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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.
Guadalupe MorenoWithin the revolution and building of China both Nationalists and Communists had a goal of unifying China. There was a moment when both the Nationalist and Communists were working together to oppose warlodrism and foreign intrusion. Unfortuantely, they then were at war with each other over the decades. Both sides came set aside differences when fighting Japan but went back to fighting after WII. The Communists organized more thoroughly which helped the Communists expand their control. During this time there was inflation and inequality, causing some to think China needed a new government allowing the Communist party to succeeed and gain control.
Guadalupe MorenoAs I looked at the playing cards, I noticed how many looked pleasing and bright. The person of focus seems to be doing something helpful for all and in an exceleltn mood. Furthere the cards with Mao in them show all praising him. The playing card I chose to focus on is number 1 in the second page. The contrast in the colors of his white shrit compared to the rest allow him to be the focal point of the card, which is iintentional. This image is formatted to represent Mao as the leader of a prosperous society. The enviornemnt is lush and flowering. His followers are peasants and farmers but demonstrate happiness and content. The card helps promot a lifestyle of happiness, simplicity, hard work, and dedication to the party. The image helps show the image of equality amoung all including to the great party leader, Mao. Overall it demonstrates that Mao is leading the way towards a stronger and more productive China.
Guadalupe MorenoSuch a great concept Thomas! Have students learn about the background, importance, and reasoning behind the cards. I think this idea of yours can be advanced further depending on grade level and be focuse on universal themes that relate to social justice and politics of the time. It will depen the understanding of the purpose of thes cards for the students and really be able to view how they themselves can have an affect on others by creating simple playing cards.
Guadalupe MorenoSuch a great book to incoporate as a reading especially since it deals with younger children. It helps studnets relate to the emotions the character is feeling and think perhaps they too have felt similar in certian situations. Within the book it also mentions a magazine/newsppaer that everyone reads and reiceves information from. They also have students create their own posters about the communist party. It made me think of your comment regarding using propaganda on younger children. IT really touches on that dilema and the confuse it cause on the children. There is a section where the young girl feels confused with herself because she does not want to treat her teacher wrongly for not being part of the communist part. During these times many educators were viewed as traitors because the education system was not what the communist party wanted.
Guadalupe MorenoRole play can be very useful for students to understand concepts. At times history or history relevant to a concept can become duanting for smoe students. Being able to have them explore through role play can cause further memorization of the theme and promopt further invovlment. Many would start to enjoy the decision making proces ithin the Communist party and partake at a higer level. Such a wonderful suggestion!
Maria CardenasYes, I was also surprised when I watched the video and Professor Dube confirmed it in our zoom session that the number of Communist members isn't that high. I agree that it isn't the same story that we hear, read, or learn about when we are learning about Communism in U.S. History classes. In the US they make it seem as if anybody would be able to join and we learned that, that isn't true.
The article: Membership in the Communist Party of China: Who is being admitted and How? by R.W. Morrow. Gives details as to how difificult it is to join the Communist party and who is being admitted. Pretty interesting.
Maria CardenasYes, most of the people that are the main focused on the cards have people who are smiling. All of the cards give the idea that there isn't anything that could go wrong in Mao China. This cards were probably used as propagranda to encourage people to support the cause. In most of the cards regardless of who is the main focus (if there is more than one person) there is like companionship between the people.