Running head: CHINA REFORMS
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China Reforms
Name
Institution Affiliation
Date
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CHINA REFORMS
Introduction
Communism is lost in China. From the death of the CCP chairman, Mao Zedong economic
strength of the nation has increased but the gap between the rich and the poor widen. The social
class is intact and maintains a potential to expand even further. From the film directed by Weijun
Chen, it's clear that some of the services in education that are available in the urban Centre's is
only a dream for those in the rural areas. Those in the rural regions seek to get out of poverty and
education is not as assured as it was before. With the private college facilities in the rural areas
that are very expensive the poor are not even lucky to get a job. The urban residents, on the other
hand, are other hand exposed to technology and understand precisely what happened within the
industry.
They are lucky to understand the skills that are relevant in the sectors and the institution of
learning offers that. Using Wan Chao a graduate aggressively seeking employment though he is
very ‘competent' from Luojia college has limited skills in Excel; only the basic and he thus fail in
all the assessment for the accounting jobs that he gets and end up in complete despair. From the
1990s the socialist health system in which medical health services which would be provided
through the government hospitals and clinics had been abandoned in favor of minimally subsidized
institutions. With reforms to have a system of one child, there was an extensively high aging
population. With changes in the health sector, the distinct accessibility to health services differed
significantly. Those in the city have access to quality information from health magazines and
newspapers (Farquhar & Zhang, 2012).
From as early as in 1970 at the global level organization became less concerned about the
cheap labor and in place for the skilled work. China was not exceptional, and within the nation,
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education became the backbone towards class mobility. The notion for education became even
distinct within the two different regions. Those in the rural areas pursued education as a means of
survival and private colleges mushroomed. What became distinct is the quality of the education
deteriorated in the rural areas due to the high population seeking it. In the urban areas the notion
was different and what prevailed is the selective learning aimed at acquiring the most relevant
skills that were needed in the market.
The socialist revolution cadre of the Maoist era disappeared significantly in the reform era
such that there was an increased movement to the cities in search of jobs. With the Hokou system
that focused on restricting this movement life would even become more complicated for the rural
immigrants. College students would be expected to seek employment on their own rather than
receive state-directed job assignments. This would come to mean that with the accumulation of
wealth more social class emerged and they were more distinct between those in the rural than those
the urban residents(Hoffman, 2010). Considering Dalian with the increased investment the number
of graduates in the late 20th and early 21st century increased significantly. There was an increase
in the number of urban professionals, and today Dalian is known for the concentration in the
information technology companies.
Those who occupied the high position within the industries were not the sons of the most
prominent people but instead of the ordinary employees who were aggressively seeking for social
mobility to satisfy a career and perhaps their families. This means that the urban residents were
best connected to the relevant job market unlike those in the rural areas who would only focus on
moving to the urban areas to look for employment.
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From the beginning of the reforms, it would thus be evident that disparities between the
urban residents and the rural immigrants were significant. The study focus to compare and contrast
the rural immigrants and the urban residents have been seeking for class mobility including how
they pursue the project of self-development based on their environment. With the end of
communism and the beginning of reforms, the disparities between the urban and the rural resident
have propelled on the vehicle of policy and exposure to the relevant market needs.
Rural Immigrants and Urban Residents Seek to Achieve Aspiration for Class Mobility
Pursuant class mobility since the beginning of the reforms for both the urban residents and
the rural immigrants has been through education. The urban residents who were employees within
the industries were equally poor during the pre-reform period. With a capitalization of the economy
and increased foreign investments, the number of students seeking college education increased
significantly. The number of graduates also increased significantly. At the national and global
level, the demand for skills increased significantly. The view and the focus of the manufacturing
firms that was to have the cheap labor were in a significant decline. Most of the urban residents
were victims of the declined demand for cheap labor.
The urban residents took their children to the university and college with the aim to seek
to achieve the class mobility being established. Information technologies firms began to mushroom
in the cities. Most of the graduates were able to secure jobs. In Dalian towards the end of the of
the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century, most of the managers in the established information
technology firms were children of average urban residents who had been able to acquire a college
education.
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For the urban residents, the new social class had emerged since the beginning of the national
reforms. With privatization of services a new social class appeared. The owners of the private
firms formed the upper class. The working class from the urban centers who they and their relatives
had secured a job in the factory built another class that was distinct from the rural areas. For the
rural immigrants, they moved from the rural areas in focus to secure a job in the factories. Most of
who were hired were women. The population of rural immigrants seeking in the factories for class
mobility was more than the state could contain. Most of the immigrants were always frustrated
from one factory to the other. In the pursuant most only required a national card and middle, high
school certificate.
Those in the rural areas most never completed the middle-high school education and thus
the lucky one was ‘qualified' to move to the city in search of jobs. Most of the women were the
most significant population that moved from the rural areas to the urban centers to look for jobs.
For the rural immigrants, the class mobility was from the proletariat to the working class. The
urban residents lived among the enterprise owners and the urban professionals. The urban
professionals are those who managed to acquire the college educations and sought for managerial
positions in the factories. Others among the urban population were health personnel. For this
population, they were expected to get a job for themselves unlike earlier in which they would get
the state organized posts. The social movement included acquiring employment and establishing
pf private institutions among the urban population.
The private hospitals and private owned college institution mushroomed in the rural areas.
Those from the rural areas who had moved to the urban centers in search for jobs acknowledged
the value of college education as most of the managers in the factories had acquired a college
education. The urban professionals understood this clearly and focused for mobility through the
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establishment of a private college in the rural areas. From the film, it’s clear that in 1997 the
Chinese government privatized the university education giving an opportunity to those who could
not attain high grades to acquire a college education. In Wang Zedogang University the children
of the peasants seek to have the training which was relatively more expensive but from the belief
that it was their only way out of poverty most of the parents through the support of the community
took their children to these colleges.
For the urban residents and particularly the urban professional's various cities were pulling
talents and thus in an attempt to class mobility moved to the major cities in search of better
opportunities. It was a common phenomenon that all the cities had a high demand for skills within
all sectors. In leadership, the form of governance was incorporating various skills such that they
required skills as part of the strategic plans. With Foreign direct investments and policy developed
to harness internal supply chains the urban professionals also elevated to enterprise being part of
the national economy strategists Zhang, L. (2012). While most of the urban areas focused on
moving from the middle class to the upper class, the rural migrants continued to struggle to move
from peasantry to working class. The population of the aged increased significantly as the young
moved to the urban centers and the manual labor demands reduced progressively. With most of
the women moving to the city as well to seek for jobs the family structures changed significantly.
Most of the women in the rural areas who could not move to the factories in the cities secured a
position in construction.
A pursuing project of Self Development and Desire to embody a modern subjectivity
To envision them in the ideological world picture of the reform period pursuing of personal
development in the contemporary subjectivity was vital contrary to the selfish view of the Mao
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era. For the urban residents and the rural immigrants, the focus was different. Seeking skills and
college certificate was distinctively important depending on the specific region occupied by either
of the two. There was a firm belief that education was the key the only way that an individual
would get a job in China. Those who pledged loyalty to schooling paid every single cost to acquire
the certificate while the rest would seek for survival means through any method with which they
would obtain the skills needed to perform the various tasks (Antagonist, 2008). Though many were
frustrated by one of the ways they sought for self-development one notably worked for them.
Rural Immigrants
For the rural immigrants acquiring a college, the certificate was their only way out of
poverty. The limitation was that some were not certain what course to choose. When they didn't
attain the marks for the university, some would enroll for community college education while
others would first seek for middle, high school job. The lucky one after college acquired a job
while a majority would remain unemployed for a significant period. Those who could not get a get
job within their field though unqualified continued to lecturer in colleges within the community
even when they were not qualified to teach Hairong, Y. (2012). Rural immigrants had one vision
and which was to survive in the cities hoping to get a job, and they would not get back to the
village. The ideological world picture is that with a good college certificate they would secure a
prominent position and get their parents out of poverty.
Urban Residents
The urban residents have the actual and practical self-development both individually and
to their closest relatives. Living in the cities where they are exposed to high technology and quality
education from the middle level they seek to acquire skills that would make them most relevant to
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CHINA REFORMS
the market. Unlike the rural immigrants, the urban residents find for skills to elevate them to the
share the economy cake of the nation. After college, though some would quickly get a job as
compared to the rural counterparts not all that direction as many foci more on skills development.
Having established themselves as the initial entrepreneurs as they seek to advance they secure the
business within the family settings and even with their children they found for the continuation of
the company rather than entirely exploring for jobs. Policies of population reduction are upheld
within their families. While the rural immigrants focused on empowering their families to have a
taste of the good life, the urban residents concentrate on personal development to be part of the
growing economy.
Structural Aspects at Work in Creating the Growing Economic Disparity between Urban
and Rural Residents
Several fundamental aspects of the workplaces will propagate the economic disparities
between the rural and the urban residents. Specialization in the skills needed has been concentrated
in favor of urban residents. Wan Chao in the film lack the Excel skills are necessary to perform
his tasks. For most of the students from the community colleges, they are rarely exposed to these
skills and if they are only the basics. For the urban residents, the exposure to technology is
significant that their skills are above average. The second aspect is the relevance of the skills and
their demand in the labor markets. Students are always taught relevant courses in the urban, but in
the rural areas, the tutors teach classes that they could not secure a job before they opted for
teaching. Thirdly the employers being aware of the institutions quality of education are reluctant
of hiring graduates from such institutions probably out of the experience.
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CHINA REFORMS
Conclusion
The urban and rural disparities are significant before but more pronounced since the end of
Mao era and the beginning of a period of national reform. The initial move that encouraged foreign
direct investment (FDI) created a new social class. With the end of communism, the state now
focused on citizens only to the extent of their contribution to the national development. Within this
time at the global level, there was a general shift from the desired cheap labor to economic
activities that required most of the skills. Considering Dalian or the Hong Kong of the North
information technology firms concentrated that needed skills of information technology. The
enrolment to the university and college accelerated. The many graduates who were not children of
wealthy families secured jobs as seniors in the industries.
A new social class of urban professionals was established who either in research, health
and other sectors were some only seeking to move to different cities where remunerations would
be better or be part of the enterprise. For the rural immigrants, the class that was profound was the
working class which they sought to be part of. Women and men in search of factory jobs moved
to the city mostly if they had a middle-high school certificate or if they could manage to fake one.
Education is no longer a sure way out of poverty. With many graduates being released every year
there is high competition for the available opportunities. The urban residents are advantaged in
that they seek for skills that are already in demand in the job market. In the community colleges,
the quality of education is low, and graduates lack relevant skills needed in the market. The
disparities between the urban and the rural areas have persisted and will continually expand unless
a significant reform of the state policies.
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References
Anagnost, A. (2008). Imagining global futures in China: The child as a sign of value. Figuring
the Future: Globalization and the temporalities of children and youth, 49-72.
Farquhar, J., & Zhang, Q. (2012). Ten thousand things: Nurturing life in contemporary Beijing.
New York: Zone Books.
Hoffman, L. M. (2010). Patriotic Professionalism in urban China: Fostering talent.
Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Hairong, Y. (2012). "What If Your Client/Employer Treats Her Dog Better Than She Treats
You?": Market Militarism and Market Humanism in Post-Socialist China Utopia.
Zhang, L. (2012). In search of paradise: Middle-class living in a Chinese metropolis. Cornell
University Press.
Surname
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Students Name
Institution Affiliation
Professors Name
Date
Class and Revolution
Introduction
In China existence of various categories triggered the foundation of revolution. Individuals
acquired a national status through their orientation to a social, economic scale that consisted of
agricultural workers, poor peasants, middle peasants, rich peasants and landlords (Billeter, 128).
Continuous restructuring of social classes occurred as the revolution took a new path. In 1955 the
middle peasants divided into upper and lower middle peasants. The rearrangement was an
incidence of effect to the ability to distinguish between friends and enemy. The concept of class
was significantly applied, and it determined the relationship that the individuals had with the
others.
In the analysis of capitalist societies Marx's depicted level. The concept of Class was
vigorously applied by the revolutionary agents such as MAO Zedong on the relationship of
oppression between the capitalists and the workers. When ‘class' was used, it was seen as a
scientific method in which the enemy and the friends would be identified. MAO Dun view was
that poverty and misery in the rural areas were increased significantly with very many significant
famines of the 1920-1921 and 1928-1930 making the situation very outstanding. This agricultural
crisis was the basis for revolutionary change. Revolution was facilitated by the politics of class
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which mobilized mass support. Those in the lower classes continued to experience crisis and had
barely any food to survive during the famine (Greenblatt, Sidney, 10).
Establishment of movements such as CPP and bringing the peasants into the movement
broadened the social base of revolution into a radically new way of ordering society. Revolution
became the most promising solution for national salvation over this crisis and ended into an
alliance between the modernizing intellectuals and the peasant farmers. Mao Zedong believed that
to distinguish between enemies and friends the villagers must make an analysis of the economic
status of all the classes in the Chinese societies and evaluate the attitude towards revolution. High
population in China is the basis that slowed revolution. The Chinese Communist Party was
established to unite the peasants against their oppressors. The party was made up of urban
intellectuals in the leadership but was firmly founded in the rural areas. Classes were established
about land and as such revolution by the classes was the basis of land reformation. Along the
different courses that would not get along. They would not be allowed to marry the have-nots as it
would bring social shame. The people of Taihang by Greenblatt, Sidney L., ed, 24 demonstrate
that Hua Jung being in the family of Chao Ying Lai was such a great embarrassment. Later in her
life Hua Jung with the collaboration she became very active towards the struggle for land reforms
in the village of Taihang. Her family obtained a plot, a house and some home implements all that
she gives credit to Chairman Mao and the CPP party.
This study is focused on explaining the process of the class struggles and the land
reform that resulted in the revolution to end the oppression of the poor peasants by the rich peasants
and the landlords. The study gives the significance that these classes had towards revolution and
the events that led to land reforms. The paper also explains the functions served by the class in the
post-liberation political culture. Shaping the younger generation's ideological perspective of the
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world which can be attributed to the current economic growth of China is equally significant. The
discussion will include literature of Taihang as a vital more considerable historical force that
represented the occurrences in the other regions. Class represented individuals with a clear and
distinctive relationship and the communist’s revolution triggered the land reforms in 1949 but the
political culture that followed prolonged the oppression taking a different version of dictatorship
from the beneficiaries of revolution.
Representation of Class in the Revolutionary Movement (The process of Class struggle and
land Reform)
The poor peasants and the agricultural worker's oppression led to the establishment of the
establishment of the CCP (China communist party) in 1921. The CPP represented a voice of the
peasants who were mainly in the rural areas. Though the urban liberals headed the party, it gained
much relevance in the rural areas. The movement to the rural areas which saw more peasants join
the movement broadened the base of the need for revolution. The peasants mostly the poor and the
lower middle peasants were vigilant towards the reform that would shorten the gap between the
rich peasants and the landowners. In Taihang the needy families during the famine hardly had
anything. The young girls are married (sold) to the wealthy families, and this was the basis of the
revolution. From within the farms and in the land of the wealthy masters the peasants supported
the vigilant revolution movements by the CCP. The focus of the revolutionary movement was that
the area which was in full control of the landlords to be equally distributed across all the classes.
Intellectuals like MAO Zedong who later became the chairman of the party between 1949 and
1976 was a son of a rich peasant and was part of the communist party that was in the revolution
team indicate that the attitude was distinct among the different class and all hoped for a better
system.
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Considering the classes' life was very significantly different. The type of houses was
distinctively different. Finding the village of Gao for instance, the houses were built without
windows the significance of this is that the villagers could not afford the glass technology which
was needed in the construction (Gao, Mobo CF 6). Secondly, for a significant period, the custom
of the village was that they would leave to work in the field very early in the morning and return
late at night. Visiting the village one would be kept wondering why the lifestyles remained the
same. The answer is social class. Most of the land and the houses were owned by the landlords
and designed them distinctively wish. They held the area as well. The various distinct social classes
had homes designed differently and would be expected to pay the landlords. For most of the
villagers, life was from the hand to the mouth. Barely any progress would be noted as the high
population provided adequate labor to work in the fields. This distinct lifestyle was the driver that
stirred revolution and the need for land reforms.
To the poor peasants they would be sold as slaves, or young girls married at a tender age.
The significance of the classes was in that there was a high dependence on food from the farms.
The occurrence of a calamity would mean that the poor could not afford. The landlords and the
rich peasants would be equally affected but could survive. The very poor would work in the farms
as slaves in the farms to get food. In the extreme case, they would give out their children as slaves
in exchange for little cash. The significance of this was that the upper class would only lose profits,
but life would not be as severe. The girl child was extensively affected being forced into marry.
A study of the village of Taihang after the floods came and destroyed all the food in the
fields most of the needy families were left starving (Wen-chou, Han, and Yao Lung-chang, 10).
The family of Hua Jung who would later be an item for revolution was significantly affected. The
family was left, and the father sold her off separating her from the rest of the family. She had been
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sold off in the family of Cheng who amidst the calamity afforded a living. When the family head
later learned that she was a maidservant, he described that it was an embarrassment to the family
that people would laugh at them. Considering this sample scenario, it is cleared that the classes
were distinct and that no integration would occur between the rich peasants and the poor peasants.
The classes were significantly different than they had different social exposures. At one time Hua
Jung ate the food offered to the God of heaven and earth. Total embarrassment and at her age, she
had no such an experience. Probably in the family, such rituals were not observed as they did even
have enough for a healthy life.
The poor were mistreated by the rich what triggered to the beginning of rebellion from the
slaves. The poor maidservant in the house of the rich worked for food. Young girls who were
forced into marriage began to rebel demanding reunion with their parents and refusing to be
married to the young masters. This was the beginning of the revolution. In the case of Hua Jung
who was sold to Cheng family by his father, she refused to get married to Cheng-Yung yuan that
was a song to Cheng. Though she was beaten and threatened with death, she remained resistant
and demonstrated the poor were ready for reform. She was transferred to another family in the
Chao village. She later became among those who were aggressive against the new master (Wenchou, Han, and Yao Lung-chang, 32).
Functions served by Class in the Post Liberation Political Culture
During the period of revolution, the poor peasants were focused on ensuring that they
obtain the rights that were denied by the landlords. The post-liberation period turned out to be a
season in which the class feelings were commemorated and reactivated. It was a season for the
Chinese in all the communities to think of the bitterness that they experienced before the liberation
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and savor the sweetness of the present. The political movement CCP had made promises to its
members, and it was expected that they would work to fulfill them. With Mao Zedong been made
the chairman of the party in 1976 the class structures were focused to be established for a different
form of political and social culture.
The culture resulted in the establishment of the commune. These were village structures
that were established to have well-organized human labor that would contribute to the socialist
development. The people within the different social class especially the peasants who had earlier
subscribed to the CPP political ideologies. The leadership now views the high population of the
peasant as a resource and not a liability as they would contribute harvests in a contribution to the
industry. The commune worked to establish improved incomes across the social classes. Water
reservoirs were developed, and irrigation networks found. The collective run industries and would
increase the incomes by the peasants. The commune adopted a new phase of care for the elderly
and the disabled. The system, however, did not last for long before reforms that would see them
come to a standstill. There was a need for the different groups to move from the rural areas to the
urban areas. The commune systems broke up. Post the liberation era the urban and the rural groups
become more distinct. With the establishment and the development of the Hokou system that
would see the citizens as strictly urban or rural the new set of social class was established.
Events of post land reform saw the poor peasants join the agricultural cooperatives within
the village. The peasants though in the midst of earlier wealthy farmers worked to contribute to
the industry by selling grains to the state. In the land of Taihang Hua Jung did confirm that the old
days in which they were oppressed and the peasant's young girls would be sold as servants would
never come back (Greenblatt, Sidney L., ed., 30). Between 1949-1979 the income of commune
was a common phenomenon. The social class within this era of revolution resulted into a different
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form of rebellion. The revolutionaries who were the beneficiaries of the land reform generated a
more legal ordeal that widened the gap between those who had resources and those without them.
The very poor became slaves to their new masters. Being expected to work hard in the land and
then to sell the grains to the state at below the standard prices was a significant move towards a
new phase of poverty. The high population in China would be taken as a substantial limitation for
the technological growth in the industry. Availability of cheap labor sowed development in the
post-liberalization era. The revolution continued under a hard dictatorship. The liberal class
phenomenon disappeared with the death of the early communist leaders like Mao.
The class and the Shaping a younger generation ideological perspective of the world
The younger generation ideological perspective is to be in freedom to pursue an
independent structure of engagement from the community and the family. The younger
generations in China are victims of the downfall of the communes that would see the people
work as a community towards increasing their life. The world is global and less limitation on
what prevalence an individual has. Some systems of the post liberations such as the Hokou
systems are the product of this class occurring after 1949 has negatively contributed to the young
generation perspective about life. Efforts have been made, and the later reforms to maximize the
use of technology in production have placed China competitively in the market though the urban
and the rural life remain distinct.
Conclusion
The class within the Chinese community is one of the tools that have influenced the major
political systems and have been the center within which reforms occur. The Chinese are very loyal
to their social class, and even after the liberation period, the governance prevailed along these
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classes. The establishment of the social life along the family line maintains these classes
significantly long enough. The high population in Chinese also facilitated the distinctions between
the various classes. With the high population, China, unlike other nations, relied heavily on the
large population as a source of cheap labor. With that in consideration, the landlords would only
focus on the agricultural workers as the only source of wealth. To increase the wealth, the only
method was to oppress the poor and make them dependent such as they would work tirelessly for
little pay. With the bit of establishment of the technology within the Chinese community in the
early 20th century, these class lived distinct lives with strong walls placed between them. Early
reformers formed the CCP movements that focused, and there were land reforms that saw the
peasants own land and which they cultivated making sales to the state to promote the commune
industries.
The post-liberation ear saw China enter a new face of political culture. The Post-liberation
era would be viewed as an era where socially people would only focus on the bitterness of the past
and enjoy the sweetness of the present. With more of the Chinese in the rural areas and the increase
in population as a resource occurrence of famine established trouble. The Hokou system was
developed to limit the rural, urban migration and as such a wall of class between those born in the
urban and those in the rural areas.
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Work cited
Billeter, Jean-Francois. "The system of class status." The scope of state power in China (1985):
127-169.
Greenblatt, Sidney L., ed. The People of Taihang: An Anthology of Family Histories. ME
Sharpe, 1976.
Gao, Mobo CF. Gao village: a portrait of rural life in modern China. University of Hawaii
Press, 1999.
Wen-chou, Han, and Yao Lung-chang. "A Home Given By Chairman Mao." Chinese Sociology
& Anthropology 4.3 (1972): 240-262.
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