Global Econ

Word Count: 1,155

Sebastian A.

10/10/13

                                                  Impacts of Chinese Culture on the Rise of China

                In 1893, CH Pearson, a former education minister in Australia, published a book titled National Life and Character. In this book Pearson depicted a shift of scene, where the West’s involvement with Asia, and in particular China, would be the cause of its undoing. Pearson claimed that the spread of Westernization would give China the techniques and base to outgrow all the other Western countries, which, as we see now, has been exactly the case. Pearson said that China’s “low wages and incredible industriousness would drive the white man out of even the most skilled jobs eventually,” (HistoryExtra.com). Once again, spot-on Pearson. China is now the world’s leading industrial country in terms of production value. An interesting thought of Pearson’s, though, was that Chinese power was emulated in the culture as well as the economy. Thus, he was strongly opposed to Chinese migration to Australia and Chinese and British intermarriage; because he thought that the Chinese would dominate the societies with their greater numbers, taking advantage of the democratic systems. However, the more common view was one of white supremacy, that biologically whites were more advanced and evolved and that the Chinese simply would not be able to comprehend the ways of the white man. So while Pearson’s viewpoint was one of “productive racism”, or that he thought the Chinese to be adaptive to different sionsented to by every single person in thattuations and emulate the productivity of the West, most simply saw China as a large group of slightly inferior people.

                Today we most definitely know that the latter opinion is untrue. China has experienced an extraordinary growth rate over the last thirty years, proving Pearson’s century-old theories true.  So is it really something about China’s culture? I’m sure there are countless other factors contributing to China’s success, but is there something about China’s culture that’s tipped the scales in its favor? I would honestly say yes, though not in quite as racist a way as Pearson. I think this quality is the thing that got China past the after effects of the Opium Wars, the quality that allowed China to turnaround so quickly after the end of the Maoist era, the quality that’s necessary for any developing country to make progress: adaptation.

                On October 1^st, 1949, the Communist Party became the official party of China, or should I say the newly-recognized People’s Republic of China. Mao Zedong, the leader of the Communist Party and the leader of the People’s Republic of China, claimed that with this shift, China would no longer be looked down upon so much. "The era in which the Chinese were regarded as uncivilized is now over. We will emerge in the world as a highly civilized nation. "Now, things did not go down exactly as Mao foresaw it. And how Mao had foreseen things playing out was also very different from what was being depicted to the people of China. However, eventually Mao’s claims would become truth, but not immediately, and not under his direction.

After the messy ended run of Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping intervened and steered things in the right direction. While the Maoist Era was a great shot by China at getting back on its feet, Communism never really works out how we like it and is not the best way to promote growth in an economy. In order for Communism to work, it needs to be completely essentially unanimously supported with absolutely no corruption in the sense of working for one's staff gain. Thus, China began to emulate Western culture (specifically the U.S.), but made ​​some slight alterations to suit its own needs. So while China accepted Capitalism as its new form of economy, the ruling body remained Communist in nature.

Skip forward thirty years and China is one of the most influential and powerful nations in the world. Mao’s promise is now true at an unquestionable level. While China has remained governed by a political party that is essentially Communist, it is approaching democracy more and more (at least, it no longer makes people who disagree with the way things are going “disappear”). In fact, in many ways China is beginning to “Westernize”, with McDonalds and 7-Elevens sprouting up all over (the fast food restaurant chain grossing the most in China is currently KFC), and Chinese television looking an awful lot like many things we see in normal American viewership.  However, China has still kept its own element in all of this. If you were to go in to a Chinese KFC, the majority of the menu would be almost unrecognizable, offering things like rice puddings for desert (I doubt the Colonel even knew what rice pudding was). And while China may mimic American shows, the shows themselves definitely have their own flair (in part from the different culture, but also in part from Chinese censorship). Still, these points about China adapting the things coming it’s way as opposed to just absorbing them are insufficient to China. The Chinese government has recently been upping the censorship levels and cancelling programs they deem “overly American”. And while the people aren’t getting completely outraged and having a massive strike like Americans no doubt would if someone tried to sensor more stuff that’s on tv, the Chinese citizens aren’t all that happy with these restrictions. Doudou, an office worker in China, says “I feel perhaps they have good intentions, but their methods are very undemocratic. They're too forceful. It feels like a monopoly.” Now that Chinese citizens have had a taste of democracy, their rather hungry for more input.

                In conclusion, the essential cultural factor in China’s rise to power was a certain indomitable spirit that allowed China to keep moving forward, to keep taking lessons from the world and making it into something new. This will to progress lent itself to the Chinese in the form of an adaptive quality like I mentioned before. However, now the Chinese government finds itself in an interesting position, for while China is still very strongly influenced by the West, China’s economic advancement, as well as cultural advancement in the eyes of the Chinese goverment, no longer depends upon the West. I believe what’s happening now to be the start of a cultural revolution, which would have some sizable implications not only for China but for the rest of the world. On that matter, though, only time will tell.

Works Cited:

·         "Mao Zedong Outlines the New Chinese Government." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2013. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/mao-zedong-outlines-the-new-chinese-government

·         "Political Systems Explained, from Communism to Capitalism." Dialspace. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2013. http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/street/pl38/sect2.htm

·         "The West Has Long Feared the Rise of China." History Extra. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2013. http://www.historyextra.com/feature/west-has-long-feared-rise-china

·         "Why China's Youth Find Western Culture Attractive." PBS. PBS, 13 Feb. 2012. Web. 10 Oct. 2013. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/world/jan-june12/china_02-13.html