Zhu Baozhai (Faith Potter) Blogpost 1: Pros and Cons of Revolution

The urban proletariat in Chengdu shares similar feelings to the peasant farmers back home, though their complaints are unique to their situations. Industrial workers here face problems I have never seen before; those of dangerous work environments with huge, hot machinery. While the peasant farmers are oppressed by their own people, the factory workers are making products for the consumption of foreigners, commonly imperialist powers such as Great Britain and Japan. A capitalist might argue that these factories bolster the Chinese economy, yet the workers reap little profits from them while their bosses live comfortably, contributing little to production. 

While the proletariat in Chengdu suffers the weight of imperialist-imposed capitalism, the peasants of my hometown suffer the remains of a feudal system. Though Confucianism is said to hold those who till the land in high regard, its system has failed them. The classics dictate that subordinates must be treated with respect, but so often in my youth did I witness the sad plight of a neighbor short on rice. Some starved so that they could pay the landlord, some were taxed double next season, some sold their daughters or wives that they may pay, and one old man had nothing left to give and was thus beaten to death. The Peasant Association formed to stand against such abuses just as the labor unions have in Chengdu.

Despite the necessity of revolution for radical societal change in China, I am concerned about the consequences that such instability would cause. Japan has just invaded Manchuria, and although this was a surprise to my classmates and I, our elder professors expressed that they had long feared this situation since the outcome of the Russo-Japanese War before our time. As appealing as communist ideals are, I cannot help but wonder if Chiang Kai-Shek’s Kuomintang Nationalist Party would provide the stability that China needs in the face of foreign encroachment. Not only are they more respected by foreign powers that could potentially aid us in fending off Japan, but the chaotic land redistribution that the Chinese Communist Party promotes could leave China in a more vulnerable position to being invaded.

Every day I am surprised by the variety and absurdity of political opinions in the city and my university. Just yesterday I overheard two of my seniors, who had studied abroad in Japan and France, speaking excitedly about anarchism. Some of its tenets sounded akin to communism, such as reaching more equitable relations between men and women, adults and children through destroying the old Confucian family system, but when I inquired further I learned that an anarchist state should have no government at all. They explained that with such reform, enforcement of values would no longer be necessary, but their ignorance shocked me.

It seems that many of these urban intellectuals are more ideological than practical, all talk and no action. They theorize on lofty concepts while the industrial workers are actually organizing and the peasants are struggling far from the eyes of academics. I find myself ashamed to be in this curious position; although my family has been part of the rural peasantry historically, my father’s new financial situation has allowed my brothers and I to enter into this world of the educated. I wonder if my classmates would be so keen on anarchism if the Japanese were at their front door, or if the land redistribution impacted their status and wealth. 

Revolution is also concerning in how it may impact women. While the Chinese Communist Party has promised equality between men and women in terms of marriage, economy and more, I worry about the safety of women during and after a revolution. Though I would not like to be forced into marriage as some of the poorer girls back home were, I would prefer it to the humiliation and danger of being a single woman unprotected by a man. Revolution also necessitates violence, and while it may be necessary to fully overthrow landlords and the like, violence always comes back to women, innocent or not. Furthermore, I wonder if patriarchal attitudes would persist even when all women enter the workforce and take on equal responsibility in labor. Would men help with housework and child rearing as well, or would women be expected to continue such tasks? In such a case, a woman would have more work to do under communism than she did in the old system.