Culturally, the people of China have been far freer to do as they choose. Mao’s red guards beat up, arrested, or killed those who held bourgeoisie cultural sympathies. Anyone watching American television or reading western books was treated cruelly and without remorse. Nowadays, and since 1976, Chinese culture has become much more varied. Cultural xenophobia has practically disappeared and theatre, cinema and music have become outward looking. There is now even a state-sponsored national ballet company. The “enemy in the womb” issue and the one-child policy did have a social impact, as it meant that many families only had one child and could therefore afford (because of the smaller burden of one child and because of the economic encouragements provided by the state) to spend much more money on him or her and could have more to spend on themselves. Hence, many lives became more family orientated and many families became closer. In addition to this, the general preference of boys over girls meant that many female babies were either abandoned or killed by their parents. The mass rural to urban migration due to pull factors in towns such as job prospects and money (due largely to the open door policy) was a social change in itself. Very little has remained the same, socially, for Chinese people since 1976, and my judgement on whether they have been better off socially would be that they have been remarkably better off. Mao repressed any social change harshly and social prosperity was at an all time low during the Cultural Revolution. In comparison, China’s cultural flower has bloomed after Mao’s death.
In the political sphere, the death of Mao has not led to any let off in the restriction of civil liberties; Deng has been just as aggressive. The death of Mao led to a relaxed feeling among certain reformists, who either consciously or sub-consciously must have believed that no one would stop them voicing their views. Hence “Democracy Wall” sprung up and was, for some reason, allowed for a while (probably because Deng was deciding what to do about it). A harsh crackdown, which led to many billposters being prosecuted, silenced many of those in favour of “the fifth modernisation” (democracy) and some of those who were not necessarily campaigning for democracy, merely political reform, for a while. In the coming years, Deng undertook a campaign of ruthless suppression of all manner of political opposition, which is very reminiscent of the Mao years (hence in this area there was continuity). The Tiananmen Square incident in June 1989 typified the lack of progress that China had made in the area of political reform. Students who had been voicing their desire for liberties and democracy were forced from the square in a bloodbath. Deng, who had, some 13 years earlier, supported similar protests because they were of an advantage to him, had almost certainly given the final order.
When the “gang of four” were arrested in 1976 and put on trial in 1980, largely for the crime of being responsible for the Cultural Revolution, it was truly Mao’s policies were on trial. This did not truly represent a political change, because it was merely an old rival hitting back. In addition to this, the CCP (informally led by Deng) had to be seen to do something, as many people died.
Mao’s political system has been left largely unchanged, although there are now serious proposals to begin reform that will lead to public elections over who will lead the CCP.
The people of China have been no better off since Mao’s death in the sphere of politics. They still have practically no say on how the country is governed and are unable to speak freely. Things have definitely not got worse, however, as (partially due to the dramatically improved communications and worldwide reporting and pressure) it is much harder for the CCP to crack down on political opponents. In the late 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s times were, politically, pretty similar to how they were under Mao. This is because Deng governed in a similar, ruthless way. Since Deng’s departure, however, China’s people have been slightly better off, as there has been less rooting out of opponents.
The lives for Chinese people, economically, have been improved drastically since the passing of Mao. Change has taken place in almost every aspect of China’s economy.
Deng’s four modernisations, outlined in 1978, changed China’s economy dramatically. In the first area, agriculture, communes were split up. This took the emphasis away from the Maoist idea of working together back to working for the individual. Providing quotas and taxes were met, peasants were allowed to keep any excess they produced or sell it on the open market. This was an economic liberty which China’s ordinary people had not previously even entertained the thought of.
The second modernization, industry and commerce, led to the sixth and seventh five year plans (also known as the ten year plan). This was a plan similar to those of the times of Mao, in which targets were announced for production of industrial products and there was a nationwide drive to achieve them. Another key feature of this modernization was the open door policy in which foreign investors were not only allowed in but also encouraged. This influx of foreign money really helped to build up Chinese industry and commerce and also helped to increase trade links between China and the western world. This open door policy also helped to modernize China and by the time the Internet and personal computers came along, China was at the cutting edge of technology and production.
China’s one child policy meant that life got better economically for some people but also worse for some. In general, urban people who had no great need for more than one child benefited from the government subsidies and decline in birth rate. Many rural people, however, suffered because they needed children to help them work the land. Many went ahead and had many children, and then suffered further due to the harsh penalties imposed on families with multiple children.
The relaxation of economic controls by the government has continued steadily since 1976 and the economy has boomed. It is predicted that by 2020 China will overtake the USA as the world’s superpower. China’s economic output has grown at an average rate of 10% per annum since 1976. China’s gross domestic product has risen from approximately $150 billion in 1980 to $800 billion in 2000, with growth up to $2200 billion forecast by 2015. There is no doubt that the lives of Chinese people have improved, in the economic sphere, dramatically since 1976. From being largely poor peasants the country’s people have become fully-fledged citizens of the new, modern world. A measure of individual people’s economic prosperity is how much energy they consume. From 18 million Btu per capita in 1980, energy consumption has risen steadily to 35 million Btu per capita in 20001.
It seems that, since Mao’s death, China has made great leaps forward in all spheres of life, particularly economically. The people of China have definitely been better off economically and socially but politically, little has improved.
