Reform and Control 1962- 1966

1. Reform and Control 1962- 1966

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. Political divisions: pragmatists and ideologues

5. Economic and Political Issues • They needed to decide how China was to develop their industry- do they go forward or do they change?

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. 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.

17. 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.

18. 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.

19. 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.

20. 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.

21. 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.

22. 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.

23. 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.

24. 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.

25. 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.

26. 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.

27. 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.

28. 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.

29. 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.

30. 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.”