Chapter 31—China

• sphere of influence: area/country that is politically + economically dominated by, thought not directly governed by,
another country
• abdicate: to surrender one’s office, throne, /authority
• warlord: local leader w/a military following
• light industry: production of small consumer goods such as clothing + appliances
• martial law: law administered during a period of strict military control
• double cropping: in farming, growing more than 1 crop a year on the same land
• theocrat: someone who claims to rule by religious/divine authority
• autonomous region: political unit w/limited self-gov.
• ideogram: in written lang., a character/symbol that represents an idea/thing
• atheism: belief that God doesn’t exist
• acupuncture: ancient Chinese practice of inserting fine needles at specific body points to cure disease/to ease pain
• buffer: protective zone between 2 countries
• provisional government: temporary gov. pending permanent arrangements
• exodus: mass migration from a region

1. What were the results of China’s early contacts with Western powers?
• Upset the country’s internal trade network
• Widespread famine
• Series of rebellions broke out across the country
• China entered a period of turmoil that would last decades
2. What conflicts within China left the country open to a Communist takeover?
• Angered by treatment they were receiving form the W.ern powers, many Chinese called for changes
• 1930s—Japanese took adv. of fighting in China—invaded n.ern Chinese province of Manchuria
• Japanese attempted to take over other areas of China—hostile invasion forced Nationalists + Communists
• While fighting against Japan a second time, the Communists had carried out major social reforms in the areas
they controlled—lowered peasants’ rents
• Peasants now joined the Communist struggle against Nationalists—1949, Nationalists had been defeated
3. Using the map on p.653, what geographic obstacles did Mao and his troops face on their trek?
• difficult terrain18 mountain ranges, 20 rivers, neighboring cities,
4. Create a web diagram over the changes that Mao Zedong made in China following the Communist takeover (hint:
collectives, The Great Leap Forward, & The Cultural Revolution).
• Collectives
o Mao Zedong believed improvements in farm production could be achieved only according to the
Communist principle of replacing private ownership w/common ownership
o 1953—est. of collective farms
o 1956—110 mil. families—about 88% of all Chinese peasants—were working on collective farms
• The Great Leap Forward
o 750,000 collectives were combined into about 23,500 People’s Communes
o These self-sufficient communal settlements contained both arms and industries—resembled life in the
military
o “a serious leap backward”—rather than increasing, production fell—difficult life in communes offered
people no incentive to work hard, received same rewards regardless of the amount they produced
o Harvests from 1958-1960 were among China’s worst—abandoned plan after only 2 years
• The Cultural Revolution
o 1966—Great Cultural Revolution to smash old order completely + est. a new, socialist society
o Destroy the 4 Olds: old ideology, old thought, old habits, + old customs
o All those who disagreed w/Mao were publicly humiliated, beaten, + even killed
o Enemies who survived lost their jobs + were imprisoned/sent to the country to work as peasants
o Farm production fell, factory work ground to a halt, + schools closed as the Red Guards moved through
the country
 o Destruction so great that Mao called for and end in 1969
o Enormous failure—economy almost completely ruined, 100’s of 1000’s of innocent people were in jail/had
been driven into remote, rural areas, entire generation of students uneducated—loss of talent made
China’s eco. recovery very difficult
5. Create a web diagram over Deng Xiaoping’s The Four Modernizations.
• Goals of program—improve agriculture, industry, science, + tech. + defenseto accomplish, said any ideas
would be considered, even if they approached the ideas of a free-enterprise eco.
• Changes in Agriculture
o Est. the contract responsibility system—gov. rented land to individual farm families, family decided for
themselves what to produce
o Requirement—simply to provide a certain amount of crops at a set price, once fulfilled, families were free
to sell any extra crops at markets for whatever prices they could get
o Chance to make money—incentive—led to increase in production by about 8% more each year than in
the previous year
o First 8 years—farmers’ incomes tripled
• Industrial Development
o Deng’s program for industry had 2 goals
o 1) Wanted people to spend more money on consumer goods—changed focus from heavy to light
industry
o 2) wanted factories to step up production—gave more decision-making power to factory members +
started system of rewards as incentives for managers
o Set up 4 Special Economic Zones along e. coast—hoped to attract foreign capital, companies, + tech.
from offshore eco. giantsextremely successful
• Unexpected Results
o Coastal cities grew rich, but interior regions lagged far behind
o Millions of people left their villages to urbanize cities—unable to find adequate work, bet. 50 + 100 mil.
workers now drift from job to jobalso incrs. In crime that police force has trouble handling
o To combat problems, gov has planned more SEZ in interior + northefforts will help strengthen the
economy in areas that previously lagged behind
o Today—eco. stronger than ever, quadrupled in size since reforms
o Most outstanding result of eco. growth—improvements in daily life
6. Use the chart on p.657.
a. Which country has the least among of television receivers, and what does that suggest about the level of
development of that country?
o Mongolia—lowest level of dev.
b. Which countries rely more on radio receivers than on newspapers for access to information, and what does that
suggest about their levels of development?
o Taiwan, China, Mongolia—developing countries
7. Describe the political upheaval that took place in 1989.
• 1000s of Chinese, mostly students, began a series of demonstrations in Beijing to demand democratic reforms
—“Fifth Modernization”, political freedom
• 100,000 people crowded into Tiananmen Square—in May, the gov. decided to end the protests
• Country’s leaders imposed martial law + ordered demonstrators to leave the square
• Some disobeyed + army moved in to disperse the few 1000 people who remained
• Massacre of 2,000 people + wounding hundreds more—troops killed suspected leader w/out a trial
• Leaders in China believe that eco. growth can succeed only if people are kept “in line” politically—repression has
continued
8. In the past, how has China’s Northeast region served as the center of population, economy, and government?
• Greatest concentration of pop.
• Site of 1 of world’s earliest culture hearths, centered on the Huang He
• Each dynasty has added more territory
• Beijing
o Seat of power for today’s Communist gov.
o Major industrial center
o May be losing status as investment dollars + pop. are flowing south
• Loess: Fertile Soil
o Site of vast agricultural area
o Huang He sometimes called Yellow River because of the color loess gives water
 o Deposited across lowland area of the North China Plainmost intensely farmed areas in China
• China’s Sorrow
o Huang He helps in transportation but also brings death + destruction in past—“China’s Sorrow”
o When spring thaw + rains were heavy, river’s swollen waters spilled over its banks, flooding surrounding
areas
o 1887—flooding along Huang He resulted in 1 of history’s greatest flood disasters, in which close to 1 mil.
died
o New problem—water used up so much, it can dry up completely for months a time
o As pop. incr., region will need more water than river delivers
o Typical Communist party solution—divert water from Yangzi River in s. to the Huang He in n.
9. Using the map on p.660, in which region of China would one expect relatively few people to be engaged in farming, and
why?
• Northwest—contains 2 deserts + landlockedTakla Makan Desert + Gobi Desert
10. What is the importance of the Yangzi River?
• Location of China’s most productive farmland
• w/pop. density greater than 5,000 people per sq. mile, ranks among country’s busiest + most crowded areas
• river serves as east-west highway
• Shanghai, major port, is located at mouth of Yangzi
• Inland the massive 3 Gorges Dam is being constructed—estimate it will control much of flooding + generate much
energy
• Many fear that shoddy construction could lead to disaster for 400 mil. downstream + many towns submerged
upstreamresidents being resettled forcibly
11. How have Special Economic Zones changed China’s Southeast?
• Set up low tax rates, reduced # of official forms + licenses required to operate a business in eco. zones
• 1991—foreign investors had $22 bil. into SEZ, fastest growing market in world
• New apartment + office buildings constructed
• Cars + electronic equipment, 1ce considered luxuries, and now readily available
• 100s of 1000s migrated to cities of S.e. from other parts of China
12. How has Tibet been affected by Communist rule?
• For most of history farmers + herders of Tibet lived quiet, simples lives ruled by Buddhist custom + theocratic
leader, Dalai Lama
• 1950—Chinese invasion
• 1959—reduced Buddhist monasteries to rubble
• Rarmers required to join agricultural communes unsuitable for nomadic lifestyle
• Dalai Lama driven into exile in India
• 1959—after uprising, gov. instituted policy designed to destroy Tibet’s ancient culture
• 1965—China installed Communist gov. + designated Tibet an autonomous region + gave new name—Xizang,
meaning “hidden land of the west”
• Tibetans held on to traditions + culture, after reforms gov. relaxed limits on religion, but then gov. clamped down
once againonly incr. desire to gain independence
13. Why did China’s population grow dramatically under Mao Zedong’s rule?
• Urged people to have more children—mid-1960s pop. growing annually by 2.07%
• Believed power lay in numbers—huge # of people could never be overrun by outsiders
14. How has China tried to control its population growth problems?
• New pop. policy—families can have no more than 2 childrenslowed growth a little
• Deng Xiaping—once-couple, once-child policycouples who followed policy received rewards, such as better
housing + jobs, + $ increases at work; in contrast, couples who didn’t follow policy had wage cuts, loss of jobs, +
prospect of social disapproval
• To ensure success of new policy, gov. started large publicity campaign (propaganda)affected urban, but not
rural b.cus need children to work farms
15. Using the graph on p.666, how would one describe China’s growth rate between 1950 and 2000, and how is the one-
child policy changing the population projections?
• Exponential growth
• Pop. expected to decrease from 2025 to 2050
16. Describe ethnic & linguistic diversity in China (commonalities & potential challenges).
• Great ethnic diversity, + majority share common cultural background
• Ethnic Differences
 o 56 ethnic minority groups
o 92%, more than 1 bil. people belong to the Han ethnic groups—from Han Dynasty, has been dominant
ethnic group in China for centuries
• The Chinese Language
o Written Chinese is nonphonetic—written form gives no clues to its pronunciation
o Use of ideograms—20,000 different characters
o To be able to communicate throughout the nation, Mandarin is the official lang.
17. Describe belief systems found in China.
• Ancient philosophies still greatly impact
• Buddhism, Daoism, + Confucianism
• Daoism—teaching of Laozi, path to true happiness lies in living in a harmonious relationship w/natural world
• Confucianism—most widely practiced, philosophy basted on teachings of Confucius, called Analects, believed
society functioned best if every person respected laws + behaved according to their position, stressed importance
of honoring ancestors
• China official atheist state—according to communism, religion is nothing more than a set of myths designed to
keep workers under domination of ruling classes
• Communists discouraged all religious practice + seized places of worship to turn into meeting halls, schools, +
museum
• Cultural Revolution—Red Guards destroyed many building to tear down Four Olds
18. How did Taiwan become an industrial power in Asia?
• Many countries that don’t recognize Taiwan still provide it w/money + technical assistance—also trade w/Taiwan,
helping make it 1 of leading eco. powers in Asia
• Nationalist gov. instituted a sweeping land-reform program that placed land in hands of tenant farmers—
encouraged use of more fertilizers, plant more productive seeds, practice intensive farming methods such as
double croppingfarm production almost doubled
• Foreign investment—quickly dev. textile, food processing, plastics, + chemical industries
• Pursued new industrial goals, concentrating on high-tech industries, such as electronics
19. What is Hong Kong’s relationship like with China (past, present, future)?
• Past
o Before 1800s, largely uninhabited
o 1898—British forced China to agree to lease Hong Kong to them for 99 years—H.K. enjoyed benefits of
free enterprise
o During 1st 15 years of Communism in China, H.K. took in 1+ mil. Chinese refugees—this exodus
provided vast supply of inexpensive labor for factories
o Dev. w/little interference form China
o Interdependence—H.K. obtained most vital resources from mainland of China
o China use H.K. as exchange point for trade w/West
• Present
o 1 of most crowded places in world
o Exports 90% of goods from factories
o Estimates set value of H.K.s trade about 170$ bil., about equal to China
o H.K. leading investor in china since SEZ
• Future
o Uncertain future
o China knows that H.K. must remain healthy eco.—policy of “1 country, 2 systems” allows H.K.’s eco. to
flourish
20. How has the standard of living in Mongolia improved in recent years?
• After Russia democratized gov., Mongolia followed
• Winners renounced communism + created free market eco, people allowed to purchase state-owned businesses,
+ stock exchange opened doors to investors
• Dev. industries—coal + copper mining, food processing, manufacturing leather goods, chemicals, + cement
• Industrialization=more urban
• Many still live as nomads, but become incrs. connect to rest of world