 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|---|
Inheritance
The roots of China’s recent boom extend deep into its imperial and communist past. But tradition’s legacy is a complicated one. To achieve modern development, China had to throw off the “yoke” of traditional society. Yet the long traditions of centralized government administration, kin-based entrepreneurism, and value placed on education and diligence prepared the Chinese well for capitalism. Despite catastrophes like the Great Leap Forward and the famine in its wake, Mao Zedong’s nation building efforts between the founding of the PRC in 1949 and the unleashing of the Cultural Revolution in 1966 laid socialist foundations for the subsequent boom. Even the disastrous, decade-long Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution contributed to the boom: By eroding public support for radical politics, the ground was cleared for a transition from revolution to reform—for new policies that were gradualist, internationalist and capitalist. |
||
China Was Already Very Strong Before the ReformsPeriod: Inheritance (Pre-1978)
|
Click to expand Our modern higher education system was founded in the late Qing Dynasty. Institutions of higher education -- like Beida -- were established by the Qing dynasty. And Tsinghua University. So, the education system was started in the Qing dynasty. And we had Jiangnan Zhizao Ju, I forgot the English name of this factory, but they imported some German engineer. They brought in modern technology, basic skills for manufacturing. And ROK [sic] established a modern financial system. In 1935, when there was Baiying Weiji, the civil crisis -- actually, the civil crisis was caused by United States -- they hurt China and forced the Guomindang government -- the Nanjing government -- to create a modern currency system. And then in Mao Zedong’s time, China established a modern interest rate system, so when Deng Xiaoping launched his reform, China was already a very strong country. In 1949, out of 500 million Chinese people, there were only 160,000 daxue sen, people with bachelor’s degrees. But, by the end of Mao’s rule, there were over 8 million. And the life expectancy in 1949 was just 39; less than 40. But, by the end of Mao’s rule, when the reform started, the average life expectancy had risen to 69. Thirty years more than in 1949. And China had liangdan yixin, ballistic, intercontinental missiles, satellites, nuclear bombs, and nuclear submarines. So as an academic, I would try to stick to a so-called political-neutral stance.
|
Cite this Source >>
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Add New Comment
comments powered by Disqus