bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Some Problems of China's Rural Communes
Authors: Dutt Gargi
Published: March 2009

The rural people's communes, launched in the summer and autumn of 1958, purported to be a grand new social, political and economic organisation. They were supposed to be like “a fine horse, which having shaken off its bridle, is galloping courageously directly towards the highway of Communism.” An organisation had been created where collective living was actively promoted and the “Five-togethers” practised, where women were “freed from the drudgery of home life” and Idrawn into full time participation in the commune production, where labour could be shifted from area to area or even occupation to occupation according to needs and requirements, where the rural areas were not only the scene of agricultural production, but were also new centres of workshops producing steel and machine tools, and where the previous village, township and even county administration was now merged into the new commune administration, which thus undertook multifarious activities.
Mao Tse-tung and Secret Societies
Authors: Schram Stuart R.
Published: March 2009

That Mao Tse-tung owes his rise to power to the support of the Chinese peasantry is an obvious and undisputed fact. The oldest controversy regarding his career concerns the degree of Marxist-Leninist orthodoxy which can be attributed to such a peasant-based revolution in an agrarian country. Considerable attention has also been devoted to the guerrilla methods by which this revolution was carried out, and to the relative importance of the appeals of nationalism and of social justice in Tallying the peasants to Mao's banner. The fact that Mao himself has his roots among the Chinese peasantry has, of course, not been overlooked, but it has been considered primarily in the light of the advantages which Mao drew from this background in understanding and manipulating the peasantry. There is not the least doubt that Mao, who has been a Marxist revolutionary for some forty-five years, has endeavoured throughout his political career to exploit his knowledge of the Chinese masses in order to lead them towards goals lying partly outside their tradition-bound universe. But at the same time, he has, even yet, not totally transcended the inheritance of his youth although he is making a furious effort to do so through the current “cultural revolution.” When the patterns of his thought and action were taking shape, roughly in the decade 1926–36, he was still closer to his origins. It is therefore imperative to study not only what Mao Tse-tung has done with (or to) the Chinese peasantry, but what he owes to the fact that he was originally a part of it.
Soviet and Chinese Economic Aid to North Vietnam
Authors: Prybyla Jan S.
Published: March 2009

Any attempt to gauge the magnitude and composition of Soviet and Chinese economic assistance to North Vietnam since 1955 comes up against the problem of statistical secrecy. The North Vietnamese are the worst offenders: they have published no foreign trade returns, and their general statistical reporting is in the worst Stalinist percentile tradition. In reply to a question put to him by a French correspondent, a Dao Nai coal mine official stated: “Here in the mine we are not interested in tons; we are interested only in percentages. Tons are a matter for the Ministry of Heavy Industry in Hanoi.” A Soviet specialist stationed in Hanoi confided to the same correspondent: “They no longer permit us to get near the machines which we furnished them with.… It is worse here than in China.” Unfortunately, Chinese statistics, though more plentiful, are not much better. Soviet figures are the best of a bad lot, but they give only a partial, not unbiased, picture. Analysis of the North Vietnamese economy therefore reduces itself to the kind of detective work by which Western economists from 1929 to 1954 tried to piece together such information on the Soviet economy as Stalin's security-minded statisticians released.
The Cultural Revolution and the Attack on the “Three Family Village”
Authors: Uhalley Stephen
Published: March 2009

The current cultural rectification campaign in Communist China, which is to “sweep away all monsters” and “touch people to their very souls,” surpasses all previous campaigns in intensity, but more importantly it has revealed a serious political breach within the Chinese Communist Party itself.
The Economic Distance Between China and India, 1955–73
Authors: Swamy Subramanian
Published: March 2009

Recently there has been renewed interest among economists for a comparative analysis of Chinese and Indian economies. Such comparative analysis is natural considering the similarity of size, population, historical background and contemporary significance of the two countries. For the economist, study of the objectives, priorities, development strategies and resource mobilization techniques, and the end-result of the same in terms of growth rate, distribution and stability in the two countries, have major academic rewards.
The Chinese Cinema To-day
Authors: Deh-Ta Hsiung
Published: March 2009

“As the motion picture is one of the most popular arts and one of the Party's most effective weapons of propaganda and education, in our film undertakings we must necessarily put political ideological work and the question of creative thinking in the leading position, strengthen the Party's leadership over the cinema.…” Thus declared Hsia Yen, Deputy Minister of Culture. But the problem is, how much artistic independence must be sacrificed in order to strengthen the Party's leadership over the cinema? The answer seems to be clear after viewing the dozen or so films from China shown recently at the National Film Theatre in London.
The Chinese in Latin America
Authors: Alba Victor
Published: March 2009

When in 1953 the Central Obrera Boliviana was examining the proposals for agrarian reform submitted by a commission appointed by the President of Bolivia, the Communist José Pereira criticised the proposals and read out a draft law on agrarian reform which, in the opinion of the Communists, adequately met Bolivian conditions. Nuflo Chavez, Minister for Peasant Affairs, stated that this Communist draft was an almost literal translation of the Chinese agrarian reform law of 1950.
The Chinese Communist Line on Neutralism
Authors: Halpern A. M.
Published: March 2009

This paper attempts to develop some hypotheses concerning Communist China's political strategy toward the Asian area, with particular reference to the function in this strategy of neutralism. I have chosen November 1957 as the initial date for the period to be examined in the belief that a major shift in the overall Chinese line on both domestic and international problems took place at or about this time. At the root of this shift was the Chinese conviction that a decisive shift in the world balance of power, symbolised by Sputnik I, had occurred. I take this Chinese estimate to be genuine and to provide the essential standpoint from which all problems of foreign political strategy have been evaluated by the Chinese for the past three years.
Totalitarian Consolidation and the Chinese Model
Authors: Schwartz Benjamin
Published: March 2009

What facts stand out in bold relief when one surveys the turbulent history of Communist China during the last ten years? It is by no means easy to answer this question. Ten is a good round number, but there are few indications that the tenth year of Chinese Communism marks a terminal point in any sense. The shifts and fluctuations of the last three years have been, if anything, more violent than those of the previous period. It is as difficult as ever to distinguish relatively enduring facts from sensational, transitory facts.
Organisational Principles of the Chinese Communists
Authors: Schurmann H. F.
Published: March 2009

The countries of Asia and Africa have seen the rise of numerous and powerful socio-political movements during the past few decades, movements which have shaken existing orders and have launched these nations on the road of modernisation. Although these movements have almost always been nationalist in character during the early phases of revolution, subsequently leftist radical movements have arisen; most of these have been Communist.
China's Governance: Political Reform in a Turbulent Environment
Authors: Burns John P.
Published: March 2009

In 1989, after 40 years in power, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is faced with its worst crisis since the Cultural Revolution (1966–69) over the issue of reform of the Stalinist political system. Arguing that political reform was the necessary pre–condition for further change in China's economy, the reform wing of the CCP confronted conservatives who feared that the Party was losing its monopoly of Chinese politics. The result was that thousands of unarmed civilians in Central Beijing were killed by the army in the J early hours of 4 June 1989.
The People's Republic of China at 40: Foreign Relations
Authors: Yahuda Michael B.
Published: March 2009

In its 40th year the People's Republic of China has achieved a position in its foreign relations to which its leaders had long aspired. For the first time they can now claim to operate in a relatively peaceful international environment that is conducive to the attainment of their domestic goals of economic development.
The International Position of Hong Kong
Authors: Pye Lucian W.
Published: March 2009

Uncertainty about Hong Kong's future has been aggravated by lack of precedent. When before has there been an established date of termination of colonial rule set by treaty? Even more confounding is that the history of the Crown Colony provides so little guidance as to its future. The usual practice in facing uncertainty is to look to the past to chart trends, identify propensities and make projections. All of these standard methods are, however, to no avail with respect to the future of Hong Kong. We are left to the mercy of that purported ancient Chinese saying, “Prediction is exceedingly difficult, especially with respect to the future.”
Life in the Cities: The Emergence of Hong Kong Man
Authors: Baker Hugh D. R.
Published: March 2009

Before 1842 all western trade with China was carried on through the port of Canton (Guangzhou). From the point of view of the Chinese Government, Canton had two advantages: it had a long history and much experience of sea-borne trade, and it was a great way from Peking (Beijing), China's capital. Thus the foreigners could be kept as distant as possible from the court and their corrupt and barbaric ways would do least damage. In Canton the western traders were allowed to live in their “factories” during the tea-trading season after which they had to leave. They could not bring with them either their womenfolk or their weapons, they could officially have no more than eight Chinese servants per factory, and they were forbidden to move out of the small factory area except on occasional special days. There was thus little mixing between. Chinese and westerner and, as one observer wrote in 1855, “We pursued the evil tenor of our way with supreme indifference, took care of our business, pulled boats, walked, dined well, and so the years rolled by as happily as possible.”
Major Determinants of China's Fertility Transition
Authors: Xizhe Peng
Published: March 2009

During the past four decades China has experienced a dramatic fertility transition. Her national total fertility rate (TFR) was approximately 5·8 in the mid 1950s and remained at this level until the end of the 1960s. Since the early 1970s fertility transition has accelerated. The national TFR declined from 5·7 in 1970 to 3·6 in 1975, and down further to 2·31 in 1980. In other words, China’s fertility decreased by more than 50 per cent in only one decade. More recently, China’s fertility rose slightly, due mainly to a relaxation of birth control measures and a large marriage boom. Nevertheless, China’s fertility remains at a low level.
Social Harmony, Family and Women in Chinese Novels, 1948–58
Authors: Eber Irene
Published: March 2009

In the 1920s and 1930s intellectuals and writers led the attacks on the tyranny of the Chinese family and the power of patrilineal authority. Their essays and fictional works, particularly such novels as Ba Jin’s Family (Jia), were avidly read by a younger, radicalized and iconoclastic generation. By the late 1940s and after Liberation in 1949, however, mainland leftist and communist writers had retreated from attacks on the family, emphasizing instead its centrality in social life. Two major reasons may account for this. The Chinese Communist Party, needing the peasantry’s support in its climb to and final assumption of power, chose the road of reforming obvious abuses rather than assaulting family and patriarchal institutions. The second reason served to reinforce the Party’s concern. After decades of turmoil, conquest and war, writers envisaged peace as order and as a return to familiar ways of life. In their short stories and novels, socialist transformation, therefore, consisted not of the disruption of family life and patrilineal authority, but of the reconstitution of the family, now stripped of its abusive features.
Population Policy and Trends in China, 1978–83
Authors: Banister Judith
Published: March 2009

The period 1978–83 saw swift escalation of earlier policies to promote rapid fertility decline in China. The government attempted to remove pronatalist economic incentives and replace them with economic benefits to one-child families and economic penalties for those bearing two or more children. China's family planning programme became increasingly compulsory in tone and coercive in methods. The single-minded pursuit of low fertility and low population growth rates has thus far been successful, though an effective political reaction against the policy is possible in the future. Meanwhile, the field of demography, the scientific study of population, has once again become respectable in China and the country's demographers are gaining rapidly in sophistication. After three decades of statistical secrecy, the government has begun to release relatively detailed demographic data, thus greatly increasing world understanding of China's population situation.
China's Energy Development During the Readjustment and Prospects for the Future
Authors: Kambara Tatsu
Published: March 2009

During the period of the Readjustment China has faced numerous and difficult problems in the sphere of energy. The two greatest difficulties now confronting the Chinese are energy supply and energy transport. Even if we put aside for a moment the long-range aspects of these problems, the immediate issues are complex. At present energy investment is directed towards securing the supply in the long run, but while this is occurring shortages remain acute, and conservation and increased efficiency of utilization are critical.
Chinese Agriculture During the Period of the Readjustment, 1978–83
Authors: Walker Kenneth R.
Published: March 2009

The main aim of China's agricultural policy during the Readjustment has been to raise the production of all branches of the sector in order to increase employment and incomes and to reduce the country's growing dependence on foreign agricultural imports, especially sugar, cotton and edible oil. In adopting this policy the government has recognized and accepted the need to maintain and even to increase foreign grain imports during the foreseeable future.
China's International Trade: Policy and Organizational Change and their Place in the ‘Economic Readjustment‘
Authors: Kueh Y. Y. , Howe Christopher
Published: March 2009

There are three aspects of China's foreign economic relations which are important to our efforts to understand the Readjustment of 1979–84. These are: (a) the government's general orientation towards foreign economic relations; (b) quantitative trends in investment and trade flows; and, (c) the nature of trade organization and international economic links. The general orientation to trade is critical in a planned economy where central preferences (essentially political) are easily reflected throughout the system. Stalin's policy of autarchy transformed the international role of the Soviet economy, while in China, Mao Zedong's willingness to trade with the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc profoundly changed the character of the Chinese economy between 1953 and 1959. Large-scale plant imports created new industries and enlarged heavy industries established – particularly in the north-east – before 1949. This phase of policy had exhausted itself in China towards the end of the 1950s, although import data for 1959 reflect prior commitments and give little sign of this. However, the reality was that China's capacity to absorb imported capital goods, and the agricultural capacity to sustain foreign exchange earnings at the necessary level, were both weakening even before the dislocations of the Great Leap radically changed the role of foreign trade by converting China from a net food exporter to a net importer.
Slow Growth of Labour Productivity in Chinese Industry, 1952–81
Authors: Field Robert Michael
Published: March 2009

Since the death of Mao Zedong in the autumn of 1976, Beijing's economic advisers have been trying to explain what went wrong with the Chinese economy during the past 25 years and, in particular, why the growth of productivity has been so slow. Their findings are pieced together in the series shown in Tables 1 and 2. These Figures demonstrate the impact of the Leap Forward (1958–60), the Cultural Revolution (1966–69), and the final struggle against the “gang of four“ (1976).
Peking's Leaders: A Study in Isolation
Authors: Klein Donald W.
Published: March 2009

The prospects are growing that the United States will be dealing directly with ranking Chinese Communist leaders on a continuing basis. Such an encounter has occurred at the Geneva conference on Laos. Almost every article concerning disarmament and arms control mentions Peking, implying, of course, future face-to-face United States–Chinese Communist meetings. And, if Communist China were to enter the United Nations in 1961 or perhaps 1962 there would, of course, be vastly increased contacts.
Manpower Absorption in the Non-Agricultural Branches of the Economy of Communist China, 1953–58
Authors: Emerson John Philip
Published: March 2009

Although based on fragmentary data, analysis of employment in the six years 1953 to 1958 is of great interest for what it reveals of the relationships between urban working age, population growth, increasing non-agricultural employment, and Chinese Communist economic policies. The sharp reversal in 1958 of past trends in the growth of the urban population and non-agricultural employment has no parallel in the history of China or probably any other country. In a single year the earlier phenomenon of urban population steadily growing at an average rate far higher than that of nonagricultural or urban employment disappeared. In 1958 both nonagricultural and urban employment grew so much that a migration from countryside to town of unprecedented magnitude occurred in order to meet the increased demands for urban labour. Most curious of all, the connection between growth of the urban population and growth of non-agricultural employment, implicit in programmes of expansion of the non-agricultural branches of the economy undertaken by the Chinese Communists, appears to have been largely outside the scope of Marxist-Leninist concepts and of Communist economic planning.
Sino-Indian Cultural Relations
Authors: Passin Herbert
Published: March 2009

India has been perhaps the most favoured of non-Communist countries in its cultural relations with China. Yet the curve of Sino-Indian relations has been as affected by political considerations as the relations of China to any other country. The scant eleven years of the Communist regime have been marked by sharp ups and downs. In the first period, 1949–50, relations were cool and tentative, in spite of the presence as Ambassador of Sardar K. M. Panikkar, the distinguished historian, who was very friendly to the new régime, and in spite of India's sponsorship of Communist China for membership in the United Nations. This was the period, it will be remembered, when China was taking a very aggressive attitude towards the border problems between the two countries, and when China still considered India's independence not a “true” one and the replacement of the “bourgeois nationalist leadership” as the order of the day.
Peking University Today
Authors: Goldman René
Published: March 2009

Founded in 1898 and made illustrious by the scholars who taught there in its early years—Ts'ai Yuan-p'ei, Ch'en Tu-hsiu, Hu Shih, Lu Hsun— and as a result of the leading role of its students in the numerous patriotic and revolutionary movements that have shaken modern China, Peking University nevertheless by the time of its 50th anniversary had little to show for its past other than a glorious name. This name is something to conjure with in China today since Peking University was the cradle of the May 4 Movement and the place where Mao Tse-tung worked in his youth as a librarian and learned Marxism from professor Li Ta-chao.
The Position of the DRV Leadership and the Succession to Ho Chi Minh
Authors: Honey P. J.
Published: March 2009

Sovietologists and Sinologists have found it extremely difficult to assess the position which the Democratic Republic of (North) Vietnam (DRV) occupies within the Communist bloc. Some have concluded that it is simply a satellite of Peking, basing their judgment upon its geographical position and the fact that the Vietnamese leaders closely followed the policies of the Chinese Communists, at least during the early years of the state's existence. Others have stated that the DRV is more closely bound to the Soviet Union than to China, and they quote extracts from the speeches of Vietnamese leaders to confirm this opinion. Still others maintain that the DRV enjoys a substantial measure of independence of both Russia and China and may, like Tito's Yugoslavia, break with the Communist bloc at some future date. They point out that the Vietnamese, like the Yugoslavs, won their own independence without the backing of the Russian or Chinese army. All of these conclusions are too facile and prove, if they prove anything at all, that their authors have not taken into account all the factors which have a bearing upon the events in the DRV. As in all Communist states, the formulation of policy is the responsibility of a few leaders, but these men, whatever their personal political inclinations, are restricted in their choice of policy by the circumstances in which they find themselves.
Vietnam—An Independent Viewpoint
Authors: Bich Nguyen Ngoc
Published: March 2009

A belief widely current in the Western world is that Vietnamese in general dislike the Chinese, towards whom they experience a feeling of inferiority springing from the domination of Vietnam for over a thousand years by her powerful northern neighbour.
The Sexual Revolution in the Kiangsi Soviet
Authors: Hu Chi-hsi
Published: March 2009

One of the most effective weapons used by the Kuomintang in its struggle against the Chinese Communist Party during the Kiangsi period was probably the allegation that the revolutionaries had completely destroyed morals, collectivized women and contributed to sexual chaos. In 1931, a Kuomintang newspaper went so far as to affirm that units of the Red Army had revolted against Mao Tse-tung at Fut'ien in December 1930 because they were opposed to the partition of land and the practice of sexual liberty in the Kiangsi Soviet. In 1934, among the 42 anti-communist slogans adopted by the nationalist authorities, five had to do with the theme of sexual morality. Thus, in the “white areas” of Kiangsi, wall posters appeared bearing the words, “The red bandits wish to destroy virtue: they practise free sex. They are savage beasts who abandon themselves to debauchery!” Or, “If women wish to preserve their chastity and enjoy familial happiness, they must take up arms to exterminate the red bandits!“
The Politics of Hsia-hsiang Youth
Authors: White D. Gordon
Published: March 2009

This paper sets out to examine various aspects of the contemporary Chinese social system and their political implications by studying the social and political attitudes of a subgroup of Chinese society. The general area of interest is social stratification in China: the bases of social differentiation in the new society and how these are perceived by its citizens; the extent to which changes in the structure of society have been accompanied by changes in social attitudes; the extent to which ideological campaigns to change attitudes have been successful; the limitations placed by the stratified nature of society in its transitional stage of socialism on the effectiveness of ideological and political education.
The Chinese Monetary System
Authors: Cassou Pierre-Henri
Published: March 2009

During a visit to China in June 1973, a group of young civil servants from the École Nationale d'Administration, myself amongst them, had several interesting interviews, particularly with Han-leï and Wang Si-yi, two experts from the People's Bank of China, in Peking. This was, as far as I know, the first time since the Cultural Revolution that visitors have had the chance to gather official information on current Chinese monetary policy and on the role of the People's Bank in the economic life of the country. One can define the Chinese monetary and financial system by the following formula: the People's Bank, the sole autonomous financial institution, receives the deposits of private individuals, enterprises, people's communes and State departments, and it grants loans to enterprises
Health Policy During the Great Leap Forward
Authors: Lampton David M.
Published: March 2009

Heretofore, analysts have argued that one characteristic of mobilization in China is to provide uniformity in policy direction. This paper sets out to demonstrate that, in at least the public health area, a diverse set of public policies was pursued even in a period as apparently “radical” as the Great Leap Forward (1958–60). The reason for this policy diversity is that different segments of health policy were made in different political arenas, or institutional settings; the pressures, perceptions and resources which characterized one of these political arenas did not necessarily characterize another. The “failures” of the Leap did not simply arise from a ubiquitous “radical” assertion of power but, on the contrary, resulted from the inconsistencies in leadership and programme characteristic of diverse policy-making arenas. Because policy-making responsibility is divided among political arenas, political bargaining and conflict have characterized the allocation to them of different health issues; elaborate strategies have been devised by organizations in order to acquire and /or hold certain areas of policy and unburden themselves of others.
Prospects for a New Sino-Japanese Relationship
Authors: Hsiao Gene T.
Published: March 2009

After 22 years of cold war confrontation, the People's Republic of China and Japan finally established diplomatic relations under the impact of the Sino-American détente. In bilateral terms, the rapprochement had the immediate effect of removing certain artificial political and financial barriers that had impeded the normalization of relations. It also promoted the normal interchange of visits and goods between the two countries. The two-way trade in 1973 reached the $2,000 million mark, or nearly double the volume for the previous year. In conformity with the provisions of the Sino-Japanese joint statement of 29 September 1972, the two governments concluded an undersea cable accord, a memorandum for the increase of resident news correspondents in each country from five to 11, a three-year official trade agreement granting each party most-favoured-nation treatment with respect to tariffs, customs clearance and other matters relating to bilateral trade, and an aviation agreement. Pending the conclusion of a fishery agreement, a navigation accord and a treaty of peace and friendship, the two countries seem to have entered into a more normal relationship that may eventually benefit both.
Recent Economic Developments
Authors: Donnithorne Audrey
Published: March 2009

The following consists of brief notes culled from information obtained on a visit to Liaoning (Shenyang, Anshan and Dalien), Peking and Canton during May and June 1973.
Buddhism under the Communists
Authors: Welch Holmes
Published: March 2009

This article offers a preliminary estimate of what has happened to Buddhists and Buddhist organisations in mainland China during the eleven years since the Chinese People's Republic was founded. Much of the data belongs to the year 1958 when the most rapid changes occurred. Early in 1959, the China mainland press, from which nearly all the data comes, began to give less news on Buddhism. In November 1959 the most important single source, Modern Buddhism, was withdrawn from general circulation abroad. Several sentences in the October number, suggest that Peking had become increasingly sensitive to stories of a persecution of Buddhism, and had resolved that the mainland press, at least, would not supply any more evidence of it. The picture is fairly complete, however, with the evidence already in hand.
Medicine and Public Health
Authors: Chen William Y.
Published: March 2009

In order to cope with the demands of national industrialisation and reconstruction, much attention has been paid in Communist China to public health and medicine in an effort to prevent disease and promote health and thus increase productivity. Since public health practice is closely related to the political system and governmental structure, in addition to indicating actual achievements it serves as an indirect reflection of political and socio-economic conditions in present-day China.
Communist China and Peaceful Co-existence
Authors: Halpern A. M.
Published: March 2009

The events of the six months between October 1, 1959, and April 1, 1960—the period, roughly, between Khrushchev's visit to the U.S. and his visit to South Asia—clearly affected Communist China. What is not so clear is the direction in which China has been moved and the depth and duration of the influence which events have brought to bear on China's relations with the world around her.
Sinkiang and Sino-Soviet Relations
Authors: Whiting Allen S.
Published: March 2009

Sinkiang occupies an important place in the vast arc of Inner Asia linking Russia and China. Over the past century, it has witnessed recurring political and economic tension between these two Powers. On one occasion, Sino-Russian co-operation suppressed anti-Chinese rebellion among its predominantly Moslem peoples. More frequently, however, Russian influence benefited from these results, to the detriment of Chinese power. In addition, Russian trade concessions during the nineteenth century, and Soviet mineral exploitation in the twentieth century, spurred economic penetration of China's largest province.
The Origins of the Second United Front: The Comintern and the Chinese Communist Party
Authors: Garver John W.
Published: March 2009

The role of the Comintern in the formation of the second Chinese Communist Party-Kuomintang (CCP-KMT) united front has long been the subject of debate. Scholars have long recognized that an understanding of Moscow's role during the pivotal year and a half prior to the Xian Incident, and especially of possible conflict between the Comintern and Mao Zedong over the issue of a united front with Chiang Kai-shek, was essential to an evaluation of subsequent CCP-Soviet relations. This article is a contribution to our understanding of this important problem.
Teaching Morality in Taiwan Schools: The Message of the Textbooks
Authors: Meyer Jeffrey E.
Published: March 2009

Chinese culture has always been considered unique in its enduring concern with morality. There is a commonly used phrase which well expresses this: guyou daode wenhua, which may be translated as “a culture which is traditionally moral.” This phrase is often used to describe the Chinese as opposed to other cultures which lay their emphasis on knowledge, religion, law, and so forth. A Chinese educator has recently made this point in contrasting Chinese and western philosophies of education. Whereas western cultures have traditionally stressed science (knowledge), religion and law, he says, Chinese culture has always stressed morality and art.
“People's War under Modern Conditions”: A Doctrine for Modern War
Authors: Joffe Ellis
Published: March 2009

The 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) finds it in the throes of a dramatic reform process that has discarded the principles and practices advocated by its founder. Necessitated by the sorry state of the PLA at the end of the Maoist period and facilitated by the sweeping political changes that have occurred since then, this process seeks to convert the Chinese army into a modern and professional force. Although large-scale weapons updating has been ruled out for economic and technological reasons, nevertheless considerable progress has been made, while in other areas the changes have been fundamental and far-reaching.
Party-Management Relations in Chinese Industries: Some Political Dimensions of Economic Reform
Authors: Chamberlain Heath B.
Published: March 2009

Enterprise Party–management relations lie at the intersection of two major reform efforts in present-day China–one aimed at decentralizing economic power through the “invigoration” of large and medium-scale industries, the other aimed at deconcentrating political power through the separation of Party from administration. Common to both reform efforts and critical to each is the area of Party–management relations. As an important issue in enterprise reform, on the one hand, it is central to the Chinese leadership's current drive to restructure the urban economy and, indeed, the entire national economy.1 On the other hand, as a crucial test of the leadership's ability to render the Communist Party more authoritative but less intrusive in day-to-day affairs, it is also central to current political reforms. While it might be too much to claim that the issue of Party–management relations is the key link in the leadership's overall modernization drive, unquestionably the failure to resolve the issue will seriously cripple its economic and political reform efforts.
The Chinese Work—Study Movement in France
Authors: Bailey Paul
Published: March 2009

In 1920 Wang Guangqi(1892–1936), a founder member of the Young China Association (Shaonian Zhongguo Xuehui) in 1918, wrote that in the past few years a clear division had arisen among Chinese overseas students. Those studying in the United States, having been influenced by the philosophy of “worshipping money” (baijin zhuyi) wanted to build a “capitalist” China on the American model when they returned. The work-study students in France, however, were concerned with practical training and participation in the labouring world. While Chinese students in the United States received regular government scholarships and enjoyed material comforts, Wang continued, those in France spent their time “sweating and working in factories.” Since the former sought their models in the “oil barons” while the latter looked to the workers for inspiration, Wang concluded, it was inevitable that whereas students returning from the United States would be capitalists, work—study students returning from France would promote “labour-ism” (laodong zhuyi) and become part of the labouring classes.
Sino-Soviet Relations, 1964–1965
Authors: Griffith William E.
Published: March 2009

The radical worsening of Sino-Soviet relations began in the spring of 1958 and the “ point of no return ” occurred at the latest in the summer of 1959. Indeed, since 1958 the public dispute has followed a cyclical course of escalation and partial détente. Each cycle has made Moscow-Peking relations worse than before and given other communist parties more autonomy from the Soviet Union. The apparent partial détentes have ostensibly been caused by Soviet and Chinese moves toward reconciliation, but these actually have been tactical maneuvers intended by each primarily to worsen the other's position and to gain support within other communist parties.
The Hsia Fang System: Marxism and Modernisation
Authors: Lee Rensselaer W.
Published: March 2009

This article discusses a Chinese Communist system of organisation which provides for participation in manual labour by members of China's intellectual and leadership elite. I have argued that the system represents a Chinese utilisation of Marxism for purposes of economic development. I have sometimes referred to the practice of adapting Marxist theory to perceived requirements of modernisation as “develop-mental Marxism.”
Mao Tse-tung as Historian
Authors: Boorman Howard L.
Published: March 2009

The label “history” is conventionally used with at least two distinct meanings: history-as-actuality and history-as-record. The events lying beneath the abstraction termed the social and economic history of the Roman empire constitute the former; Rostovtzeff'sSocial and Economic History of the Roman Empireis an example of the latter. Our concern in this paper is with “history” in still a third sense. When an individual, through either intent or accident, comes to occupy a dominant position in the history of a people, a country or an institution, his personal views on history and the historical process assume significance for the historian.The Peloponnesian War, Commentaries on the Gallic Wars, The History of the Russian Revolution, andThe Second World Warare important sources not only as records of past events but also because Thucydides, Julius Caesar, Trotsky and Churchill were themselves involved in the making of history. The recorded views of such event-making individuals are of intrinsic, albeit uneven, value because the men had personal knowledge of the events described—because they were, in short, actors before they were authors.
China's Grain Production 1975–80 and 1952–57 Some Basic Statistics
Authors: Walker Kenneth R.
Published: March 2009

The publication of basic agricultural statistics by China for the first time in 20 years has quickened the collective pulse of western economists. During the decade of the 1960s there were virtually no statistics and economic discussion of the performance of agriculture was almost restricted to asking “ How much grain does China produce? ” In the early years of the 1970s some national and provincial grain production figures began to appear, but they were fragmentary, often inconsistent and difficult to interpret. Even so, there was a much better statistical basis for economic analysis than had previously existed and the situation improved right up to the fall of the “ gang of four.” Since 1976 the increase in the supply of statistics has been swift, and especially since 1978, quite dramatic and exciting. For economists interested in agriculture, the publication of the new journal Nongye jingji wenti (Problems of Agricultural Economics) by the Agricultural Economic Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Social Science, and the resurrection of Nongcun gongzuo tongxun (Rural Work Bulletin), have been particularly important.
1979: A New Start for Literature in China?
Authors: Jenner W. J. F.
Published: March 2009

These two poems might possibly have been written before 1979, but it is inconceivable that they could have been officially published in China before that year, the most encouraging one for literature and all other areas of China's culture that there had been since 1949. Some writers and editors took the opportunity of breaking into hitherto forbidden territory that political change offered, and by 1980 the trend towards a more honest, human and personal literature was well established. The public image of dogma had been irreparably damaged, and although the old beast was still alive it had been forced on the defensive. In these pages I shall consider some of the most striking work that appeared in official publications in 1979 and try to assess how things changed in that remarkable year.
China's Local News Media
Authors: Shue Vivienne
Published: March 2009

Publication of local newspapers and magazines was supported and largely flourished over much of China in the 1950s. Although for the most part western scholars had little access to the county dailies and smaller bulletins and tabloids of that period, it was apparent that the Chinese tradition of reporting and chronicling local events in written form continued with little interruption in many localities. In the early and mid 1960s, however, under both economic and political pressures, hundreds of county newspapers and other small publications were closed down or amalgamated. Since then, without much access to local or even many provincial newspapers, scholars outside China have known little of the structure and development of the local press and other news media.1 How many county newspapers survived the 1960s or were revived? To what extent have county wire broadcast networks been developed to meet the need for the dissemination of local information to rural and urban populations? What impact, if any, have the news services of these broadcast networks had on remaining local and provincial newspapers? With the current publishing boom in China, should we expect widespread revival of county-level newspapers or general news magazines?
The Modern Chinese Writer: Literary Incomes and Best Sellers
Authors: Bady Paul
Published: March 2009

Obviously, literature is a question of quality rather than quantity. In a speech given on 19 June 1961, which was only published in theLiterary Gazette(Wenyi bao) in February 1979 as the cultural testament of the late premier, Zhou Enlai drew a crude parallel between literary and industrial outputs: “Certain laws governing material production also hold good for mental production. When pressed too far mental production will suffer, perhaps even more seriously. Quotas and pressures of time are vexing problems for mental workers. Take the writing of poetry as an example. Among our leading cadres, Comrade Chen Yi likes to write poems. He composes very quickly and is a prolific writer. He is a genius in this respect. But, it is different with Chairman Mao. He writes only after much deliberation. Though he writes less, he writes with such magnificence and vitality and produces extremely concentrated poems. We should not demand a poem a day from Chairman Mao, nor should we interfere with Comrade Chen Yi and ask him to write less. Mental work cannot be uniform.”
Chen Duxiu and Leon Trotsky: New Light on their Relationship
Authors: Kuhfus Peter
Published: March 2009

After the 1927/28 upheaval in the communist movement, a complex relationship evolved between Chen Duxiu (1879–1942) and Leon Trotsky (1879–1940). To date little has been written about this relationship in the west. The relationship between Chen and Trotsky, however, deserves treatment in its own right for various reasons. First, an elucidation of the contacts between them should close a significant gap in the respective biographies of the two Opposition leaders. The intention is not only to define Trotsky's role as seen from Chen's perspective, but also to emphasize the Far Eastern component hitherto underestimated in biographies of Trotsky. Secondly, the reconstruction of the relationship between Chen and Trotsky constitutes an important, correcting supplement to our knowledge of the developments ( = Wirkungsgeschichte) of “Trotskyism” in China, as it has been described as a concrete phenomenon as well as an ideological-political undercurrent. Thirdly, a study of the relationship between Chen and Trotsky should provide a better understanding of relations between the Communists of China and of the Soviet Union.
Dual Leadership and the 1956 Credit Reforms of the People's Bank of China
Authors: Walter Carl E.
Published: March 2009

In 1979 when debate over economic reform gained momentum, the future role of China's banking system became a major topic. Having fallen into obscurity during its merger of 1970–77 with the Ministry of Finance, the newly independent People's Bank of China became an aggressive advocate of reform. With its aim directed at the Ministry of Finance as well as local party “barons,” the bank's advocates called for an end to the Sovietinspired “Big Budget, Small Bank” financial system and to local Party interference in the bank's operations. Under this system, of which the 1956 credit reforms were a crucial part, the People's Bank had two principal functions. First, by carefully auditing the financial operations of all state enterprises, the bank was to ensure their adherence to the state plan. Bank credit was meant to compel enterprise management adherence to the state plans. The second function was a quantitative control of the nation's money supply. Bank supervision of enterprise finances was meant to be one way to this objective. But from its first efforts in 1955 to implement such micro-financial controls over the economy, the People's Bank encountered strong opposition from enterprise management, local bureaus of finance, the Ministry of Finance, and the Party apparatus. As a result, its supervisory function began to atrophy, leaving the bank to pursue control over the money supply. This it did primarily through reliance on its savings operations which, in contrast to enterprise supervision, enjoyed the strong support of the Party apparatus. By the height of the Cultural Revolution Party leftists saw the bank as a perfect object for bureaucratic “simplification.” Aside from its savings operations, its credit and even financial planning functions had become vestigal. Consequently, in 1970 the headquarters of the bank was dissolved and local bank branches merged with the budgetary system.
The Principle of Human Rights in Nationalist China: John C. H. Wu and the Ideological Origins of the 1946 Constitution
Authors: Greift Thomas E.
Published: March 2009

The 1946 Constitution of the Republic of China was a product of 13 years' effort by the most liberal elements of the Kuomintang to create a permanent constitution for modern China. The Constitutionalists' goal was to synthesize “autochthonous” norms from the Chinese tradition and modern western liberal values, in accordance with the pre-existing syncretism that Sun Yat-sen had created a generation before. They hoped, thereby, to reach a just balance between the claims of the individual and the claims of the collective in the modern Chinese polity.
Women Writers
Authors: Yang Gladys
Published: March 2009

The number of Chinese women writers has increased considerably in the past few years. Some write poetry, essays, children's stories, reportage and television scripts. But since the majority write fiction, and they are the most influential, I will talk today about some middle-aged and younger women who have introduced new themes or written controversial work in recent years.
Archaeology In The New China
Authors: Loewe Michael
Published: March 2009

The discovery of a bronze tripod in 113 B.C. was one of the first recorded occasions on which imperial Chinese authorities expressed an official interest in the material evidence of earlier stages of their civilization. The event was hailed as a highly favourable portent for the Han dynasty and it was commemorated by the restrospective adoption of the regnal title Yuan–ting, which was applied to the years 116 to 111 B.C. Other discoveries which have been of sufficiently great importance to attract the eye of a contemporary chronicler have included the find of several versions of the Classical Scriptures during the Han period, of the uncorrupt body of one of the Han kings of Ch'ang–sha (c. A.D. 225), and of manuscript copies of certain historical texts (c. A.D. 280).