communist society (History Learning Site, 2012, P.1). Communist ideas were easily practiced on China due to its high population. Mao signed a treaty with Soviet Union for assistance. Through cooperation under the leadership of Mao, Soviet Union gave China money and vocational skills that were necessary in the modernization of the industries. For example, qualified engineers were shipped to China for industrial transformation and ultimate growth in the economy. Mao used the models of Stalin’s five-year plan to shape his own model in People Republic of China. Engineers from Russia helped in achievements of the goals of Five Year plan (Karl, 2010, P.10-20). Most of the heavy industries were reformed. Each industry was given a target on which it had to accomplish and any failure was seen as failing Chinese people. Consequently, Steel, coal, and iron production improved significantly. The five-year plan saw China experience a period of stable economic growth. Agricultural based programs improved to greater heights. Technological advancements were realized. Additional, Mao popularity rose during this period, as people trusted Mao on economic downturn they had experienced before. This period of prosperity lasted until Mao stopped linkage with the Soviet Union. However, it was a basis of technological advancement and prosperity experienced by China today. Mao therefore deserves full credit on this initiative, as China today is able to compete with other major industrial power in terms of technology and economy advancements. The great leap forward was another initiative of Mao. This started when he broke away from Soviet Union due to ideological differences. This was a second five-year plan that took place from 1958 to 1963 (Karl, 2010, P.93). The great leap forward aimed at developing China into a modern society, so that it would catch up with the west. Mao believed China could do anything on its own and his principal target was industry and economy. Mao believed if China was to grow in all other areas, agriculture and industry had to be improved. Agriculture was a backbone for feeding industrial workforce. Industries could produce modern tools required for modernization of China (Zhang, 2001, P.341). People were organized into communes made up of hundreds of families. Everything was based on communal ownership. Schools and nurseries were based in these communes while the elderly were placed in care facilities. This provided enough workforces who were healthy and productive. Communes provided all that was needed in the society. Even soldiers worked together with the civilian population. There were also various teams with each team performing a certain role. Authority of overseeing various works being done was vested on the party. Due to this policy of hard work, the target for constructing industries was achieved. Moreover, some communes set up major production plants. As a result, 600,000 backyard furnaces that produced steel for the communes were constructed (Clements, 2006, P. 112). The amount of steel produced in China increased annually. There was also rise of production in major industries that dealt with coal, chemicals, timber, and cement. On the other hand, agriculturally, grain and cotton production improved (Feigon, 2002, P. 17-25). Consequently, Mao dream that China could achieve anything on its own was achieved. Major industries that still exist in China were started during Mao’s reign. This is the source of hope for People Republic of China. This is another positive outcome due to Mao’s influence. The other most important thing that happened during Mao Zedong reign was Cultural Revolution. Cultural Revolution had a massive influence on China from 1965 to 1968 (Su, 2011, P. 95). This was Mao’s initiative on trying to affirm his ideals in China. Cultural Revolution was based on Mao’s belief that other party leaders were trying to oust him and lower his influence on the general population. The concept of Cultural Revolution began in late 1965. Voices were raised for schools and colleges to focus on fundamental principles of revolution. Youth groups were urged to go against the liberalism China Communist Party and outside influence especially from the Soviet Union. This revolution was also against the education system that was perceived to be too academic (History Learning Site, 2012, P.1). Moreover, Mao believed the professionals were acquiring too much power to his own detriment. He also believed that such professionals lacked enough knowledge of what the common person was going through in life. This saw the birth of the Red Guard (Su, 2011, P. 95). It was used by the youth to criticize those Mao thought were going against China dreams of prosperity. Mao dream was to create China where all the people could work together irrespective of their status in the societies. The society was meant to be classes. In the process, Cultural Revolution transformed China into a better country as it is today. Mao managed to accomplish many things during this reign of revolution. Firstly, he battled corruption in many sectors, reduced the bureaucracy followed by some institutions, and uplifted China’s economy. At the same time, soviet bureaucracy was threatening the economic prosperity of China. Mao with his influence managed to decentralize this tendency. Artistic and education reforms were implemented during his reign. Moreover, women role in the society were also defined. Additionally, he used this period to abolish elastic and formalistic system of education. This period saw the rise of vocational institutions. Consequently, rural education institution grew tremendously and China educational system improved significantly (Feigon, 2002, 17). Today China is classified as one of the most advanced country in terms of education. All this can be credited to Mao policy and resilience in overseeing decentralization of education sector. The positives of Mao did not last long. There were some few weaknesses observed during the reign of Mao Zedong. His reign was coupled by some few problems. These weaknesses arose due to failure in parts of his policies. Of the most important failure was the Great Leap Forward. Initially, the great leap forward proved as a source of hope for China agricultural and industrial advancements. However, in 1959 politics began to be the overriding factor. Communes started doing things that they were unable to achieve. Machines and steels produced in commune’s factories became ineffective. Anything made of steel was substandard. Most of the workers were injured in the process. The fertile lands were lost and this was compounded by lack of proper management. Enough food was not produced in the process while the government through its propaganda machine disputed that there was no enough food (Gay, 2007, P.153). Many people died because of starvation resulting from persistent drought. China also lacked the necessary input that could spur its economic growth and this affected the economy. By the end of 1959, the Great Leap Forward was a total failure rather than a leap forward and Mao himself admitted of his failure. Mao Cultural Revolution was also faced with some few challenges. Ideas in which cultural and the Red revolution was to be realized were good. However, as time went by, Cultural Revolution changed in a cult system. The Red Guard transformed itself into an ideological militia, and guards terrorized those who could not toe the party line (Su, 2011, P 262). Human rights and democracy had no space in this revolution. Most of the people were imprisoned as they failed to accomplish assigned tasks. This nearly plunged China into a state of chaos. Consequently, some schools and colleges were closed leading to economic downturn. There was also rivalry among the Red Guards as they fought for dominance. Moreover, they attacked foreigners and the foreign embassies (Zhang& Vaughan, 2002, P.92). This was another lower moment of Mao reign. In addition, though Mao Zedong was successful during the long march, there were undesirable consequences. Many Chinese peasants suffered during the protracted battle. Hundreds of peasants and communist died in the event (Zhang& Vaughan, 2002, P.41). This led to criticism from various quotas. His leadership credentials deteriorated due to his dictatorial rule. In conclusion, the early days of Mao Zedong can be said to be a period of cultural, social, and economic transformation. Many in the start admired his leadership style and operation. His dictatorial authority placed him above the common person. However, his first policies gave him support from the common person especially the peasants. He had desire for China prosperity to higher levels than America and the communist Soviet Union. He wanted to place China as a major communist country. He led to achievement of prosperity among Chinese people. However, Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution were coupled with challenges. This led to death, famine, torture, and murder. Moreover, agricultural reforms were not fully realized as Mao envisaged. However, he contributed significantly to unification of China and laid a basis for prosperity observed today. Therefore, weakness observed on Mao reign cannot outweigh various accomplishments he achieved during his reign. Works Cited Clements, J 2006, Mao Zedong, Haus Publishing, New York. Feigon, Lee 2002, Mao: a Reinterpretation. New York, Library of Congress Gay, K 2007, Mao Zedongs China, Twenty-First Century Books, New York History Learning Site 2012, China and the First Five Year Plan, viewed 19 May 2012, < http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/China_five_year_plan.htm >. History Learning Site 2012, Mao Zedong, viewed 19 May 2012, . History Learning Site 2012, The Great Leap Forward, viewed 19 May 2012, < http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/great_leap_forward.htm >.  Karl, R 2010, Mao Zedong, and China in the Twentieth-Century World, Duke University Press, London Su, Y 2011, Collective Killings in Rural China during the Cultural Revolution, Cambridge University Press, London Zhang, C& Vaughan, C 2002. Mao Zedong as Poet and Revolutionary Leader: Social and Historical Perspectives, Lexington Books, New York Zhang, S 2001, Economic Cold War, Stanford University Press, London Read More