The use of personality cult has been a popular method demonstrated in many countries. Countries like Russia and China have utilized a “cult of personality” in post war regimes to help maintain stability in the country. However, China is a special case in the amount of its prevalent use of identity cult. Despite the current disposition towards Mao Zedong, the achievement in remaining a part of Chinese culture and history was successful. The importance of personality cult has been the foundation and the reason for the people’s admiration for Mao Zedong. He has become such an unforgettable figure, signifying that perhaps a highly influenced opinion from the Chinese people was created by implicating a “cult of personality” in his leadership, enabling such long and undeniable support. However, the negative effects of personality cult towards Chinese society and the construction of Chinese people’s attitudes shows the success of Mao’s influence.
The role of personality cult and Chairman Mao changed the Chinese perspective, especially within the older generation. Mao Zedong is an important symbol for which should not be highly criticized publicly. This dedication is a sign that the use of the identity cult is an effective method. However, the generation of extreme dedication can promote a
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The utilization of this method caused the Chinese society to obtain from individuality such as censorship in literature. The people were unable to act of their own will, only by the way of Mao Zedong teachings, enforced by the government. In addition, a trend of “justified violence” was a negative consequence of this emphasis on Mao’s words. The corruption of politics also caused a strained and reserved relationship between the Chinese government and its people. The personality cult in China negatively affected Chinese society due to the heavy influence on societal decision-making, Chinese politics, and censorship on
Document 1 depicts the leader of the Chinese Communist party, Mao Zedong,’s written report that describes peasants’ strong nationalism. His written report uses strong words as “corrupt” and “evil” which describes peasants’ enemies, such as officials and landowners. Mao wanted to uprise the sense of nationalism by mentioning the peasants’ enemies. However, Mao Zedong is the leader of the Chinese Communist Party, so he might exaggerated the state of peasants in order to gain trusts from the peasants. According to document 2, a sense of nationalism is shown in the discussion between a teenaged peasant and his grandfather.
When Japan invaded China in 1937, they started a chain of events leading to their defeat at the end of the second world war. Between circa 1925 and circa 1950 the Chinese communist party took hold of China sparking nationalism and anti-japanese stances, bringing the people new opportunities, and advocating social and gender equality. The Chinese people felt a loss of pride when Japan invaded them, but with the rising of the communist party they felt a new sense of nationalism and pride in their country. When looking at the conversation between a teenager and his grandfather, we get a wider picture at what life was like before the communist party rose to power.
One reason for this was due to manipulation of the people. For example, during this time period different events happened. The articles shows us that, “Fear of Communist infiltration intensified in the 1949 when Communists led by Mao Zedong took control of China and the Soviets detonated an atomic bomb-- well before some American scientists had estimated they would have the expertise to do so…” (Robert). The fear of an atomic bomb and Communist plagued the people’s attitudes.
The Chinese communist party gained much power after going after and attacking the Kuomintang and its anti communist policies into Taiwan. With the growth of the communist party’s power, the peasant and lower class experienced major influence that would change the course of their lives forever. Chinese peasants and the Chinese communist party between circa 1925 and circa 1950 had a relationship in which the party fostered and cared the state of the people. This created a sense of nationalism and pride for the peasants, while they were advocating social equality, and showing anti-Japanese sentiment. First of all, the Chinese communist party greatly influenced the peasant class in sparking and igniting a sense of nationalistic unity into the
The impact of Lenin’s victory over a capitalist monarchy defines an important change in the way Sino-Vietnamese relations would occur, since the focus on nationalism would slowly convert to communism as the dominant ideology to resist western capitalism. The rise of the communist resistance Ho Chi Minh in the early 20th century defines the overarching influence of Chinese/Soviet communist policies, which he followed by building a military force on the northern border of China and Vietnam in the 1920s: “By late 1924, Nguyen Ai Quoc (Ho Chi Minh) was in southern China, building a new revolutionary organization meant to operate inside Indochina. These efforts culminated in 1930 with the establishment of the Vietnamese Communist Party” (Ward 45). In this historical perspective, it is imperative to understand the impact that the Soviet Union had on Chinese Communism, which had been steadily growing as a counter-ideology to the capitalist nationalism of Sun Yat-sen.
Introduction Joseph Stalin is perhaps one of the most important and discussed people in Russian history. He was arguably a feared tyrant cursed and despised by many. At the same time, one finds sufficient evidence for the adoration and worship of Stalin that used to exist in the minds of the citizens of the Soviet Union. One reason for this worship was the existence of the so called ‘Cult of Personality’ where Stalin was celebrated as a wise leader, father of all people, and the architect of victory of the Second World War. In his book, The Stalin Cult: A Study in the Alchemy of Power, Jan Plamper states that Stalin’s cult of personality was largely a visual phenomenon.
On the other hand, it leaves a kind of profound thinking about the typical ordinary Chinese ideology and how great is the impact of such a decision on people’s
Chinese Spring & Autumn Period (Shang and Zhou Dynasties): Significance of Sun Tzu & His Book “The Art of War” As we know it today, China has been one of the most successful countries in the world, early China is much different from what we know to be the Republic of China. Before becoming one massive country, China was divided into many kingdoms between two very significant rivers, the Yellow and Yangtze rivers. Today, historians conclude that they have been able to uncover facts about the Chinese dynasties to as early as 1700 B.C. Artifacts, bronze weapons, and written records show the successes of an era known as the Shang and Zhou dynasty.
With the Soviet Union, China had found an ideological partnership which changed in the following decades into rivalry. The relationship with Taiwan was and still is very complex. And finally, the Sino-American relations, which are best described with the transformation from being enemies and becoming friends. In the following essay, I try to highlight the three main foreign relations of Mao‘s China, firstly with the United States, secondly, with the Soviet Union, and thirdly with
Satire is used in literature to criticize and point out society’s flaws. The criticism is usually masked in humour. Irony is commonly used in satires to expose flaws, an effective example is John Smith’s A Modest Proposal, he effectively uses irony, to communicate his argument about the poverty in Ireland at the time. Similarly, in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale she criticizes the society that women live in. Atwood uses allusions to the Old Testament, Cultural Revolution, Salem Witch Trials, and the Taliban to satirize the oppression of women in political, religious and social aspects.
Li was restricted to ideas and beliefs he had since growing up, he was not allowed to have an identity of his own, under the restriction of Mao’s Communist
Mao Zedong was a Chinese communist leader and is the founder of the People’s Republic of China. Mao was born on the 26th of December 1893 into a poor peasant family in Shaoshan, in Hunan province, which is a province in central China. After becoming a founding member of the Chinese Communist Party in 1921, Mao has greatly influenced and shaped China into what it is today. He is regarded as one of the most controversial leaders of the twentieth century as a result of the widespread impacts and hardships that the Chinese people had to endure as a result of his policies and reformations. Firstly, the impacts and effects of the Great Leap Forward, which turned out to be a disaster, killing between 20-40 million people and ironically sending China backwards.
During China’s Cultural Revolution, a large proportion of urban youth were forced to go to the countryside as a result of the state’s “send-down” policy (Xie). This experience was distressing for some youngsters as it disrupted ordinary life and the process of educational attainment. Students couldn’t express their opinions or reason with the government’s decision, because they did not dare to question Mao’s authority, therefore they had no other option but to conform to the officials. Mao Zedong was the ultimate figure that impeded the students’ educational and career path. Parental social status or political capital did not spare youths in certain privileged classes from being sent down to the countryside (Xie).
Personal Statement I would like to confirm that it is my motivating of Chinese culture that ignited my passion for cultural and creative industry. As a Tourism Management major student, I was able to explore the Chinese diversified cultures and landscapes, which offered me an insightful understanding of the Chinese cultural development. Under the guidance of commercialization, some cultural heritages have developed into huge tourism souvenir markets full of counterfeit and shoddy products. The over-commercialization reveals the fact that the Chinese culture is facing a severe situation. The country calls for a better cultural development strategy, which cultural and creative industry can offer.
The traditional Chinese cultures have a development process for thousand years, now we are creating another kind of traditional culture especially under the wave of globalization. Although the form of expressing or performing the culture experienced some changes but the basic idea and belief behind rarely changed. To promote Chinese culture we would refer to the essence of Chinese wisdom so the following is actual practicing of different dimensions of Chinese traditions which show the beauty of China. The family concept is the essence of Chinese culture.