Since there is not a Reflection subject set up for this date I will post my reflection here.
Tonight's class was interesting in terms of looking at Mao's political life and the outcome of his decisions. I was struck by his tremendous political savvy that allowed him to remain in power until his death in 1976. His ability to rule such a massive country and dominate the lives of its large populace impressed me. Successful political ventures and decisions are recipes for success for a leader, but the failures of the party, and his ability to rebound from those failures are what impressed me.
The Marriage and Land Reform Laws were a brilliant step in gaining control over the populace because then the party became intertwined with two aspects of human life that are grounding, family and work. These laws proved to be successful, as the ensuing years showed evidence of the omnipresence of Mao's party. Yet these successes were met with failures.
The outcomes of the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution did have negative consequences, yet Mao continued to remain in power. This is what fascinated me the most about tonight's session. The fact that millions of people died and suffered because of these failed policies, yet there was no change in leadership is incredible to me. Failed political policy usually lead to a removal of those responsible, yet this was not the case with Mao.
The lecture on Mao's China was interesting not because of the content, but it made me think about what is going on in my native country of Venezuela, today. It has always worried me how governments take advantage of people's ignorance and needs to carry out their agendas. The proverbial "little red book" in China was there to guide the country. In comparison to Venezuela, they presently have "la bicha", it is an altered version of the constitution to preach and convince to the starving and unemployed masses. It is surprising to me that the people that for years had control over the economy of a country, suddenly become the "bad guys". Is it any other way to change and redistribute the well in a country without bloodshed?
Ultimate control, the country and its people become the property of its leader. No sense of individual pride, nor initiative to strive for something different. Political puppets and beggars to the higher power for communal acceptance. No one trusts any one because one's name might show up on a unspeakable list of enemies of the revolution.
It is interesting to me in all the cultures we are studying, and many more around the world, land reform is a theme that keeps coming up. I guess I kind of take for granted land ownership because I grew up in America where is never knew anything different. I kind of want to do research and learn more about current countries where land reform or transferring ownership of land is occurring. It seems to be a major aspect of revolution and “advancement”. I might have my anthropology students do a cross-cultural comparison of the importance of land ownership (or lack thereof) and analyze and compare/contrast its importance in traditional economies, command economies, and market economies.
I was absent for this lecture, but there is a very interesting unit from National Center for History in the Schools that provides lessons on comparing Mao and Gandhi in their tactics of revolution and nationalism. I highly recommend it if you are teaching this topics. You can use parts of the unit as stand-alone lessons.
Here is the order form: http://nchs.ss.ucla.edu/Products/116-mao-and-gandhi-nh168.aspx
Here is a link to the preview: http://nchs.ss.ucla.edu/previews/NH168-preview.pdf
This story appeared in the Sunday May 5th L.A. Times and I thought it would be an interesting article to share in the forum. Prior to the seminar, I had no knowledge of the Red Guards role in The Cultural Revolution. Therefore, after reading this article, an ironic message became clear to me. What struck me the most was how our lives tend to come full circle after many years. The irony that struck me was how Qiu Riren, the former Red Guard who was responsible for killing a "barefoot doctor" in 1967, was now the victim of legal retribution more than 40 years later. I remembered Clay lecturing us on one of the driving forces of the Cultural Revolution was the settling of scores, and now I read how Qiu became the victim of the same sort of action.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-china-murder-20130505,0,2651435.story
This was a very interesting topic for me because I cover the Chinese Civil War in my World History course. I think it is very important to include facts/ little nuggets of information that may not be relevant to the history but the students find interesting so it helps them remember. I was able to discuss with them how propaganda played an important role in Maoist China and how Mao's wife was arrested after his death. I also had the opportunity to show them the pictures shown in class that include Mao's wife and the "gang of four" and how the photograph was later altered and many of them were removed. I connect this to what Stalin used to enhance his legacy and how he also wanted to erase his rivals from history by altering photographs.
I recently taught my World History class the history of the student uprising in Tianamen Square and my students were fascinated, more than they have been in awhile. The notes from Dr. Dube's lecture helped immensely. Several of my students told me that that night there were a lot of photos on facebook of "tankman" and kids explaining it to their friends. Doesn't get any better than earning a facebook post.
I have used photos of Tianamen Square to teach perspective and write essays that analyze how perspective shapes photograpy/art/literature. The background information gained from Clay and the helpful reading to share more with my students.
Dear Colleagues,
Please download the readings for Session #9 on the Mao era in China.
Best.
edited by Ying Jia on 3/13/2013