This week we looked at a period of consolidation in China as the communists cemented their power in the country. On Wednesday, we looked at the propaganda that the communists used to try raise support for their initiatives. I did not read about relations with the Soviet Union, but I wish that I had, since Sino-Soviet relations took such an interesting turn when Stalin was succeeded by Khrushchev. I would be interested in finding out more about Mao’s deeper thoughts on Stalin, since he clearly considered Stalin’s policies in a general good light, but he obviously must have had some differences of opinion.
For Friday, I read the Dissidents exploration pack, and it might be the most depressing thing I’ve read all year. Immediately after reading the both Mao’s speech and Jung Chang’s autobiography, I thought of the Benjamin Franklin quote, “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” Beyond the dystopian nature of the readings, there were several interesting points about the passages. First, the claim in the autobiography that Mao had preceded his hundred flowers grow speech with another explaining his intention to lure out enemies of the party. If true, it would be an impressive if still incredibly twisted ruse. Several points from the Jung Chang passage was very interesting (and depressing), but it is also clear that a great deal of authorial bias is present in that reading. The reading did a very good job of giving the perspective of an educated, “intellectual,” but it makes me wonder how the actual peasants received this early communism. Chang seems to believe (or at least says that Mao believes) that the peasants will stay happy with the government as long as they provide the necessities of life that had been so lacking for the past few decades.
Something that always impresses me when I read about repressive states, especially the large communist ones like the Soviet Union and China, is the incredibly close tabs that they are able to keep on their people. I would have thought that the sheer size of the country and number of people would have made the sort of extensive background check that Chang describes extremely difficult.
“Mao: On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People.” In The Search for Modern China: A Documentary Collection. Third ed. Edited by Janet Chen et. al. W. W. Norton & Company, 2014.
Chang, Jung. Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1991.
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