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Home › Forums › Core Seminars › Modern East Asia, Fall 2020 › Session 6 (11/4) - Revolution and Nation Building in China
Maria Cardenas.
cgaoSpeaker: Clayton Dube, USC
Wars that Ravaged China, 1920s-1953 + Building the PRC
(including the Korean War in which 600,000 Chinese soldiers were killed or went missing) and the Chinese Communist-led effort to build China.
Required Readings (1920s-1976)
Post-Mao Rise of China
(through economic liberalization and opening up to the West and Japan)
clay dubeIs China a meritocracy? Many in China (and some advocates outside of China) argue that its political system is not perfect but does a better job of selecting leaders than do democracies. The 5 minute animation at the link below was created by the propaganda apparatus to make this point. Created in 2013, it compares the selection of Obama over Romney and Cameron being selected in Britain with the elevation of China's leader, Xi Jinping. The son of one of China's top leaders, Xi became a member of the Politburo in 11/2007 (and was also named vice president in 3/2008). In 11/2012 he was named the general secretary (the top job) in the Standing Committee of the Politburo. In 3/2013 he was named president. He was "reelected" to those positions in 2017 and 2018. Most expect him to be reelected again in 2022 and 2023.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M734o_17H_A
A short clip from that video is in the second video lecture.
clay dubeFighting corruption has long been a concern of the Chinese Communist Party. (See the rules for the Party's army here.) In 2017, it made a big budget television series looking at the corruption busters and the corrupt. Elements of the series are drawn from some well-known cases (e.g., a wall of money).
Here is a link to a playlist with an English-subtitled version of the series:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A74YChOkSpY&list=PLJpCdaWK6PVpeWbeUSjw4dBWt5IKK5Buj
How might you use a clip from this series or the one about "making leaders" with your students?
clay dubeHi Folks,
The two presentations included in this session's video lectures are below. Please feel free to use them with your students. Note that I've had to compress them, so video clips are removed and images compressed. Please do not post these to the internet or otherwise share them, except with your own students. Thanks.
Please note that you'll need to watch the lectures for the presentations to make the most sense.
Zoey McKinneyThe Nationalists and the Communists in China were both educated by the Soviets and borrowed ideology from them. Both groups also benefited from Soviet material support, such as money and munitions. They both aimed to unify China and rid the country of the warlords that had divided it, while also defeating the Japanese exterior threat. Once the Communists successfully drove the Nationalists to Taiwan, I think their priority will be to establish a socialist state. I think they will turn to ousting the "local tyrants and evil gentry." They will also want to bolster China's economy by industrializing so that China is seen as a global superpower.
Zoey McKinneyThe playing card I chose is the one of clubs on the second page. It shows Mao standing in a field with a line of followers stretching behind him. This image shows Mao as the leader of a prosperous society. The field is lush and flowering and he is holding what might be something grown in it (rice?) His followers are peasants and farmers. The card is promoting a lifestyle of simplicity, hard work, and dedication to the party. All of them look happy and well fed, including the women and the child holding Mao's hand. The card is showing that people are equals. Even Mao, who is the great leader of the party, is dressed very simply and is standing in the field among his followers. He is leading the way forward towards a stronger and more productive China.
Brigid SchmidtLike Zoey stated, both the Nationalists and Communists had a goal of unifying China. They are determined to make China for the people of China. For a few years the Nationalists and Communists worked together to opposed warlordism and foreign intrusion, however, soon they were at war with each other on and off for decades. One thing they can both agree on is that the foreigners are a problem. After World War II, the Nationalists and the Communists got back to fighting each other, even though they put that aside to fight together against Japan from about 1937-1945. The Communists had the backing of the Soviet Union while the Guomindang had support of the US, but didn’t use it as much. The Communists organized more thoroughly and the Soviet Union provided food and material for them, all which helped the Communists expand their control. During this time there was inflation and inequality, causing some to think China needed a new government. Now that the Communist party succeeeded and is in control, I think their priority will be to make China a great power. At ths time, Mao's aim will probably be to spread socialism to world communism.
Thomas PinedaBoth parties had wanted China to belong to Chinese and lessen the foreign influence over them and re-establish sovereignty, particularly Japan. Both groups also had ties to the Soviets were fundamentally Leninist, however the Communists were more supported by the Soviets while the Nationalists were backed by America. Once Communists took control, I would think that the party would try to fix issues in the Nationalist party such as inequality and corruption around the nation.
Thomas PinedaIn the 11 of Spades it is a haunting scene, a village neighbor is taking the guard to point out someone in the middle of the night who may be opposing or doing something against the CCP. For example, as mentioned in the one of the readings, being a cello teacher could cause one to be singled out during the cultural revolution. There are other cards that portray Mao as one with the people, uniting them and sharing moments and joy with them in their workplaces and farms. Everyone is gathered around him as the exalted leader, but he is sitting at their level, doing something ordinary like having a cigarette or examining the crops.
Thomas PinedaStudents can look at ways the two different governments are structured, where there is a top down structure, “the pagoda”, of authority in the CCP compared to the system of checks and balances between Deomcracy’s three branches. Another way they can look at the differences is to look at the way different things are enforced by the separate political systems. As mentioned in the CCP, members can be punished for corruption, dissent from the norm and also shady lifestyle choices (such as affairs). There doesn’t seem to be the same weight of consequences in terms of lifestyle or political choices in America- the things politicians get away with here... And there are other freedoms protected by our Bill of Rights for all.
clay dubeAll of the plants of the world depend on the sun to grow.... (Just as we depend on Chairman Mao!)
Thomas PinedaAn issue that students could relate to amidst their educational careers is the practice of tracking into different courses. They could argue the merits of having tracking and also the downsides or inequity of it. It can also be looked at from not just the students’ perspective, but also the school/admins motivations for tracking students. Would there be benefits to having these types of levels and would students be allowed to move through the levels. This could be practiced in a debate form with students presenting data or cases where tracking has helpedhurt students’ performance ro opportunities. And they could then relate this to larger social situations such as socio-economic levels in America or the Household Reg. System in China.
Khrystle San DiegoForeign influence was a major issue for the Nationalists and Communists. As much as possible, they wanted to be able to overpower the foreign influence and become a hegemony again - much like Japan, but moving along the lines of the Soviet influence. They wanted to unify their country, yet their differences ideologies and achieving greatness caused them to continue on with their constant fighting. With the help of the Soviet Union, the Communist Party became more successful, which ended up provoking the Nationalists to move to Taiwan. Because of this bold move due to the aid of the Soviet Union, the Communists were able to seize control of the government, fulfilling Mao's goal of emphasizing the power of the Chinese economy while employing socialistic ideologies.
Thomas PinedaI think an activity that could be done in class is to have students create images for encouraged behaviors based on a certain theme. The way the images are simplistic and a multitude of messages can be expressed in one deck, people could learn about topics of the students’ choice. It could be something like routines or classroom expectations at school or another topic like environmental stewardship or healthy eating habits.
Khrystle San DiegoIf I had not known the history of these cards, I would have noted that artistic elements of these individually illustrated pieces of art. In my class, I would show the cards to my students and conduct visual thinking strategies with them and try to encourage them to make meaning of the cards on their own first. I would possibly show the cards with the townspeople conducting business activities first. After discussion, I would bring in the historical importance of the images, and then show the more politically charged cards. This would open up the discssion amongst the students about why they think these cards and the art pieces are significant.