Transcript Mao’s Domestic Policies – Part 2

Mao’s Domestic
Policies – Part 2
Role of Women in
Communist China
• In pre-communist China, women were:
– Considered inferior to men
– Excluded from political life
– Robbed of property and inheritance rights
– Forced to obey their fathers before marriage, their
husbands after marriage, and their sons if they
became widowed
– Deprived of the right to receive an education and
take part in social activities
– Matched with a mate and were not allowed to
remarry if their spouse died
– Subjected to polygamy and prostitution
– Subjected to “foot binding”
Role of Women in
Communist China
• In war by Japan against China from 1937-1945,
most of the over 30 million Chinese who were
brutally killed were women and children. Within
a month after the Japanese troops occupied
Nanking, they committed over 20,000 rapes
• For the women of China, the founding of the
People's Republic of China ended the
thousands of years of feudal oppression and
enslavement
Role of Women in
Communist
China
• After the founding of Communist China, there was a
movement throughout the country to quickly change
the customs that discriminated against and humiliated
women
• This effected an earth-shaking historic change in the
social status and condition of women
• In 1949, The Common Program was adopted (like a
constitution)
• It ended the feudal system and stated that women
enjoyed equal rights with men in the political,
economic, cultural and educational fields and in other
aspects of social life
Role of Women in
Communist China
• Ban on prostitution –
– In 1949, the municipal government of Beijing
immediately:
• Closed all brothels
• Gathered prostitutes in designated places where
they could be educated and reformed
• Receive treatment for venereal diseases
• Be provided with guidance to help women start
normal lives and support themselves through work
– Most other areas of China followed suit
Role of Women in
Communist China
• In 1950, The Marriage Law declared the
abolition of the feudal marriage system
characterized by arranged and forced marriage,
male superiority and female inferiority, and
disregard for the interests of children
• Following months of publicity of the new law,
this action resulted in the annulment of
numerous feudal engagements, a rapid
reduction in domestic abuse and maltreatment,
and an increase in freely chosen love marriages
Role of Women in
Communist China
• Land reform – Rural women obtained land, just like
their male counterparts, and became masters of their
piece of soil
• Universal balloting – In 1953, The Electoral Law of the
People's Republic of China stipulated that women
enjoy the same rights to vote and stand for election as
men
• The move out of the home – In 1957, around 70
percent of rural women engaged in agricultural work,
and the number of urban women workers and staff
reached 3.286 million, representing a 5.5-fold increase
over 1949
Role of Women in
Communist China
• Illiteracy eradication
campaign – Various literacy
classes, popular evening
schools and workers' sparetime schools mushroomed in
both rural and urban areas,
and women attended these
in their millions. By 1958, 16
million women had learned
to read
Treatment of Religious
Groups
• Mao was concerned about the Vatican, especially its
ability to command allegiance beyond national
boundaries
• He used a fake assassination plot to take over all
Catholic institutions
• A smear campaign accused Catholic priests and nuns
of murder, cannibalism, and medical experiments on
babies
• Hundreds of Chinese Catholics were executed and
many foreign priests suffered physical abuse
• In general, religious and quasi-religious organizations
were suppressed or brought under tight control
Treatment of Minorities
• Order-Keeping Committees were formed
everywhere
• They kept an eye on everyone, not just political
suspects and petty criminals
• The regime also gave everyone a fixed job and
place of residence
• He intended most of the population, even
women and children, to witness violence and
killing to scare the population
Treatment of Minorities
• Laogai – means reform
through labor
• Back-breaking labor in the
most hostile wastelands and
down the most contaminating
mines, while being harassed
incessantly
• Many were executed and
some committed suicide
Laogai in China
Laogai slave labor
camps still exist today
Treatment of Minorities
• Three-Antis (1951) & FiveAntis (1952)
• Hundred Flowers
Campaign (1957)
• Anti-Rightist Campaign
(1957 & 1959)
• The Cultural Revolution
(1966–76)
Treatment of Minorities
• Purges from 1949-1959 (2 million died);
Cultural Revolution (1 mil died); Laogoi – forced
labor camps (20 mil died); Great Leap Forward
– forced collectivization (30-40 mil)
• Millions were injured
• Many committed suicide
• Many suffered torture and physical/emotional
abuse
Party leaders
accused of
supporting
capitalism are
first put on
public
display, and
then are
executed
Mass
executions
and the
parading of
those due to
be killed
through the
streets have
been
methods
employed
since the
earliest days
of
communist
China
Human Rights Abuses
Continue In China Today
Muslims Are Not Allowed to
Practice Their Religion