I just got back from my Chinese Politics class and it was a really
interesting lecture today. We were talking about the May 4
th Movement and then our teacher showed us some pictures from the Cultural Revolution and talked about how people view Communism and that time period today. For those of you unfamiliar with Chinese history (don't feel bad, I didn't know anything until I came here), the May 4
th Movement
occurred in 1919 and is when the first
Tiananmen Square protest happened in response to the treaty of
Versailles, which conceded to the Japanese. Many people
regard the May 4
th Movement as the start of modern Chinese politics for two reasons. One, it was the beginning of the mass political movement and the first time China really broke away from the feudal system. Second, the Communist Party views this as its birth, therefore so does present day China. It is unusual that they would pick this day because it is still years before the Chinese Communist Party (
CCP) would win the civil war over the
Guomingdang (Nationalists) and officially take power. However, the
CCP likes to view anything remotely revolutionary as Communist, so there you have it. It is still amazing to me what this country and these people have been through, an
d so recently. Our teacher told us stories today about how his father had to undergo humiliating and brutal denouncement meetings, like many "counter-revolutionaries" did during the Cultural Revolution and his own 14 year old daughter was there as part of the Red Guards to criticize him. He says his family sometimes laughs about that time now, like it's a family joke. His father says his family is lucky because no one died. He also said that some of his older
colleagues at the college remember when there was violence on this campus. They told him how one day one of
their friends did not run away fast enough and instead of shooting him they
buried him alive right here on this campus. There are those kinds of stories, but we also talked about some of the good things during that time. It was interesting because China
definitely still has flaws now and in many ways they are exactly the opposite as the ones they had before. Our teacher showed us pictures and
talked about the solidarity and
excitement people felt at starting a new government that had the possibility of making
their lives better. Now people are just apathetic. He talked about the sense of community people had, especially in the beginning before the Red Guard phase. Now people, on large part, have broken Confusion ties to their family and communities are too big to create any real sense of belonging. People seem ready to walk all over anybody if it will make them an extra dollar. For example, people don't
que in China. If you are waiting for the bus and it comes, you try to cram your way on as quickly as possible, there is never any line. It is completely acceptable too and if you try to wait your turn, it will
never come because people will just keep coming and cutting in front of you. It took me
alot of waiting around to figure this out, but it really is each man for himself. There was also still a very strong work ethic. People had pride in what they did and were very careful and diligent in
their work. This is why so many old, historical relics remain, because of the quality of
craftsmanship. Now China is well known for pirated
DVD's and knock-off purses and watches. It's again, all about money. Even in school, people always ask me why I decided to major in Chemical Engineering and I answer, because I like it.
That is always a
weird answer for them because pretty much everyone chooses the path, or major, that will make them the most money the fastest with little or no regard for the actual
discipline. Some people even want to go back to the
pre-cultural revolution days, when Communism was still young and in a way I understand that. I'm just starting to understand the history, culture, and politics of this crazy, huge country and all the previous statements are, of course, huge generalizations, but I just thought it was interesting. There is also tons more to say, but that is all I can think of how to verbalize right now. The times they are a
changin'... ... but in China I'm not really sure to where. This last picture is from the post office, to illustrate that the Communist Party is
definitely still alive and kicking.
I just got back from my Chinese Politics class and it was a really interesting lecture today. We were talking about the May 4th Movement and then our teacher showed us some pictures from the Cultural Revolution and talked about how people view Communism and that time period today. For those of you unfamiliar with Chinese history (don't feel bad, I didn't know anything until I came here), the May 4th Movement occurred in 1919 and is when the first Tiananmen Square protest happened in response to the treaty of Versailles, which conceded to the Japanese. Many people regard the May 4th Movement as the start of modern Chinese politics for two reasons. One, it was the beginning of the mass political movement and the first time China really broke away from the feudal system. Second, the Communist Party views this as its birth, therefore so does present day China. It is unusual that they would pick this day because it is still years before the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) would win the civil war over the Guomingdang (Nationalists) and officially take power. However, the CCP likes to view anything remotely revolutionary as Communist, so there you have it. It is still amazing to me what this country and these people have been through, an
d so recently. Our teacher told us stories today about how his father had to undergo humiliating and brutal denouncement meetings, like many "counter-revolutionaries" did during the Cultural Revolution and his own 14 year old daughter was there as part of the Red Guards to criticize him. He says his family sometimes laughs about that time now, like it's a family joke. His father says his family is lucky because no one died. He also said that some of his older colleagues at the college remember when there was violence on this campus. They told him how one day one of their friends did not run away fast enough and instead of shooting him they buried him alive right here on this campus. There are those kinds of stories, but we also talked about some of the good things during that time. It was interesting because China definitely still has flaws now and in many ways they are exactly the opposite as the ones they had before. Our teacher showed us pictures and talked about the solidarity and excitement people felt at starting a new government that had the possibility of making their lives better. Now people are just apathetic. He talked about the sense of community people had, especially in the beginning before the Red Guard phase. Now people, on large part, have broken Confusion ties to their family and communities are too big to create any real sense of belonging. People seem ready to walk all over anybody if it will make them an extra dollar. For example, people don't que in China. If you are waiting for the bus and it comes, you try to cram your way on as quickly as possible, there is never any line. It is completely acceptable too and if you try to wait your turn, it will never come because people will just keep coming and cutting in front of you. It took me alot of waiting around to figure this out, but it really is each man for himself. There was also still a very strong work ethic. People had pride in what they did and were very careful and diligent in their work. This is why so many old, historical relics remain, because of the quality of craftsmanship. Now China is well known for pirated DVD's and knock-off purses and watches. It's again, all about money. Even in school, people always ask me why I decided to major in Chemical Engineering and I answer, because I like it. 
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