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Explore the power struggle, land policy, economic issues, and political divisions during a crucial period of reform and control in China from 1962 to 1966.
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The Power struggle 1962- 1966 • Land Policy under Liu and Deng • When Mao temporarily withdrew from the govt, he put Liu Shaoqui and Deng Xiaoping in charge of bringing to an end the rural crisis and restoring adequate food supplies- bring in Chen Yun (CCP’s leading economist). • Together they decided that they would have to allow for private farming and markets to open again- incentive for surplus stocks- unspoken admission that communism had failed.
Liu had underlined the central issue of what forum socialism should take post-Great Leap Forward- his approach was deemed to represent the political right. • Mao was uneasy with these methods- private ownership undermined collectivist principle- 1960s supporters of Liu and Deng in Gansu and Qinghai took over local govt and reversed collectivisation. • Mao also said Deng and Liu treated him like a dead man at his own funeral- Mao never lost the fear of being overthrown.
Economic and Political Issues • They needed to decide how China was to develop their industry- do they go forward or do they change?
Socialist Education Movement: • Started in 1963- more concerned with politics than education. • Dispute between Mao’s ideas and Liu’s plans for liberalising agriculture. • SEM began as an anti-campaign with Mao’s backing- cadres dispatched to countryside to expose reactionary elements under Liu’s direction. • But what Liu and his wife Wang Guangmei found that there was corruption and collusion between local party bosses. • Mao was angered it was Liu who had discovered this but was not surprised by the discovery.
He used Liu’s information to attack party bureaucracy but berated Liu and Deng. • He was jealous of Mao and Deng’s impressive economic policies: • PRC budget deficit 1960- 8 billion, by 1962 budget surplus of 1 million. • 1965- agricultural production back to levels before Great Leap. • Industrial growth 20% by 1965. • Tenfold increase in oil- ended reliance on Soviets. • Nevertheless, party attacked Liu and Deng’s abandonment of proletarian values. • Gave left the pretext to be more aggressive to the right.
ii) Wu Han Affair: • Wu Han wrote a play that was critical of Mao- it was possible to interpret his play as referring to Mao’s dismissal of PengDehuai and the Great Leap Forward. • It gave Lin Biao a pretext for moving against the anti-Maoist elements in the party. • Wu was charged with blackening Mao’s name and eventually committed suicide.
Divisions in the CCP • The Wu Han affair deepened divisions between CCP and PLA and within the CCP. • Jiang Qing, Mao’s wife began to denounce reactionaries and revisionists. • She undermined the Group of 5 who were trying to be peacemakers- condemned by Jiang for their moderation.
ii) Shanghai Forum and Gang of Four: • Jiang was dominant figure in the Shanghai Forum- extreme wing of an extreme movement. • Shanghai Forum dominated by the Gang of 4 who were ruthless and demanded the removal of Liu and Deng from their positions and Chinese culture be cleansed of all anti-Mao elements. • Jiang was so radical she was asked by Lin Biao to take over PLA cultural policy.
iii) Character of Group of Four: • Never an organised bloc- got coherence from the extremity of their views. • Needed a full commitment to Maoist socialism. • The path to socialism was too slow- assault on enemies must be maintained- that would ensure permanent revolution. • PLA must lead in the drive to “ root out all the weeds” in China.
iv) Central Cultural Revolution Group: • Set up in May 1965- dominated by Gang of 4. • By 1966, Liu and Deng were outmanouvered and undermined • May 1966- Mao issued a notification to CCP in which he defined the enemy within. • Convinced that Soviet revisionism had infected the CCP and the Chinese revolution was at risk. • Mao’s words were an announcement that China had entered the Cultural Revolution.
The Cult of Mao • Mao began to feel withdrawing had been an error- turned to Lin Biao who became propaganda Minister and had to project Mao as outstanding interpreter of the class struggle. • Lin aimed to elevate Mao and make him the embodiment of wisdom.
ii) Little Red Book: Thoughts and sayings of Mao were put into the “ The Little Red Book.” • Within 2 years over 740 million copies were distributed. • Prescribed source for every curriculum in schools and universities. • Loudspeaker broadcasts from the book in factories. • Mao’s words became ultimate reference. • Wedding gifts to couples.
iii) The PLA: • Little Red Book was made a compulsory part of military training. • Mao had defined the role of the PLA as a political one- they were to protect the revolution. • Politicised as a force totally committed to the support of Mao. • PLA recruited from SEM and set up Ginger Group- this was a supportive group who’s responsibility was to keep party members focused on the revolution. • Chinese people urged to learn from PLA- model of revolutionary spirit and integrity. • Special relationship is a major instrument in projecting the cult of Mao and vitally important in the cultural revolution.
iv) Diary of Lei Feng • Supposedly diary of a humble lorry driver who devoted his life to Mao. • Killed in accident- became a symbol of matrydom- every Chinese person should try and reach Lei’s level of dedication. • Embodiment of the loyalty of ordinary Chinese. • Also became an essential text for study in China’s schools.
v) PRC became a Superpower: • 1964- China dropped own hydrogen bomb- equal status with USSR. • PRC became a superpower. • Called nuclear programme 59/6- reference to when Khrushchev withdrew Soviet aid.
Social change by 1966: Status of women and the family • China was a traditionally patriarchal society- women were supposed to be obedient to husband. • However, Mao rebelled against his own arranged marriage- used as an example of his fight against a corrupt system where women were treated as commodities.
ii) Mao’s fight against arranged marriages: • Mao condemned arranged marriages as “indirect rape.” • He outlawed foot binding and claimed women were equal- however he often failed to respect women- claimed to be a womaniser. • Women in the CCP had to carry out most of the chores. • Ding Ling criticised Mao and the CCP, calling them hypocrites. She claimed Mao’s brand of socialism did not include female emancipation.
iii) Marriage reform in the 1950s: • No more concubinage. • No more arranged marriages. • No more paying of bride price. • Divorce was allowed when proof marriage had been forced. • All marriages had to be officially recorded and registered. • However, women used this freedom to divorce and remarry. • PLA regulations gave soldiers the right to overrule their wives.
iv) Impact of collectivisation on women: • When land was initially seized- women got land in their own names. • However this was soon undermined by collectivisation- no private land. • Everyone ate in communes- not the women’s job to find food. • But they were seen as equal, therefore had to work as hard as men. • Between 1949-1966, 8%-29% of women were in the workforce.
v) Prejudice against women- despite the changes, there were ingrained notions of Chinese women’s inferiority. vi)CCP restrictions on women • Soong Qingling who held a high position in the CCP said she was not treated as an equal. • Women made up only 13% of membership of the CCP.
vii) Women and family: • Collectivisation destroyed traditional Chinese family- women had to go to factories. • Many of communes, men and women had to live separately- conjugal visits. • Women became detached and disorientated. viii)Impact of famine on women and family: • Women were not able to provide for their families. • Divorce rose by 60%- wife better looking for a husband elsewhere as no food. Also wife selling. • Disrupted family life as wives often did not want to go back to original husbands.
ix) Consequences for children: • Children were left motherless/or sold as workers if old enough. • At first girls abandoned but as things got worse, boys too. • Abandoned children vulnerable to sexual abuse. x) Birth control: • Mao encouraged people to have large families but after the famine, a birth control bureau was set up. • This bureau advocated methods such as: sexual abstinence and late marriage, women’s contraceptives, husbands sterilised after 2nd child etc. • However, bureau only had limited success- resistance to not having large children came from peasants.
Education and Religion in the PRC • Literacy: In 1949, literacy was 20%, by 1960 literacy up to 60%- Mao wanted spread of education. • Language Reform: 1955- new form of Mandarin was adopted. Needed a standardised version as everywhere had a different version. • Introduced a written form of Mandarin- pinyin- all sounds were given a symbol. • In 1949, there were 200 colleges and universities, by 1962, there were 1289.
III) Religion in the PRC: • Religion was considered to be superstitious and poison. • Now that the triumph of the workers had ended the need for such escapism- loyalty could now be given to the CCP. • Churches were closed and property destroyed. Clergy renounced and physically abused. • Foreign priests and nuns were expelled. • Wall posters and speakers condemned religion. • Confucianism, Buddhism, Christianity as worthless.
IV) Peasant religion suppressed: • Traditional faiths such as Buddhism and Confucianism were forbidden. • Priests and monks were forbidden from dressing and abused. • Ancestor worship condemned. v)Chinese customs suppressed: • Traditional songs, dances and rituals were outlawed and replaced by party meetings and discussion. • Everyone was expected to embrace Maoism as a new faith. • Agitation- propaganda performers toured the countryside performing plays- CCP saved peasants from life of abuse.
vi) The Patriotic Churches: • Mao realised he had to allow some kind of worship to show that he was tolerant. • Some churches stayed open but they were state supported. • This caused conflict between PRC and the Vatican and Chinese priests were not recognised and crossed ex-communication. vii) Religion and religious minorities: • Tibet’s Lama faith inspired Tibetan nationalist resistance and the PRC feared religion and nationalism would spread to Xinjiang (mainly muslim) • To dilute this, the PRC settled the Han Chinese in the region. • By 1976, muslim proportion still formed a large minority of Xinjiang’s population.
Sino- Soviet relations: the nuclear issue • Tensions ignited with the test ban treaty of 1963- which Mao dismissed as betrayal of USS’s revolutionary role. • Denounced peaceful coexistence: Mao didnt believe that there could be peaceful relations between oppressed and oppressor/ • Khrushchev said that China should not be preoccupied with peace and rather wanting the East and West to destroy themselves so China could dominate.
3. China’s nuclear bomb • 1959- Soviet scientists withdrew, leaving China alone to make their own atomic bomb. • 1964- detonated first nuclear bomb • 1967- first hydrogen bomb detonated- without Khrushchev’s “help.” 4. Mao’s attitude towards nuclear war: • China did not seem to fear nuclear war like USA and USSR. • Mao told Khrushchev that he was willing to contemplate nuclear war with his enemies- China’s population was so big that it would make up any losses. • Mao believed that China’s emergence as a superpower and refusal to be frightened of paper tigers had confirmed true champion of the oppressed people. • Khrushchev believed that Maoist brand of communism was heretical and resurrected the “yellow peril.”
