thoughts about session 9 (China w/Dr. Clayton)

[Anonymous]

I really feel that the information and history that we have covered in the last two sessions will have a great impact on the curriculum I develop for my class next year, especially since this is the period of history we cover in Geography for our East Asia unit. However, before I start creating the lessons that I'll be adding to my unit, I have a few questions that I need clarification on. For starters, I understand that the gang of four were put on trial and accused/ blamed for the death of 35,000 people during the great leap forward, in addition to seizing power; however, what I don't understand is how they could blame these four individuals for such a crime and not blame Mao as well. Was it because he was dead? Why didn't they put them on trial before his death? Was it fear? Also, how could they build a mausoleum for him? Is that not hypocritical and bourgeois-like? What would Mao think of all this?

***Don't get me wrong, I think it's pretty cool that we can visit his "burial" site.

[Anonymous]

A Masters Thesis for Yonsei University @ S Korea does well in summing up Mao Zedong: He succeeded in leading the Communists to rule China with victory over the Nationalists, yet he harmed China with initiatives like the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. Clay's presentation in session 9 gave details of the Cultural Revolution which reinforced that Yonsei University Masters Thesis, and I will merge that content from Clay's present with material from TCI History Alive curriculum: the TCI History Alive curriculum includes lecture slides which shows striking visuals of the Cultural Revolution for the students, including a photo of a Professor being humiliated by Red Guards by being forced to wear a "Dunce" cap and a sign(board) critical of that professor. The photo from p. 470 in the East Asia text shows an example of the chaos happening @ universities in China during this time.
While China is one of three nations (Russia & US being the others) which have LAUNCHED people to space from its own spaceships/rockets/pads, keep in mind that China has only recently launched its own astronauts (called Taikonauts in China) into space. Though China was developing its own space exploration program in the 1960's, that Country's space exploration development was delayed as a result of the Cultural Revolution. This makes sense because China's best Scientists would not have been able to be productive amidst the chaos of the Cultural Revolution. Thus, the Cultural Revolution definitely stunted China's growth as a Space Power.

[Anonymous]

I enjoyed the latest meeting we had. The information we gained will be beneficial when I discuss East Asia next year with the students. I would like to learn more about the 1 child policy as that seems to fascinate the students. Granted they have heard stories of the darker side of it (infanticide, etc.), but additional insight as to what the average citizen thought about family planning as well as punishments and rewards offered would help me to flesh out their understanding. The personal stories that Prof. Dube brings in add an amazing insight and personal touch that just can’t be matched from reading a book or article. I would love to hear more.

[Anonymous]

Of course, what has stuck in my mind about Session 9 was the photograph of the very pregnant woman and the doctor about to give her a beyond late abortion. At some point, I had stopped taking notes and so do not recall the photographers name but felt it was unfortunate that he was kicked out of Stanford for publishing that and other photographs he took of the results of the 1 child system. It would appear he was exposing human rights violations and should have been honored for that rather than punsihed..but I am not fully versed on the details of his plight and so would ask if anyone of you would enlighten me about those details. Another idea of Mao's that was mentioned during this session was the idea that the more education a person has the less revolutionary they become...and because he was promoting revolution Mao was also promoting ignorance..well, it was very confusing and frightening that the pursuit of higher education was considered to be disloyal to the party. How awful to hear that universities were taken over by the army and/or looted and closed. Families deemed to be Bureaucratic Capitalists were not allowed to join the Red Guards and this was very hard on the children who then formed their own red guard. The pressure to conform being more important than seeking wisdom had drastic consequences.
edited by mfraser on 5/30/2011
edited by mfraser on 5/30/2011

[Anonymous]

I enjoyed learning more about Chairman Mao last week, especially the part about him not liking to brush his teeth - these are the little tildbits that make history more interesting to students. I need to find our more about how Cho En Lai fits into the curltural revolution picture and just who this "gang of 4" was. Also, because I keep on forgetting to ask in class, did the main communist party bigwigs not really like Mao because he was from the country side? I can't seem to remember where I heard this, or read this, or maybe from the Histroy Channel? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

I agree with Ron that the 1 child policy is fascinating to students. I had adiscussion with my students about this and informed them that infanticide also happened in colonial America when it was inconvenient to have a baby or too many children of the same sex were born. They found it hard to believe that it happened here in America, but it did.

[Anonymous]

One other comment - I find it interesting that Mao would believe that revolution is necessary to tear down the old and build new, a state of constant change as long as it does not apply to him, the dictator of China for almost 30 years. I guess some are just "more" than others.

[Anonymous]

This quote of yours " I guess some are just "more" than others" totally reminds me of George Orwell's Animal Farm wherein the ruling class (the pigs!) eventually corrupt the constitution and the 7th commandment which initially read "All animals are equal" is changed to "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." While this novel explores the idea of tearing down the old to build the new (an idea not totally alien to Capitalist societies), it certainly exposes the hypocrisy of leaders, like Mao and many others, who make rules precisely to rule over others.

[Anonymous]

Wow, that's a shocker! Where can I find more information about infanticide in America? Please advise!! TX

[Anonymous]

Wow, infanticide in colonial America, sounds darkly interesting. Sally, do you have more information about this?

[Anonymous]

I wrote a paper about it for a history class at CSUN. I will try and find the paper so I can give you my sources. The focus of the paper was growing up in colonial America and the colonists did some pretty odd stuff and had some pretty odd laws governing sexual behavior. Of course, the law I point out to my students was the one allowing fathers to put their sons to death at the ripe old age of 16. Most of the information was for the New England area, so a good start is to do some research on the Puritans. Basically, although it was against the law, infants died under unusual circumstances if they were deemed unecessary by their parents or if conceived out of wedlock. Let me try and find the paper.

[Anonymous]

About infanticide in colonial America - I was reading articles from the William and Mary Quarterly and the American Quarterly, both available through JSTOR at the CSUN library.

[Anonymous]

A thousand thanks for the info. I'll look it up through the CSULA, I'm sure I should be able to find it there and I'm also sure my students will be fascinated to hear this stuff.

[Anonymous]

The topics cover in this class reminded me of the day when Chines people heard that the Gang of four were down. People went out to street to have a parade.
I was a middle school student and did not know much about politics. But the school called upon us to do so. I remember that was a cold raining day. Marching on the street, we held Chairman Mao's photo and shouted slogans like " Down with the gang of four" ," Down with Jian qing" though Jing qing was already down then.
Later as I grew up, I read about her, about what she did in the" cultural revolution". I want to wait more time to see what people will say about her, maybe something different from what we read about her.

[Anonymous]

I am still confused about this Gang of Four - these are four people, one of whom is Mao's wife, that controll the Cultural Revolution? WasMao ever fearful of a coup or was he too busy trying to consolidate his own power? And if Mao knew about the Gang of Four. why did the Comminists put them on trial after his death? Were they trying to de-Mao China, similar to what the Soviets did after Stalin's death? And why do they build huge monuments to leaders they do not particularly like after they die?

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