China - Literature Development, Confucianism and Revolutions - Essay Example

China - Literature Development, Confucianism and Revolutions Introduction China is a communist state that exists in the East of Asia. It is referred to as the People’s Republic Of China. Just like most countries the country has gone through various challenges in the establishment and development of their literature. Chinas as a single party state which is under the governance of a communist party state has underwent several revolutions before attaining this state. The country also subscribes to Confucius Philosophy popularly known as Confucianism. This essay therefore seeks to discuss China as a country through analyzing historically the world literature developments as influenced by the Redness and expertise. Additionally, the essay discusses the philosophy of Confucius here in referred as Confucianism and how it has influenced the lives of the people of china in reality to date. Finally the paper provides an in-depth analysis on the 1911 – 1949 revolution as the revolution with the greatest impact on china socially, economically and politically. A brief summary conclusion shall be provided that summarizes the thoughts in this essay. Redness and Expertise in the World of literature Redness or red as it were was a term used to refer to certain attitudes that were political and ideological. They were prescribed by the doctrine of Maoist. Expert on the other hand usually juxtaposed with the reds was used to denote special skills or knowledge in science or technology. As such tension existed between the two groups in the twentieth century in china with the two terms used in juxtaposition to one another (Schoppa, pg.112). Therefore redness had to do with the political and ideological attitudes while experts were intellectuals in this period. As such during the twentieth century the two sides conflicted with beliefs that the two were mutually exclusive and could not be combined. Strauss, (578 -580) explains: As the two sides differed in ideologies it became difficult for them to strike a balance between the two in china. Chinese literature was indeed very crucial for nation building having a very resilient traditional cultural legacy. Thus it defined Chinese nationalism. Therefore striking a balance between reds and experts became one great challenge for this nation. The nation then took to carry out education reforms from 1950s onwards and Chinese literature entangled with the nation building. As such the nation’s culture was defined by its literature. In the wake of a movement called the new culture, Kaozheng (reds) method came to be first provided. This was in 1917. Through this, a novel was written in vernacular focusing on canonizing the literature of Chinese. This served to revolutionize the traditional literary histography. As such a literary development took place due to merger of the traditional philological studies with modern outlook. In the 1950s scholarships that were provide inspired research to enable what was initially considered not a proper literature due to existence in vernacular for instance the vernacular poetry, drama, and prose, and as such made literature more accessible to people of lower cadres socially and those with low levels of education. Student authored books often got re-edited in the late 1950s. However, a cultural revolution then was to take place that resulted in to a difference in authorship of books. Students would now author books in the 1960s with the supervision of professors and not having to be reedited. The reds were gaining a clout in the Cultural Revolution while the expertises were opening more space through supervision and mentorship (Strauss, p. 588 -591). Even though there was the mutual exclusive competition between the reds and the experts, cultural revolutions that took place in china in the twentieth century came a long way to influence the literary works and the history of china. The professors and other elites who constitute the experts had to bow to the Cultural Revolution which saw students author the literary works with their supervisions (Strauss, p.593). As such the need for working together was embraced with re-editing of the authored books as the beginning and group authorships of the Chinese literature. The cultural revolutions in the twentieth century especially the late 1950s had a significant effect on the difference in ideologies and fostered the need to embrace the literary works as a way of nation building. The entanglement of nation building with literature was a good starting point that made the reds and the experts come to a common agenda of building their nation.  The True Place of Confucianism in Everyday Life Confucianism refers to a philosophical or ethical system that originated from Chinese philosopher (Confucius) teachings. It has since developed to be official after the abandonment of legalism. As such Confucianism borrows concepts from the twin concepts of Li and Jen. According to philosophy.lander.edu (1) Confucianism is of great importance in the lives of men and women ordinary lives as follows: first it asserts the philosophy of what gives human beings their humanity. As such it argues human heartedness, benevolence, goodness, and what it is that makes man distinctively human as the cores. Therefore it advocates virtue of virtues. These philosophical elements hold the belief that these feelings are a foundation to human relationship. These elements thus serve to guide human actions to be in a manner that is acceptable by the philosophy of Confucius as embodied by Jen and Li. This philosophy therefore guides the relationships between humans through providing the proper action rules. Additionally, it provides the general principles in the ordering of life including social order. As such it seeks to make the society well ordered. The values of Confucianism have thus been influential in the lives of the Chinese people in the manner that it provides for the dos rather than don’ts. This has ensured that it informs how things are supposed to be correctly done in the society. it therefore advocates openness of people. This implies that an individual should be open with their fellows to encourage trust. This is just one among the proper actions that an individual subscribing to this philosophy is expected to act. In its influence on the lives of the society, it recognizes a family as a basic society unit. As such it advocates a reverential relationship between the father and son which then promotes the good relationship within the family. Between the elder and younger brothers, it advocates gentleness and respectful relationships thus promoting peaceful coexistence between families. A considerate and differential relation between older and younger friends is also advocated by Confucius’ philosophy (Schoppa, pg.123). This serves to aid the proper thoughts that encourage good actions that will in effect lead to a peaceful, respectful and coexisting society. With the use of a family as a microcosm of the society it provides the dos that a family should follow to ensure good relations. It further advocates giving respect to age and a benevolent relationship between a worker and their master. We can therefore understand the influence that Confucianism has had on the lives of people in china. In women for instance, the adoption of Confucianism accord women power and honor recognizing them as mothers and as mother in laws in the society. It serves to educate women on relationships, self-discipline, chastity and humility. With some of the Confucius says like: a woman’s great duty is to produce a son. It seeks to inspire women to be mothers and commit to their families. Some of the Confucius says also recognizes women as those who take charge and control. This seeks to empower women to be people who are aggressive in the society and responsible as well. As such the Chinese women are taught to act and be responsible people in the society through Confucianism. These Says and other elements of Confucianism have had a tremendous influence on the lives of the Chinese people ranging from family set up to society in general in terms of ascribing the dos which inform good patterns of behavior in the society.  China’s Most Significant revolution The most significant revolution in china is the 1911 – 1949 revolution. This revolution saw great political upheavals take place in the republic of China. It is most significant because it lead to the formation of the formation of the communist party rule as well as the people’s republic of china that we see today. This revolution took about thirty year and served to shape the people’s republic of china that is seen today as a communist state. A revolution that emerged in 1911 led to the fall of the Qing dynasty through a military revolt. This was the same period that the country got up from its semi-colonialist state. China had been under their colonial master’s control. This had a substantive effect on the political and economic privileges that an independent country would have. As such this military revolt was of great importance as to providing sort of some freedom from this colonialism. The country was therefore able to get itself unified due to the military revolts that removed the semi colonialism state of China (Dreyer, p. 33-37). This revolution provided social change and reform in the political systems. The social structures as well as political structures in China were obsolete. There was that need to have a new system that would steer the country forward. As such the revolution provided an opportunity to replace this obsolete social structure with a progressive system the landlords referred to as the genrie class were an impediment to modernization in china. Coastal city merchants lacked capital and were stripped off vision. The foreign privileges by the colonialism checked those who tried to adopt modernization. These factors would not let the country China progress economically(Schoppa, pg.127). Thus the revolution that took place in this period provided a platform to revolt against these anti-development systems. Additionally, the revolution fronted reformed china that was free from the foreign privileges. The educated young Chinese fronted a change. This change was only realized by the revolution. The problem of intellectual ferment got many of the china educated population worried of the leadership. The May 4th movement of the year 1919 declared a China free from foreign privileges. This led to the radical change of the social and political systems as well as a revolt against the international treaties made after World War 1 that was not favorable to China. Chinese communism began an outcome of the revolutions. The May 4th movement resulted into a lot of attraction to Marxism (Schoppa, pg.92). The revolts and revolutions made people gain understanding of the negative impacts of capitalism. The majority of Chinese around this period were peasants and as such socialism and anarchism appealed to them more. As such the liberation of the peasants was seen as the best way to liberate China. This prompted the pro-revolutions to organize china’s peasants to revolt. This would result in to a change of systems that rewrote the narrative of the Republic of china. It sought to change the peasant groups from poverty to a life with dignity. The revolution also brought about the commitment of the Chinese communists party. This resulted to the bourgeois nationalism. This was a progress up from peasant Chinese societies. There was a revolt in 1926 targeting the warlord capitalists of china fronted by the Chinese communist party. Chinese communism was then directed from workers to the Chinese peasants. As such the revolution became peasant’s revolution and not workers revolution. This was the first major step made in china towards socialism revolution which later morphed in to communism. This was important for the realization of the communist victory in this country. Even the America was surprised by the victory that the communist got which they did not expect. This was a milestone for china as a result of the 1911 to 1949 revolution (Dreyer, p. 112). The revolution of 1911 to 1949 was instrumental towards the development of china as a nation. The communist’s state that china is today is as a result of this revolution. Both World War I and II happened around this period with a lot of wars within and without (Dreyer, 376). The change in the political systems, social systems and Marxism which led to abolishment and revolution against socialism significantly contributed to the state of the now Peoples republic of China. Even though other revolutions took place including Cultural Revolution, the one of 1911 to 1949 was more important due to the many facets or dimensions in which it impacted China. It was multidimensional involving political, economic and social impacts which have been influenced the today China. Conclusion China is a communist state that exists in the East of Asia is as a single party state which is under the governance of a communist party state. It subscribes to Confucius Philosophy popularly known as Confucianism. This essay has therefore discuss China as a country through analyzing historically the world literature developments as influenced by the Redness and expertise. In so doing it has found out that the mutual exclusivity of the reds and the expertise was a challenge towards the development of china’s literature. Literature was entangled with nation building which therefore enabled striking a balance between reddening and expertise toi enable literature development in China. Additionally, the essay has discussed the philosophy of Confucius here in referred as Confucianism and how it has influenced the lives of the people of china in reality to date. This includes provision of dos which shapes the family as a unit of the society. Finally the paper has provided an in-depth analysis on the 1911 – 1949 revolution as the revolution with the greatest impact on china socially, economically and politically. Works Cited Dreyer, Edward L. China at War 1901-1949. Routledge, 2014. philosophy.lander.edu. Oriental Philosophy: Main Concepts of Cofucianism. 5 May 2015 . Schoppa, R K. Revolution and Its Past: Identities and Change in Modern Chinese History. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall/Pearson, 2011. Print. Strauss, Marie-Theres. Red Discipline – The Transformation Of Literary. Original scientifi c article. Berlin: Freie Universität Berlin, 2013. Works Cited Read More