Cultural Revolution In the Chinese history there is an important date that many remember. That is the Cultural Revolution that started in 1966 (Chan 103). This Cultural Revolution wasn’t a war by any means, but a competition between the different factions of the communist party for power. The Cultural Revolution was also a very important event in the history of the Chen Village. We saw through the different chapters of Chen Village just how it affected the different people that were living there during the eleven year span that it lasted (Chan 103). The Cultural Revolution caused a lot of problems to stir up in Chen Village. According to Chan, Madsen, and Unger, when the villagers originally went to settle in Chen Village, they didn’t actually …show more content…
The younger generation was passionate about going to school and graduating, unlike their parents (Chan 252). Most of them weren’t passionate about farming and believed that since they had went to school and earned an education they should use their skills somewhere “useful”, like a factory or government agency (Chan 252). These actions changed the way that the Chen Villagers acted as well. They were considered lazy by many of the elders because they didn’t take time to go out and tend to crops like they would, they were always asking their parents for money to spend without actually doing any work to earn the money, and they didn’t understand that it was not right to steal from neighbors just to have things good for themselves (Chan 254). Throughout Chen Village there was a great change that happened due to the Cultural Revolution. People went from being very devoted to farming, to working in factories, to the younger generation getting jobs at government agencies. The Cultural Revolution caused a lot of chaos in Chen Village due to its demand of changing a lot of what the village had done for years. All of the issues that Chen Village had along the time of the Cultural Revolution caused the village to prosper in the
The Communist revolution in China was loosely based on the revolution in Russia. Russia was able to implement the beginnings of Marxist Communism in the way that it was intended They had a large working class of factory workers, known as the proletariat, that were able to band together and rise up to overthrow the groups of rich property owners, known as the bourgeoisie. The communist party wanted to adopted this same Marxist sense of revolution, but they realized that there were some fatal flaws in the differences between the two countries. The first was that there was not the same sense of class difference between people, yes there were peasants and landowners but there was not a sense of a class struggle. The other difference was that China was not industrialized like Russia so there was no proletariat group, as defined by Marxism, to draw the revolution from. What the Chinese Communists needed to do is re-define the proletariat for their situation, who they looked at were the peasants.
“The Death of Woman Wang”, written by Chinese historian Jonathan Spence, is a book recounting the harsh realities facing citizens of Tancheng country, Shandong Province, Qing controlled China in the late 17th century. Using various primary sources, Spence describes some of the hardships and sorrow that the people of Tancheng faced. From natural disasters, poor leadership, banditry, and invasions, the citizens of Tancheng struggled to survive in a devastated and changing world around them. On its own, “Woman Wang” is an insightful snapshot of one of the worst-off counties in imperial Qing China, however when taking a step back and weaving in an understanding of long held Chinese traditions, there is a greater understanding what happened in
It was a time of great upheaval. Peasants were demanding that the land of the great estate owners be turned over to them because there was not enough land to provide food for all the villages. This caused the migration of many peasants to the factories.
“It was not easy to live in Shanghai” (Anyi 137). This line, echoed throughout Wang Anyi 's short piece “The Destination” is the glowing heartbeat of the story. A refrain filled with both longing and sadness, it hints at the many struggles faced by thousands upon thousands trying to get by in the city of Shanghai. One of these lost souls, the protagonist, Chen Xin, was one of the many youths taken from his family and sent to live the in the countryside during the Cultural Revolution. Ten years after the fact, Chen Xin views the repercussions of the Cultural Revolution internally and externally as he processes the changes that both he, and his hometown have over-gone in the past ten years. Devastatingly, he comes to the conclusion that there is no going back to the time of his childhood, and his fond memories of Shanghai exist solely in memory. This is in large part is due to the changes brought on by the Cultural Revolution. These effects of the Cultural Revolution are a central theme to the story; with repercussions seen on a cultural level, as well as a personal one.
Chapter one, The Observers, in the Death of Woman Wang demonstrates the accuracy of the local historian; Feng K'o-ts'an, who compiled The Local History of T'an-ch'eng in 1673. The descriptive context of the Local History helps the reader to understand and literally penetrate into people's lives. The use of records of the earthquake of 1668, the White Lotus rising of 1622 and rebels rising vividly described by Feng the extent of suffering the people of T'an-ch'eng went through. Jonathan Spence stresses on how miserable the two-quarter of the seventeen-century were to the diminishing population of the county. The earthquake claimed the lives of nine thousand people, many others died in the White lotus rising, hunger, sickness and banditry. P'u Sung-ling's stories convey that after the loss of the wheat crops there were cases of cannibalism. On top of all of this came the slaughtering of the entire family lines by the bandits. The incredible records of women like Yao and Sun in the Local History present the reader the magnitude of savagery the bandits possessed. All of these factors led to the rise of suicides. The clarity of events Spence given to the reader is overwhelming.
Immigration, the act of coming to live permanently in a foreign country. Throughout the United States’ history, immigrants faced various challenges and especially after 1880. Most immigrants moved to achieve the American dream of having a better life and pursuing their dreams. But, this experience as they moved, was different for every immigrant. Some lives improved while others did not. Immigrants such as Catholics, Italians, and the Chinese were not welcomed into America in the late 19th century and early 20th century because of their differences in beliefs and cultures.
There is no better way to learn about China's communist revolution than to live it through the eyes of an innocent child whose experiences were based on the author's first-hand experience. Readers learn how every aspect of an individual's life was changed, mostly for the worst during this time. You will also learn why and how Chairman Mao launched the revolution initially, to maintain the communist system he worked hard to create in the 1950's. As the story of Ling unfolded, I realized how it boiled down to people's struggle for existence and survival during Mao's reign, and how lucky we are to have freedom and justice in the United States; values no one should ever take for
Many farmers and craftsmen left rural areas, and moved to cities to work as an industrial worker. While many farmers and craftsmen left rural areas the city 's population had doubled. There was also improved medical knowledge which lead to the conclusion that less people died during their childhood and the average length of life was much longer than in the past. When the new industrial life started, major changes came about for industrial workers. Most of the workers weren’t to pleased about the changes. The workers couldn’t do as they pleased, they had to abide by the policy of the factories and textiles. The new industrial workers had to work long hours, they also had to in work the same pace as the machine that they were operating. The longer hours and hard work made the workers suffer severely, the women and children suffered the
The social structure of village life changed as the the economy became more complex because it allowed for classes to form. Some people had better jobs than others, and higher authority, which allowed them to make more money and therefore live a wealthier life.
tragic and to show what it’s like to be part of the Cultural Revolution. For example, Ji-li tried out for the audition and succeeded, but her grandparents denied about this situation because they have seen the past. This shows the diversity between now and back then. Ji-li’s grandparents did this to make sure Ji-li doesn't want to end up as the people in the past. For their grandparents time period can be very stressful whenever the Cultural Revolution starts. Ji-li’s inspiration can be very thoughtful and curious to figure out what it likes to be going back to the Cultural Revolution. Ji-li’s grandparents has a big effect and plays a huge role on the Cultural Revolution
During this time period there was also a drastic growth of cities, employment of skilled and unskilled workers, the role of children, and the change of laws. Children jobs were now changing from working on the farm to working in the factories. The reason was because there was disparity amongst the classes, the rich and the poor. While the rich own companies they were exploiting the poor. People started working as young as the age of 6. The average work day was 14-16 hours a day. Living conditions were horrible for the working class. If the factories lack of safety didn’t kill the working class than the living conditions did. There were no health sanitation laws that protect the working class so most of them died from diseases that could have been preventable.
...rphans also started to work in factories, since they had no one to care for or about them. They also had no one to complain, making it easy to exploit these children, knowing that there was no one to regulate safety and conditions. Since population kept increasing, unemployment was on the rise so many people had to work in factories for long days and in brutal conditions.
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, beginning as a campaign targeted at removing Chairman Mao Zedong's political opponents, was a time when practically every aspect of Chinese society was in pandemonium. From 1966 through 1969, Mao encouraged revolutionary committees, including the red guards, to take power from the Chinese Communist party authorities of the state. The Red Guards, the majority being young adults, rose up against their teachers, parents, and neighbors. Following Mao and his ideas, The Red Guard's main goal was to eliminate all remnants of the old culture in China. They were the 'frontline implementers' who produced havoc, used bloody force, punished supposed 'counter revolutionists', and overthrew government officials, all in order to support their 'beloved leader'.
...ial banks set up. In political development, “Three People's Principles” was established and more ideas about democracy and republic were introduced to Chinese. It also enhanced the unification of China. The 1911 Revolution was an important step in China's modernization process.
rules and laws that applied only to those who were peasants. The laws sort of boosted their lives; he kept the land tax low, and the granaries stocked to guard against famine. During his reign he also attempted and succeeded in building up the class of those of the peasant and working class. Hongwu’s new government did not cause any change for those in other social classes.