China 's Nationalism And Isolation From Western Society

Originally, Liang’s “parents were deeply involved in all the excitement of working to transform China into a great Socialist country” (4). Over a serious of unfortunate events, though, he became the child of a “Rightist’s cap” mother and a “Reactionary Capitalist stinking intellectuals” father (9, 51). Impacted by the shattering of his family and horrific bloodshed created by fighting, Liang Heng began to question the Cultural Revolution. He claimed that his “family had scarified so much… but it had given [them] nothing in return” (148). Liang Heng presents his shift in ideology to demonstrate that most Chinese were no longer in support of a Communist nation. His “troubles were common enough and anyone could see there was a discrepancy between the glorious words of the newspapers and [their] painful reality (232). Even Liang Heng’s father, after many years of devotion, found that he could no longer defend the Party’s policies after he experienced the ill-treatment of the peasants in the country

The cultural revolution is a strange period in Chinese history laced with intense struggle and anguish. The cultural revolution mobilized the all of society to compete for all opposing factions that they belonged to (Ong, 2016). Mao mobilized the young people of society during a background of political turmoil, which helped Mao to mobilize the students in order to enforce his political legitimacy and ideas (Ong, 2016). Mao’s charismatic authority created his personality cult and most defiantly leant a helping hand in mobilizing the red guard movement (Ong, 2016) (Weber, 1946) (Andreas, 2007). No matter which faction of the red guard they belonged to, they all mobilized against their common enemy; the better off, upper class. (Ong, 2016). Multiple ideologies within the youth led red guard movement explain why the movement gained momentum and became incredibly powerful (Walder, 2009).

The purpose of this investigation is to examine the extent to which the Chinese Cultural Revolution impacted China’s economy from 1966 to 1970. The main body of the investigation will focus on the persecution and violence towards high-level party officials and capitalists by the Red Guards and the “Destroy the Four Olds” campaign. The “Destroy the Four Olds” campaign was significant because it inhibited industrial and agricultural innovation and production of an entire country for a decade as it placed the country’s economy and industry into the hands of inexperienced revolutionaries. Two sources that will be used will be China: A New History and Modern China: The Fall and Rise of a Great Power, 1850 to the Present, and they will be evaluated in regards to their purpose, value, and limitations. An analysis of these sources and the evidence will be used to form a conclusion as to how and to what extent the revolution impacted the Chinese economy.

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

Mandate of Heaven is an ancient Chinese belief and philosophical that heaven granted emperors the right to rule based on their ability to govern well and fairly.

The Qing dynasty (1916-1912) is the last imperial dynasty of China, it was consider as the most powerful country during the “golden age” ruled by Kang Xi and Qian Long, and it has over 400 million population and has the 1st ranked GDP in the world at the moment. The Qing has the supreme power at the time and has the significant influence in East Asian. However, the collapse of the Qing Dynasty made a humiliate history of China. The Qing dynasty doesn't fall suddenly, and the collapse of Qing is not just simply because domestic revolution and alien invasion. The failure of the Qing government is worthy to study, we need to take a deep step and explore the root cause of the collapse of Qing.

The Chinese people have experienced rapid change, in government and culture in the 20th century. Although the common people seemed to have risen up against oppression from the ruling class, liberty and equality often remains out of their grasp. For centuries the dynastic cycle has dominated the culture and collective consciousness of the Chinese people. This process is characterized by unification, followed by prosperity and success, followed by corruption and instability, and finally rebellion and overthrow. This gives way to a new dynasty that was said to have received the mandate of heaven. This cycle, in some ways, ended with the fall of the Qing dynasty. This marked the end of over 2000 years of

Mao’s Cultural Revolution was an attempt to create a new culture for China. Through education reforms and readjustments, Mao hoped to create a new generation of Chinese people - a generation of mindless Communists. By eliminating intellectuals via the Down to the Countryside movement, Mao hoped to eliminate elements of traditional Chinese culture and create a new form Chinese culture. He knew that dumbing down the masses would give him more power so his regime would be more stable. This dramatic reform affected youth especially as they were targeted by Mao’s propaganda and influence. Drawing from his experiences as an Educated Youth who was sent down to the countryside Down to the Countryside movement, Ah Cheng wrote The King of

Western imperialism in China was very significant, costed the lives of millions of people, but also helped shape China into a much stronger country than it was before, being ruled by the Qing Dynasty. Imperialism is a country extending its power and influence through the use of military force. There were two wars between the imperialists and China, the first and second Opium wars. The result of these wars was the weakening of the Qing Dynasty and led to a time of rebuilding, which was a great struggle, for China. The Europeans wanted to trade with China because of the great opportunity that they saw in the market. China’s population, which was 430 million, was seen as a fast and easy way for the Europeans to make a lot of money. The

The first Cultural Revolution of China’s 20th century began with the May Fourth Movement on May 4th, 1919. The May Fourth Movement in China was an anti-imperialist, cultural, and political movement. Although it physically began on May 4, 1919, it actually lasted from about 1917 until 1923. It marked the rapid rise of Chinese Nationalism as well as a re-evaluation of Confucianism. The movement was sparked by the dissatisfaction with the terms of the Treaty of Versailles settlement regarding China. The treaty endorsed the Japanese takeover of the German concessions in the Shandong peninsula. The movement was an attempt to redefine the culture, political, and intellectual state of China. The movement

“Nationalism cannot only aggravate ethnic relations within the state, but it can also spill over borders and increase the likelihood of international conflict”

No one can deny from recent news that there has been a strong surge of Chinese nationalism, and that this nationalism has turned heads in the international community. The nationalism that the CCP has affected is taking on a life of its own. In its strategy of pragmatic nationalism, the CCP tried to blur the lines between love of country with love of the state and governing body. What has resulted is a whole new breed of nationalism that is very much independent of the Chinese Communist Party and in fact has caused the CCP great concern. This new form of nationalism is much more vibrant, passionate, virulent and uncontrollable than the government had intended with its post 1989 strategy of obtaining legitimacy through nationalism. This

Southernization is a much debated topic that describes when important developments started in southern asia and eventually spread to the entire world, similarly, westernization is when such developments started in western Europe. Many civilizations played a role in Southernization including the Malay sailors, who by using the Monsoon winds to their advantage, managed to reach africa and spread ideas there; and the Indians who laid the foundations for modern mathematics by inventing the number zero, which China would integrate into their number system inadvertently making it more complex. Southernization also changed life for many people, during the Tang and Song dynasties, it helped China learn about Champa rice, which was much more drought resistant than normal rice, and it was the reason for all of China’s inventions, from the printing press to gunpowder. it is nigh irrefutable that Europe would not have been the nation it was today if southernization had not occurred, for without the compass, South Asian trade items, and gunpowder, it would become powerless against the far more progressive Asia.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, European and Western imperialism (British especially) gained foothold in China. The famous political comic entitled “En Chine -- Le gâteau des Rois et... des Empereurs” can be translated as "China -- the cake of kings and... of emperors." The title is a French pun on king cake and how the kings and emperors (and queen and other national figures) are splitting and hope to "consume" China. This 1898 cartoon shows a frantic Qing official watching Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, William II of Russia, the French Marianne, and a samurai of Japan dividing up a pie that reads “Chine” (China is French). This political cartoon is meant to be satirical as it presents primarily unattractive caricatures for the nations involved in the subject of the this famous image -- and that is the major historical event and process of Western imperialism in China in this time period.

Furthermore, the Marxist revolutionary government of Communist China dealt with Confucianism negatively. “In the early 20th century, both before and after the fall of the Qing dynasty, Confucianism was harshly criticized by the New Culture Movement. (Adler 6)” The assumption of this movement was that “virtually everything about China’s traditional culture was holding it back from becoming a modern nation-state.” In fact, Confucianism was high on the list of culprits in this “blanket rejection” of traditional China. “The New Culture Movement criticized Confucianism for its age and gender-based hierarchies, which had become quite rigid during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Communist thinkers also joined this anti-Confucian trend, so by the time of the Communist victory in 1949 Confucianism in mainland China seemed virtually dead. (Adler 7)” “After the Communists took power their anti-Confucian rhetoric only increased. In addition to their professed opposition to social hierarchies, they viewed Confucianism as a feudal ideology. (Adler 8)”