Deng Xiaoping

Although he brought glory to ancient China, Shi Huangdi was a cruel leader who used his power mold Chinese culture and society to meet his desires. Shi Huangdi enforced strict laws and commands and made unnecessary punishments and restrictions. “He outlawed all local customs, festivals, and folksongs as well as local religious practices,” (Graham, 337). Huangdi acted as a tyrant in numerous ways who practiced autocracy; imposing harsh laws, severe punishments, and heavy levies upon his people.…

Chinese Thinkers had many great interventions. 500 B.C. the Zhou kingdom weakened, during the period of the warring time. Violence became very common. Armies sent to destroy other states. Chinese people want order restored to society. These three theories are Confucianism, Daoism, Legalism. Confucianism needed to have a sense of duty.All of the people should have put their family and community first. “Do unto others as you would others do unto you” (Spielvogel 288-289). All men with a great…

Ai Weiwei is a Chinese artist, architect, and political activist who is in constant battle with the Chinese government. Ai Weiwei uses art and social media to combat against his nation’s government. As the Tate Modern worded in their interpretation text, of his exhibit, they said,”Ai Weiwei’s Sunflower Seeds challenges our first impressions: what you see is not what you see, and what you see is not what it means (Tate Modern 1.)” The 100 million seeds look like real sunflower seed husks and…

The Emperor’s Shadow is a Chinese epic drama depicting Emperor Ying Zheng’s attempts to unify China, his relationship with the musician Gao Jianli, and his attempt to take control of the arts to further his cause. While a tendency towards melodrama is prevalent throughout the film, it maintains an authenticity that is often absent from contemporary American cinema. In comparison to foreign film, the American industry seems to be plagued with an overreliance on visual rhetoric, choosing to…

The Cultural Revolution After Chairman Mao’s absolute failure with the great leap forward, his popularity among the citizens greatly decreased. This prompted Mao to launch the Cultural Revolution in hopes to regain his reputation with the masses and the Chinese government. Mao encouraged the youth all across the country to revolt against authority, and to wipe out old customs and traditions, but his real objective was to get rid of political figures that posed a threat to him. What ensued was a…

From 1960s to the present, the Chinese immigrated to the U.S. exploded dramatically. Political refugees and anti-communist elites came with their intellectually directed children as well as Chinese of all socioeconomic backgrounds came in the last two decades of the twentieth century. Intended to analyze the rise of Chinese American communities from WWII to post-1965, Iris Chang described the escape of intellectuals from mainland China and Taiwan, the rise of immigration under Regan and Deng’s…

Referred to as “hypnopedia,” Huxley addresses the problem of brainwashing, a problem that in today’s world is not in the lure of soma and Obstacle Golf, but in the government, religion, and media that controls the masses. Brainwashing is defined as the action of “making someone adopt radically different beliefs by using systematic and often forcible pressure”. The term "brainwashing" was coined by Edward Hunter—a CIA operative also working as a journalist. Hunter exposed that the Chinese…

According to Mao Zedong, for China to reach its goal of becoming a communist system it must first undergo a series of reforms which will lead to the creation of a socialist system--the stepping stone of becoming a communist system. Through the implementation of socialist reforms, China will begin to create an equal and just society resulting in the mobilization of China's population--the main actors that furthered the strides to a communist system. There are three essential reforms that China…

The Cultural Revolution of China from 1966 - 1976 was a major event in Chinese history and many Chinese people were affected. Bei Dao, a Chinese poet, was living in China during this revolution and his life and the lives of others were greatly affected by the Cultural Revolution. Bei Dao’s poetry was a great influence on many people and was a major part of his life and the events of the Cultural Revolution. After this revolution, in 1989, China’s government killed hundreds of civilians during a…

The 20th century was one of the tragic periods of Chinese history which encountered numerous extreme events which developed into the source of discontent in China. The Great Leap Forward, was one of the considerably the significant turning point where the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) failed to demonstrate credential for authority to make “China great again”. This involved deaths of many civilians, downfall economy which lead to enormous tension in China. The flop of CCP leader, Mao Zedong,…