Modern China

Modern Chinese history program at MH developed by Th. Thorhallsson for IBHistory students at MH

Chinese history

Chinese civil war

Chinese civil war 1911?-1949 (topic 1. War...)
Emphasis on:
Origins of war, political, ideological, economic sources. Civil warfare, resistance movements, nonsystemized warfare or guerilla warfare, revolutionary movements and war. Political, social and economic effects.
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Mao and Communist China

Communist China (Topic 3 Single-party state) Themes: Origins - Conditions that produced CC. Establishment, methods, form of government, totalitarianism, treatment of opposition. Ideology of Mao and Chinese communists. Role of education, media, the arts, propaganda. Successes and failures in solving political, social and economic problems. Role of women, minorities, and religious groups. Chinese history Impact on world affairs.

Introduction.
What do we know about China?
Where is China in the world? What are its neighbouring countries? Status in the world to day. What kind of Government do we have there? What is the contribution of China to the world: in technology, culture, arts, religion...? What do we know about Chinese history.
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Chinese past
Why should we probe Chinese past?
It seem that the Chinese themselves are obsessed with history. China is one of the oldest civilization in the world It seem that Chinese history tends to move in cycles: From rise of dynasty to fall of dynasty to anarchy to new dynasty. Maybe this pattern is still going on.
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Chinese thought
Continuities with the past do exist, especially in thought and attitudes.
What are these:
The Confucian school The Daoists (taoists) The legalist scool Buddhism Customs and habits.

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Confucious
What are the main principles of confucian thinking? What does C. think is womens place in society What is the relationship between ruler and subject according to Confucius?

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Birth of China
The Shang dynasty. Earliest kings in the Valley of the Yellow river around 13001200 BC.
Shang knew the art of writing and it is recognizable

1040-770 BC the Zhou dynasty. Yangzi river becomes part of the state. 500-200 Chaotic period. Period of the thinkers and philosophers. Confucius fifth century BC
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Unification of China
Qin dynasty. To 206 BC
Controlled China south to Vietnam Standard coinage, improved communication, standardized writing system, built the Great wall. Legalist.

Subjects revolted against the ruthless legalist dynasty.

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The dynastic cycle

The Han dynasty 206 BC to 220 AD was the first to go through the dynastic cycle

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Song dynasty 960-1279

The peak of urban culture in China Vigorous Merchant class. Foreign trade. Educated civil servants that had to pass the state examination in Confucian classics. Military strength declined and China became the prey of the Mongol Kublai Khan. Mongol rule lasted to 1368.
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Ming dynasty 1368-1644

Rule mixture of Confucian and legalist principles. State exams for officials. The officials view of society
The scholars who rule Peasants who grew food Artisans who make important things Merchants who make nothing but shuffle goods from one place to another

Merchants raised the sons to be scholars

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Ming cont.
Early Ming supported the great merchants adventure around the Indian ocean in the 15th century but late Ming developed distaste for trade and foreigners. Why didnt the Chinese conquer the world instead of the Europeans. Progress and technology slowed down unfortunately because the westerners were coming The first Portugese in China 1514
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Qing dynasty 1681-1911

The Manchu invaded China and formed the Qing dynasty. The empire at its biggest Corruption among the ruling class in the 19th century. Dynasty weakens. Overpopulation, low technology and corruption. Internal revolts and external wars
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The Collapse of the old order

The Manchu government collapsed under both internal and external pressures Example:
The Opium War, external pressure The Taiping revolution, internal pressure. The Boxer rebellion: internal pressure and external when foreign armys helped crushing it.
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The Opium war 1839-42

What was the Opium war about? What has opium to do with it? Why did the Chinese loose the war? What concessions had the Chinese to make? What is a treaty port? The most favoured nation principle, extraterritorality. What are the long term effects?
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Taiping revolution.
After 1800 we see the symptoms of downward cycle. The rebellion was chrushed but at the cost of strengthening regional armies only partly under central command even if the were loyal. Li Hongzhan was one of the leaders of the regional armies. Began efforts to introduce western technology.
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China and the west

Chinese werent used to learn from other nations. The chinese wanted to retain the traditional confucian culture but only use western technology. Only around the turn of the century some Chinese started to think that society had to be changed fundamentally.
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Cont..
The empress was afraid of that any changes would hurt the Qing Dynasty because of its Manchu-origins. Chinese businessmen met opposition from bureaucrats in Chinese dominated cities but they were growing in the treaty ports. Still the always lacked access to capital. The hundred days of Kang 1898 show that the idea of reform was there but it was suppressed.
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The Boxer rebellion 1899.

What can the Boxer rebellion tell us about the situation? Why was there no rebellion in the southern provinces? Why wasnt China carved up among the western powers? What is the open door policy?

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After the Boxer Rebellion.

Finally the imperial court showed som understanding of reforms necessary:
Tried to regain control of tariffs Tried to end opium imports abolished the old civil exam system Students sent abroad New armies formed Provincial assemblies elected and a National Assembly
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Effect of reform
The government couldnt handle it Expectation rise Regional governors like Zhang Zhidong in Wuhan and Yuan Shikai in the north were removed from office.
These were however the actual bulwarks of government in the provinces and whith them gone the danger of rebellion increased.
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Revolution 1911
Revolution in the provinces Army takes control under leadeship of Yuan ShiKai
Dissolved the parliament

Shikai abdicated in 1915

Made the mistake of proclaiming himself emperor

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Warlord Era 1916-28

First phase of civil war in China Warlord: leaders of provincial armies emerging from the ruins of the empire
strong flamboyant personalities building armies by preying on the peasantry Peasants suffer in the sturlungald

Main centers of government in the south (Canton) and in the north (Beijing)
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China and WW1

Japan seized German holdings in Shandong 1915 China forced to accept Japanese control of Southern Manchuria An other humiliation for China when Versailles treaty accepts Japans rule of Shangdong Middle class and nationalist anger explodes in the 1919 may 4th movement:
Opposing foreign domination and Warlord rule
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Kuomintang (Nationalist Party)

Originally founded by Sun Yat Sen in 1912 Sun set up a government in Canton 1917 Revitalized in the May 4th movement 1919 Extends its power from Canton to the North K was able to overthrow the warlords in 1928
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Sun Yat-sen
Three principles of the people
Nationalism Democracy Livelihood (not revolutionary)

Sun was willing to work with communists (1923) and organized the party along bolshevik lines Died 1925
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Sun replaced by Chiang Kaishek

Right wing General Middle class Landowners Worked with Communists until 1927 Managed to win warlords 1928

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Mao and the Communist party

Mao Tse Tung (1893-1976) Revolutionary leader and poet
Founder and leader of the Peoples Republic of China. Born in Southern China of peasant origin Joined the revolutionary army when the Manchu dynasty was overthrown 1911 Advocated womens right and attacked aranged marriage Joined a marxist studygroup at Peking university 1919 Participated in the may 4th demonstrations 1919 29 Chinese history

Communism: beginning
Communist manifesto translated and published 1906 Like in many countries with huge peasantry anarchism had been popular Doctrinate marxism did not fit China because in 1918 only 2 million out af population of 300 million were urban workers The peasants were the real underclass, supressed by the gentry in a feudal relation
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Beginnings cont.
Two events gave the radical movement a start:
May 4th movement against the Versailles treaty
Versailles betrayed chinese interest Dissillution with democracy and capitalism

The Russian revolution

Revolution in a neighbouring peasant state Li Dazhao urged marxist to go into the countryside
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Formation of the communist party

Soviet agents helped in the organization of the party. Established in July 1921 Mao head in Hunan Still Lenin and Stalin later had not much confidence in communism in China and always advocated cooperation with the KMT The struggle against imperialism
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KMT and the communists

Russia supported Sun Yat-sen and until the victory of KMT over China 1927 there was cooperation with the communists Chiang Kai-shek studied military science in Moscow After victory Chiang was urged to turn against communist by industrialists and landowners in the party The white terror, massacre of communist workers in Shanghai 1927
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The new revolutionary strategy after 1928

Mao was the thinker of the new strategy
KMT was strongest in the cities so workers revolution was hard to achieve Peasants were alienated from KMT because it supported the landowners Mao started to build base areas in the countryside by adopting: Old guerilla tactics Introduced land reform Landlords were allowed to keep some land

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The Jiangxi Soviet 1931-34

In Jiangxi Mao formed a Chinese Soviet republic based on his peasant revolution principles Chinese communist returning from Moscow tried to undermine Maos efforts with emphasis on class struggle and a broad front against KMT army KMT was able to chase the communist away on the so called long march 1934 1935 to northern China The bolsheviks were discredited becaus of this
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Long march
In 1931 the Japanese invaded northeastern China and set up a puppet government. Instead of resisting Japan, Nationalist troops (under Chiang Kai-Shek) launch a series of military campaigns against the Communists. Chiang's extermination of the communists began in October 1933, and a year later the Communist were driven into a small area in Kiangsi (now Jiangxi) Province. Close to defeat, the Communists decided to march north to Yenan in Shansi (Shanxi) Province, a distance of 8000 km over some of the most inhospitable terrain. On the way the Communists confiscated the property of officials, landlords and tax collectors, and redistributed the land to peasants. They armed thousands of peasants with weapons captured from the Nationalists and left soldiers behind to organise guerrilla groups to harass the enemy. The march proved that the Chinese peasants could fight if they were given leadership and weapons. Of the 90,000 people who started the Long March, only 1 in 4 made it to Shansi. During the march a meeting of the CCP hierarchy recognised Mao's overall leadership, and he assumed supreme responsibility for strategy. Japan launches a full-scale invasion of China in July 1937, and within five months the Japanese enter Nanking and massacre 200,000 people. The government retreats to Chungking, a remote area ruled by rival warlords. America enters the war in 1941 and finds Chiang (Nationalist) keeping his best troops to fight the Communists.

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The Long March

Heroic myth Of 100.000 communists 20.000 survived Maos policy survived and became the model for future China The LM provided the future leadership of Peoples Republic of China From the new base Communist would conquer China
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Chinese foreign policy

1927-28
Kuomintang controls all of China. Communist expelled from the party and links with Soviet Union severed Civil war between Guomintang and Communists starts

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Japanese influence in China

1931-32 The Japanese occupy Manchuria Was their sphere of influence before Founded the state of Mandsjukuo 1936 Ceasefire between communist and kuomintang 1937 Japanese declare war on China and occupy the coast. Soviet Union supports China.
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The War with Japan 1937-45

The effect on the future
Old authorities cleared in the North East KMT had to turn against Japan instead of the communists (internal-external pressure) Still KMT proved corrupt and used US money for private consumption The Communist became the resistance heros Communist created new bases in freed regions
Some landreform rent and interst control Taught peasant to read and write

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Japanese war against China

Mars 1940 Japanese establish a Chinese puppet government in Nanking Fall 1941 USA does not want to make agreement with Japan unless they withdraw from China. USA supports Chiang Kai-check. General Stilwell USA agent in Chine but says that Chiangs government is bad and corrupt. He wants USA to support the communists but Roosevelt continues his support with Chiang.
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After WWII
1945 Japanese have to leave China. General Marshall tries to reconciliate Communists and Guomintang. Chaing refuses. 1945-48 USA gives Guomintang weapons. Chinese communists press for victory before the US public starts to press for armed intervention in China. (before the cold war start to take effect)
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Communist position at the end of war

Had already revolutionized big parts of China
19 base areas with 100 million people

Had big experienced army Symbols for reform independence national unity abolition of feudalism The US supported KMT
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Problems facing Mao 49

Economy and infrastructure in ruins Agriculture inefficient. Food Shortages. Superhuman task to control 600 million people but Mao managed it.
Purges against class enemies

How was the constitution? How is Government organised? What is the role of the party?
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Agricultural and industrial changes

Redistribution of land Then peasants were persuaded to enter the coops. How could this collectivization succeed without violence? Nationalization of most businesses Five year plan for building heavy industry
Some success with help from Russia but Mao had doubts.
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Hundred flowers 1957

What does it mean? Call for criticism
Government for. The party for. Campaign called off (to much criticism) and next step was to further advance and consolidate socialism

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The great leap forward 58

Supposed to increase output the chinese way Introduction of the Commune (30 000 people)
What was the role of the commune?
Local government Work organisation Party organ

Small factories in the countryside to provide machines for agriculture. Backyard furnaces. Didnt go well at first. Hunger and shortages.

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Effect of great leap

Historians do not agree on effect
Norman Lowe is relatively possitive
Agriculture and small industry did improve The communes did prove a balance against centralization The Chinese way was supposed to be labor-intensive

Most other historians seems to think that the great leap was a total disaster, leading to economic ruin, bad harvests, hunger and the backyard furnaces were useless. After the Great leap the rightists (moderates) wanted to ease things
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Cultural revolution 66-9

Against the right opposition that were calling for incentives, managers, and private ownership of farms. Mao stuck to socialism, avoid the making of a privileged class. Lin Biao abolished ranks in the army Schools closed en students roam the country exposing the four Olds. Mao encouraged the red guards to roam the country. The little red book Brought chaos and almost a civil war. Mao called in the army to restore order.
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Life after Mao

Power struggle after Maos death 1976
Deng came back and took the leadership from Hua Guofeng and the militant gang of four.

Deng was a liberal communist and tried to reverse the effects of the cultural revolution, more freedom of expression and communes were democratically elected. China entered the international economic world and wanted foreign loans, capital and technichal know how. Internally he encouraged productivity by lowering taxes and incentives.
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Demands for liberty 89

Right to criticize government Non-communist parties in Congress Freedom to change jobs and travel abroad Abolition of communes Deng was infuriated
Without the party China will regress into division and confusion
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Modernization
Zhao Ziyang prime minister
Had communal land divided up among individual peasants Compulsory state purchase of crops limited This market socialism did have its problems
Inflation and increase in imports more than exports Deng wanted to encourage capitalist 53 Chinese history initiative and decentralization

Tiananemen Square 1989

Is it possible to have a market economy, the freedom to buy and sell but to deny people all choice in politics? Under what situation is this possible. Gorbachevs visit encouraged demonstrators. The army brought in 3-4 june 1989 killing 1500-3000. Deng believed in the single party system to supervise transition to social market economy.
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N konfsasmi
Fyrrum forstisrherra Singapr talar um assku leiina til ntmans:
Kaptalskt efnahagskerfi Sterkt rkisvald Konfsskur lfstll
Traust fjlskyldubnd Viringu fyrir hinum eldri Hpvinnu sta einstaklingshyggju Agi og vinnusemi
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After the takeover 1949

1950 Agreement with Soviet Union. Soviet union promises technical and financial aid. China not part of U.N. Britain and India acknowledge China. 1950 Invasion and occupation of Tibet. 1950-53 Entered the Korean war when USA armies came close to the border. Managed to keep US away.
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China in World politics

Zhou Enlai places China in the leadership of neutral third world countries but is not able to reach agreement with US 1958 Cooling relations with Soviet Union after death of Stalin. Mao says the east wind is stronger than the wind from the west. Support to African nations. Trying to get goodwill so they can enter UN.
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New directions
1964 Chinese explode their first atom bomb 1960-70 The situation on the SovietChinese border comes close to a war. Competition for support of third world countries. Eurocommunists confused.

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US-Chinese relation after 71

US-feels isolated in South East Asia during Vietnam war Nixon sends feelers to China in the form of Ping-Pong 1971 Nixon in China feb. 1972 From then on relations with Chine have started to normalize.
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Foreign policy after Mao

1984 agreement about reverting Hong Kong to China (Hong Kong aquired from 1842-98) 1979 Us fully recognize PRC and abandon support for Taiwan China most favoured nation status in US after 1992 After Dalai Lama got Nobel Peace prize in 1989 the Chinese have releaved some of their repression in Tibet.
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Mynd

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Mao and the peasants in Hunan

In 1926 Mao observed the peasant revolution in Hunan and wrote an extensive report that shaped his attitude towards the peasant revolution.
How did the peasants organize themselves? How many peasants took part in the revolution? Percentage: Number:
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Hunan peasants
P. 78. How does Mao answer the criticism against the terror in the countryside. P. 79. Who are the poor peasants making the revolution? P. 80. The revolutionary government.
What is done with the landlords and the old elite? How far do these actions reach? All the way? How is the situation of women improved? How is the situation of the peasants improved?
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What was done with landlords in Hunan

Settling of accounts Imposition of fines Compulsory contribution of funds Questioning Demonstrating Humiliation(e.g wearing tall hats and parading around town) Imprisonment Banishment And only for the most powerful landlords, execution. Yet the peasants still left them with some land and property.
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Situation of women in Hunan

Many women established their own associations. Were able for the first time to raise their voices and make a difference. So-called husband power became weaker and weaker and women had a say in family affairs. Within family, women gained influence.
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Situation of Peasants in Hunan

Removal of feudal system and militia Clan elders lost power Outlawing of gambling and opium Successful elimination of banditry Successful promotion of cultural movement Credit unions established Improved the transport system (eg. Roads, irrigation canals and flood-control dykes)
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Short lecture with handouts

Due Week after Lagningardagar.
The Hundred Flowers 1957 lfur The Great Leap Forward 1958 Kristin Jna The Cultural Revolution 1966 Erna Death of Mao 1976 Hildur Deng comes to power 1978 Katerina Tiananmen Square 1989 Tmas jon bjarni Soviet Union and China Hjrleifur USA relations with China Bragi Art in China HElga Women in China Lea Assel Religion in China Solveig Population and Economy. Chris

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Questions
Why was the US angry towards China until Ping Pong What kind of historical break was made with the revolution in 1949 What was the Ideology of Chinese communists, how has it changed? Compare Russia and China, were are the similarities?
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