MODERN CHINA Flashcards
(25 cards)
People’s Republic of China
Name given to China when the communists took over. Founded by Mao Zedong.
Taiwan
The Republic of China, one of two Chinas. Set up by Jiang Jieshi and the nationalists when he and the nationalists fled the mainland at the end of the Chinese Civil War.
republic
A system of government in which government officials are chosen by the people.
autonomy
Another word for home rule or self-determination.
commune
Another name for a vast collective farm.
Tienanmen Square Massacre
Student protests calling for democracy and the expansion of their basic rights turned ugly. On Deng Xiao Peng’s orders, the government opened fire on defenseless citizens and killed or wounded thousands.
Four Modernizations?
Plan of Deng Xiao Peng to improve the Chinese economy and military by introducing elements of capitalism into China, allowing for foreign technology and investment, and improving science and education.
Hong Kong’s historical significance
Gained by Great Britain as a result of the Opium Wars. Under British rule, it modernized and became wealthy. In the late 1990s, it was returned to China. China agreed not to change the social or economic systems in this place for 50 years and to allow the island a degree of self-rule. Since its return to China, there have been pro-democracy demonstrations that called for less control by mainland China (e.g., Umbrella Movement).
Dali Lama
Name given to the spiritual and political leader of Tibetan Buddhist monks (In Tibet).
Deng Xiao Peng
Leader of China after Mao died, brought economic freedoms but little political change. ‘Free markets not people.’
Uyghers
Muslim minority group who have carried out terrorist attacks across China. Recently, the Chinese government held huge show trials and many have been sent to what the Chinese government calls ‘reeducation facilities/camps.’
free market
Another name for capitalism / free enterprise system.
Great Leap Forward
Name of Mao’s economic program that sought to increase agricultural and industrial output in China. The program was a huge failure and resulted in the world’s largest famines in which tens of millions of people died of starvation.
collectivization
Process of combining farms to make one large farm.
Cultural Revolution
Mao’s program that sought to increase people’s loyalties to communism. Mao feared workers and peasants were being replaced by intellectual revolutionaries and as a result, he shut down schools and universities. Estimates put the death toll anywhere from 1-2 million people killed.
Red Guards
Student fighters who pledged allegiance and carried out Mao’s orders during the Cultural Revolution.
Jiang Jieshi / Chiang Kai Shek
Leader of the Nationalists at the time of the Chinese Civil War; eventually he and his followers fled to Taiwan.
filial piety
Respect for one’s parents.
Sun Yat-sen
Leader of the nationalists who ended imperial rule in China and first president to rule the Republic of China.
Qing dynasty
Last dynasty to rule China.
communism
Economic system that calls on the lower classes (proletariat) to rise up and overthrow the rich capitalists (bourgeoisie). According to this theory, after this occurs, the people will create a utopian classless society.
Long March
100,000 of Mao Zedong’s Communist forces flee Jiang Jieshi / Chiang Kai-Shek’s Army on a 6,000 mi journey. Only 8,000-10,000 survived.
capitalism
Economic system in which the government keeps its hands off of business. In this system, competition acts like an invisible hand and ensures consumers that they get quality goods at the cheapest available cost.
Guomindang
Name of the Nationalist party in China at the time of the Chinese Civil War.
