Communism In China Essay

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Since 1911, the Chinese people have encountered many social problems, but none as large as Communism. The Chinese government, particularly under Mao, has committed many atrocities and has stripped their own people and country of valuable ancient culture. First, the farming lifestyle was massively eliminated during the Cultural Revolution, and so was the family structure. Second, the Chinese government successfully implemented low tolerance policies for opposing values. Finally, the Chinese people have became slaves of their own government. With the Chinese Communist Revolution during the 1960s came a period of great change for Chinese culture including vast alterations in the common lifestyle, tolerance, and the structured social organization.
When the final, disastrous Qing Dynasty ended in 1911 there was complete chaos, which lasted through the primary Communist revolution (Murphey, Rhoads). Therefore the question has been how can China change from ancient China to communism so fast? As part of the tortuous Cultural Revolution and Great Leap Forward, Communism aims to tear apart the family structure. The large family, often extended, included grandparents, parents, plural wives, many children, etcetera. Ancestor worship strengthened family ties. The compact village settlement gave families the ability to utilize the resources, protection, produce on the land, and stable autonomy. Walls between cities stood as boundaries, formal designations of city lands, symbols of power, and actually set the norm for competition (Spencer, Joseph E). Chinese values, originally believed strongly in the powers of nature, which is exemplified in Buddhism, Confucianism, and Tai Chi (Murphey, Rhoads). Much of the population worked on farms and had a compelling concept of the relations between man and
By the time Mao had passed, the Chinese people felt slightly free enough to set moral guidelines once again (Murphey, Rhoads). “Those living in a shortage economy experience day by day that the buyer is at the mercy of the seller” (Yang, Fenggang). This refers to the economic side of Communist ideology and culture, as there is a lack of communication, competition, and efficiency. To what extent can China succeed if it imposes itself on its citizens and suppresses all competitors. The structured social organization gave younger generations a place in society and status patterns such as scholar, farmer, artisan, or merchant in Confucius way of life. With the illusion that the government would eliminate all social class systems, they could build an elite ruling class without anyone knowing. Today, there is a still a two class system: rural-agrarian or urban-intellectual-merchant-official. Occasionally one can jump classes to officialdom, but the whole family would share the wealth (Spencer, Joseph

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