Sinobabble

This episode is the first in the series on the People's Republic of China, the starting point for the modern China that we know today, still ruled over by the same Communist Party.

This episode serves as an update, as well as an introduction to the structure of the Chinese state and the main characters we'll need to keep in mind moving forward (it's more interesting than it sounds I promise!). This episode also gives an overview of the topics that we'll be covering in the upcoming months, including how the CCP ran their propaganda and mass campaigns, how they dealt with ethnic minorities in regions such as Tibet and Xinjiang, and how they brought the cities onside while simultaneously dismantling all capitalist forms of business.

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The victory of the CCP over the KMT was a bit of a shock to many, it was by no means obvious that they were going to win and actually by all accounts they should have lost. Chiang Kai-shek had the bigger army, more money, control of the cities, and at least the tacit support of the USA, who were hell bent on stopping the spread of communism now that they didn’t have to pretend to be friends with the USSR anymore. Despite the KMT’s numerous advantages, there were factors both internal and external to the party that led to their downfall, including the state of China’s society and economy after the war, the way the military behaved on both sides, as well as international relations. Did the CCP politically and militarily outmaneuver the KMT, or were they better able to reach the people and therefore win as a result of overwhelming popular support? By the end of this episode, we’ll have a better understanding of whether the founding of the PRC was more a failure of the KMT or the victory of the CCP.

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In this episode, Emily Matson and I will be delving deep into the subtle yet monumental change that was made to the Chinese official curriculum a few years ago. In 2017, the government announced that the official start date for the War of Resistance Against Japan should be change from 1937 to 1931 in all textbooks. This not only goes against previous Chinese historical beliefs, but also the internationally recognised start date for the conflict. Emily and I discuss how and why this change may have come about (we have no definitive answers, only theories unfortunately) as well as the implications of this change for Chinese political, social, and cultural future. We also go off on a tangent about the purpose of history education and give some advice as to how to avoid ideological heritage and get properly informed on topics that interest you!

Emily Matson is a PhD student in the Corcoran History Department, University of Virginia. Her focus is on modern East Asian history, and her areas of interest include Sino-Japanese relations, China's national identity, and Chinese patriotic education.

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In the last two episodes we covered the Communist regime in Yan’an during the period 1941-1945, and how they went about solidifying their control over CCP controlled areas, spreading their ideology through movements and campaigns. Of course, we also covered the Communists’ involvement in WWII, but generally speaking, the CCP was not at the forefront of the fighting during the war with Japan. Most of frontline fighting was done by Nationalist soldiers under the leadership of Chiang, and with the help of the allied forces, though the extent to which any fighting was actually done has often been called into question. China’s role in WWII and its importance in holding down the Japanese has been a sore point for China, which has claimed it never received the recognition it deserved from the major powers, especially considering the losses suffered and the tragedies wrought among the Chinese people. Hopefully in this episode I can provide you with enough detail for you to decide for yourself whether the Chinese war effort was of global import, or should be relegated to the annals of national memory. So, today we’ll be discussing what happened to trigger full blown war with Japan in 1937, how this evolved into WWII, how China’s Nationalist government survived and under what guise, and China’s bitter struggle against Japan until the end of the war in 1945. 

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This episode will continue the theme of the Communists at Yan'an, switching focus to the lives of Party members and ordinary people under CCP rule.

Split over two parts, we will talk about the development and spread of Communist ideology and Mao Zedong thought, the institution of political campaigns aimed at increasing social cohesion and improving the lives of peasants, and the reaction of the Party to dissent. This week we discuss the fallout from the Rectification movement, and the effect it had on the social lives of political party members as well as ordinary people living in the Communist base area. We will also discuss the evolving role of art and propaganda, alongside the growing sentiment among party members that the collective should be paramount over the individual.

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This episode will continue the theme of the Communists at Yan'an, switching focus to the lives of Party members and ordinary people under CCP rule.

Split over two parts, we will talk about the development and spread of Communist ideology and Mao Zedong thought, the institution of political campaigns aimed at increasing social cohesion and improving the lives of peasants, and the reaction of the Party to dissent. The Yan'an Rectification movement of 1942-44 was one of the most important campaigns of the Yan'an period, solidifying Mao Zedong thought as the supreme ideology, and ensuring the unity of the Party. The build up to the movement, the campaign itself, and the targets of the campaign including intellectuals and mid-level cadres will be covered in this episode. The fall out of the campaign and its impact on social and cultural life in Yan'an and the communist controlled areas will be covered in the second half of this episode next week.

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Mao Zedong Thought was one of the most influential ideologies of the 20th Century, and is arguably still having a huge effect on China and the rest of the world today. In this episode, Edi and Emily discuss the Long March and how it has been mythologised and used as a powerful message in propaganda since the 1940s. We also look at the first few years of the CCP at their Yan'an base, which explains Mao's rise to power in more detail.

We answer some important questions such as whether Mao is a true Marxist, and to what extent could he be considered a feminist? We also debate whether the 'Great Man Theory' can be applied to Mao, and if it's even a valuable theoretical framework in the first place.

Emily Matson is a PhD student in the Corcoran History Department, University of Virginia. Her focus is on modern East Asian history, and her areas of interest include Sino-Japanese relations, China's national identity, and Chinese patriotic education.

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Mao Zedong Thought was one of the most influential ideologies of the 20th Century, and is arguably still having a huge effect on China and the rest of the world today. In this episode, Edi and Emily discuss the origins of Mao Zedong Thought by tracing Mao's life from his origins as a country boy fascinated with Chinese traditional culture and monarchist heroes, to his rise as leader of the CCP, and everything in between.

We answer some important questions such as whether Mao is a true Marxist, and to what extent could he be considered a feminist? We also debate whether the 'Great Man Theory' can be applied to Mao, and if it's even a valuable theoretical framework in the first place.

Part two of this topic will cover the Long March and the first few years of the CCP at their Yan'an base, which explains Mao's rise to power in more detail.

Emily Matson is a PhD student in the Corcoran History Department, University of Virginia. Her focus is on modern East Asian history, and her areas of interest include Sino-Japanese relations, China's national identity, and Chinese patriotic education.

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This is the last episode on the Nanjing decade, so far we’ve covered culture, economics, feminism, and academia, and I wanted to leave this episode till last because I feel it ties all the other threads together really nicely. We’ve gotten a few glimpses of the Nationalist Party’s governance and policy formulation in a few areas, and how they tried to exert control over different areas of Chinese life, but we haven’t addressed the topic of KMT politics in and of itself. Although in recent years many aspects of the Nanjing decade have been reevaluated in a more positive light, one negative connotation that seems to have stuck is the accusation that the KMT were fascists. Although, actually the KMT themselves may not have actually viewed this as a negative label at the time. In fact, there is evidence to show that they actively strove to model themselves on other successful fascistic regimes at the time, taking inspiration from Mussolini’s Italy and Hitler’s Germany in particular. So in this episode we’re going to be reviewing the evidence, taking a look at the ideology of the Nationalists, as well as examining some of their major social policies and campaigns, to see to what extent the term fascist can be applied to the Nanjing government.

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Continuing with the Nanjing Decade, in this episode we look at the successes and failures of the Nationalist government with regards to the Chinese economy. 

While the Nationalists became increasingly interventionist and looked to ramp up their stake in the financial system, their policies hindered private businesses and failed to save the rural peasant economy. But was this period a complete failure? And can all the blame be lain at the feet of the KMT?

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