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Human rights in china
The impact of the cultural revolution on China
Human rights in china
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Streetlife in China
The Republic of China has undergone many dramatic changes within a relatively short period of time. After centuries operating in the relative stability of Confucian ideals and tradition, Chinese society has been bombarded by the inflow of western ideals and commercialism. In his book Streetlife China, Michael Dutton makes observations concerning contemporary Chinese society and discusses the problems and advantages rapid economic development has brought upon China. Dutton's view on contemporary China is that of a society whose historical ideology contradicts the product of a capitalistic society. Dutton believes that Chinese society is conflicted between traditional ideals and modern desires. The mind-set and life goals of Chinese individuals are changing with modernization, and Chinese society as a whole has been overwhelmed and unable to handle the rapid transition it is undergoing. Dutton uses many vivid observations of everyday life in modern day China, to support his views.
Dutton begins his writing by discussing the idea of human rights. He states, "It is true that, traditionally, the concept of human rights did not exist in China." (Dutton, 23). He explains that this was not to say that human rights were ignored. This is not the result of years of repression that has made it impossible to practice human rights, but quite the contrary, the spirit of traditional Chinese society makes the idea of guaranteed human rights unnecessary. "I think that the humanitarian and harmonious spirit that human rights embodies was not only present in traditional Chinese society, but that it was quite bountiful. If anything was lacking, it was the spirit of a rule of law," (Dutton 24). Chinese culture tr...
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...e issued to all citizens of China in order to establish place of residency of each individual citizen. Many non-legal residents of cities were expelled from the city. Higher taxes were levied to residents of urban areas. (Dutton, 80-140). However the peasants still came in droves to try to improve their station in life and become a part of the consumer world.
The westernization of China has brought about significant change in Chinese society. Michael Dutton paints a poignant picture of contemporary Chinese society, a society still very much rooted in old traditions struggling to incorporate commercialism into their culture. Contemporary Chinese society still faces many problems due to the innate contradiction of their traditional values and the ideology of a consumer driven society.
Bibliography:
Michael Dutton, Streetlife China
Jonathan Spence tells his readers of how Mao Zedong was a remarkable man to say the very least. He grew up a poor farm boy from a small rural town in Shaoshan, China. Mao was originally fated to be a farmer just as his father was. It was by chance that his young wife passed away and he was permitted to continue his education which he valued so greatly. Mao matured in a China that was undergoing a threat from foreign businesses and an unruly class of young people who wanted modernization. Throughout his school years and beyond Mao watched as the nation he lived in continued to change with the immense number of youth who began to westernize. Yet in classes he learned classical Chinese literature, poems, and history. Mao also attained a thorough knowledge of the modern and Western world. This great struggle between modern and classical Chinese is what can be attributed to most of the unrest in China during this time period. His education, determination and infectious personalit...
William Hinton, a US born member of a Chinese Communist land reform task force in 1948, noted that the peasants were challenging the landlords and money lenders in regards to overcharges and restoration of lands and property seized in default of debts (Doc 4). This was due to the newly found confidence in themselves through the defeat of the Japanese. Although Hinton was born into the communist party, his recount of the actions he saw concerning the peasants was simply from a look from the outside in. He personally did not experience this sudden upsurge of challenges, which gives the public a view of what the communist party thought of what looked like a move towards social equality. Although Hinton’s recount may not have been thoroughly verified, the communist party did indeed aid in fueling what was known as a struggle meeting, where Chinese peasants humiliated and tortured landlords, as seen in the picture, organized by the Communist Party as part of the land reform process, of a group of peasants at a meeting where in the center a woman is with her former landlord (Doc 7). Alongside the destruction of the landowning infrastructure that was previously followed, the Communist party also aided the peasants in a form of social reform. One important law that granted specifically women more freedom in their social life was the creation of the Marriage Law of the People’s Republic of China in 1950, where it states that the “supremacy of man over woman, and in disregard of the interest of the children, is abolished” (Doc 5). The newly introduced concepts of free choice in partners, abortion, and monogamy that derived from this law changed the societal position on women and peasants which greatly expresses the amount of new social mobility
There are many things that most people take for granted. Things people do regularly, daily and even expect to do in the future. These things include eating meals regularly, having a choice in schooling, reading, choice of job and a future, and many more things. But what if these were taken away and someone told you want to eat, where and when to work, what you can read, and dictated your future. Many of these things happened in some degree or another during the Chinese Culture Revolution under Mao Zedong that began near the end of the 1960’s. This paper examines the novel Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie and a book by Michael Schoenhals titled China’s Culture Revolution, 1966-1969. It compares the way the Chinese Cultural Revolution is presented in both books by looking at the way that people were re-educated and moved to away, what people were able to learn, and the environment that people lived in during this period of time in China.
The Sun of the Revolution by Liang Heng, is intriguing and vivid, and gives us a complex and compelling perspective on Chines culture during a confusing time period. We get the opportunity to learn the story of a young man with a promising future, but an unpleasant childhood. Liang Heng was exposed to every aspect of the Cultural Revolution in China, and shares his experiences with us, since the book is written from Liang perspective, we do not have a biased opinion from an elite member in the Chinese society nor the poor we get an honest opinion from the People’s Republic of China. Liang only had the fortunate opportunity of expressing these events due his relationship with his wife, An American woman whom helps him write the book. When Liang Heng and Judy Shapiro fell in love in China during 1979, they weren’t just a rarity they were both pioneers at a time when the idea of marriages between foreigners and Chinese were still unacceptable in society.
China has gone through many changes in its history. Changes include economic, political, and social. In the early 1500 and throughout history, mostly all social classes followed Confucianism. Confucianism is a type of religion based on an ideal society (Chang 2012, 22). China was molded though Confucianism but that slowly deteriorated as years went on. One main group that has been a main part in these changes is the Chinese literati. The Chinese literati include the higher-class people such as officials and scholars. The Chinese literati were the dominant social class during the 1500’s but their power slowly decreased throughout history. Throughout my paper, I will explain the Chinese literati involvement as centuries passed.
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
...ghur rights, as human beings, being violated, and who's responsibility is it to make sure that rights aren’t violated, as well as if China is living up to its responsibilities as a world power, to take care of its people.
Whyte, M. K., (2010) ‘Do Chinese citizens want the government to do more to promote equality?’ In Gries, P. H., and Rosen, S., eds. 2010. Chinese Politics - State, society and the market. (Routledge, London and New York).
“The utilization of the term white collar (bailing) in China, does not merely delineate an occupational segment, but rather it additionally recommends a way of life and perspective that is emblematic of global capitalism as it originates in modern-day China” (Duthie, 2005). The middle class in China is consist of entrepreneurs, managers, professionals, and administrative representatives and they are perceived as the most fundamental level of laborers because they each represent a distinct status of class interest and relationship to the market. The middle class is from diverse degree backgrounds, and some have very high scores and degrees from college.
...u- nist states, China remains unified under a CCP-Ied state that is ever vigilant not only againstwestern attempts at "xihua" China- thatis, imposingwesternliber- al-democratic institutions on China, but also "fenhua" China - that is, disinte- gratingitbysupportingTaiwaneseindependenceoranyforms ofethnonationalist independent movement. The reform period starting in 1978 marked a dramatic rearticulation of class and nation in the political economy of Chinese development, and along with it, a radical reorientation of the class nature of Chinese nationalism and the devel- opment of a depoliticized neoliberal cultural politics of class and nation. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) and commercialized media - with TV at its core, but soon followed by computers and cell phones - have played instrumental roles in these processes (Zhao and Schiller 2001, Hong
Retrieved March 21, 2001, from the World Wide Web: http://english.peopledaily.com. Chinatown Online is a wonderful site with an abundance of information about China. http://www.chinatown-online.com/. Henslin, J. M. (1999). The Species of the Species. Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach (4th ed.).
and Culture of China-US Relations.." CHINA US Focus Urbanization Chinas New Driving Force Comments. N.p., 30 Mar. 2013. Web. 11 Apr. 2014. .
Using the object of the bicycle is key to the existence of maintaining that moral standing as it does for Guei. The film is a great reminder that while China is quite a rising power, this is not without a cost to its people. As a result, of the plan to "let a few people get rich first," the divides between the country and city folk and even urban poor and urban rich are constant reminders of China's rapid economic growth over the past few decades. The film resembles modern China—a prosperous nation where people living in cities with populations exceeding millions can be left isolated and alone to fend for themselves in dark, dank corners due to a failure to adapt to China’s industrialization, globalization, and modernization.
Standen, N. (Ed.). (2013). Demystifying China: New Understandings of Chinese History. Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers,Inc.
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.