Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Background of China during Mao Zedong
The rise of communist China under Mao Zedong
Nikita khrushchev mao zedong
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Background of China during Mao Zedong
Chairman Mao Zedong is one of the most brutal, if not the most, brutal dictator of the 20th century China. He killed more people than Stalin and Hitler combined, justified by the prospect of national progress and reversing the shame done in China by Imperial powers during the late 19th century – early 20th century. His draconian policies to rapidly industrialize China caused more than 30 million Chinese deaths. Even before his death, the international community spearhead by the American anti-communist sentiments, criticized him for all the values he represented: the evilness of a communist society. Meanwhile, at home front, he is revered like a God, due to the intense propaganda surrounding his cult of personality. Everything he did was for …show more content…
The central theme of Mao and the Chinese Revolution is Mao’s role as the dominant figure of the 20th century Communism rested on his success in linking the traditional Chinese pattern of peasant revolt with selected interpretation of Marxism-Leninism to create an effective revolutionary strategy for gaining power in a largely non-modernized country. The book introduces the western audiences to how the Chinese culture was the perfect breeding ground for its own form of Communism, eventually named by experts as Maoism. The work begins with the author’s interpretation of Mao’s life from his early years in Hunan Province, located in South Central China, to his final triumph over the Chiang-Kai-Shek, the head of the Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang) during the Chinese civil war, resulting in his rise to power with the official formation of the People’s Republic of China, announced at the Tiananmen Square of the Forbidden City, all done in thirteen fact-laden chapters. The central chapters of the book deal with Mao’s rise through the ranks in the Communist Party and how he both hardened and humanized the party structure, securing his position as the top commander that “led” China towards victory against the …show more content…
With everything taken into account, Dr. Li derided Mao in the book; he reprimanded him for being intolerance towards independent counsel, for his assault on individuals ' livelihood, the corruption, and hypocrisies of Mao 's internal circle. Dr. Li stated, “All of China was wearing Mao buttons and carrying his little red book and reciting his quotations and even the simplest transaction in a shop had to include a recitation from Mao’s words.” Chairman Mao’s thought was not just the country’s guiding ideology, it was its collective mantra. Mao’s Great Leap Forward had also resulted in the worst famine in human history; we know that around 25 or 30 million people died, a conservative estimate. By this time, Mao’s role as the greatest evil in modern Chinese history has been
Following the Chinese Revolution of 1949, China’s economy was in ruin. The new leader, Mao Zedong, was responsible for pulling the economy out of the economic depression. The problems he faced included the low gross domestic product, high inflation, high unemployment, and high prices on goods. In order to solve these issues, Mao sought to follow a more Marxist model, similar to that of the Soviet Union. This was to use government intervention to develop industry in China. In Jan Wong’s Red China Blues, discusses Maoism and how Mao’s policies changed China’s economy for the worse. While some of Mao’s early domestic policies had some positive effects on China’s economy, many of his later policies caused China’s economy to regress.
Rae Yang’s Memoir “Spider Eaters” is a poignant personal story of a girl growing up amidst the political upheaval during the establishment of People’s Republic of China under Mao Zedong’s Communist leadership. Yang describes the fascinating journey of her life from her early years as the daughter of Chinese diplomats in Switzerland to a student in an elite middle school then a fanatic Red-guard and eventually a laborer in a pig farm. Her experiences through the revolution serve as an eye-opener and lead to her eventual disillusionment of the Communist revolution in China. There are many factors that contributed to her growing discontent with communism such as the anti-rightist movement which was an effort to rule out any criticism against the government, corruption and violence of the party leaders who abused their power and continued to exploit the peasants, the false claim of proletariat dictatorship used merely to eradicate bourgeoisie and further the interests of party members.
After Chairman Mao’s death, Ji-Li and the rest of China realize that he was never the right leader for China and instead of improving China’s society, he actually prevented it. In the end, Ji-Li knows she was brainwashed by Mao’s actions. The Communist Party told them what to wear, read, think, and how to act. They never let China be free to be who they are. It was not until Mao's death that Ji-li began questioning what they were told. “It was only after Mao’s death in 1976 that people woke up. We finally learned that the whole Cultural Revolution had been part of a power struggle at the highest levels of the Party. Our leader had taken advantage of our trust and loyalty to manipulate the whole country.” (Jiang, Chapter 18). Now, as an adult, Ji-li tries to bridge the gap between China and America. She loves the freedom she enjoys in America, especially that she does not have to worry about what she says or thinks, but she does not hate China. People can not use political corruption and injustice to get what they want out of society. Promoting equality and opportunities for all is key to improving society. We can not get behind beating people up or imprisoning them because they did not abide by society’s
Gittings, John. The Changing Face of China: From Mao to market. Oxford University Press, 2005.
There is no better way to learn about China's communist revolution than to live it through the eyes of an innocent child whose experiences were based on the author's first-hand experience. Readers learn how every aspect of an individual's life was changed, mostly for the worst during this time. You will also learn why and how Chairman Mao launched the revolution initially, to maintain the communist system he worked hard to create in the 1950's. As the story of Ling unfolded, I realized how it boiled down to people's struggle for existence and survival during Mao's reign, and how lucky we are to have freedom and justice in the United States; values no one should ever take for
Ever since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, the legitimacy of the revolution of which it was built upon has perennially been in question. For example, in a 1999 issue of the International Herald Tribune, a prestigious scholar claimed that all of China’s tragedies are ‘sustained by a mistaken belief in the correctness of the 1949 revolution’ and that the future progress of China depends on the recognition that the revolution was a failure. However, the CCP government was certainly not perfect and its most significant failures were its political failures such as the Anti-rightist movement and the Cultural Revolution and also economic failures such as the great leap forward. Millions of peoples were falsely accused and persecuted during the political movements of the Mao period as the CCP focused on class struggle instead of economic development during the period and tens of Millions of peoples died due to starvation as there were widespread food shortages during the great leap forward movement.
Mao Zedong was a very influential man in history. He forever changed the face of Chinese politics and life as a whole. His communist views and efforts to modernize China still resonate in the country today. Jonathan Spence’s book titled Mao Zedong is a biography of the great Chinese leader. Spence aims to show how Mao evolved from a poor child in a small rural village, to the leader of a communist nation. The biography is an amazing story of a person’s self determination and the predictability of human nature. The book depicts how a persuasive voice can shape the minds of millions and of people. It also shows the power and strength that a movement in history can make. This biography tells an important part of world history-the communist takeover of China.
Mao believed that “Force is the midwife of every old society pregnant with a new one.” (reading packet, 12) What this means is that force is absolutely necessary and the outcome of force is violence. Mao is in total agreement with the violence and sees the people opposing the movements he is favoring as “paper tigers”. As in, at first, these rebels might seem terrifying, but in reality, they are helpless and harmless.
Which in order to accelerate his plan he had to turn China into a modern sized industrialized state. Because of this Mao decided to launch what was known as the "Great Leap Forward". “Which began the mass mobilization of the people into collectives and many communities were assigned production of a single “commodity steel”” (Keynes 46). He wanted to increase agriculture by this and only made it worse with bad weather, chaos, and exports of food necessary to secure hard currency (Keynes 32). This resulted in the Great Chinese Famine which made food short and production fell dramatically. This caused the deaths of millions which didn 't make Mao so popular and some began to hate him as a ruler. In 1959, Mao resigned as the State Chairman and this was continued by Liu Shaoqi (Keynes
Mao’s Cultural Revolution was an attempt to create a new culture for China. Through education reforms and readjustments, Mao hoped to create a new generation of Chinese people - a generation of mindless Communists. By eliminating intellectuals via the Down to the Countryside movement, Mao hoped to eliminate elements of traditional Chinese culture and create a new form Chinese culture. He knew that dumbing down the masses would give him more power so his regime would be more stable. This dramatic reform affected youth especially as they were targeted by Mao’s propaganda and influence. Drawing from his experiences as an Educated Youth who was sent down to the countryside Down to the Countryside movement, Ah Cheng wrote The King of Children to show the effects of the Cultural Revolution on education, and how they affected the meaning people found in education. In The King of Children, it is shown that the Cultural Revolution destroyed the traditional incentives for pursuing an education, and instead people found moral and ethical meaning in pursuing an education.
Over the course of history, the strength of China has risen and fallen. At its heights, China stood at the pinnacle of economic and military power; however, by the time of the Second Sino-Japanese war, the nation had significantly declined. At the time, China 's political structure was destabilized by the continued civil war between its Nationalists and Communists. Seeing this political weakness, Japan—the new Asian power—aimed to conquer China. With the invasion of Japanese forces, a wave of oppression and terror spread throughout the country. In this environment, Mao Tse-Tung authored his now infamous book, On Guerilla Warfare. In it, Mao gave his case for the implementation of revolutionary guerrilla forces against the militarily superior Japanese invaders.
... This essay critically analyses and examines the effect of Communism on the Chinese Society during the period of 1946-1964. The overall conclusion that can be drawn is that the Chinese Communist Party managed to defeat the Kuomintang (Nationalist) Party and achieve victory in the Civil War, in spite of alienation by the Soviet Union and opposition from the U.S. This was primarily because of the superior military strategy employed by the Communists and the economic and political reforms introduced by this party which brought more equality to the peasants in the form of land ownership and better public services. This increased China’s production and manufacturing, which not only boosted the country’s economy but also provided a more sustainable supply of food, goods and services for the Chinese people.
...y of life. Unlike any ordinary leaders of a revolution, Mao and Gandhi knew just how to take on what their countries really needed. Whether it was freedom from colonialism, or oppression from higher classes, they knew what their people needed. Gandhi knew his people had rights the British outlawed, and peacefully fought hard to retrieve them. He also believed that the Indians shouldn’t forget their traditions and culture, no matter how much the Western World pushed to change them. Mao believed the working class should have equal if not, more power than any other class in China. In fact, he believed there should not even be any classes at all. Everyone wants equality, whether in China or in India. Mao and Gandhi were able to give their country equality, freedom, and a philosophy that would influence their countries’ political and moral decisions for decades to come.
...ng the time of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, mayhem was a part of everyday life. Mao Zedong encouraged rebellious actions from the Red Guards, and rewarded those who shone as leaders. He also targeted his political rivals by provoking the Red Guards to follow his ideas, and annihilate all remnants of china?s old culture. After the revolution ended, the Red guards received the disciplinary actions they deserved, and the tortured victims finally inadvertently received the vengeance they deserved.
He had the best intentions for his people but in the midst of implying his ideology of communism and industry to China he brought horror with him as well. It is certainly not Mao’s personal choice to decide that he wanted to produce a famine to his people. But instead he truly genuinely b...