The Dwindling of a Pure China

The Dwindling of a Pure China

“To get rich is glorious.” This is the new-found mentality of China. China, however, has never been money-hungry or profit-oriented. With mass industrialization, it essentially made China implement capitalist ideals, and China let “a couple flies get in.” China has had its roots sprouting from Confucianism, but industrialization has compromised their Confucian style of life. Sure, in the past we must acknowledge that Confucianism has disappeared a couple times only to resurface again. This time is different. China will never regain their Confucian spirit again because industrialization has corrupted the minds of the once pure, Confucian, Chinese people.

When Mao came to power in 1949, he created a radical Communist state. However, subsequent to his death in 1976, “moderates” took over and completely altered the economic system in China. Deng Xiaoping is the most notable “moderate” for creating a somewhat free-market economy. He adopted foreign technology, and reduced the amount of collectivized agriculture. Additionally, there was less state control of enterprise and agriculture, people were able to buy and sell property, and manufacturers were allured to China because of their minimal labor costs. However, the state still owned banks, steel, energy, media, and telecommunication services. Essentially, China, economically, was taking the “third way” like Tony Blair did in the 90’s. They are neither purely socialist nor purely capitalist. But, when Deng Xiaoping uttered, “to get rich is glorious,” in the late 80’s, it showed that China had become very capitalist oriented. Capitalism has always been based on greed to benefit, and Deng’s expression exemplifies that. Furthermore, Deng also uttered, that “when you open the window, the flies come in” meaning that when capitalist reforms were implemented like the West, western culture was bound to come with it. The question is, due Deng’s reforms, is Confucianism still potentially viable in China? (Ebrey).

To be frank, Confucianism does not have any chance of resurfacing. There are many sources that show us this. First, because of this new free-market economy, some people have thrived and some have not. Two distinct classes have been emerging, the very rich and the very poor. However, this was not what Communism first intended. It was first intended that Communism was to keep everyone equal by an “eternal revolution.” The Communist Party, with its plethora of recent reforms, has made this idea less of a priority. But, the rich, like the wealthy bourgeoisie in the West during the Industrial Revolution, are getting all of the benefit, and the “proletariat” are getting none. Since people were to “get rich as glorious,” people lived very lavishly. About a week ago, there was an issue that arose concerning the rich versus the government in China. Sophie Beach, an observer of Chinese issues living in Berkely California gave a report. The rich in China wanted to fly their privately owned airplanes in China without the government’s approval because it took several weeks to get an approval for a flight. It seems as if that the rich seemed as if it was okay to just ignore the law because they were rich. This certainly is not the China we would see in the past. People respected the laws because people treated others with respect, (Beach).

Moreover, people in China have lost their sense of simplicity in life because of mass industrialization. This exemplifies how China’s mentality has changed.

Wang Zhongjun is loaded and happy to flaunt it. He wears Prada shoes, Versace jackets, and a Piaget watch. He smokes Cohiba cigars from Cuba. He drives a white Mercedes-Benz SL600, a silver BMW Z8, and a red Ferrari 360. His art collection includes hundreds of sculptures and paintings. Value: $30 million or so (In China, to Get Rich is Glorious).

Is this really what China should be like? People’s lives have begun to become corrupted by Western influence. This China has only recently come into play. Before, people lived simply and China was mainly agricultural. But, now when you go up to an ordinary American and ask them about China, they would make a statement like, “that’s where everything is made!” China has changed so rapidly in the past 30 years since Deng uttered “to get rich is glorious.” (In China, to Get Rich is Glorious).

Furthermore, the way the Chinese have acted has changed drastically in the past 30 years. When Deng responded to questions about industrialization, Deng stated “when you leave the window open, the flies come in.” The flies have certainly come in. Western media, food, and technology have come to China and have westernized the mindset of the ordinary Chinese person. For example, in Hebei province a couple days ago, a couple was caught on camera while having sex in a university classroom. Even funnier, an average Chinese guy later commented on the post by stating, “if you haven’t tried [having sex] in a classroom, how can you be considered a male university student? Shanghai Normal University and Shanghai University has a lot of this.” (Hebei University Students…). Through the influence of western culture, people in China have become accustomed to this idea that sex is a joke, whereas in Confucianism, people took sex very seriously. For example, after a parent died, you were not supposed to have sex for three years.

Finally, in January a large statue was placed in Tiannamen Square of Confucius. Since then, the Communists have been thinking about implementing “political Confucianism.” Unlike the Confucian bureaucracy, this is just the use of Confucianism to alleviate China’s “moral crisis” as Samuel Wade, a graduate from the University of London, stated. However, this Confucian revival is not going to work. It’s too late. The damage has already been done to China (Wade). No matter what the Chinese do to try and re-install Confucianism, they won’t be able to do it because they have supported a capitalist economy which has westernized China. Thus, when Deng stated, “to get rich is glorious,” he completely flipped the ideals of Chinese culture. With his famous utterance, he created a dwindling China.

Bibliography

Beach, Sophie. "China’s Rich Try to Fly Around Red Tape." Chinadigitaltimes.net. 18 May 2011. Web. 19 May 2011. .

Ebrey, Patricia B. The Cambridge illustrated history of China. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Print.

"Hebei University Students Caught Having Sex In Classroom – ChinaSMACK." Chinasmack.com. 13 May 2011. Web. 19 May 2011. .

"In China, To Get Rich Is Glorious." Businessweek.com. 2006. Web. 19 May 2011. .

Wade, Samuel. "Political Confucianism’s Coming of Age | China Digital Times (CDT)."Chinadigitaltimes.net. 7 Feb. 2010. Web. 19 May 2011.

Tiananmen Square Analysis

After reading a Financial Times Article, and an interview with Lee Kwaun Yu which both discussed the Tiananmen Square incident in 1989, I have come to a lucid conclusion regarding Deng's crackdown on the protesters. Initially, from the "Tank Man" documentary in class, I gained that Deng cracked down on the protesters because he did not want the Communist government to fall. Moreover, I gained that since Communism was based on the "dictatorship of the proletariat," he did not want to lose the faith of the workers, and therefore tried to get rid of those that dissented with the Communist government. However, after reading Lee Kwaun Yu's interview concerning China and the Tiananmen Square incident, I learned that Lee thinks that the government in China is the most stable it could possibly get. Since China has a variety of races and cultures, Lee insists that China needed to have a centralized power to stick together. This ideology could be applied to the Yugoslavia Crises in the 90's in Europe. When Communism fell in Europe, Yugoslavia split, but Serbia still wanted to keep Yugoslavia together. Since Yugoslavia was filled with different cultures, religions, and races, there were many disputes which ended in great violence. What Lee is suggesting, is that China needs to prevent splitting because violence would pervade the country. Therefore, at the time, Deng could have cracked down on the protesters because China would go to ruins if there were seditious people. But, the Financial Times article suggested a different reason for Deng's action. In the article, it articulates that the protesters were not in fact protesting for democracy, but because there was an "emerging elite." They were enraged that Mao's "eternal revolution" was not being put into place. Likewise, many of the people were apparently mad that there were so many compromises with capitalism. To be frank, I do not know how China's economy could even currently be considered Communist. I understand that that a couple things are nationalized like their banks, or industries, but China created Locke's dream of "freedom of property" in 1987 which is the pinnacle of capitalism. Sure, they are more leaned toward a Socialist economy, but China is still increasingly capitalist. Since there was such mass change, I suppose that people wanted to go further and to get "freedom." Like the USSR and Gorbachev, too much change was occurring at one time. Glasnost and perestroika overwhelmed the USSR and the government lost influence. Deng's reforms overwhelmed the people, and they just wanted more. Once again, another analogy with Russia arises, but 100 years before. In the second half of the 19th century, Alexander II, a liberal Russian czar, did such radical things like the Emancipation Act in 1861 which liberated the serfs, but since there was such mass change, a radical group called the Intelligisia just wanted more. By 1881, they assassinated Alexander II, who upon his death passed a Constitution for the country, which was repealed by his successor, Alexander III. Therefore, overall, we learn that Deng needed to maintain the stability in China, and that he instituted too many reforms at one time which overwhelmed the people.

"To Live" after Accumulating Knowledge

After I read several pages in "China Since 1900," I have gained some knowledge that has cemented my understanding of early Communist China. Well, we already know basic things life in Communist China was very totalitarian. However, in my previous blog post on "To Live," I never mentioned the specific events in history that accounted for occurrences in the movie.

For example, in this movie, it especially shows Fugui and his family during the "Great Leap Foward" which essentially was a motivation with the Second Five Year Plan to surpass the economies of western countries. After everyone smelts steel in their commune in the movie, Mr. Niu states, "with this, we will surpass America in 15 years!" But, Mao adapted his 5 Year Plan's from Stalin's in the Soviet Union. But, in the Soviet Union, the Gosplan coordinated what needed to be produced. The first 5 Year Plan in China also used experts for this same reasoning. However, his Second 5 Year Plan failed. Mao's government actually lied about how much the country produced which was one of the factors of mass famine in the early 60's which killed over 20 million people. Something interesting I constantly hear concerning my last sentence is that "Mao killed more people than Stalin and Hitler combined." I think Mao was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. He stated that he was not completely sure what he was doing with second 5-Year Plan and several man made factors like too many people working in the steel industry, and corruption, as already discussed, led to famine. Additionally, bad weather caused famine. Thus, although 20 million people were killed from the famine, it was not completely Mao's fault. In contrast, Hitler threw people in gas chambers to kill them, while Stalin waged an intentional famine in Ukraine.

I would also like to add that the Cultural Revolution played a huge part in this movie. The Cultural Revolution was when Mao was out of power, but still had substantial influence. At the time, in the 60's, moderates took over and Mao was afraid they would take the "capitalist road." Therefore, he gave every soldier "The Little Red Book" of "Quotations from Chairman Mao." In his quotations, he urges people to get rid of their old belongings. Thus, in the scene when Fugui and Niu are playing "matchmaker", Niu advises that he get rid of his old puppets. Fugui agrees, as if they had no sentimental value, because "Mao said so." Additionally, at Fengxia's wedding, which occurs during the Cultural Revolution, they sing, "Chairman Mao is dearer than Mother and Father" which is a perfect representation of people during the Cultural Revolution.

Therefore, "To Live", is actually a perfect representation of life under Mao. It was a very engaging watch because it binded fact with fiction to represent a the lives of a true Chinese family during the era.

Ming and Qing Analysis

The Ming and Qing are two very interesting dynasties of Chinese history. These two dynasties are similar and different to the Europeans. They are similar and different intellectually and economically.

Firstly, they both are very similar and different intellectually. The Chinese, for thousands of years, embraced the idea of Confucianism, which stressed respect and the mandate of heaven. However, during the same time, the Europeans were experiencing changes in their thinking. They went from ardent Christians to people being influenced by the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. However, the Christianity was a salvation religion and people were very crazy about it. Likewise, the Hongwu emperor actually started the Ming dynasty through the Red Turbans, a salvation religion, in 1368. Salvation religions never really had mass influence in China however. Although Buddhism grew during the Tang dynasty, it never grew past the Tang. Moreover, the Yongle Emperor in the Ming had a huge influence on China. Like an Enlightened Despot in Europe, he was interested in intellectual themes and really believed in supporting the people. He rebuilt the Great Wall, fabricated the Forbidden City, and sent out Zheng He on his voyages. He even had scholars create the “Yongle Encyclopedia” which was a 50 million word narrative of history. It is ideally similar to Diderot’s “Encyclopedie” during the Enlightenment period in the sense that both captured the fact that history should be remembered. Additionally, Zheng He encompasses the meaning of being Confucian. Although he was a Muslim, he illustrated Confucian values. Firstly, he would always be considerate and hospitable with people he met on his voyages. On the contrary, when explorers like Columbus encountered people, they were immediately slaves and Catholicism was implemented. Zheng He however respected people’s ideas, while the Catholic Church supported the death of anyone who was not Christian as early as 1301 with the Unum Sanctum, and later with the Romanus Pontifex. On a different note, by the 16^th century, Jesuits came in who sought to convert locals. But, they also brought new implements and ideas from the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment. One of these Jesuits was Matteo Ricci. He actually worked in the Imperial Court because he reconciled Confucianism and Christianity, unlike most westerners who would negate any religion other than their own.

The advent of the Qing Dynasty came with the introduction of Manchu rulers. However, the people accepted the Manchurians because they practiced the Mandate of Heaven. The rulers realized the people must be put before themselves, which was contrary to many Europeans at the time which practiced absolutism. It wasn’t until about the early 18^th century that Enlightened Despots were prevalent in Europe. The first Qing Emperor, Kanxi, changed the influence of the Jesuits in China. Because Matteo Ricci reconciled Confucianism and Christianity, the opinionated Catholic Church stated that Catholicism should remain Catholicism. The Church also looked down upon Confucian rituals, and therefore Kangxi eradicated Catholic influence in China by getting rid of the missionaries. Additionally, the Opium War began the Century of Humiliation in China. Thus, for the next century, people detested foreign influence which was depicted through the Boxer Rebellion in 1900. Finally, the Qing began to Westernize in the late 1800’s. They had a self-strengthening movement, which was similar to Peter the Great because both nations wanted to westernize to become more powerful militarily.

Second, they were very similar and different concerning their economies. During the Ming dynasty, the Chinese employed the tribute system which comprised of largesse and tribute. During the same era in Europe, feudalism started to become replaced by mercantilism and the cornerstones of capitalism. But, Europe and China had very different ways of treating the economy. The Confucians always looked down upon profit-seekers while the West glorified getting rich and greediness, especially with the advent of capitalism. Because of this, the voyages of Zheng He and of Columbus could be compared. Zheng He did not seek money, or profit. He went around the world exploring and making peace, while Columbus just wanted the natives for their gold, and making a profit. European nations for hundreds of years put there benefit before any others, unlike the Chinese who would treat everyone with respect.

During the Qing dynasty, the tribute system was in place until the late 1800’s. By the late 1800’s, the Europeans experienced many innovational economic ideology like imperialism, capitalism, and socialism. When the Europeans found China, they were eager to trade with them. Countries like Portugal attained ports like Macao to trade. However, other nations had to resort to the Canton system to trade. The Canton system stated that foreigners could only trade through one port in China. The Chinese were not eager to trade with these foreigners because they were not profit-seekers like they were. The Chinese wanted to live their conventional lives. By 1795, McCartney visited China seeking more ports to trade with, and making an embassy. However, nothing happened. But, China was forced to give privileges to other countries after the Opium Wars with treaties like Nanking and Tianjin, and new ideas like extraterritoriality. At the same time, Europeans were definitely obsessed with the new idea of imperialism. In “the Scramble for Africa” for example, Bismarck of Germany defined who could have what provinces, essentially dividing up Africa. As stated before, China had its own self-strengthening movement which essentially was futile because they were defeated by their other Asian contemporary, Japan.

Therefore, the Chinese and Europeans were similar and different concerning their intellectualism and economies. In consequence to the bad reputation of the Qing Empire by the Europeans, the Republic of China was formed in 1911.

"To Live"

"To Live" was very engaging and was really interesting to watch. It was in several ways, very historically accurate of life throughout the 30's-70's. Particularly, it showed how people lived under Mao. First, it showed how Mao's communist army vanquished the nationalists. Subsequently, there were several interesting events that took place in the story. One of my most favorite parts of the story was how Youqin spilled soup on another kids head, and then the father of the kid stated that he was insulting the state and communal canteen. Thus, since Fugui did not want to seem "politically backward" he hit his child. He did not hit him because he was wrong, but he hit him because politics were involved. Fugui also asks his wife of their social class, and they conclude that they are ordinary townspeople. Fugui replied to this by saying, "good, good" as if being rich was a bad thing. Since they China was communist, they supported a "dictatorship of the proletariat" which probably is why Fugui wants to be an ordinary townsman. Moreover, it was interesting how everyone had to contribute with the steel smelting. People's pots were taken from them to create "one or two cannonballs." Additionally, everyone praised Mao as if he were a God. For example, at Fengxia's wedding, they all sang a song to thank Mao. Likewise, Fugui's house was painted with Mao and Chungching gave him a picture of Mao. Thus, in many ways, this "A Life" was very historically accurate concerning society in China during the 50's.