Activity 1 - How was society organised?

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Activity Tasks

1. Examine - Read and make notes from Slides 3-16 of the Lesson Presentation about how society was organised by the CPC, then answer the following questions:
   1. In order to ‘build socialism’, why do you think it was necessary to transform society as well?
   2. In the PRC, which were the four good classes, and which were the bad classes?
   3. What were the four most important classifications of people within society?
   4. Why were social classifications important to people within the PRC?
   5. To what extent did urban citizens have a better quality of life than rural citizens?
   6. What evidence is there for inequality within urban society?
   7. What three criteria were used to determine class status?
   8. What were the most favourable categories of urban and rural citizens?
   9. How did class status affect your quality of life in the PRC?
   10. To what extent did women achieve gender equality?
   11. How could ethnicity affect the quality of life of citizens?
       
2. Discuss - Considering the four classifications of people within society, how would you classify and describe the most and least favourable people in Mao’s China?

Activity 2 - How was society changed?

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Activity Tasks

1. Prepare - In groups, you will research a specific aspect of Mao’s China to see how CPC rule changed society and culture in order to build socialism. You will then be asked to present your findings in a 5-8 mins visual presentation.
2. Select - Groups will need to select one of the following groups or aspects of society from Mao’s China:
   1. Group 1 - Did the role and status of women improve?
   2. Group 2 - Did minorities receive equal treatment?
   3. Group 3 - Did the arts and culture flourish?
   4. Group 4 - How was religious expression affected?
   5. Group 5 - How far did healthcare improve under Mao?
   6. Group 6 - Was education reformed for the better? 
3. Research - Having selected the topic of your presentation, try to use the following inquiry questions to help guide your research and planning:
   1. Aims - What were the aims of CPC policy for this aspect of society?
   2. Achievements - What were the achievements of this policy area?
   3. Failures - What were the failures of this policy area?
   4. Perspectives - Present at least two rival historians' viewpoints on the significance of social changes
      
4. Conclusion - Make a judgement on the overall success and significance of this policy area

Group 1 - Women

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1. For emergencies: Mao's policy on women
2. Fulton, J. (2000). Holding up Half the Heavens: The Effect of Communist Rule on China's Women
3. Gray, B. (2015). Oxford IB Diploma Programme: Authoritarian States, pp. 155-157
4. Lynch, M. (2016). Access to History: China 1839-1997, pp. 178-182
5. Lynch, M. (2010). Access to History: The People’s Republic of China, 1949-1976 (2nd ed.), pp. 112-120
6. Mao’s War on Women: The Perpetuation of Gender Hierarchies
7. The Impacts of Economic Reform on Women in China
8. Wemheuer, F. (2019). A Social History of Maoist China, p. 222-231 (Marriage Law), 389-409 (GLF)
9. Women in the Chinese Revolution (1921-1950), Part 2: Women in Socialist China
10. Women's Movement and Change of Women's Status in China
11. Women and Communist China under Mao Zedong: Seeds of Gender Equality

Group 2 - Minorities

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1. Accomodation, Assimilation, and Regime Legitimacy: The CCP Policies towards it Minorities since 1949
2. Chinese National Identity and Minority Populations: The Case of the Uighurs
3. Dreyer, J. (1968). China's Minority Nationalities in the Cultural Revolution. The China Quarterly, (35), 96-109. 
4. Fenby, J. (2008). Modern China: The Fall and Rise of a Great Power, 1850 to the Present, pp. 369-370
5. Minority Language Policy in China, with Observations on the She Ethnic Group
6. On the policies for our work in Tibet - Directive of the Central Committee of the CCP
7. Representations of Ethnic Minorities in Chinese Propaganda Posters, 1957-1983
8. Spence, J.D. (1990). The Search for Modern China, pp. 551-557
9. Wemheuer, F. (2019). A Social History of Maoist China, p. 231-255, 454-464 (Tibetan Uprising)
   
10. Yuen, S.T. (2009). Ethnic Minority Policy of PRC: An Overview

Group 3 - Arts and Culture

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1. Art & Politics in Mao's China
2. Gray, B. (2015). Oxford IB Diploma Programme: Authoritarian States, pp. 157-158
3. Liu, B. (1983). UNESCO Report: Cultural Policy in the People’s Republic of China, pp. 16-23, 23-25, 26-37 (organisation), 41-50 (examples)
4. Lynch, M. (2016). Access to History: China 1839-1997, pp. 184-185
   
5. Lynch, M. (2010). Access to History: The People’s Republic of China, 1949-1976 (2nd ed.), pp. 121-124

Group 4 - Religion and Custom

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1. Lynch, M. (2016). Access to History: China 1839-1997, pp. 183-184
2. Lynch, M. (2010). Access to History: The People’s Republic of China, 1949-1976 (2nd ed.), pp. 107-112
3. Gray, B. (2015). Oxford IB Diploma Programme: Authoritarian States, pp. 154-155
4. Huang, L. (1971). The Role of Religion in Communist Chinese Society. Asian Survey, 11(7), 693-708
5. Mao's China: Religious Policies
6. Opinion | How Did Women Fare in China?
7. Religion and Communism in China
8. Religion and State in Communist China | Guided History

Group 5 - Healthcare

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1. Barefoot Doctors and Healthcare in the Mao Era
2. Gray, B. (2015). Oxford IB Diploma Programme: Authoritarian States, pp. 159
3. Health for the Masses: China's 'Barefoot Doctors'
4. How Mao's medicine made modern China
5. Lampton, D. (1974). Health Policy during the Great Leap Forward. The China Quarterly, (60), 668-698. 
6. Lynch, M. (2010). Access to History: The People’s Republic of China, 1949-1976 (2nd ed.), pp. 127-129
7. Roser Alvarez-Klee (2018): China: The development of the health system during the Maoist period (1949–76)
8. The Turning Point of China's Rural Public Health during the Cultural Revolution Period: Barefoot Doctors: A Narrative

Group 6 - Education

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1. Fairbank, J.K., & Goldman, M. (2006). China - A New History, pp. 359-364, 376-378, 392-393
2. Gray, B. (2015). Oxford IB Diploma Programme: Authoritarian States, pp. 158
3. Education in China Since Mao
4. Living the Revolution | Education
5. Living Revolution
6. Lynch, M. (2016). Access to History: China 1839-1997, pp. 182-183
7. Lynch, M. (2010). Access to History: The People’s Republic of China, 1949-1976 (2nd ed.), pp. 124-127
8. Mass Education in China under Mao
9. New York Times. China Rises Companion: Historical Background: Expansion of Public Education
10. The educational doctrine of Mao Zedong
11. Tsang, Mun C. "Education and National Development in China since 1949: Oscillating Policies and Enduring Dilemmas." China Review, 2000, 579-618.
    
12. Wemheuer, F. (2019). A Social History of Maoist China, p. 326-334, 510-521

Further Reading

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OBLIGATORY READING

1. Lynch, M. (2016). Access to History: China 1839-1997, pp. 107-129

RECOMMENDED READING

1. CCP social reforms. (2020). Retrieved 22 July 2020, from https://alphahistory.com/chineserevolution/ccp-social-reforms/

SUPPLEMENTARY READING

1. Wemheuer, F. (2019). A Social History of Maoist China, pp. 69-128

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