East Asian Studies China - Essay Example

? East Asian Studies China 7. John Gittings (The Changing Face of China) (p.7) observes that China has yet to come to terms with its Mao era history. What lessons does Philip Pan’s essay on the Chongqing ‘cemetery’ teach about the Cultural Revolution (CR)? Compare them to the goals of the CR discussed in Gittings chapters on the CR. The Cultural Revolution in China is a very controversial issue. Lots of historians try to analyze and assess the significance and consequences of the policy launched by an odious personality in China’s history Mao Zedong. Still, a profound historian and journalist John Gittings suggests the idea that the role and impact of Cultural Revolution on modern China’s economy is underestimated or even neglected. Gittings cites the World Bank report on China: during the period between 1957 and 1977, GDP growth was directly proportional to population growth, the literacy level was also significantly increased, the mortality rate decreased. Moreover, there were some improvements performed in the sphere of healthcare. The industrial production of the country grew at almost 11 per cent. Thus, the goal of Cultural Revolution was to combat the “sedition”, which occurred in artistic and intellectual environment. And, according to Mao, this “sedition” could prevent him from implementation of the reforms, aimed at country’s economy recovery. But Philip Pan’s essay focuses on the negative consequences of Cultural Revolution. Chongqing cemetery is a memorial to the victims of political repressions, held during the Cultural Revolution. The cemetery contains 131 tombstones, under which a total of 537 bodies lie buried. Now China is trying to forget about the events of Cultural Revolution. Pan is convinced that people should look back and remember about the price paid for dictator’s ambitions. Pan, unlike his colleague John Gittings, stresses that it was Mao Zedong’s goal to eliminate the resistance to his political course, imposed on a number of senior party leaders, who stuck the "pragmatic" positions. Cultural Revolution served the ambitions and interests of Mao’s and his party. Their main goal was to get rid of their rivals, hiding behind the high ideology. 1. What do the events of the Boxer Rebellion tell us about the character of popular nationalism and the sense of national identity prevalent among ordinary Chinese around the beginning of the 20th Century? There is no need to prove that any intervention of foreign powers is always fraught with resistance of local population. So, the similar events took place in China, 1899-1901, when the people of this country rose to fight for freedom. Patriotic Chinese sought to disseminate the ideas, put forward by Sun Yat-sen in 1894, on "nationalism", "democracy" and "national prosperity". The concept of "nationalism" was reduced to the struggle of the Chinese people for their own state without the Manchus, the Japanese and Europeans. Ordinary Chinese were particularly insulted with European contempt to their customs and the desire to impose Christian faith by force. In 1899, a popular uprising, known as the “Yihetuan rebellion” or “Boxer Rebellion”, broke in China. The reason for the rebellion was a conflict in one of the Shandong villages, where a dispute over local temple ownership between the Catholic mission and the local population took place. The court ruled in favor of the Catholic Church, then people rebelled under the Yihetuan leadership (Yi He Tuan – nationalist organization “Fist in the name of justice and harmony”). Even the name of the uprising had the nationalist orientation. This uprising is better known under the name of "Boxer Rebellion", as Chinese, when trying to achieve their own goal of a national state, used close combat skills, magic ceremonies and amulets, tried to develop supernatural powers and to achieve invulnerability in battle with their well-armed enemies. 2. What were the basic characteristics of the ‘tributary model’ of international relations as practiced by China’s imperial rulers in late imperial times? The reign of the Manchu dynasty in China (1644-1911 years) was not only the reign of alien invaders in this country. In the late imperial time of Qin Dynasty, China was transformed into a semi-colony of other countries, mainly Britain. France and the U.S. also did not remain aloof from the economic section of China and, along with Britain, participated in the second Opium War during 1856-1860. This war was the final point in the subjugation of China and its transformation into a semi-colony. Unequal treaties (Nanking in 1841, Beijing in 1860) were imposed upon weak Manchurian Qing dynasty, which resulted in China's economy becoming dependent not only on the above-mentioned powers, but also on Japan, Germany and Russia. Ch'ing dynasty lost the Sino-French War (1884 1885), after which France got the opportunity to expand its influence in Vietnam and Burma. The result of the Japanese-Chinese war (1894-1895) was Japan entrenchment in Korea. In 1898, Russia leased Lushun from China for 25 years, England - Hong Kong for 99 years. 3. In what ways, did the creation of a ‘Manchu Empire’ require a quite different conception of international relations from that of the earlier ‘tributary’ format? The foreign policy of the Manchu Empire was characterized by the desire to isolate China from the outside world. China's ties with Korea and Vietnam were based on the relations between suzerain and vassal, China led trade with Japan. The policy toward the Europeans, who came to China with trade, missionary and other objectives, varied, depending on the weakening or strengthening of the Ch'ing authorities. Having consolidated the powers, the Manchus changed their attitude toward the Europeans. In 1716 they introduced the first restrictions on entry of foreigners to China. In 1724, Emperor Yongzheng, a son of Kangxi, ordered the closure of 300 Christian churches and expelled almost all the missionaries to the Portuguese colony in Macau. In 1757, Emperor Tsyanygun banned foreign trade in all ports, except Canton. European factories were dismantled, and the entry into the country was prohibited to the aliens. "Closing" of China postponed European colonial penetration, but it is nevertheless extremely retarded socio-economic and cultural development, China was artificially isolated from the countries, where capitalism was in the process of developing or already triumphed. Even during the Boxer Rebellion Manchu dynasty was forced to take a pro-China stance. Armed forces of Great Britain, Germany, France, Austria-Hungary, Japan, USA, Italy and Russia were thrown for the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion. The Empress Dowager Cixi, frightened by the large scale of Boxer Rebellion, provided the rebels with her intercession and declared war against the invaders. 4. Compare the differing constructions of Chinese ‘identity’ in such peripheral areas as Taiwan and Guangdong in late imperial times. Chinese is not a homogeneous ethnic group. Various provinces of China are different from each other in not only their mentality, but also history. Taiwan was originally settled by the immigrants from South Asia. In the III century AD, Chinese expedition landed on its coast, thus, this fact invariably used by China to support its territorial claims on Taiwan. As a matter of fact, the Celestial Empire used it mainly as a place of exile for disagreeable subjects for a long time. Thus, in the XVII century, the Dutch took over Taiwan, and after a brief period of their rule on the island, there was a new pirate republic formed. But since 1683, China's Qing dynasty reasserted its authority over Taiwan. True, the relations between the islanders and the metropolis were far from good - the center still was not willing to delve into the daily needs of the Taiwanese people, and they regularly reminded of their needs by means of insurrections against the authority of state governors. In the XVII century a large number of immigrants from the mainland provinces of Fujian and Guangdong settled down in Taiwan. Since the late nineteenth their number on the island reached 75%. In 1895, China lost its power over the Taiwan Island again; it was arrogated by the Japanese, who had gained the upper hand in Sino-Japanese War. Tokyo, in contrast to the Chinese rulers, took care of its new colony, and soon there appeared a powerful system of agricultural production, the foundation of future Taiwan economic prosperity. Most of the Taiwan population was relatively loyal to foreigners. Guangdong Province is also located in the south, but it is a mainland part of China. Since the XVI century, the province established close trading ties with many countries, especially with Britain and Portugal. In the XIX century, Guangdong became an important center for emigrants from Southeast Asia and the USA. But the average population of this province had different patriotic views. During the Taiping Rebellion in1850, first manifestation took place in Guangdong. Largely due to direct contacts with the West, Guangdong more than once became a center of anti-Manchu and anti-imperialist movements. Sun Yat-sen, a founder of the Republic of China, also was born in this province. In the late XIX - early XX century, Sun Yat-sen and his followers organized a series of armed uprisings in Guangdong to overthrow the Manchurian Qing dynasty. Guangdong played an important role in the history of the revolutionary movement in China. Guangdong was the first to declare its independence from the Manchurian dynasty on November 9, 1911; there was a military government established. 5. Discuss the ways in which competing ideas of ‘race’ and ‘nation’ complicated early discussions about the design of a new official state flag in the early Republican period (post-1911). During the period between 1911 and1913, there was Chinese Revolution that led to the overthrow of the Manchu Qing Dynasty and the proclamation of the republic. Republican China needed its own state symbols. In 1911, the imperial flag (rectangular yellow flag with a blue dragon and the sun) was replaced with a new republican flag, designed in accordance with the tradition of the Kuomintang. It is believed that the blue flag with white sun in the middle was created by a Chinese democrat Lu Hao-tung (1867-1895). It was used as the national symbol during anti-Manchu uprising, led by Sun Yat-Sen. After the defeat of the Chinese people in the war with the French, the blue flag became a symbol of anti-French forces. In 1900, the flag was used by the uprising of a secret society Yi-He-Quan. Around 1906, Sun Yat-Sen, the predecessor of the Kuomintang and leader of the "Tun-Monch" (Federal League) party, proposed to add the red color to the flag. As a result, the flag became red, and blue rectangle with a white sun was replaced into the canton of the flag, in the upper corner. Red color symbolizes the blood of freedom fighters and revolutionary struggle. After the October uprising in 1911, troops of the South China used a variety of flags: for example, a flag with 18 golden stars, which symbolized the number of administrative units of China, Shanghai army used the flag with five horizontal stripes: red, yellow, blue, white and black. Stripes symbolized the nation of China: the Manchus, Chinese, Mongols, Muslims and Tibetans. A blue flag with the white sun was traditionally used by the armies in such provinces as Kvantun, Yunnan and some others. The debatable theories of Asian racism and Chinese nationalism were manifested in the symbolism of the new flag. In December 1911, Sun Yat-Sen formed the first Provisional Government. State flag was five-band, the army used the flag with 18 stars, and the blue flag with white sun was used by the navy (officially since 1912). 6. Fred Wakeman refers to ‘dual’ nature of both China’s gentry and peasantry in late imperial times. In what ways are these classes ‘dualistic’ in character? Fred Wakeman begins with a survey of the class structure in imperial Chinese society: peasants, gentry, merchants. Driving forces of the Chinese revolutionary movement in the late XIX - early XX century were the Chinese national bourgeoisie (gentry) and the peasantry. Until it came to the fight against foreign intervention, particularly sharp differences in the actions of the patriots were not observed. But when the question of ownership was raised, the apparent sharp antagonisms between these two classes became clear. After the victory over the Manchus, which was a result of the Xinhai Revolution, there was a clash of the armies of Yuan Shik, defending the interests of the bourgeoisie and new gentry, and troops of Sun Yat-Sen, advocating the socialist principle of property and land distribution. It is not surprising, the peasants fought mainly on the side of the Sun Yat-Sen. The last was an adherent of the republican system in China, unlike Yuan Shik, who wanted to establish a national Chinese of the monarchy (in contrast to the Manchurian). Works cited Gittings, John. The Changing Face of China From Mao to Market. Oxford University Press, 2005. Print. Pan, P. Philip. Out of Mao's Shadow: The Struggle for the Soul of a New China. Simon & Schuster, 2008. Print. Wakeman, Frederic Jr. Fall of Imperial China (Transformation of Modern China Series). Free Press, 1977. Print Read More