This essay addresses three interrelated questions about twentieth-century Chinese history and culture. It examines whether Confucianism truly disappeared after the Communist takeover of 1949, arguing that although the philosophy was officially banned, it persisted in the private thoughts and dissent of ordinary citizens. A first-person narrative then explores the emotional and social dimensions of a forbidden same-sex relationship in Mao's China, drawing on Anchee Min's Red Azalea to illuminate how Communist ideology and patriarchal norms suppressed women's individuality and sexuality. Finally, the essay assesses the extent to which Mao Zedong bears responsibility for post-1949 tragedies, weighing his role in fostering mass indoctrination, economic decline, and the destruction of cultural heritage against his initial appeals to equality and national unity.
Confucianism is the philosophical and ethical system of belief based upon the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius. The core belief of Confucianism was humanism — the idea that human beings can change, adapt, and grow. Under this worldview, no one's identity or personality is fixed, and anyone can learn from their mistakes. People are encouraged to make decisions using reason, logic, and critical thinking. When the Communists took control of China, Confucianism was officially abandoned because those in power did not want citizens thinking for themselves. Instead, the people were expected to listen to the government and accept its demands without question. Although Chairman Mao and the Communist regime officially disbanded Confucianism as the primary political and philosophical structure of the country, the people never completely altered their individual beliefs. It is human nature to think and to question. Citizens may have done so in silence, but they were never wholly capable of being indoctrinated into the government's worldview.
In place of Confucianism, the people were ordered to accept Communism and the Three Principles of the People. These three principles are: Minzu (nationalism — specifically, a nation united under a common purpose), Minquan (democracy, though in practice it meant that the government claimed to act for the people whether or not the people believed it did), and Minsheng (the people's welfare, or socialized welfare). The principles supposedly ensured that the new government provided for the people, but this was not truly the case. Each principle focused on transforming individuals with personal goals into citizens who would act for the collective good of the nation — in whatever capacity the government dictated. Those who did not follow Chairman Mao and the Communist Party would be punished. In Red Azalea, Anchee Min writes, "To obey Mao's teaching is a crime" (14). Punishing dissent is an efficient means of securing cooperation, but it also carries consequences. While it ensured obedience from the majority, it inevitably caused some citizens to recognize that the system was unfair and that the people were not truly being represented. For those individuals, the old ways of Confucianism became more appealing.
Members of China's intellectual community faced particular difficulty adapting to the new Communist regime, which permitted little individuality and strictly prohibited independent or critical thought. To survive — and indeed to thrive — everyone had to surrender personal freedoms and become part of the unquestioning masses so desired by Chairman Mao and the Chinese Communist Party. There was a "struggle between the two schools in order to maintain the balance between state interests and the participation of elite scholars in the imperial enterprise" (Elliott 124). This dynamic is common in rigid governmental structures: the tighter the grip on the minds and imaginations of a community, the more likely people are to resist until they find relief.
To disobey the Communist Party — even silently, within one's own home — was one of the most dangerous things a person could do. Yet whenever something is forbidden by the government, factions of people will determine that it is the best course of action nonetheless. Communist China was no exception. Many people recognized that their society was inequitable and that the people were not being treated fairly. Some spoke up and were punished, in some cases with capital punishment. Others saw the inequality and remained silent. Shen Fu in Six Records of a Floating Life discusses the individual's inability to stand up to the will of the government (x). It is one thing to recognize that something is wrong, and another thing entirely to be brave enough to act on that recognition. For every person who vocalized dissent, dozens more were willing only to think disobedient thoughts and remember Confucianism as a far better system of social organization.
When Chairman Mao took control of China, he forbade the continuation of Confucianism as either a philosophical or ethical practice. In its place, he demanded that the people accept the Three Principles of the People — rules designed to prevent rebellion against the Communist Party. These principles claimed to protect and serve the will of the people, but in reality they did no such thing. Confucianism, with its emphasis on the individual, on ethics, and on self-determined conduct, was replaced by a system that demanded rigid conformity and ideological indoctrination. Those who disagreed could not do so without severe consequences. Still, some people could not help but acknowledge that the new system was unfair and inferior. For those individuals, Confucianism could be silently embraced as a philosophy that honored what the new regime had suppressed.
I was born under Communist rule in China — born a woman in a place where women have no power and are always subservient to men. In China's history, women have faced a long tradition of ostracism and oppression. We have traditionally been placed in positions of marginalization, secondary to males in power and expected to be completely subservient in every way. Historically, women were accorded so little value that female infanticide was practiced to increase the proportion of males in the population. This has been the reality of Chinese society for more than a millennium. Confucian philosophy became government policy during the Han dynasty, approximately 200 BCE, and it dictated that women would occupy positions below men in every aspect of society. Thus, the very government that controlled the country institutionalized the diminished importance of women and the customs that served to further minimize their role and purpose.
I remember the first time I felt at all powerful. My teacher had been accused of espionage against the Chinese government, and they expected me to testify against her. For the first time in my life, I was asked to place my loyalty to the party and the government above any emotional attachment. This would become a recurring theme throughout my life in China under Mao and the Communists. Under the Communist regime, I was granted the ability to serve under Commander Yan. When I first met her, she told me and the others in my group, "Yen, as in discipline; Sheng, as in victory" (Min 53). By naming herself in this way, she made it immediately clear that she was a woman of the party who would accept nothing less than our best efforts. In that sense, she brought out the best in me. Yan possessed a certain feminine understanding, and despite her professed loyalty to the party and to China, she tried to protect the women in her troop — including Little Green, who was caught having sex with a man. Yet when Yan showed affection for a man, I felt jealous. There is no sanctioned sexuality for women in China, and certainly not sexuality shared between two women. Still, I could not help but think about her, and I felt ashamed for doing so.
Women in ancient China were associated with wickedness and moral weakness. They were deemed untrustworthy and therefore unfit for positions of authority. Even during the Communist period, women were not fully trusted, even when they gave themselves entirely to military service. In China, a woman's social value was effectively nothing. Women were expected to remain completely chaste, while men were permitted to take as many sexual partners as they wished. Women were never free from male oppression.
The ways in which women in China were marginalized were numerous and entrenched. As children, girls were expected to be completely obedient to their fathers. After marriage, they were subservient to their husbands. Even widowhood brought no independence: after a husband's death, a woman was required to move into the household of her oldest son — or son-in-law if she had none — where she would remain obedient to her own child. As the novel makes clear, "A good female comrade was supposed to devote all her energy, her youth, to the revolution; she was not permitted even to think about a man until her late twenties, when marriage would be considered" (Min 64). The life of a Chinese woman was devoted not to individual fulfillment or the creation of a unique identity, but to the sustained effort to remain entirely obedient and subservient to the dominant males in her life.
"Forbidden love and conflicted feelings toward Yan"
Lesbianism gave the women in the army a form of strength, and that is precisely why it was taken from us. Sexuality was something women were to reject and accept only reluctantly as a wifely obligation. Anything beyond that was deemed inappropriate and even unpatriotic.
Over time, my feelings for Yan changed repeatedly. Some days I loved her more than anything. Other days I hated her with a vengeance. There were moments when I recalled how she smiled, laughed, or cried, and I wanted to be as close to her as possible. Then there were days when I thought about Lu and about Little Green, and on those days I hated her. Sometimes Yan was a symbol of everything I wanted in this world. At other times, I saw her as a representative of the Communist military — of oppression and minimization, of powerlessness and masculine dominance. Those emotions were confusing, and yet they taught me an important lesson about both women and society. The simple answers are never the right ones. It is only when we are confused and unsure that we are truly living.
Mao Zedong was the leader of the Communist Party in China. Under his leadership, the country implemented the wholesale indoctrination of its citizens into a system in which questioning the government was treated as treason. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was officially founded in 1921, during a period when the nation was still partially colonized. At a time of political unrest and widespread dissatisfaction, conditions were ripe for a major political movement. It was as much a matter of timing as ideological conviction that allowed the Communist Party to eventually take control of China. The CCP appealed to the lower classes — laborers and farmers desperate for relief from their circumstances — who were deeply dissatisfied with the existing power structure. Much like the Russian Revolution, it was the promise of equality that won the party the support of the people.
From the outset, CCP officials sought to win over the ordinary working class. Party members aimed to reach the common people "by entertaining first, and using forms that masses favor" (DeWoskin 212). The people could be persuaded by appealing to their sensibilities. Mao and his fellow party members distributed leadership responsibilities in a way that ensured every facet of their programs was controlled and that no department felt overlooked. By providing education to those who had previously had little or no access to it, the party created a sense of gratitude among newly literate citizens. The fact that everything they were taught was saturated with Communist ideology mattered little to a poor farmer. Even if he recognized the propaganda, the CCP had already convinced the lower classes that it was the party of the people — and so the message was readily accepted.
The ideology of the Communist Party was ostensibly simple: no one should have more while others have less; no one should starve while others have surplus. The very word "Communism" derives from "commune" — the idea of every person living communally and sharing in collective benefit. Whether this ideal can ever be successfully realized remains an open question. The people of China, feeling powerless under their previous governments, flocked to the Communist Party — students, laborers, and peasants alike — believing it was the form of government that would deliver them from their misery.
Chairman Mao completely revitalized the political, economic, cultural, and sociological systems of China. After being appointed head of the now-Communist state, he called on all citizens to take equal responsibility for the revolution and to share in its credit. This was his first step toward forging a unified national identity. China had long been colonized and threatened by warring factions from around the globe. Part of the reason for this vulnerability, Mao argued, was that China was internally fragmented. Only by uniting into a single mass could the country hope to resist future colonization and conflict. This logic resonated: when peasants suffered from hunger and the party ordered landlords to redistribute food, the relief was attributed directly to Mao. As Yuan-tsung Chen records, "Shen told us we should thank Chairman Mao for that" (Chen 273). Mao was placed in the position of a deity — the benevolent provider of all that was good.
"Mao blamed for indoctrination, economic decline, cultural destruction"
You’re 81% through this paper. Sign up to read the remaining 2 sections.
Sign Up Now — Instant Access Already a member? Log inAlways verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.