In the dynasty times in China, the ruling family would supposedly have a "Mandate of Heaven （天命）" to rule, and when another family took over, it was persumed that they lost the madate to the other family.
The Qing（清）dynasty was the last dynasty in China. It lasted from 1644-1912.
The peasants, as opposed to popular belief, were not under ungodly oppression, for they were not materialists, as opposed to their western counterparts. Thus we cannot judge their society with values and conditions that developed after their time. The lives of the Chinese were heavily influenced by Confucian Values, which allowed a hierarchical governmental system to function during that time.
The western world thinks of the dynasty eras as less advanced and oppressive, however what they don't realize is that it is a tradition that is deeply rooted in the Chinese culture, and since the Chinese culture differs greatly from that of the western world, it is wrong and insulting to judge that system by western ideals.
The dynastic cycles provided for the economic and political changes pre 1949
After the last dynasty fell, Japan occupied China through WWII. When the war was over, Mao and Chiang fought and Mao prevailed for the Chinese people, forcing Chiang to flee to Taiwan. Thus Mao established the People's Republic of China and Chiang the unsanctioned Taiwan government, resulting in Two Chinas. Mao initially began developing China according to the Soviet Model(1949-1957), with funding backed by the Soviet Union. This process focused on civil and land reforms, including redistribution of property, legitimizing the government, and nationalization of industry.
This progress towards socialism was broken when Mao implemented The Great Leap Forward (1958-1966) as a way to break away from Soviet control. This movement was focused on mass mobilization of the people, development of agriculture as well as industry and decentralization. This movement was less than successful for the people lacked the skills needed for industrialization.
Propaganda Poster During The Great Leap Forward
After the Great Leap, Mao allowed others to advise him on implementing economic and social policy. With the help of Deng Xiaoping and Liu Shaoqi the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) began. This movement, unlike the previous ones, focused as heavily on economic reform as social reform. Still set on the idea of collectivism and egalitarianism, this movement was to remove China of hierarchical bureaucracy and emphasize equality and education.
After Mao's death in 1976, three factions arose out of his followers.
Radicals - Lead by Mao's wife and the " Gang of Four"
Military - A militia group lead by Lin Biao
Moderates - A group emphasizing economic modernization lead by Zhou Enlai
The new Leader of the CCP, Hua Guofeng, helped put the Moderates in power, however their leader Zhou Enlai died shortly after Mao. Thus Deng Xiaoping became the new leader.
Deng Xiaoping was the architect of economic change in China after Mao's departure. He applied what is now know as the "Deng Xiaoping Theory" Also known as Dengism.
Deng Xiaoping 邓小平
"It doesn't matter whether a cat is white or black, as long as it catches mice."
His theory was that it didn't matter if a system was capitalist or socialist as long as it was effective.
By using a combination of capitalist free market and socialist planning, he was able to form China into the economic behemoth it is today.
“Planning and market forces are not the essential difference between socialism and capitalism. A planned economy is not the definition of socialism, because there is planning under capitalism; the market economy happens under socialism, too. Planning and market forces are both ways of controlling economic activity.”
Deng's reform goals were summarized as The Four Modernizations.
Agriculture - The extension of electricity to rural farming areas
Industry - An industrial automation revolution
Science and Technology - Promote of higher education. Developing greater scientific workforce
National Defense - Greatly enhanced defense strength.
Like every system. There are downsides to the Chinese economic plan, and they are becoming ever so visible.
During the Maoist economy, everyone was guaranteed a job. However through heavy modern marketization, there are now very high unemployment rates in China today. The government hopes that the booming economy will take care of that in time.
Since China's economy is growing extremely fast, the state sector of the economy has declined heavily because of the inefficiency and corruption that is present. This lead to three fourth of all industrial production being privatized.
Through China's fast economic growth, comes a high demand for energy. Mainly reliant on coal energy, there was heavy pollution of the air and water. The government takes little action against it for they fear the negative externalities of regulation
Due to heavy decentralization, the central government has lost direct control over the production of goods, thus leading to some faulty products making their way into the market.
In modern day China, the General Secretary (Hu Jintao, 胡锦涛) can rule for an unspecified amount of time. However due to party pressure, the General Secreatry normally steps down after around 10 years.
He is then succeeded by the next designated leader chosen by the party.
Hu Jintao 胡锦涛
I believe that China has been set on the right course. The Chinese government decided to emphasize economic growth rather than social. This I believe was a calculated decision by the architects of China which has proven to be very successful. If this economic growth continues, political and social change will soon follow. By prioritizing economic growth, China has successfully established itself as a superpower in the world. I believe that China will continue to thrive and expand it's economy, ultimately overcoming the US as having the world's largest economy.
The western world thinks of the dynasty eras as less advanced and oppressive, however what they don't realize is that it is a tradition that is deeply rooted in the Chinese culture, and since the Chinese culture differs greatly from that of the western world, it is wrong and insulting to judge that system by western ideals.
After Mao's death in 1976, three factions arose out of his followers.
The new Leader of the CCP, Hua Guofeng, helped put the Moderates in power, however their leader Zhou Enlai died shortly after Mao. Thus Deng Xiaoping became the new leader.
Deng's reform goals were summarized as The Four Modernizations.
I believe that China has been set on the right course. The Chinese government decided to emphasize economic growth rather than social. This I believe was a calculated decision by the architects of China which has proven to be very successful. If this economic growth continues, political and social change will soon follow. By prioritizing economic growth, China has successfully established itself as a superpower in the world. I believe that China will continue to thrive and expand it's economy, ultimately overcoming the US as having the world's largest economy.
Resources:
http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/china2.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deng_Xiaoping