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Kaisheem Fowler Bryant

Honors Global 10
Mar. 30th. 2015

Chinese Communism DBQ

Before Mao Zedongs rule in China, it was ruled by Chiang Kai Shek, leader of the

Kuomintang party, supporting democracy after Sun Yat Sens death. The Nationalist

(Kuomintang) and the Communist, lead by Zedong would have continued to fight if it was not

for the Long March. Mao Zedong was a villain and did terrible things to the citizens of China to

better the state.

Mao Zedong was more concerned about the state of China than the individuals that made

up the state. In other forms of government, the state includes the land, government and the

people. However in communism, the state includes only the government and the land. The

people are excluded from the state and are taught to value the state before their individual needs

[OI]. In document 5A, it states that Mao had made the Chinese army the biggest in the nation.

Mao did make reforms to the state of China, but commune workers were starving. Communes

were big collectivized farms that the citizens would work on. The communes were apart of

Maos Great Leap Forward, his plan to turn China into an industrial power and to set up a

command economy [OI]. Furthermore, in document 5B, it states that annual harvest declined due

to poor management and loss of fertile farmland. It also states that the Great Leap forward was a

lurch sideways and that he admitted that the idea was a disaster. Peasants on communes had no

incentive to meet quotas because the food that was being produced by them was not for them

[OI]. The quota, or the production goal is a target amount that a producer is expected to meet by

the manager of the production. Quotas were set to a high standard because Mao envisioned

industrialization of China to happen quickly. The high quotas affected the peasants incentive to
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work because the standard appeared to be unattainable at the time [OI]. The peasants owned

nothing and had to share everything. This included food, utensils, plates and tools [OI]. Besides

this, document 8 states that Mao was the cause of more deaths and killed more people than

Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler. Under Maos control 40 million people died and under Hitlers

rule, 6 million people died. Many considered Hitler a villain, which he was. So, if Hitler is a

villain and killed 6 million people, then Mao must be a villain because he killed more people

than Hitler did. People should not have to suffer in order to have an industrial nation and to better

the state because without the people, the state is only the government and land. The fact that he

was more concerned about the land than his people proves that he is a villain because heros are

selfless. They put others before themselves and care to those who need help the most. Mao did

not do that. he let commune workers starve while he was modifying China to be a replica of the

five great powers of the world at the time.

In addition of Mao putting the state above the people, he put his desire to keep his power

before the needs of the people. He noticed that the citizens were losing faith in Maos communist

government, so he started the Cultural Revolution. This was his attempt to bring back communist

loyalty. His ideal society was to have peasants, workers and educated people working together

[OI]. Entertainment on communes included propaganda films and Marxist discussions. Karl

Marx was the originator of the communist form of government, however each communist leader

has their own adaptation of marxist ideas and from marxist ideas, Maoist ideas were formed and

is the actual version of communism that was executed in China [OI]. Regarding documents 3 and

4, it mentions that Mao used the Cultural Revolution to dismantle and elitist & formalistic

education systems in the 1960s, and that he promoted artistic and educational reform.

Confucianism and all things that represented domestic China was exterminated by Mao. After
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arts and education was Mao Approved, propaganda was squeezed into every subject, activity

and song possible brainwashing kids from a young age and redefining their morals [OI]. He did

this so that there is a weaker concentration of a political opposition in China. Referring to

document 6, Mao encouraged high school and college students to rebel against authority and to

inform their politically incorrect seniors. The Red Army was formed, enforcing Maos policy

and was given permission to kill a civilian if they could not recite a quote from the Little Red

Book, a compilation of Maos most famous quotes [OI]. By Mao attempting to bring back

communist loyalty, he disrupted the social order and put the civilians of China in a state of fear.

Parents feared being turned in by their children and teachers feared being beat up by their own

students [OI]. This was villanous of Mao because instead of protecting the people that he is

governing from harms way, he is placing them right in the path of harm. Everything that he is

trying to do is improving the state of China, but only hurting the people that reside in China.

Some may believe that Mao Zedong was a hero, despite what was done to the chinese

citizens. In document 1, it states that Mao had turned China into a modern nation, so some would

say that he is heroic simply for doing that alone. In documents 2 and 3, it mentions that Mao had

liberated the chinese people from social oppression and worked towards social justice and the

feminist ideal. He utilized propaganda to eliminate social and gender inequalities [OI]. In fact, by

eliminating confucian beliefs, he was also able to get rid of the five principal relationships that

was limiting the citizens. Either way, Mao did that so that the citizens could not rebel against him

and interfere with what he desired to do for communist China. In document 6, it states that the

Cultural Revolution remains a titanic catastrophe in which human rights, democracy, the rule or

law and civilization was abolished. In other words, he utilized the citizens as tools to fix and

boost Chinas economy, diminishing and dehumanizing them. In document 9, it is saying that if
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Mao had died earlier than he did, then China would have been better off. Due to his nationalistic

morals, he made the people suffer as he was turning the state of China into an industrial power.

He did exceed chinese expectation on annual production rates as mentioned in document 2,

however he was greedy. he was so concerned about keeping his power that he disrupted social

order and turned civilians against one another. Mao was also greedy. because he continuously

strengthened his control over the chinese citizens.

Mao Zedong always had good intentions for China and wanted the best for the state,

however his priorities is what made him appear to be a villain in the eyes of chinese citizens. He

was a combination of selfless, greedy and power hungry which are not heroic qualities. Mao had

made efforts to better China, however he exterminated a portion of the population in the process

to better the future generation, which is bad.