World View and Peasant Rebellion: Reflections on Post-Mao Historiography

1981 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 295-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kwang-Ching Liu

This article is based on academic journals published in the People's Republic of China (PRC) from 1978 to early 1980 and analyzes the trend in post-Mao historiography regarding peasant rebellions. Previous belief in the revolutionary nature of peasant rebellions is being reversed, and their “anti-feudal” character being questioned. The question now is whether peasant rebellions, or even class struggle itself, constitute an important motive force for progress in Chinese history. Conflicting views persist, but overall a more negative view of peasant behavior has led many PRC writers to view the small producers' “patriarchy,” which fosters hierarchy and particularism, as a source of current bureaucratic problems.

1976 ◽  
Vol 04 (03) ◽  
pp. 239-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saburō Miyasita

In the People's Republic of China, a unique method based on Chinese drugs, including yin-ch'en and chih-tzu, has been established for the treatment of acute cholelithiasis, which is based on traditional Chinese knowledge concerning the treatment of jaundice. Through the many Chinese drugs appearing in prescriptions of jaundice found in standard medical collections in Chinese history, clarification of the classical Chinese jaundice cure is attempted in the following paper.


1965 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
pp. 14-30
Author(s):  
Kenneth Chen

In the journal Hsien-tai Fo-hsueh (Modern Buddhism), September 1959, there appeared a long article entitled “Lun Tsung-chiao Hsin-yang Tzu-yu” (“A Discussion Concerning Freedom of Religious Belief”), by Ya Han-chang, which was originally published in the official Communist ideological journal Hung Ch'i (Red Flag), 1959, No. 14. Appearing as it did in Red Flag it is justifiable to conclude that the views expressed in it represented the accepted Communist attitude toward religion. In this article, Ya wrote that the basic policy of the Chinese Communist Party and the People's Republic of China is to “recognise that everyone has the freedom to believe in a religion, and also that everyone has the freedom not to believe in a religion.”


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Guo Xi

Over the past seven decades, the Chinese language has seen continuous changes that emerged as the result of radical changes in the socio-political-cultural context of China. Drawing from an extensive literature review of previous studies on the Chinese language development trajectory, this paper revisits and reflects on language practices in China and the respective features of language life in several key milestone periods since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The findings show that in general, China’s language planning and policy implementation have succeeded in managing language life for both the public and institutions. The success is demonstrated in the following aspects: nationwide popularization of the national common language (Guojia Tongyongyu); realization of the linguistic goal of the unification of speech and writing for the first time in the Chinese history; continuous improvement of overall language life across the society; and healthy development of language life towards diversity and harmony. This paper concludes that the use and development of Chinese over the past seven decades deserve further studies.


Urban History ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 61-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
David D. Buck

Since the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, most of the topics associated with the study of urban history have languished largely unstudied beneath a pall of ideologically based neglect. The list of understudied subjects includes urban population, physical structure, social structure, economic activity, urban politics, urban planning and the environment, and urban culture. This lack of interest in urban history directly reflects the emphasis on the role of the peasantry as a creative force in Chinese history. The history of Chinese peasant uprisings and wars became the focus of attention and left little interest for what changes might have taken place in urban settings. Today, a combination of forces has generated considerable changes in the institutional structure of historical studies in China, as well as compelling historians to reconsider established research preferences. In this atmosphere it appears that for the first time since 1949 topics that concern urban historians in the West and Japan are receiving serious attention in the People's Republic of China. While it is still too early to speak of urban history in China, continuation of current trends in historical research over the next five to ten years will almost certainly bring this specialization into existence.


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