Red Star Over China (Speaker: Vincent Lee Kwun-leung) [Part 2]
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The "Red Star Over China" is a publication of Edgar Snow in 1968, with Victor Gollancz Limited in London as the publisher. "Red Star Over China" recorded how the proletariat ideal of Communist Party was prospered as the mainstreamed ruling ideology in 20th-century China - from Menshevism of Chen Duxiu to Bolshevism of Mao Zedong. Vincent Lee Kwun-leung (李冠良), the speaker of this academic talk, received the education of Prof. Cindy Chu Yik-yi (朱益宜教授) during her "Sino-American Relations" course at HKBU History Department in early 2009. Prof. Cindy Chu requested Vincent Lee and other students to do a "History Book Review" on "Red Star Over China" to analyze how an American journalist observed Communism in China. Prof. Cindy Chu Yik-yi obtained a Ph-D qualification in University of Hawaii at Manoa. Her BA and M-Phil qualifications were from the University of Hong Kong. Prof. Chu is an alumnus of Maryknoll Convent School, and her Catholic growing background enables her to devote to the research on Maryknoll Sisters' missionary and charitable services in Hong Kong. Now, Prof. Chu is the Associate Director of HKBU David C. Lam Institute for East-West Studies.
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Red Star Over China (Speaker: Vincent Lee Kwun-leung) [Part 2]
- 1. RED STAR OVER CHINA HISTORY BOOK REVIEW (Part 2) Edgar Snow London Victor Gollancz Limited, 1968 Vincent LEE Kwun-leung (06009913) BA Visual Arts, Year 3
- 2. Reasons for Edgar Snow’s ideological inclination to the Chinese Communist thought in his publication Reds: treated Edgar Snow nicely ever they didn’t have much to enjoy and eat Hoped to make Edgar Snow, the only pro-Red Caucasian journalist, live every day as comfortably as possible in order to ensure that he would write about CCP as positive and romanticized as he could after returning to the United States
- 3. Reasons for Edgar Snow’s ideological inclination to the Chinese Communist thought in his publication (continued) Edgar Snow: “I remember one old bound-footed peasant woman, with five or six youngsters to feed, who insisted upon killing one of her half-dozen chickens for me” [P.241] A Red peasant who refused money from Edgar: “We can’t have a foreign devil telling people in the outer world that we Reds don’t know etiquette”. [P.241]
- 4. Reasons for Edgar Snow’s ideological inclination to the Chinese Communist thought in his publication (continued) Fu Chin-kuei – appeased Edgar stubbornly [P.241] Looked upon Edgar Snow as a “godsend” “He regarded frankly as an imperialist, and viewed my whole trip with open skepticism. He was unfailing helpful every way.” but Edgar became a good friend of Fu finally Fu Chin-kueiFu Chin-kuei
- 5. Reasons for Edgar Snow’s ideological inclination to the Chinese Communist thought in his publication (continued) Reflected an undesirable custom of Chinese society, even the Reds with nationalistic sentiments: Every Chinese was uniquely critical-minded, thus the Chinese people were hardly united and continuously disputed among themselves. Ironically, despite the internal divisions, the Chinese insisted in demonstrating an unexpectedly modest attitude to the outsiders!
- 6. Problems in CCP governance in the Soviet Districts Confusing dilemma of seniority in the civilian field Double identities for the Shensi villagers to protect themselves from civil-war threats [P.243] When the White army came, the villagers were accused of providing Red bandits with protective shelters and suffered from Guomindang’s execution. When the Red troops returned, there wouldn’t be any taxation but the peasants had to prevent from being regarded as “counter-revolutionaries” – Probably the private properties had to be confiscated by the “commune centres” and cooperatives.
- 7. Problems in CCP governance in the Soviet Districts (continued) CCP: still unable to offer a completely protective shelter to villagers and prevent them from Guomindang exploitation Guomindang officials: claimed for taxes from poor peasants in a brutal way [P.242] Guomindang troops: took away residents’ livestocks to sell for extra money while the Red Army didn’t station in the villages. If nothing else for stealing, peasants had to contribute their daughters for inhuman sale, or be sent to jailed.
- 8. Problems in CCP governance in the Soviet Districts (continued) Inefficient measures to accumulate wealth for CCP reserves Soviet money – high inflation rates [P.242] Necessities: only available in cooperatives, but they were just for primitive survivals [P.242] Fu Chin-kuei: resorted to rigid statement of persuasion [P.243] Superficially resorted to anti-Japanese, anti-Guomindang and anti-landlord arguments as a tactic of legitimizing Red’s approach of confiscation Lack of seaports cut off from the contact with the big modern industrial base [P.246]
- 9. Red cooperatives were established in towns under soviet control. Here villagers examine the materials offered in Gansu.
- 10. Red seizure of machinery from the provincial factories [P.249] Combined machine-industry investment afforded by CCP itself Inefficient due to a lack of “big assembly branch” mechanism supported by the capitalist-operated incorporations Intensified CCP’s financial exhaustion Needed a great force of manpower to transport the machines, tools and raw materials all the way across the mountainous regions Caused dramatic loss of industrial development in the relatively-richer rural or industrial regions No techniques for machines either borrowed techniques from the outside or invaded the rich provinces mutual loss! Reflection of a bad intention for an emotional counteraction against Guomindang without any strategic consideration on economic compromises
- 11. Interpersonal mistrusts even within the same group of compatriots: Division among the proletariats! [P.289] Peasants / villagers joined / submitted to the Soviet governance: Raised the counteraction of min-tuan Soviet peasants disliked the min-tuan peasants (might be influenced by Guomindang’s anti-Communist ideas) Min-tuan: the group where Zhou Enlai was a member formerly, but might be later bribed by the Nationalists during the Long March “Anti-Bolshevik faction” by Fan Shih-sheng and Hu Chi-lung
- 12. Positive outcomes from CCP’s centralized economic policies Salt: principle source of CCP Soviet Government’s income Low production cost High amount of profit gaining Operated Tungsien mines, the dominant mining province of China Oil wells in Yung Ping and Yen Chang: Self-sufficient by- product manufacture: Gasoline, Vaseline, wax etc.
- 13. Positive outcomes from CCP’s centralized economic policies (continued) Eliminated the big mortgage to landlords Installation of wireless electricity Relied on Wu Chi Chen for making extraordinary profits from secret rape-oil sales to Guangdong General, Chan Chi-tung, beyond the Guomindang blockade; with an addition of relying on the adventurous southern merchants to conduct secret foreign export trades
- 14. CCP: connived Soviet Union’s territorial ambitions in Northern China Lenin Club in North ShensiLenin Club in North Shensi
- 15. Russian maneuver on Chinese proletariat sentiments, CCP’s connivance! Edgar: “Until the Chinese Reds possessed much more territory to the north and to the west, Moscow would be unable to fill any orders.” [P.261] bias! Russian ambitions never ended as Communists restrained Guomindang from making any military defense solely for the security of Chinese continent CCP: being accused of provoking the repulsive acts in Mongolia solely for imposing burdens on the universal economic construction of Guomindang “After the capture of Yen Chi’h, the Reds won the sympathy of the Mongols north of the Wall by agreeing to turn over part of the production to them, revoking the Guomindang’s practice of monopolizing the entire outputs.” [P.248]
- 16. Russian maneuver on Chinese proletariat sentiments, CCP’s connivance! (continued) Edgar: “Russia, in return, had no debating society in China where Marxist-Leninist doctrines could legally be preached. The Soviets from Russia had been aggressively opposed everywhere by GMD.” [P.353] Inaccurate! 1911: Mongolia proclaimed independence after the downfall of Qing Regime 1915: Yuan Shikai preserved Mongolia as a Chinese tributary state by re-appointing Jebtsundamba Khutughtu VIII ( 哲布尊 丹巴八世 , 1870–1924) as the King of Mongolian Municipality. 1921: Comintern Voitinsky’s assistance to Chen Duxiu “Sun-Joffe Agreement” in 1923 Red Troops of CCP constructed on Russian military lines July 1921: Mongolian Revolution led by Jebtsundamba Khutughtu VIII Establishment of Mongolian Constitutional Monarchy, approved by Chiang Kai-shek under the Russian pressure Nov 1924: Establishment of Mongolian Republic
- 17. Russian maneuver on Chinese proletariat sentiments, CCP’s connivance! (continued) Russians were aggressive at penetrating her influences in the northwest, northeast and Mongolian territory. She tempted Chiang Kai-shek to give up Chinese sovereignty upon her tributary state, Mongolia, who had assimilated with Confucian-Taoist civilization for a long period of time. On the other hand, Russians successfully romanticized their imperialistic images with “proletariat masks”. The Soviet Union was tactful in diverting Chinese Reds’ anti-foreign sentiments to anti- Guomindang revolutions, while the Chinese Reds rarely utilized their rational mind to notice such an on-going experience of being ideologically and sentimentally maneuvered under an invisible basis of “red colonization”. The Soviet Union fished in the trouble water while China was preoccupied by CCP-GMD disputes and the Japanese invasion. Both GMD and CCP were accused of having a lukewarm attitude towards the Russian threat in Mongolia and their disunity in safeguarding Chinese continent from Russian partition!
- 18. Reasons for Mohammedan upheaval against Communist rule till now Communist Party - underestimated the nationalist intentions of the Mohammedans [P.314] : Muslims in N.W China had been unequally treated by the Han Chinese majority under a Sinicizational mechanism of racial hierarchy. Such group of “Red Muslims” as strategically cooperated with the Reds probably had reasons of their own. If Communist Chinese offered to help them (Muslims) drive out the Guomindang, help them create and equip an army of their own, help them get a self-government, and help them despoil the rich, they were prepared to take the opportunity – and later on turn that army to uses of their own, if the Reds failed to keep their bargain. While CCP was gaining the nation-wide governance, the Muslims felt their eagerness for “rational separateness” miserably satisfied (betrayal!). They then revolted against the Communist rule for a complete level of self-autonomy.
- 19. Reasons for Mohammedan upheaval against Communist rule till now (continued) Failure of Mohammedan Revolution in China Over-reliance on Red military Internal division of views for whether to confiscate the Mohammedan landlords (strictly followed the CCP ideal) or not Communists’ maneuver upon Mohammedans’ nationalist sentiments solely for a counteraction against Guomindang! Similar to Otto von Bismarck’s realpolitik approach of making temptations with Prussia’s enemies through secret compromises but refused to fulfill the so-called “vague mutual agreements” while the goal was attained. Bismarck’s temptation to Napoleon III for an approval to French cession of Rhineland and Saar in Biarritzz Meeing during the Austro-Prussian War, but he refused to fulfill the promises after the war victory. He even distorted the Ems Telegram from Napoleon II for making France boycotted by other Powers.
- 20. Edgar Snow was a “Maosick” journalist, but could not fulfill a task of being a devoted Sinologist. He recognized Peng Dehuai’s discouragement towards filial worship disrespected the positive ideological affection of Confucianism, which was the glorious asset of Chinese civilization.
- 21. Peng Dehuai’s radical teacher regarded children to be brought into the world while their parents were playing Inhumane approach of over-rational thought! Peng’s grandmother was autocratic but fostered an opium-smoking habit, but it did not mean that Chinese youths had to offend elderly’s authority and neglect adults’ contributions / devotions for nurturing the growth of future generations. [P.268] The Confucian thoughts treated procreation as an “encouraging anticipation”, hoping that grandparents and parents’ spiritual, behavioural and intellectual eliteness would obtain a helping hand from the next generations to inherit nation-widely and world-widely, so as to maintain a moralistic stability throughout the future eras.
- 22. Peng Dehuai’s radical teacher regarded children to be brought into the world while their parents were playing Inhumane approach of over-rational thought! (continued) Humans, in such sense, were born to rediscover the goodness of our parents / grandparents and possessed an obligation to further prosper it, and it was a reflection of humanist love and care. Elderly’ wrongness should be diminished only through making humble and courteous advices by the next generation with regards to the bright asset of “ethical harmony” within the system of Chinese family traditions. Communists destroyed the behavioral nourishments of Chinese ethics, leading to continuous struggles that also threatened the sense of submissiveness within the parental relationships (and there was a violation to the etiquette!)
- 23. Critical Evaluation upon the revolutionary approach of CCP
- 24. Reasons for CCP’s failure in succeeding a thorough Marxism in every part of Chinese continent even after the establishment of PRC Communist explanation [P.400] Chinese capitalist class: not a true bourgeois, but a “colonial bourgeois” They were just a “comprador class”, an excrescence of the foreign influence and monopoly capitalism which it primarily served Liberation through the fulfillment of anti-imperialist movement; an elimination of foreign influence.
- 25. Reasons for CCP’s failure in succeeding a thorough Marxism in every part of Chinese continent even after the establishment of PRC (continued) Alan Bullock: “Socialism was a product from a state with high productivity.” (high surplus values) But Communism was ironically found from later-developed societies like Russia, China, Vietnam, Cuba and North Korea, in which it was a difficult task for these countries to create high productivity, both agriculturally and industrially, that was comparable to Capitalistic level under the framework of “proletariat purism”. In China, Communism started from feudalist base of peasantry poverty without much capital. While the wealthy people refused to work with the Communist ideal with an addition of imperialistic economic exploitation, “Socialism in one country” and “Maoist- Totalitarianism” were adopted to get rid of enemies to better implement the proletariat reforms.
- 26. Chinese Reds: hindered the succession of Guomindang’s Republican and Democratic ideal [P.403] Chiang Kai-shek attempted to sincerely introduce the necessary capitalist “reforms” in the rural areas – Commercial banking Improved communication Centralized taxing Policing power Chiang’s aim: put Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s “Three People’s Principles” into effect Longed for a chance to realize democracy and implement Eurocentric civil governance in all the provinces once problems of rural poverty and regionalism were tackled
- 27. Chinese Reds: hindered the succession of Guomindang’s Republican and Democratic ideal (continued) But the CCP, with a coincidence of foreign imperialism, allowed no room for Chiang to regain popular trust upon Republicanism in China. The Reds resorted to repressive measures to outlaw those who wanted to rebuild and recreate class society under the framework of Socialism. Also, the Reds failed to accumulate funds due to their radical struggles against those with wealth. The CCP’s attempt to overthrow the government did impose an obstacle to Guomindang in terms of resisting Japanese invasion, while the continued practice of “Red banditry” in the interior Chinese continent, despite the grave national crisis, retarded the realization of internal reforms.
- 28. America: non-interventionist policy after Wilson’s unpopularity in May Fourth Era Hoover, Nelson and Roosevelt, from the very beginning to an end, regarded Chinese Reds as Mensheviks and supposed Chiang Kai- shek being capable enough to accommodate CCP into the republican institutions by pacifying Guomindang’s disputes with the Red banditries. (but not in reality!) America was lukewarm in internal affairs of Nationalist China with regards to her eagerness for commercial opportunities with Chinese capitalists. Some of the influential Americans, like George Kennan, even felt annoyed with Chiang Kai-shek, for his greed, political selfishness, bureaucratic inefficiency and misappropriation of American military funds solely on anti-Communist purge, as well as his incapability in restraining the threat of regionalism by building up a strong central government. The U.S remained neutral to Communist growth in China: feared for an indirect conflict with the Soviet Russians. Consequence: Allowed room for CCP to expand!
- 29. Never let “brain drain” happen from political turmoil again in CCP’s future development Fundamental ideas of Marxism: enforced the capitalists, bourgeoisie and bureaucratic class to adore the social-welfare system and redistribute some of their overwhelming wealth to the poverty class by raising their universally-moral alertness to care about the miserable needs of their compatriots hoped to strive for political participation among the proletariat class and eliminated injustice within the social stratifications as much as possible Utopian status of national integrity (nationalism): upgrading civilians’ civic awareness in terms of contributing their gifted talents to the needs of other classes
- 30. Never let “brain drain” happen from political turmoil again in CCP’s future development (continued) But Mao Zedong accommodated Marxism to totalitarian dictatorship, which reflected from his blinded approach of anti- Guomindang, anti-Capitalists, anti-Menshevik and anti-Confucian struggles. The proletariat campaigns transformed into a Bolshevik status that, even the Left-minded capitalists and economists also had to be repudiated as a mean of restraining anybody in the country from becoming extraordinarily capable (*encouragement on human jealousy) and making all the Chinese compatriots as equally poor as rural proletariats with regards to an utopian ideal! E.g.: Cultural Revolution serious brain drain Tung Ho-wan (Tung Chee-hwa’s father), Fok Ying-tung, Ho Yin (Stanley Ho’s father), Tsang Hin-tsz etc. – the Left-minded patriotic merchants But they also had to reestablish their incorporations in Hong Kong and Macao to prevent their inherited properties from being repudiated, They made the entrepot platform of Hong Kong and Macao as a shelter to accumulate wealth and re-donate capitals to the miserable proletariats in Mainland during the turbulent era.
- 31. Never let “brain drain” happen from political turmoil again in CCP’s future development (continued) My anticipation to future Communist development in China that accommodated the universal trend Communist Government: Efficiently utilized talents of different political ideologies to construct China with a forbearance to their liberty in economic development under a framework of “collectivity”, while their utmost loyalty to Communism are ensured to be invulnerably staunch (eventual re-modification of Nomenclature in China) Compatriots with wealth should have a civic awareness to contribute their individual capabilities to the centralized governance. They enforced the CCP to redistribute the accumulated resources more efficiently to those provinces with emergent needs on poverty-solving, so as to make the science, economy and culture of China undergo a civilized status of advancement. Those devoting compatriots, specifically the merchants with a patriotic sense, would get an even greater amount of benefits, acknowledgements and achievements.
- 32. THANK YOU
Notas del editor
- As I mentioned in my last tutorial, the Chinese Communist Party was troubled by an international disfavor while expanding their influence throughout the Chinese continent. Between the 1920s and 1940s, there was no propaganda support from the West, except for Leninist Russia, to legitimize CCP’s proletariat-oriented rivalries, but having their image demonized by the Western media due to Capitalists’ scare upon the threat of equal wealth distribution. Also, the Imperialists and Colonialists feared Communists’ possibility of imposing obstacles upon their continuation on extra-territorial privileges in China. Under such helpless condition, the Chinese Reds treasured Edgar Snow’s existence in China as they believed his capability in legitimizing Communist motives based on an Eurocentric perspective. Therefore, the Reds, even under impoverished living condition, were willing to contribute their extra-valuable harvests and pastures and make Edgar live every day as comfortably as possible. This could be explained from the moment that Li Ke Nung addressed Edgar as “Comrade Snow” with an addition of a Prussian-oriented salute. In response to villages’ welcoming treatment, Edgar wrote the Chinese Reds as very kind and hospitable. Even the CCP commanded inhumane purges or diplomatic conspiracy, Edgar still attempted to romanticized its motives.
- Edgar Snow recalled his thoughtful experiences, that an old bound-footed peasant woman insisted upon killing one of her half-dozen chickens to serve him a welcoming meal, even though her children had so rare to eat at that night. Red peasants showed Edgar a sense of racial righteousness, as they insisted in behaving properly and courteously to prove that the Chinese Reds also emphasized etiquette while treating guests from outer world. It showed that Edgar’s impression among the Chinese peasants was completely different from that of the other American or European merchants who exerted a discriminative and exploitative manner on the Chinese civilians in the imperialists’ sphere of influences. Edgar did fulfill his task of being a sympathetic journalistic-scholar to write primary histories for the marginalized people within the Chinese social hierarchy. His passion of utilizing his Western literary skills to help striving academic recognitions for the CCP vanguards deserved the district-wide appraisal, in which the peasants were touched to sacrifice some of their self-interests as a mean of dedicating their utmost care and respect to Edgar’s insistence for not serving the contemporary political trend.
- Chinese intellectuals underwent five periods of changes in their Sino-Western perceptions. They were: “Repelled the foreigners” before the Opium War, “Feared the foreigners” after the treaty settlements, “Admired the foreigners” during the Self-strengthening Movement and Kang-Liang Reforms, “Hostile to foreigners” during the Boxer Uprising; and “Fawn on foreigners” after the May Fourth Movement as Chinese felt shameful with the Confucian traditions for corrupting the soul of their civilization. The period of CCP’s expansion occurred in the era after the May Fourth Movement, i.e. “Fawn on foreigners”. As you remember, the founding of Communism in China by Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao was attributed to Chinese people’s disappointment towards the inefficiency of Republicanism to modernize the country against Western humiliation. They thought that Karl Marx’s idea, as it was another European idea originated from former Prussian Empire, provided an absolute framework for humans to diminish their prejudices and injustices within the social stratification. Also, by upgrading the position of peasants and workers with social-welfare system, it was anticipated that even a late-developed country like China could move forward to a utopian status of national integrity. Fu Chin-kuei was one of the post-Qing intellectuals who were eager to learn something useful from any kinds of Westerners, no matter Soviet Russians or Capitalistic Caucasians, as a way towards his knowledge enlightenment. He, same as other Reds, hoped to abandon the Confucian customs and re-valuated the significance of Western comers for stimulating an on-going enhancement of Chinese racial dignity. It explained why Fu Chin-kuei appeased Edgar very stubbornly.
- The “fawn on foreigners” attitude revealed from above reflected an undesirable custom of Chinese society, even the Reds with nationalistic sentiments might also subconsciously offend their adored principle of patriotism. Unlike the absolute unity of Japanese or Koreans, every Chinese was uniquely critical-minded and an independent body, thus the Chinese people were hardly united and continuously disputed among themselves due to their differences in self-interests. Ironically, in Chinese’ case of “fawning on foreigners”, we can see that, despite the internal divisions, the Chinese insisted in demonstrating an unexpectedly modest attitude to the outsiders instead of seeking mutual understanding, common goals or compromises with their ideological opponents.
- Actually, before the establishment of PRC, the CCP leaders were unable to stabilize the party governance in Sovietized rural provinces by diminishing its approach of agrarian struggles. The peasants, in a long run, survived in half-baked anarchical chaos and encountered the bullying treatments of both GMD and CCP bureaucrats with tolerance and intelligence. As I said here, the Shensi villagers dealt with a confusing dilemma in which they did not have a fixed seniority to present loyalty and obedience. The Shensi villagers adopted “a shift within doubled identities” as a tactic to prevent their families from being accused by either White army or Red troops. But, as the White armies and Red troops were spiritually warrior, they could not resist the misery happened that they would be killed with the reasons of “party-line betrayal” or “provocation of indulgence”. Villagers were not equipped with weapons, thus they exposed to the war destruction and felt helpless to convince either the Whites or the Reds to put aside their irrational accusation. According to Edgar Snow’s description, the villagers either suffered from Whites’ execution or Reds’ confiscation. Both reflected villagers’ innocence to bear the misfortune of civil war.
- The Guomindang government was suffering from a long-term financial deficit because it could not receive taxes by imposing tariffs on the spheres of influences. All the industrial and commercial firms were established by the foreigners and Nanjing had no say to gain profit from their non-approved developments. Even the Chinese elites were contributed by the Universities to work for the foreign employers. They found no patriotic mechanism to re-donate their earnings to Nanjing with regards to their prior emphasis on livelihood maintenance. The Guomindang dared not to anger the people in commercial or industrial cities, but to exploit the agrarian provinces for enriching its central reserves. Edgar Snow talked much about Guomindang’s brutal way of claiming taxes from the peasants, while the peasants might risk at selling their daughters and having their live-stocks seized if they hadn’t got enough money. It could not be denied that, the Red troops endeavored to resist the Whites’ overbears. But, villagers were not absolutely ensured to be sheltered since there might be some days that the White troops recaptured the rural regions by purging the Red troops there. Therefore, bitterness still trapped the rural peasants’ mind.
- Edgar also indicated the economic problems CCP encountered. As you know, Communists tend to neglect the generally-adopted regulations of Capitalist world in terms of how to command the national finance efficiently, knowledgeably, mathematically, logically and evolutionarily. The CCP, because of their agrarian-oriented nature, knew nothing about the methods of boosting up the currency rate of Soviet money. They assumed the food and clothing coupons be evenly redistributed to peasants for basic survival regardless of how much properties were collected in the reserves and how valuable the gold storage is for the nation-wide issue of banknotes. Henceforth, a high inflation rate was found from the Soviet Districts, while the CCP, with its pursuit on confiscation, scared away the potential wealthy residents from contributing their gains to the party. There returned to an extremely primitive status of agrarian impoverishment, no matter the wealthier people or the farmers. Fu Chin-kuei was ignorant with economic ideals, but rigidly resorted to anti-Japanese, anti-GMD and anti-landlord arguments as a tactic of legitimizing Red’s approach of confiscation.
- This photo showed the residents in Soviet Districts approaching a Red Cooperative to buy the daily necessities. But the goods offered were mainly grain, cloth, paraffin, candles, needles, matches and salts, which were solely for basic usages, nor to say obtaining any well-refined tableware, furniture, appliances or kitchenware for better quality of living.
- As Edgar described, the CCP seized machinery from the provincial factories along the coastal regions, and transported them to the inner-continental sovietized regions for the development of Red production lines. However, there was a lack of capital support as the Soviet Districts were not located at the seaports accessible for external investments. Also, the exploited areas in regions like Jiangxi were rural-oriented. The Red leaders thus had to tackle with both industrial or agricultural issues, as they could not deny the usefulness of peasantry in terms of offering food necessities even the CCP was enriched by earnings from heavy industries. The combined machine-industry investment was adopted whereas the Red labors were fully utilized to work for duplicated obligations, while they were gaining so little for better living conditions. With an addition to intensive borrowing of techniques and machineries, there came to be a serious exhaustion of production costs on manpower, carriage and resource exploitation whereas the consequence of outcomes was not ensured to be perfected. To my observation, it might not be denied that Communists’ approach of rapid industrial growth in rural provinces, which was not according to the economic evolution, was a reflection of the party’s bad intention for an emotional counteraction against the legitimate Chinese governing body. The Communists never thought of moderate ways to compromise with the Nationalists for economic grants to better stage their industrial plans on the platform of strategic progress as a way of accumulating CCP’s potentials for a future successful bargain.
- The Communist ideal denied the existence of humans’ selfish intentions by assuming every civilian, without class differences, would be perfectly submissive to their existing gains. From the memorandum of Zhu De, I found that “min-tuan”, which was formerly commanded by Zhou Enlai, had mutual differences with the Bolshevik majority. Min-tuan’s absolute loyalty to CCP was shaken, as we should not deny that the members there, same as all the Red soldiers, were mostly the impoverished peasants who JUST longed for better livelihood in fact! Once the miu-tuan members were ensured a satisfaction to their family conditions by the Guomindang, they would easily abandon their principles and miserably pursue a betrayal against their masters. The wrongness could just be attributed to CCP’s imperfection on covering its care throughout all peasantry sectors with regards to its fragmented Sovietization. Concerning the coup d’etat of “anti-Bolshevik faction” that nearly threatened Zhu De’s leadership, I will further talk about it in the future slides.
- Though the CCP governance in many northwest provinces were as fragmented as the nomadic rules or ancient anti-Qing gangster riots for an impossible restoration of Ming Dynasty, we should admit that, such primitive tactic of anti-Capitalist struggles was applicable to an obvious uplift of impoverished proletariats’ living conditions. CCP’s perception on assembly line was to utilize the unfavorable circumstances with limited resources, limited capital reserves, but with huge amount of manpower, to command a maximization of productivity and meet the target indexes under the mechanism of collectivity. Mineral resources thus became CCP’s chief concern to exploit business opportunities in the outer world as salt, oil and coal could be found from undergrounds of relief in every locations. Even in mountainous provinces, the Party could still exploit the resources with an efficient commandment of manpower resources from the Red peasants. Therefore, I could give a positive comment on CCP’s efforts in maintaining self-sufficiency by starting from the base of mining development.
- The violent and radical counteraction of Red troops did contain the greedy and inconsiderate landlords from fatting themselves at the expense of skinny people’s bitterness. The money reserves CCP confiscated were, in some Soviet Districts, effectively used for improving the living environment of rural areas, such as installing wireless electricity as public infrastructures. Some CCP members risked to make extraordinary profits from secret rape-oil sales to Guangdong General, Chan Chi-tung, beyond the GMD blockade. Then the CCP relied on Chan Chi-tung, together with the adventurous southern merchants, to conduct secret foreign export trades and earn extra money for the future party growth. Yes, some merchants who were patriotic to CCP might use Macao as a shelter to safely export the Communist productions overseas without a fear of being arrested by the Guomindang government. The most famous guy was Ho Yin, Chief-Executive of Macao SAR, Stanley Ho’s father, also worked in that risky manner for the sake of saving CCP from financial collapse in the miserable days. It explained why the inheritors of Ho’s family deserved the honorable gratitude from the latter CCP rulers.
- Let me move on to my findings concerning the Russian aggressions that never mentioned in Edgar Snow’s publication.
- The orientation of patriotism depended on which political ideological camp captured the nation-wide ruling power. The patriots who were not loyal to the legitimate ruling party and strive for constitutional changes might also be accused as treasons! On the contrary, even the opponent side was defined as betrayals with regards to its repulsive motives, it might be regarded as national contributor with an additional re-interpretations from national history education. Of course, I totally disagreed Edgar’s optimism to Soviet Russia, as Lenin’s motive of establishing CCP in China was, fundamentally, to break Russia’s international isolation and gain a warm-coastal access in Pacific Asia to establish his Communist bloc! From the day of Voltinsky’s initiation of inviting Chen Duxiu to join the Comintern, the USSR was planning to penetrate her influence along the Northwest and Northeast Sino-Russian boarders, starting from the tactic of re-modifying the thoughts of racial minorities in Chinese boundary regions. I am sure that Mao Zedong and other CCP members knew that point very well, but they wouldn’t expose themselves to a challenge on Russia. The CCP, without a strong economic and military foundation during the Long March era, chose the opportunist alternative of temporarily conniving Russian misconduct by putting aside their insistence on national sovereignty! Of course, after the establishment of PRC, Reds’ former connivance on Russia was re-interpreted as a justified expediency, claiming it as without any racial-betrayal motives.
- From this statement, Edgar accused Guomindang for not letting Russians promote Marxist-Leninist doctrines in Chinese territory. If I were a Chinese President no matter having a Guomindang or Communist background, I would also contain Russians from aggressively influencing the Chinese residents with espionage manners! This was not the controversial matter of whether the Chinese race should follow the proletariat line or capitalist line, but was a matter of fact that Russia wanted to conquer parts of the northern Chinese territory! The most obvious example was the independence of Outer Mongolia. Yes, in 2004, the actual Mongolian president attempted to re-approach Jiang Zemin for a reunification, but failed finally. The Mongolian issue happened since the Sun’s Revolution in 1911, as it proclaimed a split with the Qing Regime. Later, Outer Mongolia was re-preserved under Yuan Shikai’s bribing tactic on Jebtsundama Khutughtu VIII. But still, the latter Chinese leaders could not restrain Jebtsundamba Khutughtu VIII from re-enlightening his desire for self-determination and re-approaching a pro-Russian diplomacy! Yet, the time for signing a “Sun-Joffe Agreement” was a turbulent era of China, as it was troubled by civil warlord struggles. It was a good occasion for Leninist Russia to achieve his imperialistic ends.
- Leninist Russia clearly understood the inefficiency of Chiang Kai-shek, as well as the Guomindang Party, in terms of defending Chinese sovereignty from foreign humiliation. What the Guomindang rulers concerned the most were the corruptive delivery of mutual interests and individual economic benefits. Therefore, in July 1921, Russia easily transformed Mongolia into an independent state without any use of violence by forcing Chiang Kai-shek to accept the unequal treaty settlements. Absorbing from the experience of Woodrow Wilson’s disfavor during the May Fourth Era, Russia, being so clever, understood the need of romanticized her aggressive image by wearing a “proletariat mask”. The promotion of Communist and Socialist ideals as an alternative of Chinese nationalism among the peasant majority could divert Chinese intellectuals’ attention from anti-foreign sentiment to anti-Guomindang revolutions, while, on the other hand, the Chinese Red peasants, workers and soldiers, based on their illiteracy and lack of international awareness, rarely utilized their rational mind to notice such an on-going experience of being ideologically and sentimentally maneuvered under an invisible basis of “red colonization”. The loss of Mongolia proved that, both GMD and CCP were accused of disunity to contain Russia from fishing in the trouble water! Disunity and mutual distrust among compatriots could really make a race too fragile to survive against others’ attacks.
- Well… The Mohammedan issue till now was attributed to CCP’s inappropriate maneuvering tactics during the days of Long March that gave Northwest Muslims an “misleading illusion in a psychological level”. The CCP, for his ultimate motive of expelling Guomindang from Chinese continent, allied with the Muslims as an mean of expediency. Just like Bismarck’s maneuvering diplomacy, CCP tempted Northwest Muslims for future political gains, which was “racial separateness” beyond the centralized Han Chinese rule and an ensured avoidance from being Sinicized. Of course, being a part of the silk road, Mohammedans’ sphere of influence in Tibet and Qingzhuang Plateau could not be easily divided from China with regards to the long history of economic and civil linkage. The CCP stimulated Mohammedans’ nationalistic desire but found no mean to diminish its bargaining relationship with them after the establishment of PRC.
- Of course, the racial composition of Mohammedans was comparatively loosened because of their long-term adaptation to supernatural, spiritual, non-secular and monasterial minds. They didn’t have any awareness to humanist trends of political pursuits. The Mohammedans were thus unable to unite themselves and strive for self-autonomy. I regarded CCP’s expediency on maneuvering upon Mohammedans’ nationalist sentiments solely for a counteraction against Guomindang. It was no longer different from Bismarck’s attempt of bribing Napoleon III for an approval to French cession of Rhineland and Saar in Biaritzz Meeting during the Austro-Prussian War, but he refused to fulfill the so-called “vague mutual agreements or promises” after the war victory. Mohammedans, like the case of Napoleon III, received no international sympathy once the unification leader came to power; with an addition of having their nationalistic motive being disapproved and demonized by the legitimate government body. The setback of Mohammedan in his miscalculation of joining the Communist side paved a Sino-Mohammedan hostility and it explained why the current Tibetans occasionally revolted against Beijing government.
- In the next part, I commented on Edgar’s unsuitability to be a Sinologist scholar and journalist, as he recognized the Communists’ ideal of disregarding the traditional significance of filial piety in Chinese civilization.
- Peng Dehuai probably adopted the evolutionary thought of Darwinism by describing the sinfulness of humans for being born to the Earth, simply due to the emotional enjoyment of secular couples. But, this idea was a bit over-rational, and I wonder why Edgar Snow, as he devoted much to Chinese studies, regard this type of over-rational thought as adorable! Yes, if Edgar really agreed with the Confucian principles, he should have realized that, Confucius regarded procreation as an “encouraging anticipation”, hoping the next generation to make more practical contributions to the world as a mean of glorifying parents or grandparents’ spiritual and behavioral goodness, while, in response, the next generation could perceive an in-depth sense of respect to what the elder generation had done for family and others in the past.
- Well… I defined the process of inheritance as a process of rediscovery upon the goodness of our elder generation. The philosophical perception in such kind of mutual enhancement in parental relationship exceeded the level of biological logics. Only the Communism would assume the absolute safeguard of biological logics as a path towards an utopian world, with a neglect to the values of humanism and superstructures as an alternative of maintaining a stable coherence among compatriots of the same race. I thought that, the avocation on parent-children mistrust would lead to a legitimization of human struggles. The result was that, respect would never be a matter to talk about, but to overwhelm others with functional thoughts for the sake of individual or universally national interests. This was actually a harmful pollutant to Chinese heritage.
- Lastly, I like to point out some criticisms to prove that the popularization of Communist ideas was a half-baked success, while the consolidation of CCP’s rule was an invulnerable success.
- CCP, though it targeted on an attack to the Capitalists, dared not to heat this trend into an uncontrollable status. Mao Zedong and other Reds clearly knew that, the Chinese Capitalists were mostly working under the foreign employers for survival without other choices because Nanjing lacked an autonomy to supervise the foreign commercial activities and protect the development of local economy. The CCP targeted more on the abolition of imperialists’ privileges in unequal treaties, and this target proved to be effective with regards to the Party’s success in gaining nation-wide avocation.
- According to the Marxist re-definition written by Alan Bullock, China’s economic status was not ready for a shift from Capitalism to Communism, similar to Russia, N. Korea, Vietnam and Cuba. There wasn’t a high level of surplus values to accommodate both a rapid industrialization and a merge of social stratifications. Every civilian in China was equally impoverished under an agrarian mode of feudalism, with an addition of lack of wealth accumulation due to the foreign influences. If the wealth was equalized among peasants without any supportive basis of tertiary businesses, there, in a long term, wasn’t a stable source of supplements to prolong such mechanism. It would be appropriate to say that, wealth could be efficiently equalized with social welfares, but the society could not be solely operated only by diligent-mode proletariats without the additional support of speculative earnings.
- Of course, Chiang had ever attempted to revitalize Guomindang’s bankrupted image by introducing capitalist reforms.
- But the CCP’s mindset to Guomindang’s contribution was a reflection of un-appreciation. The CCP regarded the reforms like banking or trading as a pollutant to the Communist ideal, thus they have to be turned down without question. The ultimate aim of CCP was not to strive for a mutually-beneficial coexistence between the Capitalists and the proletariats, but to do their very best to prevent anybody from rebuilding and recreating class society when the framework of Socialism was implemented. Also, confiscation of wealth was the only stubborn resort for CCP to accumulate wealth instead of using their intelligence to strive for opportunities. This radical attempt really retarded the universal (macroviewed) potential for a foreseeable economic growth in China.
- American presidents were quite lukewarm to be extraordinarily sensitive with what was going on with the Chinese civilization. What the three presidents ensured was a status quo without Russian intervention, thus, by following the popular view of money-saving after the Wall Street Crash, the American government had no alternative but to tolerate the existence of a Communist Party in China; while America changed to suppose that Chiang Kai-shek deserved the responsibility to accommodate CCP into his political institutions as a tactic of diminishing Russian attempt to maneuver the Chinese Reds. George Kennan, as mentioned in last lecture, even felt annoyed with Chiang Kai-shek’s incapability; thus he proclaimed America not to give helping hands too often to Guomindang and let Chinese solve their disputes themselves.
- Maoism was actually a transformed version of Marxism, as it accommodated lots of totalitarian and realpoltik ideas. I thought that Marxism was fundamentally a respect to human dignity and liberty, but emphasized more on the level of proletariat livelihood. Marxism was not purposeful for an irrational destruction and denial to the significance of capitalists, as Allan Bullock also mentioned about the need to accumulate of surplus values before Communism was put into effect. Marxism emphasized the need to raise the Whites’ universally-moral alertness to care about the miserable needs of compatriots from other lower classes. In this sense, I could regard class struggles proclaimed by Mao as a superficial reflection of politicians’ selfish pursuits on power abuse of individual consolidation.
- An interesting phenomenon I found from class struggles was that, Communism under Mao requested all the people to be either equally impoverished or equally well-to-do. By pursuing a proletariat purism, even the Left-minded capitalists or merchants had to be repudiated as well to restrain anybody from becoming extraordinary capable. Yes, this mindset was a kind of human jealousy, thus the utopian status was no longer applicable as it wasn’t according to the humanist logic! And in fact, as Mao radically endeavored with this utopian interpersonal ideal, it led to a serious brain drain as lots of Left-minded merchants were scared from returning to Mainland, like Tung Ho Wan, Fok Ying Tung, Ho Yin and Tsang Hin Tsz who had to remain in Hong Kong and Macao as their shelter.
- To prevent from brain drain happen again, I think such mindset of equalization on human nature should be abandoned. Yes, the CCP should continue to put social welfare as its greatest priority, but also to rely on capitalist talents for substantial economic support while their patriotism was ensured. I foresee the Nomenclature in China to undergo an eventual re-modification, as the party had to curb the bureaucratic corruptions in order to give platform for national talents to have promotion. Of course, there should be a civic awareness from the compatriots with wealth, and this should not be obtained or ensured by violent means, but with knowledgeable tactics. What the wealthy compatriots contributed to the poor as surplus would surely result an advanced level of acknowledgements and commercial achievements.