Mao Zedong's Political Philosophy - Late 1950's & Beyond   Term Paper ID:27862 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Consequences for Chinese society of the radicalization of Mao Zedong's political thought. Focus is given to late 1950s through early 1970s, & Sino-Soviet relations.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Consequences for Chinese society of the radicalization of Mao Zedong's political thought. Focus is given to late 1950s through early 1970s, & Sino-Soviet relations. Paper Introduction: In the late 1950s Mao Zedong's political thought underwent a radicalization process brought about by a number of forces affecting Chinese society. This radicalization process would also have profound consequences for the development of political thought and action in China over the next decade or more. The Chinese Revolution in 1949 altered the structure of Chinese society both in the immediate by shifting from the previous regime to a Communist system and in the long term in efforts to alter the degree to which Chinese traditions would be followed or changed. After the Revolution, efforts at changing society were undertaken in a more methodical and all-inclusive manner, and many traditional institutions were either dismantled, prohibited, or downgraded in the effort to modernize and to bring about a new political and social attitude on the part of the Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. In the late 195 s Mao Zedong's political thought underwent aradicalization process brought about by a number of forces affectingChinese society. Huge numbers of city and rural workers were mobilized forgiant irrigation, terracing, and construction projects. Mao was troubled during this period by the fact that his revolutionwas moving into a new phase, a less radical phase, a phase of long-rangeplanning that involved more caution than could please Mao. ReferencesHarding, Harry. Family structure wasaffected by the pooling of all household, child-raising, and cookingarrangements. The Chinese were depending on an increase in agriculturalproduction to pay for the heavy industrial growth the Chinese were seeking,based on the Soviet model they were emulating. The changes brought about at thattime corresponded to an accompanying ideological revolution, leading to thenext major shift in thinking, labeled the Cultural Revolution, which wouldprovide the impetus for a massive socialist counter-offensive, especiallyin the area of rural industrialization. Production in theagricultural sector had to increase, and some thought that incentives andthe opportunity to buy more consumer goods would be enough to spur Chinesepeasants to increase production. TheSoviets at the time were showing greater and greater technologicalexpertise with missile tests and the launching of rockets into space,leaving the Chinese all the further behind. On the international front, the great leap forward contributed to theSino-Soviet rift. Agricultural production especially was showing poorperformance. The campaign again mobilized support from thecountry. A group of leaders in China saw these problems developingand created a new program to reintroduce basic socialist values intoChinese life under the heading Socialist Education Campaign (Spence, 199 ,59 -592). The regime faced certain fundamental needs in 1949that helped determine what order would be taken in making changes inChinese society, and the most pressing need was for economic developmentand particularly industrialization. China has followed different models of development during thehistory of the present system in trying to cope with the problemsencountered. In the late 195 s the effort to reshape society and the economy wasgiven a new name--the Great Leap Forward, a specific effort to increase therate of change in a positive direction. Washington, D.C., 1987.Spence, Jonathan D. The Great Leap Forward had a number of immediate consequences forChina and brought about certain fundamental changes. In the early 196 s there was a period of relaxation forintellectuals. Mao's answer was to heighten productionthrough the use of moral incentives and mass mobilization under thedirection of inspirational local party leaders. The Great Leap Forward was a modification of the economic system, andthere would be further modifications to accommodate specific economictrends and needs. Bydoing this, Mao was recreating in revolutionary dress some of the worsttyrannies of the past. TheSoviets were making the Chinese may more than expected for aid in theirindustrial development, and this was in fact one of the main reasons Chinaneeded more income from agricultural production--to pay the Soviets. Relations between the two Communist countriescontinued to deteriorate into 196 when the rift became an open one as theSoviets declared their intention of removing their experts and advisersfrom China and then did so. It was also becoming apparentthat the moral in the rural population was bad, and the ruling cadres wereshowing more and more corruption as a result of the Great Leap famine. Mao would mobilize the masses in evenstronger political participation with the Cultural Revolution, though theprocess at that time would be directed more toward purging society of anycritical element as Mao mobilized the people to turn on class enemies. The strategy undertaken was known as"self-reliance" as the industrial development, which has been substantialsince 1949, was financed by China herself. Unhealthy ties between private businessmen and Party andgovernment officials were eliminated by a Three-Anti Campaign (corruption,waste, and bureaucracy) and by the Five-Anti Campaign (bribery, theft ofstate property, tax evasion, theft of economic secrets, and embezzlement incarrying out government contracts). New York: W.W. The great LeapForward would be a means of mobilizing the masses anew, countering theSoviet antipathy for the idea of a "permanent" revolution with the Chineseconcept of "continuing revolution" (Spence, 199 , 574-579). There was a certain cost in thiseffort that may have delayed economic reconstruction, but the Chinese sawit as an important effort. It was in fact one of the primaryreasons for the Revolution itself. The Chinese leadership now also decided to defend the revolutionoutside the nation's borders as well, and this was in sharp contrast to theweak resistance the former regime had shown in previous eras to gun-boatdiplomacy and full-scale invasion alike. His radicalthought had always depended on the working of the human will and the powerof the masses. The Chinese Revolution in 1949 altered the structure of Chinesesociety both in the immediate by shifting from the previous regime to aCommunist system and in the long term in efforts to alter the degree towhich Chinese traditions would be followed or changed. The Search for Modern China. The debate over a growth strategy took place at a time when therelations between China and the Soviet Union were in growing doubt. He drew away from much that the Soviet Unionhad offered in the way of a guide, but the Chinese economy continued toperform sluggishly into the 197 s as a consequence of inefficiencies thatwere inherent in a Soviet-style centrally planned economy, and among theproblems engendered were irrational prices, isolation from foreigncompetition, lack of contact between supplier and consumer, and a pervasiveemphasis on quantity rather than quality. This radicalization process would also have profoundconsequences for the development of political thought and action in Chinaover the next decade or more. The great Leap Forward denigrated many intellectuals in China andstarted the process that would lead to the era of the Red Guard and thepurges of intellectuals from Chinese life.he anti-intellectual spirit was actually a continuation of attitudes thatMao had been expressing in his version of egalitarianism since the forties. Landlord power was broken with theland reform effort. Maoist biases against materialincentives, markets, and the division of labor contributed further to theseproblems (Harding, 1987, 31). Certain traditional practices were eliminated by law, such asthe excessive domination of men over women which was outlawed in a newmarriage law. The economic situation at thattime was not showing the progress that the Chinese leadership desired andhad worked toward. Norton, 199 .----------------------- 1 The Great Leap was in opposition to the Soviet Union'smore cautious approach to economic development and mass mobilization, andthus China was showing an independence that fueled the distrust the Sovietsfelt for the Chinese. He believed that the peasants had fallen into bad habits ofindividualism and egalitarianism, meaning that the peasants were tooconcerned with getting a better living for themselves and not enough withthe mechanics of collectivization. The revolution from the beginning was seen by Maoas a mass movement, and every time he felt the revolution flagging, hefound a way to mobilize the masses once more, whether for constructionprojects and agriculture as in the late fifties, or for purging society ofenemies in the late sixties. Thousands of peasants were trained and thensent to isolated areas to prospect for uranium and petroleum (Spence, 199 ,58 ). Some traditional institutions persisted in spite ofCommunist efforts to stamp them out, while other areas of the society werechanged completely. Thelocal cadres had considerable autonomy, and they showed this during thefamine conditions by protecting themselves and confiscating from those whoopposed them. At the same time, Mao began to decrywhat he saw as the slavish imitation of Soviet values. Within China, the political situation was also volatile as differentChinese leaders jockeyed for position and sought some means of gainingascendancy during this period of change. These efforts had varying results and were of varying degrees ofeffectiveness. The CCP believed that a strongstate could usher in strong economic development, and this was the approachtaken. Mao was not able to overcome many of the problems that he seemed toforesee in the late 195 s. The Chinese had wanted to be more self-reliant, and now they had little choice. After theRevolution, efforts at changing society were undertaken in a moremethodical and all-inclusive manner, and many traditional institutions wereeither dismantled, prohibited, or downgraded in the effort to modernize andto bring about a new political and social attitude on the part of thepeople. China's Second Revolution: Reform After Mao. The projectsthemselves changed the face of China and brought prosperity to regions thathad formerly been infertile. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.

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