China: A Brief Overview

Chinese Names

Written last name first For example, we would call one “Joe Smith” In China, “Smith Joe”

Family is extremely important: you’re not an individual so much as a representative of your family

Rule of Thumb: Chinese last names usually one-syllable, first name more than one syllable

Influence of China

Perfected use of printing press, paper, gunpowder centuries before Europeans

Civil Service Exams: Gov’t jobs for the competent rather than inheriting it

History of China

Several thousands of years of centralized gov’t in Imperial Dynasties

1911: Last Emperor forced from throne, Republic declared

Fighting between warlords during this time

1933: Japanese occupy Manchuria

History of China, Cont’d

Post-WWII: Civil War between Communists and Nationalists Mao Zedong: Communist, sought to help

peasants in countryside (97+% of population)

Jiang Jieshi (Chiang kai-Shek): Nationalist, sought to help cities, and to industrialize China

Chinese Civil War

1949: Communists cause Nationalists to flee to Taiwan (they take all gov’t gold from country)

Mao vows to make China a strong country Wants to help farmers most Believes that sheer # of Chinese can be

mobilized to do projects

Mao’s Major Projects

Great Leap Forward: (1950s) Massively increase food and steel production Collective Farms Backyard Steel Mills

Failed, millions starved to death, destroyed forests

Mao’s Major Projects

Cultural Revolution: (1960s-1970s) Completely erase “4 Olds” from China Empower youth to carry out work Leads to near anarchy, fails Mao dies 1976

China Since Mao

Deng Xiaoping: Realizes that to keep Communism going, needs to give people incentive to do work Allows some private property Allows people to make and keep profits DOES NOT allow for political freedoms or

reforms

What We’ll Be Learning

Major Belief Systems of China (understand traditional thinking/role of people)

Stages of Communist Revolution (from civil war through Deng Xiaoping)

Understand how globalization creates new potential/problems in China