“To Live” is a simple title that conceals a universe. “To Live” is a movie created by a famous Chinese director, producer, and writer, Zhang Yimou. Zhang attempts to present an interpretation of the Chinese …show more content…
When the Chiang Kai-Shek held power, the peasants were constantly oppressed by the gentry-landlords, corrupt warlords, and the government, who imposed unacceptably high tax rates. Consequently, the peasant were hopeless in living a higher quality life until the Communist beliefs appealed to them. Mao introduced the idea of an equal share of land among all Chinese people, equal pay, and equal opportunities, making it a “peasant’s revolution”. The Communist party gained wide support among the peasantry, meaning the majority of the population. Zhang Yimou demonstrated this by showing Fugui’s wife, Jiazhen earning a living by delivering water door to door when Fugui was tangled in a war. Jiazhen expressed to Fugui that although she needs to wake up early every morning, she is grateful of the government in the job they gave to her. This shows the peasants were great satisfaction with the Communist party because liberated the Chinese people from economic exploitation and social oppression. From the peasant’s lens, the new government is taking land away from the nobility and gentry to give to them, increasing their quality of …show more content…
This revolution completely crushed human rights and the rule of law and civilization. To an extent, it was parallel to the Reign of Terror during the French revolution. The Reign of Terror aimed to purge France of enemies of the revolution. During this time period, the government asked its citizens to eliminate all ancient objects. The village leader ask Fugui to burn his Beijing Opera props because it was ancient and it was considered to be reactionary. In the few years, countless ancient buildings, artifacts, and antiques were destroyed. Moreover, millions of people were sacked, imprisoned and otherwise ostracized for their hidden counter-reformation action, while thousands were executed. There were constant protests and the denunciation of government and factory officials led to serious dislocations in Chinese society. The Communist Party encourage student to join the Red Army that can push the Cultural Revolution forward. Offices closed and schools shut down, with the transportation being disrupted due to constant protests. The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution ended in 1969 and set the country back to