Hello readers,
I have been tasked with explaining why so many Chinese people are siding with the newly formed CCP (Chinese Communist Party). I have looked deeply into the CCP’s ideologies and found many reasons why people find this new way of thinking attractive. The CCP not only promises to create a more assertive China economically and promises that people will be freed from the oppressive natures of the classical Chinese culture. The CCP appeals to people like young women and peasants to help gain popularity throughout China.
Young women are becoming increasingly interested in what the CCP has to offer. Throughout China’s history, women were seen as inferior to men and are expected to do whatever the man in charge tells them to do. Women have basically no rights, which became evident to me when I saw my sisters get shipped off like cattle to their new husbands. I remember my sisters pleading with my father not to make them live with these people they barely knew. I also recall my sister, who is only a year older than me, be forced into participating in foot binding. My father would insist that if she did not bind her feet, no man would want her. My Father is not a cruel man, but he is a realist and knows that this is what it takes to be an appealing bride. All I could think about at the time is how grateful I felt that I was not a woman. This is not something unique to my family; women all around China spent their whole lives being commanded what to do by their fathers, husbands, and even brothers. Women grew frustrated and felt wronged by the system, and when Mao and other members of the CCP began talking about equal rights for women, they jumped at the opportunity to support them. I was able to interview a woman who is arranged to get married to an older man and get her thoughts on the topic. The woman says, “People told me if I joined the revolution, I would have my freedom. That I could choose who I wanted to marry. Well, if I didn’t join, I’d have to marry this man who was over 30. So I thought if revolution could save me from this, I would join” [China: A Century of Revolution, China in Revolution, 28:45]. I can sympathize with this woman. Here she is as a young woman with the potential to become anything in life but she is being forced to throw that potential away to marry a man she barely knows. Even as a man, I can fully understand the appeal of what the CCP claims they will do for women; it would be life-changing. The CCP believes we are wasting half of the population by not letting women work and rendering them almost immobile by binding their feet. The CCP wishes to treat women like people have treated men for all of China’s history.
The CCP wasn’t only attractive to women; many peasant factory workers and farmers also find their message inspiring. Many of these people barely have enough money to survive and feel exploited for their labor. However, Mao and the CCP claim that these people are not destined to be poor, but because of foreign influences exploiting their labor, they can not survive off of their current paycheck. Mao believes that peasant farmers and factory workers are the backbone of China because they are the country’s primary form of production and labor. When peasants hear this type of talk from the CCP’s leader, they feel like someone finally had their best interests at heart.
In conclusion, there is massive support for the CCP and what they stand for. People finally feel that a party is fighting for them and believe Mao is the answer to many of their problems.
Sincerely,
Miao Bing Rong
I reached the same conclusion that communism appeals to and will benefit women, the young, and poor peasants the most. However, I question the loyalty of people like the women you interviewed who only joined this revolution to obtain freedom. Will she leave the CCP as soon as it no longer benefits her?
As your blog mentioned, there were reasons that people were attracted by its idea. The people who haven’t been focused before, such as women or peasants, might think of the CCP as a hope to improve their rights. The background of the author you chose is interesting: a man from a poor peasant currently studying at university. There must be a massive gap between peasant and intelligent, city and countryside.
You are very knowledgeable on the appeal of the CCP to women. I too am enticed by the proposed reforms, but have concerns on what the revolution and its consequent violence would mean for women. However, with such great support from those lower classes who lead in production just as you said, it is likely that communism will continue to gain traction.
This is a very well written blog. I really liked how you took your own family situation (specifically your sisters and father) into this account. You supported the attraction of the CPP with great detail to show why it was something people would join.