Day: September 19, 2023

I woke up this morning to a frosty breeze making its way through the cracks in my dormitory window. I live on the first floor so by the time I open my eyes at around 7:30 the bustle of the street below me rings throughout my room. The street cars make their way through the crowds. A young boy plays with a paper plane as his mother purchases their daily staples. Men pull rickshaws carrying those with the means to afford such a luxury during these times. A few people are chatting, and some chuckle here and there. Most have a determined look on their faces as they run their daily errands here in the city. 

 

I don’t have any classes today so I figure that this will be a great day to grab my notebook and head down to the street. I decided to go out and look for people who might be willing to share a few words regarding the current situation in China. I happened to meet a woman by the name of Qui Hui-ying, she was visiting family here in Beijing but had spent time as a silk factory worker in recent years. We spoke on the steps of the National Library. Qui Hui-ying told me, “I came to Shanghai when I was 12, we were so miserable. You had to work 17 hours a day. Later, a progressive worker in the factory told us that people were not born to be poor. One was poor because of the exploitation by others. There is exploitation by the capitalist on one hand and exploitation by the labor contractor on the other. You do the work and he takes the money. I had no idea what revolution meant, all I thought was that the worker made sense and that he cared about us, poor people.” (China: A Century of Revolution – China in Revolution 24:32) I quickly started to draw some connections between my readings of Mao Zedong’s quotes on the Communist Manifesto. It made sense to me that Qui Hui-ying would have overheard these ideas from a progressive coworker. It would be nearly impossible for her to have learned these elsewhere. It also reinforced my understanding of the fact that power lay in the hands of the masses, according to Mao. (Marley and Neher 15)  Qui Hui-ying’s understanding of power to the workers came through word of mouth, not through education which she certainly did not have access to. I couldn’t help but think that Mao was very clever in understanding this. All it would take is one factory worker with the knowledge and strength to speak out for word to spread quickly that exploitation and abuse of the working class were not how things were elsewhere, especially around the world.  

 

Though most of my interactions with people here in Beijing were often more biased towards the urban dweller, like my conversation with Qui Hui-ying, I had learned from speaking with some of my classmates that there were rumblings of the core of the revolution lying in the Jiangxi province countryside. (China: A Century of Revolution – China In Revolution 26:00) I knew little about these rumors but I was certainly curious to find those who had witnessed some of what was happening in Jiangxi. I met a woman who had traveled from Jiangxi to Beijing to visit family for a month. The woman went by the name of Xie Pei-lan and donned a knit hat and navy jacket. She told me that she had recently joined the communist party in the countryside along with other peasants. I asked her why she had decided to join. She said, “people told me that if I joined the revolution, I would have my freedom.” Xie Pei-lan added, “If I didn’t join, I would 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 28:48) I could understand her sentiment on the situation. Back where I come from in the country, it was standard for women to be sold off at a very young age as wives. Xie Pei-lan’s sentiment was similarly echoed by some of the other people to whom I spoke. 

 

I thanked Xie Pei-lan for her time and made my way back to my dormitory. Though I am only sharing a few of the stories I heard today, I felt that these were the most valuable ones to share with you, the reader. I am excited and scared for our future at the moment but I feel lucky to get to share my findings with all of you. 

Until next time,

 

Gao An Zhi

Dear readers, many Chinese are asking themselves for a proper direction forward, a way out of the political turbulence since the fall of the Qing dynasty. They are asking for relief from the national infighting that has ensued during the warlord years and most Chinese want proper and complete independence from foreigners. Many are longing for a refined and progressive culture independent of our traditional male centric Confucian past. For some, this answer lies in the Chinese Communist Party commonly referred to as the CCP. This brief report will educate the readership on the basic ideology of the CCP and show through a series of interviews why this new ideology resonates with so many.

The CCP was founded in July of 1921 in the city of Shanghai. For most of the party’s early history the CCP was based as an urban movement resembling a typical Marxist approach to economic class struggles, which pitted the wage-earning working class, the proletariat, against the capitalist class or the bourgeoisie. Qiu Hui-ying, a female textile worker explained how many urban dwellers were persuaded by communism because of the promise of less starvation and more rights for the workers. She blames the hardships she faced on her employers “through the labor contract,” and on foreign influence via imperialist powers. Industrial workers have felt displaced by a system that oppresses their ability to lead a prosperous life, and the class uprising called upon by Marx, which clearly reflects Qui’s sentiments and wishes for better treatment within the workplace.

However, the more powerful nationalist Guomindang party soon broke their alliance with the CCP and massacred the communists for fear of their growing influence among many urban dwellers after the communists handed Shanghai over to them peacefully during the Northern Expedition. As a journalist working in Shanghai during this time, I can say that this was an incredibly brutal response and tactic on the part of the nationalists. While this development forced the CCP to relocate and redevelop their strategy for revolution in China, Mao Zedong had been advocating for a different and more rural revolutionary approach for years. Mao argues in his report on the “Peasant Movement in Hunan” that peasants appeared ready to explode against an oppressive feudal and patriarchal system, and that revolution was not a “dinner party” because the goal of the revolution was to overthrow the landlords and foreign elites.

With my curiosity peaked, I decided to leave Shanghai and travel to the heart of the CCP’s new countryside headquarters in Jiangxi, and to other locations of discontent throughout China. This has proven to be a dangerous task as many of the communists are against people of my background and family stature. I have worked hard to conceal my identity to avoid being caught, which would not only be disastrous for me but for this story as well.  Women are particularly interested in revolution as the CCP has promised them equality with men before the law. Wan Xiang explained her fears of being married off at age seven and the fear associated with being a child bride. Xie Pei-lan believed that she would gain her freedom if she joined the revolutionary cause, and she was caught up in the violent overthrow of her landlord and was involved within their daughter’s murder. Women clearly desire a social change from traditional Confucian China, and the openness towards gender equality reflects this.

While women feel compelled to join the revolution because of the promise for equality between sexes. Poor peasant men on the other hand are more focused on alleviating economic disparity between themselves and their landlords because of the immense level of poverty peasants were subjected to in the countryside. However, it has yet to be seen how many poor peasant men will respond to the CCP’s call for gender equality even though many of these men have been promised wives as their birthright. Will men perceive gender equality as a threat to their economic futures? This is something the CCP will certainly need to rectify within the countryside. Will they put men before women when push comes to shove? It has become clear that Chiang Kai-shek and his nationalist party will not tolerate communism as seen in the brutal Shanghai massacre. To what extent will the Guomindang attempt to root out the communists in Xiangxi?  How persistent will they be if they do take direct action against the CCP? If the massacre at Shanghai serves at precedent, they will likely be persistent in their attempts to root out this rural social experiment that is popular among the rural classes and goes so much against the values of nationalists living in major urban centers.

Dear Readers:

I have been given an assignment of utmost importance by my editor, and I will attempt to answer the question I have been given with as much accuracy and information from the people as I can. I have been tasked with answering if China is in need of another revolution, and why many citizens of our great country may or may not believe this to be true.

It has been two decades since the revolution of 1911 that saw the end of the Qing Dynasty as well as the collapse of the entire dynastic system. In the time since then, China has been anything but stable, and many of the problems that the revolutionaries set out to fix in 1911 are still ever present in our society. Confucian ideology is central to the debate that is tearing our country apart. While the dynastic system may be a thing of the past, we have now had to deal with the problem of the Warlords for far too long. These local militarists controlled their own territory and prevented initial efforts for unification as none of them would submit to a single ruler [Dietrich, 23]. The constant conflict between the warlords has proved a headache for the Nationalist Party in its efforts to unify the country under its control. General Chiang Kaishek’s Northern Expedition proved effective in dealing with the warlords and made great progress in uniting the country [China: A Century of Revolution, China in Revolution, 9:07]. The Nationalist Party’s United Front with the Chinese Communist Party seemed like the best option moving forward until the Nationalists brutally attacked the Communists in 1927, destroying their alliance and any real hope of cooperation in the future.

While our country is currently under the control of Chiang Kaishek and the Nationalist Party, it is not extremely difficult to imagine that another revolution may be coming in the near future. This revolution would be brought about by the Chinese Communist Party, and as time goes on, it appears more and more evident that this may be just over the horizon. Mao Zedong’s Jiangxi Soviet is a revolutionary group that is planning this very revolution [China: A Century of Revolution, China in Revolution, 26:18]. Nationalist forces have been attempting to wipe out the Communists for good, but have been constantly subjected to extremely effective guerrilla warfare tactics by the Communist Red Army [China: A Century of Revolution, China in Revolution, 32:04]. The Nationalists are so concerned about the Communist threat because of how popular they are becoming in the regions where they have been able to spread their influence. The reforms that have been suggested and imposed by the Communists in this territory have been immensely popular with the people who are sick of the old ways. Many women who do not want to suffer through an arranged marriage and be treated as property have begun to turn to the Communists in support of their proposed gender reforms. In a traditional Chinese marriage, the period immediately following the marriage has been described as “The most difficult and degrading phase of life for a woman” [Johnson, 10]. The Communists promise women that if they join the movement, they can be free of these traditions that are not desirable to women. One woman who was interviewed (name omitted for her safety,) fiercely exclaimed that she joined the Communists so she wouldn’t have to submit to an arranged marriage to a man twice her age [China: A Century of Revolution, China in Revolution, 28:55]. Among the younger and poorer peasants, not having to pay a bride price in order to literally buy your wife [Johnson, 11] is also enough of an incentive to break with the old ways.

China is on its way to something big. The Nationalist Party under the control of General Chiang Kaishek are desperately trying to keep its hold on the country as the Communist Party slowly expands its influence across the countryside. However, more and more people seem to be backing the Communists as they are tired of the way things are and are intrigued by the new ideas that they are being exposed to. A Communist revolution may be coming very soon, and I can only think that if the Communists are to make a legitimate play for control of China, we will see a bloody civil war that will determine the future of our country.

Stay safe out there my friends,

孙诚

Dear readers, this is the first blog I will write. Today, I will write why we think the Chinese Communist Party can be the answer to this country’s issues. 

 Recently, our country’s situation has been chaotic because Chang Kaishek started ruling China differently. Our leader Mao said that this person began the economic system, which is like the US. It is critical to imitate other country’s systems, and it can bring new problems that cannot fit our society. I am unsure, but we have already had many issues to change. Now, when society cannot be said to be stable, it is the chance to change the basis of our country and tradition. I will pick up one of the most critical issues in our country. As a woman, I think gender issues should be considered more seriously in this society. The most severe example is footbinding. Before, I didn’t care so much about this custom because it lasted since the Manchus introduced to our country. But please rethink about this custom. Isn’t it cruel to bind children’s feet and avoid their growth? As our leader Mao said, this society continues a very “traditional” way of living. I do not have experience with footbinding. But I’ve heard that a girl’s feet are folded over, and her fingers are wrapped around tightly. I have never actually seen this with my eyes, but I have heard that many girls have to have their fingers cut off or become ill. Why only girls should follow this custom? I know that this custom is now decreasing, but there was the reality only women had to be hurt for following Confucian ideals.

 Even I, who can now study at university, feel a gender gap in many situations. In the past, we followed the rule of Confucianism, and our family system is a so-called patriarchal society. I respect my father, but sometimes, others look down on women. It is a hierarchical system in our community, but sometimes, it is from gender differences, not talent or ability. This kind of system and ideas are all old. This can regulate the possibility and future of our generation and women. We should change in some way to build a new and progressive world. However, I realized that I began to have this idea because of Mao. I didn’t have expressed this idea because it was new for me and China. I was surprised that Mao reminded me that there have been no leaders in the past who focused on this issue. This issue is more significant in the countryside or other social class people. Now, it is usual that many women are forced to marry men decided by their parents. I believe this is because people respect relationships between family, not the individual will. I want to say that our leader can give us revolutionary ideas that can improve our society and solve many future issues. Compared to Chang, Mao should be the leader of our country, and the communist party can improve our community.

 Lastly, I would like to share the book which I recently read. Do you know “A Madman Story”? When I read that for the first time, I was surprised at how chaotic it is. The main character is one man who gets paranoid and thinks everyone around him is trying to eat him. One day; he realizes that they are trying to eat him because of the old tradition of eating humans. I think this idea can be related to today’s situation. Our traditional customs, which allow the gender gap I mentioned above, are “old.” It is time to change this, as the author implied in this book.  I liked it, so if you have time, please read it! Thank you for reading my blog, and see you next time.

Dear Readers,

I have been asked to investigate why many Chinese people have come to believe that the Chinese Communist Party may offer solutions to the myriad problems that China is currently facing. I have found through my work that the multifaceted ideologies of the CCP appeal to many of the downtrodden members of Chinese society, whether they are oppressed socially, economically, politically, or all of the above. They believe that the CCP has the potential to liberate them as individuals, and grow the Chinese economy, all at once. I was able to get out and talk to a few new CCP supporters, including a young woman, a factory worker, a friend from my college, and my brother-in-law’s parents, who are agrarian peasants like most of our country’s people, to gain an understanding of their varied motivations.

First of all, while there are certainly many women, especially older women, who consider themselves content with the status quo, there are also a lot of younger women and especially intellectual women who are entranced by the changes that CCP ideology promises to them. I spoke with a young, single woman named Xie Pie-lan who explained that she was interested in joining the Communist Revolution because she did not want to submit to an arranged marriage to a much older man that she didn’t know: “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]. One of Mao Zedong’s earliest published writings is about the tragic death of a young woman from his hometown, named Miss Chao, who committed suicide rather than submitting to an arranged marriage, and he blames the “iron net” cast around Miss Chao and other young women like her by traditional Confucian society for her death [Johnson, 29]. The Party advocates that women and men should get to choose who they get married to, and that women should no longer be subjected to long held traditional practices that limit them, like foot binding. Of course, this is appealing to individual young women vying for their freedoms, but my college friend also told me that it would be good for China as a whole. He read me a quote from Mao’s Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan that said, “With the increasing bankruptcy of the rural economy in recent years, the basis for men’s domination over women has already been undermined [44-46].” What this means is that with China’s economy so poor, and so in need of growth, many people feel it is necessary that half of China’s population no longer be subjugated, because their work is needed to support the new China.

In addition to my conversation with Xie Pie-lan, I also managed to talk with a factory worker named Qui Hui-ying. While factory workers may make up only a small portion of China’s vast population, some Chinese people believe that they will play an integral role in shaping a new China. Qui Hui-ying told me, “I came to Shanghai when I was 12. We were so miserable; we had to work 17 hours a day. Later, a progressive worker in the factory told us that people were not born to be poor. One was poor because of the exploitation by others. There is exploitation by the capitalist on one hand and exploitation by the labor contractor on the other. You do the work and he takes the money” [China: A Century of Revolution, China in Revolution, 24:39]. I found out that this man worked in a factory that produces goods for people in other countries, especially England. He and many others feel as though China is not destined to be poor, but it is exploitation by other nations like England, the United States, and Japan which has rendered it poor. As Marx and Engels write in the Communist Manifesto, “the need of a constantly expanding market for its products chases the bourgeoisie over the whole surface of the globe. It must nestle everywhere, settle everywhere, establish connections everywhere” [476]. The CCP offers downtrodden people a concrete explanation as to why they have been plagued by economic troubles – foreign aggressors – instead of simply blaming economic conditions on “fate” as Confucian thought would do. The CCP plans to work towards shaking off foreign capitalist influence, which many citizens believe will restore dignity and vitality to the wonderful people of China.

As I have mentioned before, my brother-in-law’s parents are impoverished peasant farmers. European Marxism centers the power of the factory workers, who make up the primary labor source of many European countries, to spark revolution. As Mao argues in his Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan, however, peasant farmers are the key to revolution in China, because they are the nation’s primary laborers and producers [42]. I talked to my brother-in-laws parents to learn more about their lives and experiences. They told me that they had no choice but to pawn their property in order to afford a bride tax and other wedding expenses for the marriage of their oldest son [Deitrich, 13-14]. As their financial difficulties continued, they decided that they needed to have my brother-in-law, the youngest son in his family, enter into a matrilocal marriage, despite the shame they felt it brought upon themselves and their son. They say that they have “scratched out a living” ever since, through “day labor” and “handicrafts” [Deitrich, 14]. My brother-in-law’s parents would like to see a change in their material conditions, and the Chinese Communist Party promises that to them.

By emphasizing the economic growth of the nation of China, many Chinese people feel as though the Chinese Communist Party will be able to offer them freedom from all sorts of exploitation. The ropes of patriarchy, imperialism, and patriarchy have bound the people of China too tightly for far too long – and the CCP pledges to cut all of these ties free.

 

Thank you for reading!