Showing papers in "Modern China in 1981"
TL;DR: In Chinese society in the Ming and Qing periods, life was tentative in ways that are difficult for us to imagine, for reasons ranging from the whims of emperors, to failure at examinations, famines and floods as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Chinese society in the Ming and Qing periods was very complex and interrelated, with a great variety of alternative roles, vocations and social contexts. This variety was increased through social and geographical mobility, and by competition between individuals and groups. As the Qing dynasty developed, population grew, with ever more pressure on resources and means of attaining security and status. For all, from the highest official to the lowliest peasant, the possibility was always present for decline, disease, and death. Life was tentative in ways that are difficult for us to imagine, for reasons ranging from the whims of emperors, to failure at examinations, famines, and floods. In this context there developed a variety of types of associations for group security and advancement, beyond the nuclear
53 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, Liu Shaoqi pointed out that landlords and rich peasants, who constitute less than 10 percent of the rural population, possess approximately from 70 to 80 per cent of the land and brutally exploit the peasants by means of their land.
Abstract: Landlords and rich peasants, who constitute less than 10 per cent of the rural population, possess approximately from 70 to 80 per cent of the land and brutally exploit the peasants by means of their land. Poor peasants, farm laborers, middle peasants and others, however, who make up 90 per cent of the rural population, possess in all only 20 to 30 per cent of the land. —Liu Shaoqi (1950: 63)
45 citations
TL;DR: In many parts of rural China, bandits could establish their independence from official control, sometimes acknowledging it, sometimes repudiating it as discussed by the authors, and in favorable environments, bandit gangs could wield virtual autonomy; elsewhere, pragmatism and local affinities encouraged a live-and-let-live relationship among the four main contenders: the magistrate, the military, the local gentry, and local bandits.
Abstract: In many parts of rural China, bandits could establish their independence from official control, sometimes acknowledging it, sometimes repudiating it. In favorable environments, bandit gangs could wield virtual autonomy; elsewhere, pragmatism and local affinities encouraged a live-and-let-live relationship among the four main contenders: the magistrate, the military, the local gentry, and local bandit gangs. The balance of power among these four deeply affected peasant fortunes, and this article sets out to examine the nature of things beneath the surface of local control in early Republican China. It should be understood that the image presented here does not necessarily apply to the
29 citations
TL;DR: The meaning of the word comprador was gradually expanded beyond its original commercial sense to include any Chinese who collaborated with foreigners in one way or another, serving the interest of the imperialists and thereby acting as a traitor as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: was a commercial broker, an agent and employee of the foreign firm. With the rise of Chinese nationalism, the meaning of the word comprador was gradually expanded beyond its original commercial sense to include any Chinese who collaborated with foreigners in one way or another, serving the interest of the imperialists and thereby acting as a traitor (pp. 11-12, 207-209). In this expanded sense of the word, there were different types of compradors-commercial, political, and cultural. For example,
20 citations
TL;DR: The static concept of underdevelopment, suggesting as it does an economy unable to provide a decent standard of living for its people, certainly describes the situation of prewar China, but it need not necessarily imply that the economy was stagnant; still less does it exclude areas or sectors of growth as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Until recently most scholars have been content to characterize the prewar Chinese economy as underdeveloped and stagnant. The static concept of underdevelopment, suggesting as it does an economy unable to provide a decent standard of living for its people, certainly describes the situation of prewar China. But it need not necessarily imply that the economy was stagnant; still less does it exclude areas or sectors of growth. Recent studies highlighting such pockets of growth are important as a way not only of achieving a more balanced picture of the economy, but also of avoiding facile overgeneralizations about the forces re-
20 citations
TL;DR: The death of Mao Zedong and the purge of the Gang of Four, both occurring in the autumn of 1976, marked the onset of the post-Mao era in the People's Republic of China as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The death of Mao Zedong and the purge of the &dquo;Gang of Four,&dquo; both occurring in the autumn of 1976, marked the onset of the post-Mao era in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Since Mao’s departure from the Chinese political scene, analysts in the West have been busily engaged in speculation on which course the post-Mao leadership is steering China. The demise of the most dominant political figure in post-1949 China inevitably has introduced, at least in the short run, an even greater degree of uncertainty than usual to the study of Chinese politics. Indeed, gone are the days when Western analysts could conveniently attribute the vicissitudes of Chinese domestic and foreign policy
15 citations
TL;DR: For example, Taiwan is a rather special case among countries outside the core of the world capitalist system as mentioned in this paper, which has avoided massive unemployment, large-sprawling slums, overconcentration of population in primate cities, general rural community breakdown, increasing disparities of income between rich and poor, and massive foreign debt.
Abstract: Taiwan is economically a rather special case among countries outside the core of the world capitalist system. Excluding the city-state of Singapore, obviously a very different case, it has fulfilled the hope of capitalist models of economic development, and avoided the problems ordinarily attendant on that development, probably better than any noncore (that is, nonJapanese) nation in Asia. It has avoided massive unemployment, large-sprawling slums, overconcentration of population in primate cities, general rural community breakdown, increasing disparities of income between rich and poor (Amsden, 1979: 341), and massive foreign debt. There has been virtually full employment since 1969 (Fei and Ranis, 1973: 20), except for the brief period of the world oil crisis of 1973-1974; the squatter slums of Taibei, while real enough, are neither large nor conspicuous compared to those of the typical primate cities of Asia or Latin America; the cities of Taibei and Gaoxiong, while numbering over a million each, are of manageable size for the provision of urban services, in particular contrast to Seoul or Jakarta, for example. Most rural communities of Taiwan, while experiencing outmigration, have remained intact both as agricultural villages and increasingly as the sites of small-scale industry (Gallin and
10 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors point out that the principal modes of production through which China has passed have been basically the same as those of other countries; judged by the concrete conditions of the different modes of produce, however, they have manifested great particularities.
Abstract: Seen from the history of the development of human society, the principal modes of production through which China has passed have been basically the same as those of other countries; judged by the concrete conditions of the different modes of production, however, they have manifested great particularities. Hence, there exist many important and special problems in the economic history of China that are markedly different from those in other countries. By important problems I refer to those that have played an important role in the formation and growth of the social-economic structure of China and have produced a farreaching effect on the development of, and changes in, its socialeconomic system. By special problems are meant those whose special characteristics can be noted at once if a comparison is made with the history of foreign countries, especially of Western Europe. Very often the difference is seen in a system or a problem (for instance, the feudal system, the town and the urban economy) not only in the pattern of organization and the manner of operation, but also in the fact that the systems or problems being
8 citations
TL;DR: In the early years of the Republic of China, the issue was kept alive by the efforts of two remarkable men, Jiang Kanghu and Liu Sifu as mentioned in this paper, the one a socialist, the other an anarchist.
Abstract: Socialism has been a visible issue in Chinese ideological conflicts continuously since 1905, when socialist policies were first incorporated into the political agenda of the Revolutionary Alliance. In the early years of the Republic, the issue was kept alive by the efforts of two remarkable men, Jiang Kanghu (18831945) and Liu Sifu (1884-1915), the one a socialist, the other an anarchist. They and the groups they led were marginal in contemporary politics. But the ideas they advocated seemed dangerous enough to the authorities to warrant official persecution. Their writings and activities contributed significantly to the propagation of socialism after 1919, when socialism came into its own in China. This article seeks to elucidate differences in the socialist and anarchist conceptions of revolution in the early Republic. These differences provoked the first polemics among Chinese socialists
7 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine Mao's views, comparing them with those of Lenin and Stalin, as well as with other Chinese theorists, and argue that Mao provided the analytical tools for revising the traditional Leninist model of a socialist society.
Abstract: Since the death of Mao Zedong, his intellectual and historical legacy has become the subject of vehement controversies both in the West and in China. Aside from the rather scholastic issues of how much of his thought and political action can be ascribed to him, and what instead has actually been the fruit of collaborators, it is important to assess what has been his contribution to communist philosophy and politics. Did Mao Zedong formulate a new doctrine able to shed some light on both practical and theoretical issues raised by socialist transition? Are his analyses really innovative or mere repetitions of widely known MarxistLeninist formulae? In order to find some possible answers, the attempt will be made here to examine Mao's views, comparing them with those of Lenin and Stalin, as well as with those of other Chinese theorists. As it will be argued, Mao provided the analytical tools for revising the traditional Leninist model of a socialist society and
6 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the development of a policy to raise the status of women in the Shaan-Gan-Ning Border Region was discussed, and the authors pointed out that economic, political, and social realities, not Party ideology, have determined how these programs are formulated and carried out.
Abstract: In the course of the Chinese revolution, the Communist Party has sought to replace the traditional political and economic system with a socialist one. To do this, Party leaders have worked to win the support of the population by implementing programs that would benefit the majority of people while, at the same time, move society toward socialism. In some cases, however, economic, political, and social realities, not Party ideology, have determined how these programs are formulated and carried out. The need to solve immediate problems has overshadowed, but not replaced long-term revolutionary goals. There are a number of examples of how reality has affected the formation of policy throughout the Party's history. One of these is the development of policy to raise the status of women in the Shaan-Gan-Ning Border Region. From the outset of the communist movement, Party leaders have paid particular attention to the problems of women. In principal, they believed that equality for women was crucial to
TL;DR: In this paper, Shandong University associated itself with other fraternal colleges, universities, and institutes for the purpose of jointly sponsoring a conference on the history of the Boxer movement.
Abstract: The Boxer movement was an antiimperialist patriotic movement that took place at the end of the nineteenth century, and commands an important place in modern Chinese history. After 1949, historians undertook a fresh approach to this historic event. They have published numerous articles and monographs, and at the same time have compiled and published collections of a good many source materials, thus providing a firm basis for further studies. There are, however, still quite a number of significant issues concerning the study of the movement that have long remained unsettled. It was therefore imperative that an academic meeting on a national scale be called to exchange the results of research and to hold discussions in the hope of furthering the study of the history of the Boxer movement. In view of the above fact, Shandong University associated itself with other fraternal colleges, universities, and institutes for the purpose of jointly sponsoring a conference. The response to the proposal for the conference was gratifyingly favorable. In addition, it was decided to extend an invitation to specialists and scholars of several countries to take part in the conference, with the object of promoting friendship and cultural exchange.
TL;DR: The Second Historical Archives as mentioned in this paper is a state-of-the-art repository of documents from the Republican period, with the main building, a fine traditional hall, set well back from the road, and flanked by two large and dignified new document houses.
Abstract: The Second Historical Archives present an impressive facade to the outside world. The main building, a fine traditional hall, is set well back from the road, and is flanked by two large and dignified new document houses. The gateway bears a sign board in the hand of the illustrious Guo Moruo. One knows that one is entering a true repository of national treasures. The impressive setting is a manifestation of official commitment to the preservation of records of the past. Once one goes in, however, one comes up against the awareness that between commitment and realization there is a time lag. The impressive buildings are not where the work of the Archives goes on. Activity is still concentrated behind the facade, in an office block, an old document house, and a reading room tucked away in the rear. The new document houses are still empty, the traditional hall is still used mainly for storage. The present reading room is a homely place, seating about thirty people, and giving on to an informal garden. The Archives have the physical plant, the staff (125 people), and the documents to make them the finest source of materials for historians of the Republican period. But the reason I have mentioned the distinction between the facade and the actual work place is that this distinction came to reflect for me the distance which still has to be covered before the potential can be realized. I never doubted while I was there that I was very close to a magnificent collection of documents. Very close meant, however, being twenty yards away, the distance between the reading room and the old document house, from materials which were not
TL;DR: To keep "knocking my head against the wall, and acting like a snail, with the weight of the world's suffering on my back, as if I was to take the blame for everyone else" was nothing but the flawed character of a middle class intellectual.
Abstract: to keep &dquo;knocking my head against the wall,&dquo; about how I acted like a snail, with the weight of the world’s suffering on my back, as if I was to take the blame for everyone else-this was nothing but the flawed character of a middle class intellectual. At first I simply hated the class I knew best, had no pity to see it collapse, later, practical experience taught me the truth that the future belongs to the rising proletariat.
TL;DR: In this paper, the failure of the Changsha putschism was analyzed in an attempt to understand some of the problems the CCP faced in trying to make urban revolution, and available evidence suggests that the nine days the CCP forces spent in the city were dominated by military considerations.
Abstract: Exactly halfway between 191 1 and 1949 in the summer of 1930, Red Army forces seized Changsha, the capital city of Hunan. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) established the Provincial Worker-Peasant-Soldier Soviet, and set about creating a new order in the city. After only eight days, however, the Red Army withdrew. It was the last time for over one and a half decades that the CCP held a city the size of Changsha. The party based its eventual success in 1949 on mobilization in an extra-urban context. In both party history written in China and in foreign studies, the importance of the 1930 occupation of Changsha is assessed as the final misguided efforts at urban "putschism." Party historians label this putschism the "Li Lisan line." In all analyses, the failure of the Changsha soviet made the tactic of rural revolution in fortress-base more obvious and attractive. This article is not a contribution to the history of policy formation and dispute in the CCP. Rather, the failure of the Changsha occupation will be analyzed in an attempt to understand some of the problems the CCP faced in trying to make urban revolution. Available evidence suggests that the nine days the CCP forces spent in the city were dominated by military considerations. The soviet's pretensions beyond a temporary warlord occupation did not engage the citizens in revolution. In effect, the "Li Lisan line" was not given a chance.
TL;DR: The question of Marx's determinism is as old as the history of Marxism as mentioned in this paper and it has been argued that Marx has always been an economic determinist, and serious students of Marxism have long rejected this view.
Abstract: The question of Marx’s determinism is as old as the history of Marxism. In the popular consciousness, informed by an education that derives more from memory of Stalinist dogma than from any serious appreciation of Marxist thought, Marx has always been an economic determinist. Serious students of Marxism have long rejected this view. While no Marxist denies the importance of understanding economic life to understanding life in general,