“By 1961 the Chinese people’s hopes for a more prosperous and a fairer China had not been realised.” To what extent do you agree with this statement?

Candidates are expected to demonstrate knowledge of the aspirations of the Chinese people following the 1949 Chinese Communist Party (CCP) victory and then consider the domestic policies in China over the given timeframe in order to gauge the merits or otherwise of the given statement.

Indicative content

• Candidates may attempt to define what they consider the Chinese people’s hopes for China were in 1949.
• This may be a “socialist state” and/or Mao Zedong’s (Mao Tse-tung’s) “vision” for China.
• This may involve a discussion of Mao’s adaptation of Marxism to suit the Chinese situation: land redistribution; peasant participation; class struggle; xiafeng (the downwards flow of CCP workers and ideas to the people) and xiaxiang (the upwards flow of ideas and needs to the CCP); gender equality; the mass line; right thinking, rectification; continuous revolution; and
  Chinese nationalism.
• Responses may examine Mao’s policies and actions in light of his vision of socialism in the Chinese context and the hopes of the people. This may involve an assessment of the economy, agriculture, the bureaucracy, and social reforms.
• Candidates may also discuss Mao’s political control, his consolidation of power and the various campaigns. Some discussion of whether people expected these, and how they were affected, may be included.
• Domestic events and policies that candidates may include are: Agrarian Reform Law (1950) and the “speak bitterness” sessions with the landlords; CCP organization and structure; Marriage Act (1950); Three- and Five-anti campaigns (1952–1953); first Five Year Plan (1952–1957); Constitution (1954); Hundred Flowers Campaign (1956) and the Anti-Rightist Campaign (1957); Great Leap Forward (1958); Three Bitter Years and the Famine (1959–1961); Peng Dehuai's (P'eng Te-huai's) criticism of Mao and the Lushan Conference (1959).

The above material is an indication of what candidates may elect to write about in their responses. However, the list is not exhaustive and no set answer is required.

Examiners and moderators are reminded of the need to apply the markbands that provide the “best fit” to the responses given by candidates and to award credit wherever it is possible to do so.

[20 marks]