Deng Xiaoping and Modernization During the Cultural

Deng Xiaoping and Modernization

During the Cultural Revolution, Mao Zedong led a tremendously aggressive and transformative movement within mainland China that would forever change the face of his country and the people within its borders. Since the beginnings of Mao's communist China, there existed a powerful will amongst his supporters to remove the liberal bourgeois from Chinese society; the Cultural Revolution took this agenda to further, far more frightening extremes, in order to achieve that goal. During Mao's iron grip on China, he led the country into a nightmarish world of flawed policies, persecution, and utter destruction of the economy. Originally intending to industrialize and develop the nation by means of a proletariat movement, Mao sought to lift the lower class out of their poverty, calling on farmers, small-time laborers, and other low-income citizens to band together in order to oust undesirable members of society. At many points throughout his career, Mao explicitly called for violence as a means of achieving a more perfect society, and during the Cultural Revolution he even asked the youth to participate in this violent upheaval, which resulted in numerous brutal beatings and murders of teachers, among other individuals.

By the 1980's, however, Deng Xiaoping had assumed power within the China's political structure, and began to lead the country towards a socialist market economy, also commonly referred to as "socialism with Chinese characteristics." During this time, China had in some ways progressed industrially, but due to the poor leadership and direction of Mao, the people had experienced widespread suffering and there was still much to be desired in the way of progress and economic advancement. Deng Xiaoping had studied in the West, and was inspired by his vision of a more developed China with many of the amenities that Western states were fortunate enough to enjoy. While still firmly devoted to the concept of a one-party state, he began to promote privately owned businesses and other enterprises. Price controls that had hindered the economy for years were now removed and collective land was now being rented to families throughout the region. The economy began to flourish in some aspects, allowing the people to pull themselves out of their struggle, at least to some degree. They were now able to purchase previously unattainable possessions such as televisions. This came in stark contrast to Mao's rule and his attempts to eradicate the bourgeois.