China - Literature, Confucianism, and Revolution - Assignment Example

China: literature, Confucianism, and revolution Question Redness and Expertise in the World of Literature China today is shaped by a number of elements that date back in history. This would be better understood by examining the role of Redness and expertise in comprehending the literature of China in the early twentieth century. Chinese leaders had a big role in coining doctrines that presented ideological and political attitudes especially at a time when China was going through significant revolutions. Those who led in the field of art and literature were the likes of Mao Zidong. Mao Zidong literature was highly regarded until his death in 1976. His oral and written perspectives would serve as national ideology for the young and old. He would provide a basis for Maoist doctrine that would be regarded as ‘red’. This would describe political and ideological attitudes proposed by Mao and his followers. This would lead to the birth of what the society would regard as Red Guards. They constituted young people mostly students who stood as supporters of the leftist intraparty struggle and would again act against Liu Shaoqi and others. On other hand, there were political ideologies and perspectives juxtaposed with redness. Expertise would denote special knowledge and skills that would feature in key areas of the society that would include economic management, science and technology. The dichotomy of redness and expertise offers a significant platform for understanding the role of art and literature in early-twentieth century China. Mao’s attitude towards art and culture was inspired by the red doctrines. Mao Zedong ideologies were critical in illuminating the role of art and literature in China. The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, a movement initiated by Mao, was one aspect that had the sole goal of propagating the agenda of the Communist Party. This would involve removal of elements that would provide basis for capitalism and old Chinese traditions. This was prompted by the Great Leap Forward that had a place for expertise. This was a movement that had involved scientists in crucial projects and insisted on the need to educate the illiterate mass and involve them in research. The Great Leap forward would expand ranks of scientific and technical personnel to involve more people in this area. This would be achieved by lowering professional standards. The Great Leap Forward was not popular after being characterized with an economic recession and famine. This opened a new chapter for the attack of expertise doctrines that were blamed for this outcome. The scientists were attacked at personal levels. The elements established during that era were destroyed. The doctrines of the red ideologies were prevalent. There was loss of a great deal of Chinese cultural artifacts and other structures that depicted the expertise ideologies. The art behind redness was vital in reshaping China either in a negative or a positive tone. This was dependent on the policies adopted at this time. They would determine the progress of China as a state in the wake of two sided doctrines that offered different ideologies and political attitudes. The art and literature behind the red doctrines further opened a new chapter when it had a leading role in acting against intellectualism and anything proposed by the experts. Leading intellectual centers were closed. Scholarships became a thing of the past. The experts were labeled counterrevolutionaries. Even after the reopening of education centers, admission were based on political inclinations. There were no open doors for intellectualism based on academic talent. But the attitude would change eventually when even farmers were encouraged to engage in research. They would find the best and new varieties of crop. Control of pest and diseases became an area of concern among them. Procedures involved in getting the most out of the firms were considered. The scientists were being embraced. The art behind the expertise was being appreciated. The idea of knowledge and skills would shape the China economy. The involvement of Mao Zedong research on earthquakes would provide a platform for extensive studies and research in various areas of the state. Yuan-Tsung Chen illuminates the role of art and literature in China as the character Ling-Ling attends a discussion on that entails art and literature(Chen, 2013). Art would shape political attitudes and ideologies. These ideologies and perspectives would then have a direct impact on the life of ordinary people in China. The economy would be affected. Learning would be influenced. Closing of education centers would mean a squeezed platform for spreading art and literature. Destruction of artifacts under Mao’s stewardship would mean that the cultural element of China was under threat. Question 2 The True Place of Confucianism in Everyday Life. Confucianism depicts a religious and a philosophical aspect that found origin in China but later spread to other parts of Asia. It was an idea of Chinese philosopher Confucious, born as Kong Qiu. He had a mission of restoring social and political harmony by getting the moral elements of life in the ideologies of the ruling class and the literature elite. Confucious addressed three virtues that he cited as basis of morality. Humanity, ritual propriety, and respect for elders. Humanness would depict the attribute of being good to others as opposed to animosity. The idea of looking at others in a manner of having their best interest at heart is an attribute that had foundations in Heaven. Man is being that has a natural instinct to be good as endowed on him by a heavenly character that checks on the character of man(Harrison, 2005). A good human being would portray an element of concern on others especially when it involves the wellbeing of an entire population. The idea was characterized by need to see a leadership that would ensure the most appropriate approach in establishing the policies that would affect the objects of the ruling class. The humanness aspect would disseminate into the whole society and ensure that all elements in social institutions were grounded around the idea of being good to others especially in a setting where people assumed different ranks and roles. Ritual propriety as proposed by Confucious is an outward expression of humanity. One can tell the difference between a good person and an evil person by observing their behavior. Our behavior should suggest our good nature. How we conduct ourselves and handle affairs that involve others is clinical for expressing our position on the scale of humanness. A good human being would be the first one to portray a behavior that is morally approvable. People who are not morally upright are the kind that Confucious would have a mission to attend to. Respect for elders would become an area of interest in the society soon Confucious brought it into the light. A regard for the seniors would open doors for blessings, and the people would benefit in the entire society as the gods would be pleased with their conduct. Leaders are seen as God chosen and they represent the aspect of elderly. They would demand respect from the subjects and would exercise their rules with humanity as a way of giving back to their subjects. Confucianism had a big role to play in both ancient and modern China.it would win followers in form of scholars who felt the attributes of Confucianism had a role to play in good governance and a cultured life. The generations that would live after the death of Confucious were keen to publish his work so that the society would benefit from his ideologies. The government was appreciating the doctrines as having an impact on the nature of leadership in the long run. Han Dynasty would adopt Confucianism as the official ideology of the government in 2nd century BCE. It would provide basis for capitalism and democracy. The society was shifting the gears of power. There was a move from one system of leadership that would base power on such approaches as dictatorship to democratic form of leadership. The people would be allowed to exercise the idea of majority in a manner that communicated the voice of the vast majority of the subjects. Capitalism was turning out as a popular approach to production and consumption. There was increased need for innovation and revolution. Communism was becoming unpopular and would provoke such elements like war in such areas as Vietnam. But capitalism was a bother to many. Inspired by the idea of good human nature, the likes of Karl Marx felt capitalism had no place for the poor in the society. It did not consider the interests of all people. Those in control of capital power had an upper hand on resources(Pratt & Chiang, 1983), and exploited the poor who offered readily available cheap labor. The idea of Confucianism was an area of concern when it was politicized. Governments were misinterpreting the concept of Confucianism and promoted elements that had a place for such issues as gender inequality in leadership. This would lead movements that blamed sole blamed Confucianism for such elements. It had provided basis for gender based hierarchies. Communism victory in 1949 would prove a turning point for Confucianism which seemed on its death bed. But the attributes proposed by the ideology would remain alive. The society today is structured around the virtues ascribed by Confucious. There is increased need for better and morally upright leadership in the society. The public is demanding humanity, as expressed in terms of behavior by the leaders. Question 3 China’s Most Significant Revolution. China’s leadership was characterized by turning points that would change the nation for good. Mao Zedong was one figure that suggested and proposed many movements that would affect the Chinese people right from the young to the old, the intellectual to the illiterate, and from the poor to the rich. The Cultural Revolution between 1966 and 1976 marks a movement that altered the key areas of China political, economic and social aspects. As steered by the then leader and chairman of the Communist Party of China, the revolution had an aim and goal of empowering the ideology of communism by having the Maoist thought and ideology as the leading principle. This would be realized by eliminating all the characters that had a place for capitalist and traditional elements. This was just after the Great Leap Forward era that had distorted China economically. The return of Mao Zedong to power after that era would prove movement to a direction that would change and reshape China entirely and for good. This proved crucial at a time when Chinese people were hoping to find a soft spot after the very devastating Great Leap Forward. A light understanding of the Great Leap Forward would provide a clear insight about the Cultural Revolution. The Great Leap Forward was an idea of the same leader, Mao Zedong, a project he initialized in 1958, with the hope of making China an Industrialized state. He would see a great portion of the population being assigned the task of producing a similar commodity in form of steel. He would convince the nation that he would double agricultural production in the same year. But the Great Leap Forward was not a successful story anyway. The leader was working with an illiterate society. The steel realized was of substandard quality and thus returns were poor. Other sectors of the economy were affected. This led to a famine that resulted to death of millions of people. Mao was becoming unpopular and would have to change his tone in economic decisions. The failure of the Great Leap led to the Cultural Revolution that would offer an alternative for China and restore its economic state. Mao would blame revisionists who had propagated the idea of capitalism. They had contaminated the government with bourgeois elements that had devastated the economy. The question of the approach used by Mao was dominant as he had been the brain behind the Great Leap. The society had suffered with his forced labor in an area that needed skills and expertise. It was his push for such agendas yet he pointed fingers at the ambassadors of capitalism. He probably wanted to restore his faith among the people. The Cultural Revolution led to the rise of Red Guard as established by the Chinese youths. It would feature students, cut across the military workers, find the habitants of urban centers, and was infused in the leadership of the Communist Party. The red movement would affect many areas of the society especially leadership. Mao was keen to target his critics and establish a following that had a place for his ideologies. He would axe some individuals from leading positions in the party a move that saw the likes of Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping fall victims. Mao’s ideology was being embraced immensely and this would affect the life of many individuals in the society. There was violence that escalated with every dawn. The population was tortured in many aspects. There were cases of physical abuse and humiliation. Those against the movement were tortured, harassed, and imprisoned at the same time. Some of people’s property would be seized and taken by the government(Min, 1994). There were internal land displacements that would see massive movement of people to the rural areas. The nation was going through a dark transition that was supposed to restate the economy back to normal. The destruction of cultural and religious sites was an area of concern during this revolution. This marked the beginning of the death of Chinese culture. Artifacts were destroyed. Some had marked the Chinese transition from one form to another. The vast art and literature behind them was buried by this revolution. This would mark a new turn seeing the destruction of religious sites. The relics that were affiliated with spiritual beings were destroyed and buried in the past. This range of events would come to an end in 1969, and reforms were established thereafter to mark the end of Mao’s ideology after his death. REFERENCES Chen, Y.-T. (2013). the dragons Village. CA: Pantheon. Harrison, H. (2005). The Man Awakened from Dreams: One Mans Life in a North China Village, 1857–1942. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Min, A. (1994). Red Azalea. CA: Pantheon. Pratt, L., & Chiang, S.-H. (1983). Six Records of a Floating Life. New York: Viking Press. Read More