Dictionary:
Chi·na (chī'nə)  , People's Republic of
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A country of eastern Asia. Its ancient civilization traditionally dates to c. 2700 B.C.. After a bitter civil war (1946–1949) a people's republic led by Mao Zedong was established on the mainland, and the Nationalists fled to Taiwan. Beijing is the capital and Shanghai the largest city. Population: 1,320,000,000.
| 5min Related Video: China |
| Investment Dictionary: CNY |
In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the China Yuan Renminbi.
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The currency market, also known as the Foreign Exchange market, is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average volume of over US $1 trillion.
| Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: China |
The discovery of Peking man in 1927 (see Zhoukoudian) dates the advent of early hominins (human ancestors) to the Paleolithic Period. Chinese civilization is thought to have spread from the Huang He valley. The first dynasty for which there is definite historical material is the Shang (c. 17th century BC), which had a writing system and a calendar. The Zhou, a subject state of the Shang, overthrew its Shang rulers in the mid-11th century and ruled until the 3rd century BC. Daoism and Confucianism were founded in this era. A time of conflict, called the Warring States period, lasted from the 5th century until 221 BC. Subsequently the Qin (or Chin) dynasty (from whose name China is derived) was established, after its rulers had conquered rival states and created a unified empire. The Han dynasty was established in 206 BC and ruled until AD 220. A time of turbulence followed, and Chinese reunification was achieved with the founding of the Sui dynasty in 581 and continued with the Tang dynasty (618 – 907). After the founding of the Song dynasty in 960, the capital was moved to the south because of northern invasions. In 1279 this dynasty was overthrown and Mongol (Yuan) domination began. During that time Marco Polo visited Kublai Khan. The Ming dynasty followed the period of Mongol rule and lasted from 1368 to 1644, cultivating antiforeign feelings to the point that China closed itself off from the rest of the world. The Manchu overran Ming China in 1644 and established the Qing (Manchu) dynasty. Ever-increasing incursions by Western and Japanese interests led in the 19th century to the Opium Wars, the Taiping Rebellion, and the Sino-Japanese War, all of which weakened the Manchu. The dynasty fell in 1911, and a republic was proclaimed in 1912 by Sun Yat-sen. The power struggles of warlords weakened the republic. Under Chiang Kai-shek some national unification was achieved in the 1920s, but Chiang broke with the communists, who had formed their own armies. Japan invaded northern China in 1937; its occupation lasted until 1945 (see Manchukuo). The communists gained support after the Long March (1934 – 35), in which Mao Zedong emerged as their leader. Upon Japan's surrender at the end of World War II, a fierce civil war began; in 1949 the Nationalists fled to Taiwan, and the communists proclaimed the People's Republic of China. The communists undertook extensive reforms, but pragmatic policies alternated with periods of revolutionary upheaval, most notably in the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. The anarchy, terror, and economic paralysis of the latter led, after Mao's death in 1976, to a turn to moderation under Deng Xiaoping, who undertook economic reforms and renewed China's ties to the West. The government established diplomatic relations with the U.S. in 1979. Since the late 1970s the economy has been moving from central planning and state-run industries to a mixture of state-owned and private enterprises in manufacturing and services, in the process growing dramatically and transforming Chinese society. The Tiananmen Square incident in 1989 was a challenge to an otherwise increasingly stable political environment after 1980. In 1997 Hong Kong reverted to Chinese rule, as did Macau in 1999.
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| Photography Encyclopedia: China |
Photography in China experienced three distinct developments. In the mid-19th century, the conservative Chinese empire had no desire to be disturbed and did not welcome Westerners and their inventions. The 1842 war with Britain and the subsequent campaigns (and Chinese defeats) of 1857 and 1860 forced it to open several ports to foreign trade, but photography, which had reached Chinese shores at the same time as (or even aboard) gunboats, long remained a foreign medium with a limited reach. The situation changed radically in the early 20th century, when social changes and the advent of the Republic in 1911 led to the development of a fully Chinese style. It changed again in 1949 with Communism, which used photography as a major propaganda tool.
The 19th century
Until 1900, photography was practised only in the few ‘treaty ports’ open to foreign trade along the coast and the Yangtze River. The first treaty ports were Canton, Amoy (Xiamen), Fuzhou (Foochow), Ningbo (Ningpo), and Shanghai, Hong Kong being under direct British control. In 1860 Beijing was opened to foreign diplomatic residence, and additional ports were added to the original list as time went on. Deep prejudice against both cameras and foreigners ensured that early photographers rarely ventured outside the ports. Consequently, their work reflects only the places and people depicted, not late imperial China at large.
Most early photographers were visitors for whom, 150 years later, no significant traces or pictures have been found. They were either amateur or itinerant commercial practitioners. Photographers reached China shortly after 1839; the earliest reports of activities are dated 1842; the oldest identified daguerreotypes (by Jules Itier, a Frenchman), 1844-5. The first newspaper advertisement by a travelling daguerreotypist (a Mr West) goes back to March 1845, in Hong Kong. Permanent studios started operating in the late 1850s in Shanghai (Legrand, in 1857) and in Hong Kong (Weed and Howards, in 1860), ports which would remain China's two major photographic centres. Photography never attained comparable significance in other ports: Canton had started well but soon lost ground to Hong Kong; Fuzhou, the important tea-export centre, already supported several studios by the 1860s but then fell behind Shanghai, while Ningbo mostly attracted amateurs. A different pattern characterized the second generation of treaty ports opened after 1858, where photography was started by the Chinese and Westerners never predominated, if they were even present. Examples include the major cities of Hankou (Hankow in Hubei, now Wuhan), Nanjing (Nanking), or Tianjin (Tientsin). In Beijing, the first studio opened only in 1892 (Fengtai, a Chinese business).
Christian missions, which originated from the 16th century, were revived when the Nanking Treaty of 1842 again allowed missionaries into the country. Catholic and Protestant churches alike eagerly seized the opportunity for fieldwork, while photography became a propaganda instrument used to stimulate Western public support. Because Chinese missionaries insisted on going anywhere they wanted, irrespective of treaty port restrictions, early images often cover areas of China not otherwise photographed at the time. However, early production includes only those mission stations with trained photographers, and able to afford the expense. In south China, the Missions Étrangères de Paris photographed churches and other religious buildings, schools, orphanages, staff, and flock. Protestants added a further dimension with medical facilities and Chinese helpers such as the ‘bible women’ whose task was to make contact with the female population. At home, the pictures were used in religious periodicals or books, or even in general-interest publications. They were also—especially portraits of missionaries—sold directly to the public. From c.1900, postcards were issued on a vast scale, reaching all classes of Western society.
Early wet-plate commercial work includes two sets of stereoscopic views by P. Rossier (itinerant, 1858 in Canton) and Louis Legrand (Shanghai, 1857-9), who heads a long cosmopolitan list of resident photographers in Shanghai: French, British, American, German, and Japanese. On the Chinese side, many photographers were Cantonese. Most studios remained active for a relatively short time, although some survived for decades. They included, in Shanghai, William Saunders (1862-87), L. F. Fisler (1871-84), or Kung Tai (Gongtai, 1860s-1890s); Thomas Child, semi-amateur in Beijing (1871-89); F. Schoenke (Fuzhou, 1861-75), or St J. H. Edwards (Amoy, 1870s-1890s). In Hong Kong, the Afong studio was reputedly active over three generations, from 1859 to c.1941, while Pun Lun (1860s-1880s) had ‘branches’ in Hong Kong, Fuzhou, Saigon, and Singapore.
In short, by the early 1870s the Chinese already dominated the field. From the start, several Chinese studios targeted the Western market and advertised vigorously in the foreign-language local press and directories. Chinese dominance in Shanghai became very plain when upmarket studios such as Kung Tai in the 1870s and Sze Yuen Ming in the 1890s started advertising in English, while in Hong Kong few foreigners withstood the competition for long. Their heyday was in the late 1860s-early 1870s, when Hong Kong saw W. P. Floyd (1867-74) compete with Thomson (1868-72), E. Riisfeldt (1872-3), H. Everitt (1874-7), and numerous Chinese, while Saunders in Shanghai held his own against the Dinmore brothers (c. 1865-9), Weed, Fisler, and Kung Tai.
While the commercial studios operating in the pre-1900 treaty ports can certainly be numbered in the hundreds, their identification has barely started. In fact, the history of photography in China is poorly researched by comparison with other, similar cultures, especially as regards the 19th century. Many photographs were taken to the West, where, however, they remain scattered, unindexed, and unidentified. Inside China, successive upheavals, from the 1900 Boxer Rebellion to the Cultural Revolution, caused enormous loss and destruction. The scarcity of sources such as newspapers or commercial registration papers makes it difficult to draw up precise chronologies. In addition, few photos are signed, or, if they are, it may be by copyists. Chinese names are misleading, as they normally refer only to the studio as a business, and were often retained when it changed hands. Who managed a shop is generally unclear, and the photographer's identity is a mystery even for portrait studios.
Moreover, 19th-century photography in China was, essentially, a Western medium of expression. Even when, as was often the case, it was practised by Chinese, it recorded China as Westerners saw or wanted to see it, whether the subject was genre, topography, or events. For example, although the Chinese in general were fascinated by the photographic portrait, the original format owed much to Western-generated photographic traditions; a real ‘Chinese’ portrait style emerged only with the advent of the Republic in 1911, when educated Chinese had become actively interested. Pre-1900 amateur photography was almost exclusively Western, because the kind of scientifically minded people who practised it in the West simply did not exist in 19th-century China. Commercial photographers, whether Western or Chinese, were small shopkeepers without much education or status, who all produced the same standard commercial images.
Broadly, 19th-century photography embraced three principal fields: portraiture, topography (architecture and landscape), and ‘typical’ everyday scenes. From the outset, Chinese studios left the last two to Westerners, apparently because only foreigners could satisfy Western taste.
Topography was important in presenting the ports and their evolution; however, as already noted, the camera did not routinely venture inland until much later. In Hong Kong, Thomson, Floyd, and Afong created sets of views, while Saunders photographed Shanghai and H. C. Cammidge (1860s-1874) its waterways, Edwards of Amoy recorded Formosa (Taiwan) and Child inventoried Beijing's monumental architecture. Views privileged the signs of Western presence, and Chinese monuments, while Chinese dwellings hardly appear. In addition to working locally, photographers travelled to other Chinese ports and even to Japan to enlarge their portfolios, made agreements to represent competitors or amateurs, and generally tried to offer their customers as wide a range of images as possible.
Everyday scenes followed in the steps of an older tradition, that of ‘export painting’ for the foreign market. The activities shown were exclusively public ones, preferably—like weddings, funerals, or the ubiquitous barber—with a counterpart in the West. They belong to the universal genre of the ‘exotic’. But they are also unique records of a forgotten way of life. The most prolific and influential scene specialist was Saunders of Shanghai in the 1860s. Carefully staged, agreeable, and informative, his scenes were extensively copied and pirated. They also inspired later Chinese photographers, who in the 1890s sometimes gave them a negative slant reflecting China's contemporary image in the West.
In China even more than elsewhere, and certainly in quantitative terms, the centrepiece of photography was portraiture. The emergence of a bourgeoisie in Hong Kong and Shanghai, in a new Western-influenced atmosphere in which wealth took precedence over learning, was crucial. It created a new market of people free from the constraints of traditional Chinese society's rigid hierarchy. Courtesans were an important part of this in Shanghai and, after 1900, Tianjin.
There were two ways to make a portrait, one for Chinese sitters and another for Western (or Japanese) ones, and the photographer's cultural background appears irrelevant. The corpus was surprisingly coherent: just as there was a vocabulary for Western portraits, an enduring Chinese equivalent emerged on the Chinese coast in the early 1860s. It stressed the sitter's social status through specific Chinese forms of representation (full face, displaying assets such as rich clothing, small feet, long nails, or Manchu archer ring for men), and blended them seamlessly with pre-established photographic traditions.
Both Chinese and Western studios catered to all comers, the Chinese ones being cheaper and therefore attractive to foreign sailors or less wealthy residents, while the Western ones were more prestigious for everyone. A few artists stand out, such as, in Hong Kong, Milton H. Miller in the early 1860s and Thomson (1868), or the early Chinese studios in Shanghai of Su Sanxing or Kung Tai, or Sze Yuen Ming c. 1900, which did a brisk trade in portraits of local high-ranking courtesans, which it sold as photographic cards and, later, postcards. This genre served both markets, the Chinese one as celebrity photography and the foreign one as anonymous exotic beauties.
The Republic (1911-1949)
Around the turn of the century, new conditions emerged which changed Chinese photography's character. In the late 1890s smaller, portable cameras arrived. Then, after 1900, foreigners were allowed to travel inland. Yet the crucial, unstoppable change was born of the growing number of Western-educated young Chinese for whom photography and personal cameras were part of everyday life. The medium in fact became an important tool of ongoing modernization.
As amateur photography was evolving from scratch, every style of photograph could be found. However, the persistence of scholarly traditions created special problems with landscape, the all-important subject of countless paintings down the centuries. Efforts were made to duplicate the dreamy quality of classical painting, in particular the convention of framing a scene with paths leading into the image. But the camera could only show things as they were rather than as the traditionally schooled mind saw them. (Landscape remains only a minor genre in Chinese photography.)
Portraiture developed a character both distinctively ‘Chinese’ and modern. Props highlighted the approach of a new era, and studio styles acknowledged a new Chinese cultural identity. Photojournalists actively recorded the New China, with views of universities, railways, and modern social and domestic life. Newspapers' illustrated supplements were filled with images of stage and movie stars, and new fashions. But change was uneven. While Shanghai, as usual, was in the vanguard of cultural change, elsewhere the only noticeable alteration might be—at most—the appearance of telegraph poles. In some places, change was documented photographically over decades: in Yunnan, for example, where, from Auguste François at the turn of the century, a succession of French consuls were talented photographers.
As China changed, some knowledgeable and sympathetic foreigners recorded disappearing customs. Beijing, which remained in many ways old fashioned, was a favourite subject for the likes of Sidney D. Gamble or Hedda Hammer Morrison. These ‘foreign’ images are now an invaluable source on early 20th-century China. In particular, they show both the old and the new, and indicate how quickly changes occurred locally, from the disappearance of men's pigtails and women's bound feet to modern crowds and changing cityscapes.
Communism
The outbreak of war with Japan in 1937 inaugurated another period of brutal change, reflected in portraits of warlords and news photographs of bombing, refugees, and executions. Other kinds of photography fell victim to the need to survive. After the 1949 communist takeover, photographic diversity faded and propaganda needs became paramount. Themes included the Long March and the dedication of the People's Liberation Army. Myriad bicycles on posters and in news photographs testified to prosperity. Old age was secure, and youth was China's vanguard and future. Snapshots from the 1970s show the vast expanse of Tiananmen Square, carved out of old Beijing; clean, healthy workers in the new factory or agricultural commune; kindergarten toddlers eager to learn for Mao; barefoot doctors; people performing their gymnastics in any convenient space; cultural minorities secure in their identities, yet fully part of China. During the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), such subjects were overshadowed by the little red book, the Red Guards and their mass demonstrations and public shaming sessions, and the revolutionary Peking Opera. But, throughout, a single vision was spread, that of Mao's successful revolution. To a significant extent, this message was propagated by Western visitors and photojournalists—an echo of the 19th-century situation in which China's image in the outside world was formed and disseminated by foreigners. Much more still needs to be known and written about Chinese photographic practice under Mao. The work of Li Zhensheng in the north-eastern province of Heilongjiang in the 1960s and 1970s, smuggled abroad when he left China, so far remains exceptional in size and importance. In the meantime, the growth of urban affluence, consumerism, and a degree of cultural pluralism in the post-Maoist period has been accompanied by a predictable upsurge of camera ownership and photographic activity.
— Régine Thiriez
Bibliography
| Dictionary of Dance: China |
The country has a long tradition of folk and acrobatic dance, which reached the height of virtuosity as part of the Peking Opera. Western theatrical dance found a toehold in China in the middle of the 20th century, under the guidance of the Soviets. China's first ballet company was the Experimental Ballet Troupe, set up in the Beijing Dance Academy, which had been founded in 1954. Teachers from the Bolshoi and the Kirov helped to establish the Beijing school and the Shanghai Dance School in 1960. In 1959 the Beijing students staged their first full-length ballet, Swan Lake, under the guidance of the Russian ballet master Petr Gusev; this marked the founding of China's national ballet company (the Central Ballet of China). In 1962 the Beijing Ballet (as it was then known) made its first international foray, visiting Burma. In 1964 the British ballerina Beryl Grey went to China to work with the company. However, with the arrival of the Cultural Revolution in the mid-1960s ballet was denounced as politically damaging. With relations between the Soviet Union and China now severed, China was left to go its own way. In the absence of foreign teachers and choreographers, and in an effort to appease its political opponents, Chinese ballet turned to national revolutionary subject-matter, most notably, in 1964, with the groundbreaking The Red Detachment of Women and The White-Haired Girl (staged by the Shanghai School of Dance), both of which were personally supervised by Mao Zedong's wife and both of which were performed to the exclusion of all else until the end of the Cultural Revolution. The style of these new ballets blended the classical academic vocabulary with the more athletic feats of traditional Chinese mime. Western classical ballet was reintroduced into China in the 1970s. Today the leading company is the Beijing-based Central Ballet of China (also called the National Ballet of China), which draws its dancers from the Beijing Dance Academy. The Shanghai Ballet is the country's second company. In 1992 the Guangdong Modern Dance Company was founded by the Chinese Government, the first professional modern dance company in China. In 1993 the Beijing Dance Academy started a modern dance course and some of its graduates have been taken into the Beijing Modern Dance Company.
| Buddhism Dictionary: China |
Buddhism first entered China some time during the 1st century ce, probably with foreign traders who arrived via the Silk Road or from the maritime route along the south-eastern seaboard. For the first two centuries or so, it existed primarily among immigrant settlements, while slowly making its presence known among the native Chinese population. As interest grew during the 2nd century, a few monks began translating scriptures into Chinese. Notable among these were An Shih-kao and Lokakṣema. With the fall of the Han dynasty in the early 3rd century, interest in Buddhism among the Chinese increased as the unstable political situation inspired people to seek new answers. At the same time, the division of China into kingdoms north and south of the Yangtze River gave Buddhism a different character in these two regions. In the north, greater proximity to India meant that Buddhism in this region had a greater number of Indian and central Asian monks and meditation teachers, and so tended to emphasize religious practice over textual study. In addition, from the early 4th century to the late 6th, the north was under non-Chinese rule. These ‘barbarian’ rulers favoured Buddhism and many monks served as court advisers, giving Buddhism in the north a more overtly political character. Many of the literati had fled the troubles of the north and migrated to the Southern Kingdoms, bringing with them their emphasis on literary skill. In addition to this, the Northern Kingdoms blocked their access to the living traditions of India and Central Asia, and so the south developed a more literary approach to Buddhist study. During this time, Tao-an (312-85) produced the first catalogue of Buddhist scripture, and he and his disciples worked to produce critical editions of scriptures and treatises, and to develop principles for their translation into Chinese. It was during this period that Kumārajīva arrived in 402 and opened his translation bureau in the north, producing some of the finest translations from Sanskrit, many of which are still considered the standard. His rendering of Indian Madhyamaka texts led to the foundation of the San-lun (or ‘Three Treatise’) school that specialized in Madhyamaka philosophy. Also, the dissemination of Buddhist texts and teachings among the educated élite led to a prolonged exchange of ideas between Buddhism and Taoism, and Buddhism absorbed and modified many Taoist ideas.
Other significant figures of the Northern and Southern Kingdoms period include Tao-sheng (360-434) a great textual scholar; Lu-shan Hui-yüan (344-416) and T'an-luan (476-542), who helped establish the Pure Land teachings; the San-lun master Seng-chao (374-414); and the great translator Paramārtha (499-569), whose translations of Indian Mind-only (citta-mātra) literature paved the way for the future establishment of the Fa-hsiang school.
China was reunified by the Sui dynasty in 581 bce, but this was quickly toppled by the T'ang dynasty in 618. The T'ang dynasty held power for almost 300 years, and this period represents one of China's golden ages. Buddhism flourished during this period, although it also suffered severe setbacks. Increased affluence and patronage enabled many original thinkers and practitioners to establish schools of Buddhism more in keeping with Chinese cultural and intellectual patterns and less dependent upon pre-existing Indian schools of thought. Examples include Chih-i (538-97), who founded the T'ien-t'ai school; Fa-tsang (643-712), who consolidated the Hua-yen school; and the various meditation masters who established Ch'an as a separate school that transmitted the Buddha-mind directly ‘outside of words and scriptures’. Tao-ch'o (562-645), Shan-tao (613-81), and others continued building up the Pure Land movement, extending T'an-luan's teaching further. During this time Hsüan-tsang (596-664) travelled in India for sixteen years and brought back many texts which he translated into Chinese. After Kumārajīva, he is considered the second of the great translators in Chinese Buddhist history. He concentrated on Indian Yogacāra thought, and, building on the foundation laid by Paramārtha, founded the Fa-hsiang school.
Prosperity brought its own difficulties. As the numbers of ordained clergy increased, the government became concerned about the revenue and labour pool that would be lost due to the clergy's tax-and labour-exempt status. In addition, ever since Buddhism's inception in China some traditional Confucian scholars had decried it as a foreign religion that violated basic Chinese values, especially the loyalty that all citizens owed to the state and the filial piety that sons and daughters owed their parents. In addition, Taoists sometimes saw in Buddhism an antagonist and competitor rather than a colleague. In the past, the government instituted ordination examinations and state-issued certificates to control the size of the Saṃgha, and twice during the Northern and Southern Kingdoms period the state had suppressed Buddhism (in 446 and 574). In the year 845, the T'ang court was incited to suppress Buddhism once again, and for three years it pursued this policy of razing monasteries and temples, forcing clergy back into lay life or even killing them, and burning books, images, and properties. Unlike the previous two persecutions, this suppression happened in a unified China and affected all areas. Scholars are agreed that this event marked the end of Buddhism's intellectual and cultural dominance, as the Saṃgha never recovered its former glory. The T'ien-t'ai and Hua-yen schools experienced some revivals thereafter, but lost most of their vigour. The Pure Land and Ch'an school, being much less dependent upon patronage and scholarship, fared better and became the two dominant schools of Buddhism in China thereafter. After the persecution, Ch'an communities experimented with new teaching methods that circumvented conventional teaching and inculcated a dramatic, instantaneous experience of enlightenment (bodhi). The leading figures in this movement were Ma-tsu Tao-i (709-88), Pai-chang Huai-hai (749-814), Huang-po Hsi-yün (d. 850), Lin-chi I-hsüan (founder of the Lin-chi school, d. 866), Tung-shan Liang-chieh (807-69), and Ts'ao-shan Pen-chi (840-901), the two founders of the Ts'ao-tung school.
After the T'ang, the intellectual vigour of Buddhism was eclipsed by the rise of Neo- Confucianism in the Sung dynasty. Nevertheless, there were significant figures and movements during this time. Many figures worked to reconcile the very different outlooks and methods of the Ch'an and Pure Land schools, notably Yüng-ming Yen-shou (904-75) and Yün-ch'i Chu-hung (1532-1612). The latter was part of a revival of Ch'an in the latter half of the Ming dynasty that also included Tz'u-p'o Chen-k'o (1543-1603), Han-shan Te'-ch'ing (1546-1623), and Ou-i Chih-hsü (1599-1655). All agreed that Pure Land and Ch'an, though differing in method, strove toward the same goal, though Han-shan and Tz'u-p'o still tended to define this goal in Ch'an terms. Chih-hsü, however, emphasized Pure Land teaching almost exclusively and came to be regarded as one of the patriarchs of this school.
From the Ming to the Ch'ing dynasty, Buddhism stagnated (although it remained strong in the central eastern seaboard) until the end of the 19th century, when there was a revival of interest in it as a part of the Chinese heritage that could be brought out to counter Western culture's claims of superiority. During the early years of the 20th century, figures such as Ou-yang Ching-wu (1871-1943) and the monk T'ai-hsü (1889-1947) sponsored new editions of the scripture and advocated a modernized educational system that would bring Buddhism into alignment with modern currents of thought.
The Communist victory in 1949 cut short the revival of Buddhism, as the new regime tried to undercut all societal support for religion in general. The Cultural Revolution proved a catastrophe for Buddhism during the 1960s and 1970s, as Red Guards destroyed many temples and treasures, and clergy were forced to return to lay status and submit to re-education. However, after the death of Communist leader Mao Tse-tung in 1976 and the passing of many of his allies, the government has grown more tolerant, and many monasteries are back in operation. Currently, the Chinese Buddhist Association is a thriving organization, and Chinese universities sponsor the academic study of Buddhism. To what extent Buddhism will recover from the setbacks of the Mao era remains to be seen.
| Columbia Encyclopedia: China |
See also the entries on Chinese architecture, Chinese art, Chinese literature, and Chinese music for aspects of Chinese culture that are not treated in this article.
Land
China may be divided into the following geographic regions: the 12,000-ft-high (3,660-m) Tibetan plateau, bounded in the N by the Kunlun mountain system; the Tarim and Dzungarian basins of Xinjiang, separated by the Tian Shan; the vast Inner Mongolian tableland; the eastern highlands and central plain of Manchuria; and what has been traditionally called China proper. This last region, which contains some four fifths of the country's population, falls into three divisions. North China, which coincides with the Huang He (Yellow River) basin and is bounded in the S by the Qingling Mts., includes the loess plateau of the northwest, the N China plain, and the mountains of the Shandong peninsula. Central China, watered by the Chang (Yangtze) River, includes the basin of Sichuan, the central Chang lowlands, and the Chang delta. South China includes the plateau of Yunnan and Guizhou and the valleys of the Xi and Pearl rivers.
To the extent that a general statement about the climate of such a large country can be made, China may be described as wet in the summer and dry in the winter. Regional differences are found in the highlands of Tibet, the desert and steppes of Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia, and in China proper. There the Qingling Mts. are the major dividing range not only between semiarid N China and the more humid central and S China but also between the grain-growing economy of the north and the rice economy of the south.
China comprises 22 provinces (Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Gansu, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang, and, in the northeast (Manchuria), Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning), five autonomous regions (Tibet, the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region, the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region), and four government-controlled municipalities (Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, and Tianjin). The country officially divides itself into 23 provinces, numbering Taiwan as its 23d. Hong Kong became a special administrative region of China in 1997, and Macao achieved this status in 1999.
People
The Han Chinese (so called for the Han dynasty) make up approximately 92% of the total population. They are linguistically homogeneous in the north, where they speak Mandarin (the basis of the national language, known as putonghua, of China), while in the south Cantonese, Wu, Hakka, and many other dialects are spoken (some 108 dialects are spoken in Fujian prov. alone). Putonghua is spoken as a first or second language by roughly half of the population. The written language is universal; Chinese ideographs are common to all the dialects.
Non-Chinese groups represent only about 8% of the population, but the interior regions in which they live constitute more than half of the total area of the country. Among the main non-Chinese minorities are the Zhuang, a Thai-speaking group, found principally in Guangxi; the Hui (Muslims), found chiefly in Ningxia; the Uigurs, who live mainly in Xinjiang; the Yi (Lolo), who live on the borders of Sichuan and Yunnan; the Tibetans, concentrated in Tibet and Qinghai; the Miao, widely distributed throughout the mountainous areas of S China; the Mongols, found chiefly in the Mongolian steppes; and the Koreans, who are concentrated in Manchuria.
The constitution of the People's Republic of China provides for religious freedom, but religious practice is not encouraged. Traditionally, Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, and ancestor worship were practiced in an eclectic mixture with varying appeals, and these religions have experienced a revival. Islam, the largest monotheistic sect, is found chiefly in the northwest. There is also a small but growing Christian minority. In recent years there have been some well-publicized confrontations between the Chinese government and religious groups. Places of worship for unregistered Christian churches and traditional sects have at times been destroyed, leaders of such groups have been sentenced to death on apparently trumped-up charges, and orthodox Islamic practices have been discouraged or suppressed out of fear that they would be a focus for Muslim-minority separatists. In 1999 the government banned the Falun Gong (Buddhist Law), a spiritual group with broad appeal that has organized public protests, and began an ongoing campaign to eradicate the religion. There also have been a number of attempts to assert government control over Tibetan Buddhism.
After the 1950s there was a steady migration of China's people to growing industrial areas in outlying regions such as Xinjiang, Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, and Qinghai. In addition, there has been increased movement to urban areas since the late 1970s. In the late 1990s, some 60–100 million dislocated rural workers were unable to obtain permanent jobs or government services in the cities because of strict residency requirements under the hukuo system, which binds people to their place of birth. In 2001, however, under pressure from businesses, the government began a gradual reform of the hukuo system.
Economy
Although China is still a developing country with a relatively low per capita income, it has experienced tremendous economic growth since the late 1970s. In large part as a result of economic liberalization policies, the gross domestic product (GDP) increased tenfold between 1978 and 2006, and foreign investment soared during the 1990s; in 2007 China passed Germany to become the world's third-largest economy. China's challenge in the early 21st cent. will be to balance its centralized political system with an increasingly decentralized economic system and increase domestic consumption to diminish its economy's great dependence on exports for growth.
Agriculture is by far the leading occupation, involving almost 50% of the population, although extensive rough, high terrain and large arid areas—especially in the west and north—limit cultivation to only about 15% of the land surface. Since the late 1970s, China has decollectivized agriculture, yielding tremendous gains in production. Even with these improvements, agriculture accounts for only 12% of the nation's GDP. Despite initial gains in farmers' incomes in the early 1980s, taxes and fees have increasingly made farming an unprofitable occupation, and because the state owns all land, farmers have at times been easily evicted when croplands are sought by developers. Additional land reforms adopted in 2008 allow farmers to transfer land use rights.
Except for the oasis farming in Xinjiang and Qinghai, some irrigated areas in Inner Mongolia and Gansu, and sheltered valleys in Tibet, agricultural production is restricted to the east. China is the world's largest producer of rice and wheat and a major producer of potatoes, corn, peanuts, millet, barley, apples, sweet potatoes, sorghum, and soybeans. In terms of cash crops, China ranks first in cotton and tobacco and is an important producer of tea, oilseeds, silk, ramie, jute, hemp, sugarcane, and sugar beets.
Livestock raising on a large scale is confined to the border regions and provinces in the north and west; it is mainly of the nomadic pastoral type. China ranks first in world production of red meat (including beef, veal, mutton, lamb, and pork). Sheep, cattle, and goats are the most common types of livestock. Horses, donkeys, and mules are work animals in the north, while oxen and water buffalo are used for plowing chiefly in the south. Hogs and poultry are widely raised in China, furnishing important export staples, such as leather and egg products. Fish, chicken, and pork supply most of the animal protein in the Chinese diet. Due to improved technology, the fishing industry has grown considerably since the late 1970s.
China is one of the world's major mineral-producing countries. Coal is the most abundant mineral (China ranks first in coal production); high-quality, easily mined coal is found throughout the country, but especially in the north and northeast. There are also extensive iron-ore deposits; the largest mines are at Anshan and Benxi, in Liaoning province. Oil fields discovered in the 1960s and after made China a net exporter, and by the early 1990s, China was the world's fifth-ranked oil producer. Growing domestic demand beginning in the mid-1990s, however, has forced the nation to import increasing quantities of petroleum. Offshore exploration has become important to meeting domestic needs; massive deposits off the coasts are believed to exceed all the world's known oil reserves.
China's leading export minerals are tungsten, antimony, tin, magnesium, molybdenum, mercury, manganese, barite, and salt. China is among the world's four top producers of antimony, magnesium, tin, tungsten, and zinc, and ranks second (after the United States) in the production of salt, sixth in gold, and eighth in lead ore. There are large deposits of uranium in the northwest, especially in Xinjiang; there are also mines in Jiangxi and Guangdong provs. Alumina is found in many parts of the country; China is one of world's largest producers of aluminum. There are also deposits of vanadium, magnetite, copper, fluorite, nickel, asbestos, phosphate rock, pyrite, and sulfur.
Coal is the single most important energy source; coal-fired thermal electric generators provide over 70% of the country's electric power. China's exploitation of its high-sulfur coal resources has resulted in massive pollution. China also has extensive hydroelectric energy potential, notably in Yunnan, W Sichuan, and E Tibet, although hydroelectric power accounts for only 18% of the country's total energy production. Hydroelectric projects exist in provinces served by major rivers where near-surface coal is not abundant. The largest completed project, Gezhouba Dam, on the Chang (Yangtze) River, opened in 1981; the Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest engineering project, on the lower Chang, was largely completed by 2006.
Beginning in the late 1970s, changes in economic policy, including decentralization of control and the creation of “special economic zones” to attract foreign investment, led to considerable industrial growth, especially in light industries that produce consumer goods. In the 1990s a program of shareholding and greater market orientation went into effect; however, state enterprises continue to dominate many key industries in China's “socialist market economy.” In addition, implementation of some reforms was stalled by fears of social dislocation and by political opposition, but by 2007 economic changes had become so great that the Communist party added legal protection for private property rights (while preserving state ownership of all land) and passed a labor law designed to improve the protection of workers' rights (the law was passed amid a series of police raids that freed workers engaged in forced labor). Major industrial products are textiles, chemicals, fertilizers, machinery (especially for agriculture), armaments, processed foods, iron and steel, building materials, plastics, toys, electronics, telecommunications equipment, automobiles, rail cars and locomotives, ships, aircraft, commercial space launch vehicles, and satellites.
Before 1945, heavy industry was concentrated in the northeast (Manchuria), but important centers were subsequently established in other parts of the country, notably in Shanghai and Wuhan. After the 1960s, the emphasis was on regional self-sufficiency, and many factories sprang up in rural areas. The iron and steel industry is organized around several major centers (including Anshan, one of the world's largest), but many smaller iron and steel plants also have been established throughout the country. Brick, tile, cement, and food-processing plants are found in almost every province. Shanghai and Guangzhou are the traditionally great textile centers, but many new mills have been built, concentrated mostly in the cotton-growing provinces of N China and along the Chang (Yangtze) River.
Coastal cities, especially in the southeast, have benefited greatly from China's increasingly open trade policies. Most of China's large cities, e.g. Shanghai, Tianjin, and Guangzhou, are also the country's main ports. Other leading ports are rail termini, such as Lüshun (formerly Port Arthur, the port of Dalian), on the South Manchuria RR; and Qingdao, on the line from Jinan. In the northeast (Manchuria) are large cities and rail centers, notably Shenyang (Mukden), Harbin, and Changchun. Great inland cities include Beijing and the river ports of Nanjing, Chongqing, and Wuhan. Taiyuan and Xi'an are important centers in the less populated interior, and Lanzhou is the key communications junction of the vast northwest. Although a British crown colony until its return to Chinese control in 1997, Hong Kong has long been a major maritime outlet of S China.
Rivers and canals (notably the Grand Canal, which connects the Huang He [Yellow] and Chang [Yangtze] rivers) remain important transportation arteries. The east and northeast are well served by railroads and highways, and there are now major rail and road links with the interior. There are railroads to North Korea, Russia, Mongolia, and Vietnam, and road connections to Pakistan, India, Nepal, and Myanmar. Since the 1980s China has undertaken a major highway and paved road construction program. As part of its continuing effort to become competitive in the global marketplace, China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001; its major trade partners are the United States, Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Taiwan. China's economy, though strengthened by more liberal economic policies since the 1980s, continues to have some inadequacies in transportation, communication, and energy resources.
Government
China is a one-party state, with real power lying with the Chinese Communist party. The country is governed under the constitution of 1982 as amended, the fifth constitution since the accession of the Communists in 1949. The unicameral legislature is the National People's Congress (NPC), consisting of deputies who are indirectly elected to terms of five years. The NPC decides on national economic strategy, elects or removes high officeholders, and can change China's constitution; it normally follows the directives of the Communist party's politburo. The executive branch consists of the president, who is head of state, and the premier, who is head of government. The president is elected by the NPC for a five-year term and and is eligible for reelection. The premier is nominated by the president and approved by the NPC. Administratively, the country is divided into 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, and four municipalities. Despite the concentration of power in the Communist party, the central government's control over the provinces and local governments is limited, and they are often able to act with relative impunity in many areas.
China began to build a modern legal system in the late 1970s, after opening itself economically to the rest of the world. Since then it has developed legal codes in the areas of criminal, civil, administrative, and commercial law. The legal system is not independent of the government, however, a problem that is especially acute on the local level, where corrupt officials manipulate the process to protect themselves and limit citizens' rights.
History
Origins and Early History
The stone tools and fossils of Homo erectus found in N and central China are the earliest discovered protohuman remains in NE Asia; some of the tools date to more than 1.3 million years ago. About 20,000 years ago, after the last glacial period, modern humans appeared in the Ordos desert region. The subsequent culture shows marked similarity to that of the higher civilizations of Mesopotamia, and some scholars argue a Western origin for Chinese civilization. However, since the 2d millennium B.C. a unique and fairly uniform culture has spread over almost all of China. The substantial linguistic and ethnological diversity of the south and the far west result from their having been infrequently under the control of central government.
China's history is traditionally viewed as a continuous development with certain repetitive tendencies, as described in the following general pattern: The area under political control tends to expand from the eastern Huang He and Chang (Yangtze) basins, the heart of Chinese culture, and then, under outside military pressure, to shrink back. Conquering barbarians from the north and the west supplant native dynasties, take over Chinese culture, lose their vigor, and are expelled in a surge of national feeling. Following a disordered and anarchic period a new dynasty may arise. Its predecessor, by engaging in excessive warfare, tolerating corruption, and failing to keep up public works, has forfeited the right to rule—in the traditional view, the dynasty has lost “the mandate of Heaven.” The administrators change, central authority is reestablished, public works constructed, taxation modified and equalized, and land redistributed. After a prosperous period disintegration reappears, inviting barbarian intervention or native revolt.
Although traditionally supposed to have been preceded by the semilegendary Hsia dynasty, the Shang dynasty (c.1523–1027 B.C.) is the first in documented Chinese history (see the table entitled Chinese Dynasties). During the succeeding, often turbulent, Chou dynasty (c.1027–256 B.C.), Confucius, Lao Tzu, and Mencius lived, and the literature that until recently formed the basis of Chinese education was written. The use of iron was the main material advance. The semibarbarous Ch'in dynasty (221–206 B.C.) first established the centralized imperial system that was to govern China during stable periods. The Great Wall was begun in this period. The native Han dynasty period (202 B.C.–A.D. 220), traditionally deemed China's imperial age, is notable for long peaceable rule, expansionist policies, and great artistic achievement.
The Three Kingdoms period (A.D. 220–65) opened four centuries of warfare among petty states and of invasions of the north by the barbarian Hsiung-nu (Huns). In this inauspicious time China experienced rapid cultural development. Buddhism, which had earlier entered from India, and Taoism, a native cult, grew and seriously endangered Confucianism. Indian advances in medicine, mathematics, astronomy, and architecture were adopted. Art, particularly figure painting and decoration of Buddhist grottoes, flourished. Feudalism partly revived under the Tsin dynasty (265–420) with the decay of central authority.
Under the Sui (581–618) and the T'ang (618–907) a vast domain, much of which had first been assimilated to Chinese culture in the preceding period, was unified. The civil service examination system based on the Chinese classics and a renaissance of Confucianism were important developments of this brilliant era. Its fresh and vigorous poetry is especially noted. The end of the T'ang was marked by a withdrawal from conquered border regions to the center of Chinese culture.
The period of the Five Dynasties and the Ten Kingdoms (907–60), which was a time of chaotic social change, was followed by the Sung dynasty (960–1279), a time of scholarly studies and artistic progress, marked by authentication of the Confucian literary canon and the improvement of printing techniques through the invention of movable type. The poetry of the Sung period was derivative, but a new popular literary form, the novel, appeared at that time. Neo-Confucianism developed systematically. Gunpowder was first used for military purposes in this period.
While the Sung ruled central China, barbarians—the Khitai, the Jurchen, and the Tangut—created northern empires that were swept away by the Mongols under Jenghiz Khan. His grandson Kublai Khan, founder of the Yüan dynasty (1271–1368), retained Chinese institutions. The great realm of Kublai was described in all its richness by one of the most celebrated of all travelers, Marco Polo. Improved roads and canals were the dynasty's main contributions to China.
The Ming dynasty (1368–1644) set out to restore Chinese culture by a study of Sung life. Its initial territorial expansion was largely lost by the early 15th cent. European trade and European infiltration began with Portuguese settlement of Macao in 1557 but immediately ran into official Chinese antiforeign policy. Meanwhile the Manchu peoples advanced steadily south in the 16th and the 17th cent. and ended with complete conquest of China by 1644 and with establishment of the Ch'ing (Manchu) dynasty (1644–1912). Under emperors K'ang-hsi (reigned 1662–1722) and Ch'ien-lung (reigned 1735–96), China was perhaps at its greatest territorial extent.
Foreign Intervention in China
The Ch'ing opposition to foreign trade, at first even more severe than that of the Ming, relaxed ultimately, and in 1834, Guangzhou was opened to limited overseas trade. Great Britain, dissatisfied with trade arrangements, provoked the Opium War (1839–42), obtained commercial concessions, and established extraterritoriality. Soon France, Germany, and Russia successfully put forward similar demands. The Ch'ing regime, already weakened by internal problems, was further enfeebled by European intervention, the devastating Taiping Rebellion (1848–65), and Japan's military success in 1894–95 (see Sino-Japanese War, First). Great Britain and the United States promoted the Open Door Policy—that all nations enjoy equal access to China's trade; this was generally ignored by the foreign powers, and China was divided into separate zones of influence. Chinese resentment of foreigners grew, and the Boxer Uprising (1900), encouraged by Empress Tz'u Hsi, was a last desperate effort to suppress foreign influence.
Belated domestic reforms failed to stem a revolution long-plotted, chiefly by Sun Yat-sen, and set off in 1911 after the explosion of a bomb at Wuchang. With relatively few casualties, the Ch'ing dynasty was overthrown and a republic was established. Sun, the first president, resigned early in 1912 in favor of Yüan Shih-kai, who commanded the military power. Yüan established a repressive rule, which led Sun's followers to revolt sporadically.
Early in World War I, Japan seized the German leasehold in Shandong prov. and presented China with Twenty-one Demands, designed to make all of China a virtual Japanese protectorate. China was forced to accept a modified version of the Demands, although the treaties were never ratified by the Chinese legislature. China entered World War I on the Allied side in 1917, but at the Versailles peace conference was unable to prevent Japan from being awarded the Shandong territory. Reaction to this provision in the Versailles treaty led to Nationalist flare-ups and the May Fourth Movement of 1919. At the Washington Conference (1921–22), Japan finally agreed to withdraw its troops from Shandong and restore full sovereignty to China. The Nine-Power Treaty, signed at the Conference, guaranteed China's territorial integrity and the Open Door Policy.
Yüan had died in 1916 and China was disintegrating into rival warlord states. Civil war raged between Sun's new revolutionary party, the Kuomintang, which established a government in Guangzhou and received the support of the southern provinces, and the national government in Beijing, supported by warlords (semi-independent military commanders) in the north. As cultural ferment seethed throughout China, intellectuals sought inspiration in Western ideals; Hu Shih, prominent in the burgeoning literary renaissance, began a movement to simplify the Chinese written language. Labor agitation, especially against foreign-owned companies, became more common, and resentment against Western religious ideas grew.
In 1921, the Chinese Communist party (see Communist party, in China) was founded. Failing to get assistance from the Western countries, Sun made an alliance with the Communists and sought aid from the USSR. In 1926, Chiang Kai-shek led the army of the Kuomintang northward to victory. Chiang reversed Sun's policy of cooperation with the Communists and executed many of their leaders. Thus began the long civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communists. Chiang established (1928) a government in Nanjing and obtained foreign recognition.
A Communist government was set up in the early 1930s in Jiangxi, but Chiang's continued military campaigns forced (1934) them on the long march to the northwest, where they settled in Shaanxi. Japan, taking advantage of China's dissension, occupied Manchuria in 1931 and established (1932) the puppet state of Manchukuo (see Sino-Japanese War, Second). While Japan moved southward from Manchuria, Chiang chose to campaign against the Communists. In the “Xi'an Incident” (Dec., 1936), Chiang was kidnapped by Nationalist troops from Manchuria and held until he agreed to accept Communist cooperation in the fight against Japan.
In July, 1937, the Japanese attacked and invaded China proper. By 1940, N China, the coastal areas, and the Chang (Yangtze) valley were all under Japanese occupation, administered by the puppet regime of Wang Ching-wei. The capital was moved inland to Chongqing. After 1938, Chiang resumed his military harassment of the Communists, who were an effective fighting force against the Japanese. With Japan's attack (1941) on U.S. and British bases and the onset of World War II in Asia, China received U.S. and British aid. The country was much weakened at the war's close.
The end of the Japanese threat and the abolition of extraterritoriality did not bring peace to the country. The hostility between the Chinese Nationalists and the Communists flared into full-scale war as both raced to occupy the territories evacuated by the Japanese. The United States, alarmed at the prospect of a Communist success in China, arranged through ambassadors Patrick J. Hurley and George C. Marshall for conferences between Chiang and the Communist leader Mao Zedong, but these proved unsuccessful.
When the Russians withdrew from Manchuria, which they had occupied in accordance with agreements reached at the Yalta Conference, they turned the Japanese military equipment in that area over to the Chinese Communists, giving them a strong foothold in what was then the industrial core of China. Complete Communist control of Manchuria was realized with the capture of Shenyang (Mukden) in Nov., 1948. Elsewhere in the country, Chiang's Nationalists, supplied by U.S. arms, were generally successful until 1947, when the Communists gained the upper hand.
Sweeping inflation, increased police repression, and continual famine weakened public confidence in the Nationalist government, and much of the population came to at least passively support the Communists. Beijing fell to the Communists without a fight in Jan., 1949, followed (Apr.–Nov., 1949) by the major cities of Nanjing, Hankou, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Chongqing. In Aug., 1949, when little Nationalist resistance remained, the U.S. Dept. of State announced that no further aid would be given to Chiang's government. The Communists, from their capital at Beijing, proclaimed a central people's government on Oct. 1, 1949. The seat of the Nationalist government was moved to Taiwan in Dec., 1949.
The new Communist government was immediately recognized by the USSR and shortly thereafter by Great Britain, India, and other nations. Recognition was, however, refused by the United States, which maintained close ties with Taiwan. By Apr., 1950, the last pockets of Nationalist resistance were cleaned out, and all of mainland China was secure for the Communists.
China under Mao
Mao Zedong and the Communists brought the soaring inflation under control and effected a more equitable distribution of food. A land-reform program was launched, and police control was tightened. During the first five-year plan (1953–57), agriculture was collectivized and industry was nationalized. With assistance from the USSR, construction of many modern large-scale plants was begun, and railroads were built to link the new industrial complexes of the north and northwest. On the international scene, Chinese Communist troops took possession of Tibet in Oct., 1950. That same month Chinese forces intervened in the Korean War to meet a drive by United Nations forces toward the Manchurian border. Large-scale Chinese participation in the war persisted until the armistice of July, 1953, after which China emerged as a diplomatic power in Asia. Zhou Enlai became internationally known through his role at the Geneva Conference of 1954 and at the Bandung Conference of 1955.
The Great Leap Forward, an economic program aimed at making China a major industrial power overnight, was underway by 1958. It featured the expansion of cooperatives into communes, which disrupted family life but offered a maximum use of the labor force. The industrialization program was pushed too fast, resulting in the overproduction of inferior goods and the deterioration of the industrial plant. At the same time, agriculture was neglected. Many scholars have said that this neglect, rather than poor weather conditions as asserted by the government, caused the three successive crop failures of 1959–61; the widespread famine that resulted was responsible for from 15 million to as many as 55 million deaths.
A severe blow to the economy and political system was the termination of Soviet aid in 1960 and the withdrawal of Soviet technicians and advisers—events that revealed a growing ideological rift between China and the USSR. The rift, which began with the institution of a destalinization policy by the Soviets in 1956, widened considerably after the USSR adopted a more conciliatory approach toward the West in the cold war. There were massive military buildups along the USSR-Chinese border, and border clashes erupted in Manchuria and Xinjiang.
Hostility had continued meanwhile between Communist China and the Nationalist government of Chiang Kai-shek, who pledged himself to the reconquest of the mainland. The Communist government insisted upon its right to Taiwan, but the United States made clear its intention to defend that island against direct attack, having even given (1955) a qualified promise to defend the Nationalist-held offshore islands of Quemoy and Matsu as well. China's relations with other Asian nations, at first cordial, were affected by China's encouragement of Communist activity within their borders, the suppression of a revolt in Tibet (1959–60), and undeclared border wars with India in the 1960s over disputed territory. In the Vietnam War, China provided supplies, armaments, and technical assistance as well as militant verbal support to North Vietnam.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s the emphasis of China's foreign policy changed from revolutionary to diplomatic; new contacts were established, and efforts were made to improve relations with many governments. China continued to strengthen its influence with other underdeveloped nations, extending considerable economic aid to countries in South America, Africa, and Asia. Important steps in Chinese progression toward recognition as a world power were the successful explosions of China's first atomic bomb (1964) and of its first hydrogen bomb (1967), and the launching of its first satellite (1970).
Internal dissension and power struggles were revealed in such domestic crises as the momentous Cultural Revolution (1966–76); the death (1971) in an airplane crash of defense minister Lin Biao while he was allegedly fleeing to the Soviet Union after an abortive attempt to assassinate Mao and establish a military dictatorship; and a major propaganda campaign launched in 1973, which mobilized the masses against such widely ranging objects of attack as Lin Biao, the teachings of Confucius, and cultural exchanges with the West.
Economically, the emphasis in the 1960s and early 1970s was on agriculture. After the Cultural Revolution, economic programs were initiated featuring the establishment of many small factories in the countryside and stressing local self-sufficiency. Both industrial and agricultural production records were set in 1970, and, despite serious droughts in some areas in 1972, output continued to increase steadily.
China in Transition
In 1971 long-standing objections to the admission of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations were set aside by the United States; that October, Communist delegates were seated as the representatives of all China and, despite the opposition of the United States, which favored a “two-China” membership, the Nationalist delegation was expelled. A breakthrough in the hostile relations between the United States and Communist China came with the visit of President Richard M. Nixon to Beijing in Feb., 1972. Although U.S. support of Taiwan remained a sensitive issue, the visit resulted in a joint agreement to work toward peace in Asia and to develop closer economic, cultural, and diplomatic ties.
Although Mao had resigned his position as chairman of the People's Republic during the failures of the Great Leap Forward, as chairman of the central committee of the Communist party he remained the most powerful political figure in China. (Liu Shaoqi, who succeeded Mao as chairman of the Republic in 1959, was deposed during the Cultural Revolution.) By the mid-1970s, political power was balanced between the moderates, led by Deng Xiaoping and Premier Zhou Enlai, and the more radical heirs to the Cultural Revolution, led by the Gang of Four, which included Jiang Qing (Mao's wife), Wang Hongwen, Yao Wenyuan, and Zhang Chunqiao. Mao mediated between the two factions.
With the death of Zhou in Jan., 1976, the Gang of Four convinced Mao that Deng's economic plan, the Four Modernizations, would overturn the legacy of Mao's Cultural Revolution. Deng was purged in April, along with many of his supporters, as the Gang of Four consolidated their power. After Mao's death in Sept., 1976, however, a coalition of political and military leaders purged the Gang of Four, and Hua Guofeng, who had succeeded Zhou as premier, became party chairman. Deng was rehabilitated in 1977 and soon was recognized as the most powerful party member, although he was nominally deputy chairman to Hua. In 1980, Hua stepped down from the premiership in favor of Zhao Ziyang, who was Deng's choice.
From 1977, Deng worked toward his two main objectives, to modernize and strengthen the economy and to forge closer political ties with Western nations. To this end, four coastal cities were named (1979) special economic zones in order to draw foreign investment, trade, and technology. Fourteen more cities were similarly designated in 1984. China also decollectivized its cooperative farms, which led to a dramatic increase in agricultural production. In order to control population growth, the government instituted a law limiting families to one child, but protests and widespread infanticide forced the government to moderate its policy somewhat.
The People's Republic of China reached a political milestone when formal diplomatic relations were established with the United States on Jan. 1, 1979. In 1980, the People's Republic took Taiwan's place in the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. China had a brief border war with Vietnam in 1979 over Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia, but China has generally been able to maintain peaceful foreign relations in order to advance its domestic agenda.
In the early 1980s, China reorganized the structure of the government and the CCP, rehabilitating many people purged in the Cultural Revolution and emphasizing the maintenance of discipline, loyalty, and spiritual purity in the face of increasing international contact. Declaring a policy of “One Country, Two Systems,” China reached agreements with both Great Britain (1984) and Portugal (1987) to return to Chinese sovereignty the territories of Hong Kong (in 1997) and Macao (in 1999). In 1987, following a series of student demonstrations, Hu Yaobang, a reformist who had been named general secretary in 1980, was replaced by Zhao Ziyang, who was in turn replaced as premier by Li Peng.
The death of Hu in Apr., 1989, led to the series of protests that culminated in the violent military suppression at Tiananmen Square. The government arrested thousands of suspected dissidents and replaced Zhao as Communist party secretary with Jiang Zemin, who became China's president in 1993. The incident brought on international economic sanctions, which sent China's economy into decline. International trade gradually resumed during the course of the next year, and in June, 1990, after China released several hundred dissidents, the United States renewed China's most-favored-nation trade status.
In the wake of the Tiananmen Square massacre, China sought to avoid sharp political conflict with the West, as by supporting the United Nations coalition in the Persian Gulf War, but tensions continued over such issues as Taiwan. In 1995, in reaction to a U.S. visit by Taiwan's president, Lee Teng-hui, Beijing conducted missile tests in the Taiwan Strait, and in early 1996 China conducted military exercises and missile tests close to the shores of Taiwan, in an attempt to inhibit those voting in the Taiwanese presidential election. Although it released some dissidents, the regime continued to clamp down on dissent; examples of its hard line were the long sentences given out to human-rights activist Wei Jingsheng in 1995 and political activists Xu Wenli and Qin Yongmin in 1998. In July, 1999, the Chinese government outlawed the Falun Gong (Buddhist Law) spiritual movement after a group of several thousand rallied to urge the sect's official recognition. Official corruption, economic, social, and ethnic inequality, and oppressive rural taxes sparked an increasing number of public protests beginning in the late 1990s.
Economic change continued, with the encouragement of Deng Xiaoping, and in 1993 a revision of China's constitution called for the development of a “socialist market economy” in which the Communist party would retain political power while encouraging a free market economy. Deng died in 1997, and Zhu Rongji replaced Li Peng as prime minister in 1998. Floods inundated the Chang (Yangtze) River valley in Aug., 1998, killing over 2,000 people and leaving millions homeless.
In May, 1999, during the Kosovo crisis, the Chinese embassy in Belgrade was mistakenly bombed by NATO, unleashing large anti-American demonstrations in Beijing. In the same month, China was accused by the United States of stealing nuclear design secrets that enabled it to substantially accelerate its weapons program. Nonetheless, a trade agreement was signed in November with the United States that led to Chinese membership (2001) in the World Trade Organization. Also in November, China advanced its space program with the test launching of an unmanned space capsule.
Relations with the United States again became tense in Apr., 2001, after a Chinese fighter and U.S. surveillance plane collided in mid-air, killing the Chinese pilot. Three months later Russia and China signed a friendship and cooperation treaty that seemed in part a response to the G. W. Bush administration's arms sales to Taiwan and push to develop a ballistic missile defense system.
Beginning in 2001 the Chinese Commmunist party began yet another transition, both in its membership and leadership. That year, Jiang Zemin urged the party to recruit business people as members, declaring in the doctrine of the “three represents” that the party must represent capitalists in addition to workers and peasants. The following year, Jiang resigned as party leader and was replaced by Hu Jintao. Hu replaced Jiang as president in 2003, and Wen Jiabao became prime minister. Jiang remained extremely influential, however, in both the party and the government, and retained his chairmanship of the powerful national and party military commissions until Sept., 2004.
The government's handling in 2003 of an outbreak of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) that began in S China harmed the nation's international image when the outbreak went unreported (and then underreported), enabling it to spread more readily. Severe measures instituted subsequently to curb the illness hurt the service sector of the economy, but by the end 2003 China had experienced a robust growth rate of more than 9% and a major urban building boom, resulting in part from the migration of rural inhabitants to the cities (22 cities had more than 2 million residents). In 2003, China and India signed a border pact that represented an incremental improvement in their relations, and two years later a new agreement called for the settlement of border issues between the two nations. Also in 2003 a trade pact giving Hong Kong businesses greater access to China's markets also was signed. In Oct., 2003, China became the third nation to put an astronaut into orbit when Shenzhou 5, carrying Yang Liwei, was launched.
Continuing vigorous economic growth in 2004 led the government to put in place a series of measures designed to slow growth to control inflation and reduce overinvestment. Also in 2004, relations with Taiwan become more strained with the reelection of Chen Shui-bian, who had called for Taiwan to declare formal independence from China, as the island's president. In Mar., 2005, China passed an antisecession law that called for the use of force if peaceful means failed to bring about reunification with Taiwan; the law sparked protests in Taiwan. At the same time, China welcomed visits from Taiwanese opposition leaders, who pledged to follow less confrontational approaches to relations with the mainland.
Early 2005 also saw increased tensions with Japan over how Japanese actions during World War II were treated in Japanese textbooks, over the possible appointment of Japan to a permanent UN Security Council seat, and over a disputed exclusive economic zone in the East China Sea. The issues sparked sometimes destructive demonstrations in China. Meanwhile, in Nov., 2004, China signed a free-trade agreement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN); under the accord, tariffs on many goods will be eliminated with the richer ASEAN members by 2010 and with the rest by 2015. Trade was also an issue with the United States, which called in early 2005 (and subsequently) for China to revalue its currency because of its large trade imbalances with China, whose economy continued its booming growth during into the following year. The tensions with Taiwan and Japan also continued into 2006, and the government became increasingly concerned with the disparity between richer urban and poorer rural China, which had become even more marked since the turn of the century and sparked a growing number of sometimes violent demonstrations. Shanghai's local Communist party leader, who was also a member of the politburo, was dismissed in Sept., 2006, for corruption, but the move was largely seen as a consolidation of power by President Hu rather than a concerted attempt to weed out corrupt officials.
North Korea's test of a nuclear weapon in Oct., 2006, highlighted China's complex relations with its northeastern neighbor. Although China is widely regarded as having more influence than any other nation with North Korea and objected to the test, it was unable to prevent it. Concerned about instability on the Korean peninsula and a potential influx of Korean refugees into NE China, China supported a resolution condemning North Korea and imposing sanctions but expressed reservations about searching North Korean ships and other trade traffic. China did, however, pressure the North to back down on conducting a second nuclear test.
Trade relations with the United States again became problematic in 2007. Following extremely strong economic growth in 2006, which contributed to China huge trade surplus and foreign currency reserves, the United States, under growing domestic pressure, instituted tariffs on some Chinese goods, asserting that the goods were illegally subsidized. China denounced the move, which appeared in part to have been made because of China's reluctance to revalue its currency more quickly. In May, 2007, China announced it would ease restrictions a little on the daily fluctuation of its currency, a largely symbolic move that nonetheless promised a gradual rise in the currency's value. Relations with the United States were also complicated by a successful Chinese antisatellite weapon test (Jan., 2007), which suggested that China might cripple U.S. navigation and communication satellites if the Americans aided Taiwan in the event of a Chinese-Taiwanese war. Inflation became an increasing problem during 2007 in the fast-growing Chinese economy, despite Chinese measures to control it, and China's trade surplus continued to grow (by almost 50% in 2007).
In Jan.–Feb., 2008, some of the harshest winter weather in a century caused hardships in central and E China, and severely stressed China's transportation and energy systems, leading to some industry slowdowns and stranding millions of Chinese New Year travelers. More than 300,000 troops and 1.1 million auxiliary forces were mobilized to clear roads, deliver supplies, and the like. In Mar., 2008, there were anti-Chinese protests and riots in Tibet, and Tibetans elsewhere in China, especially in neighboring provinces, also demonstrated against Chinese rule. The Tibetan protests also led international supporters of Tibetan autonomy or independence to use world events associated with the 2008 Beijing summer Olympics to demonstrate against Chinese rule in Tibet. In April, President Hu met briefly with Taiwan's vice president–elect; the highest ranking meeting with the Taiwanese since the Communist revolution, it signaled the likelihood of much less confrontational relations with the newly elected Kuomintang government of Taiwan. Regular commercial air service between China and Taiwan began three months later.
A devastating earthquake struck SW China in May; centered on N central Sichuan prov.; it killed at least 69,000 persons, many of whom died when substandard new buildings, including a number of schools, collapsed. The disaster was notable for the largely uncensored media coverage it initially received in China, but after several weeks coverage was limited and public displays of mourning were suppressed by the police. In July, 2008, China and Russia signed an agreement that finalized the demarcation of their shared borders; the pact was the last in a series of border agreements (1991, 1994, and 2004).
In Sept., 2008, in response to signs that economic growth in China was slowing during the global financial downturn, the government reversed a five-year monetary-tightening policy intended to fight inflation and abruptly cut interest rates while also easing lending restrictions on Chinese banks. That same month a series of product contamination scandals (2007–8) involving pet-food ingredients, toys, and other products produced by Chinese companies culminated in a powdered-milk adulteration case that sickened more than 50,000 Chinese infants and affected both domestic and exported products and led many nations to ban or restrict imports of Chinese food products containing milk. In a marked improvement in relations, China and Taiwan in November signed agreements that would increase direct trade and transportation between them. Also that month, the Chinese government announced a major economic stimulus package in response to the global financial crisis and economic downturn of 2008, which had a significant effect on the export-driven Chinese economy.
Bibliography
See A. D. Barnett, China on the Eve of the Communist Takeover (1963, repr. 1985) and Communist China: The Early Years, 1949–1955 (1963); F. H. Schurmann and O. Schell, The China Reader (3 vol., 1967); E. H. Schafer et al., Ancient China (1968); W. Franke, A Century of Chinese Revolution, 1851–1949 (tr. 1970); L. Bianco, Origins of the Chinese Revolution, 1915–1949 (1971); E. Snow, The Long Revolution (1972); C. P. Fitzgerald, The Southern Expansion of the Chinese People (1972) and China: A Short Cultural History (1985); J. K. Fairbank and D. Twitchett, ed., The Cambridge History of China (15 vol., 1978–); P. C. Huang, The Peasant Economy and Social Change in North China (1985); D. N. Keightley, ed., Early China (1985); Y. C. Jao and C. K. Leung, ed., China's Special Economic Zones: Problems and Prospects (1986); J. Needham, Science and Civilization in China (6 vol., 1954–86); E. Joffe, The Chinese Army after Mao (1987); V. P. Lippit, The Economic Development of China (1987); T. P. Lyons, Economic Integration and Planning in Maoist China (1987); S. A. Adshead, China in World History (1988); T. Cannon and A. Jenkins, ed., The Geography of Contemporary China (1988); Z. Liu, The Economic Geography of China (1988); T. Tsou, The Cultural Revolution and Post-Mao Reforms (1988); J. Y. Cheng, ed., China: Modernization in the 1980s (1989); P. Link et al., ed., Popular Culture in Contemporary China (1989); D. MacInnis, Religious Policy and Practice in China Today (1989); I. C. Y. Hsü, The Rise of Modern China (1990); C. Smith, China (1990); K. Lieberthal, Governing China: From Revolution through Reform (1995); J. Becker, Hungry Ghosts: Mao's Secret Famine (1997); R. MacFarquhar, The Origins of the Cultural Revolution (3 vol., 1974–97); J. D. Spence, The Chan's Great Continent (1998); M. Loewe and E. L. Shaughnessy, ed., The Cambridge History of Ancient China (1999).
| Psychoanalysis: China |
Unlike in Japan and Korea, psychoanalysis in China has had a relatively checkered history. Freud's ideas achieved some notoriety in the 1920s during a period of significant social and political reform but were otherwise not taken seriously until the 1930s when the first translations began to appear. To this day, only a handful of Freud's works have been translated into Chinese.
Early translations resulted in some distortions of the original ideas for several reasons. There has been a tendency for translators to directly borrow the Japanese terminology as the two languages share a common writing system in kanji—characters, even though the same characters may mean different things in the two languages. This has produced occasional errors, as, for example, with China's initial use of the Japanese term muisiki for "Unconscious", which literally means, in Chinese, "without consciousness."
More systematic distortions were also evident. There was concern in some quarters that Freud's theory, which appeared to grant primacy to a free-reigning sexuality, could be construed as a threat to the stability of family relations. Some interpretations of the Oedipus complex were desexualised, emphasizing a social component. The female author Yonqin, writing in 1930 about Freud's theory of hysteria (and omitting all references to infantile sexuality), stated that the condition arises out of conflict between social pressure and the "biological instinct for satisfaction and fulfilment." A motive for translating Freud, in one translator's eyes, was to forewarn a general public of the dangers of taking Freud too seriously (Zhang, 1989).
By contrast, very serious attempts have been made to rethink the oedipal myth in terms of culturally prevalent myths. In China the myth of Hsueh Jen Keui tells of a soldier of the Tang dynasty who kills his own son in ignorance of the kinship tie, preserving the authority of the father; some commentators have held that this becomes an exemplar of the Confucian ethic of filial piety (Zhang, 1989).
Sometimes translations of psychoanalytic and scientific articles based upon primary sources were written with a clear political purpose. The May Fourth movement of 1919 had heralded a brief renaissance in which there had been increasing call from intellectuals to modernize China and shake off certain feudalistic practices and "superstitions." Freudian notions of sexual tension in families proved compelling to those calling for social reform. Freudian ideas could be claimed to be useful because of their allegiance to biology, medicine and education.
As several commentators have amply documented, psychiatry, as a separate discipline, was in its infancy in China before 1949. There was a home for the mentally ill in Canton which opened in 1898 run by an American missionary doctor. Before that there appears to have been little in the way of psychiatric services. By the time the Communist Party came to power a small number of psychiatric hospitals appeared in the major cities where foreign influence was quite high. The most significant was the Peking Union Medical College which launched the first full-scale academic program in 1932 with new initiatives in teaching and practice involving the disciplines of sociology and social work.
However, psychoanalysis as therapy has not easily taken root in China. This is because, it has been argued, there has been no tradition of expressiveness in the doctor-patient relationship and the doctor in a traditional Chinese setting adopts an authoritarian attitude towards patients. Before WWII there had been only one Chinese psychoanalyst, Bingham Dai, who trained under Harry Stack Sullivan and taught psychotherapy at Peking Municipal Psychopathic Hospital (allied to the Peking Union Medical College) from 1935-39. While he was of the view that, but for the Japanese invasion, psychoanalysis might have taken root in China, he downplayed the theoretical importance Freud attached to the instinctual impulses, claiming that Chinese clinicians emphasised interpersonal relations, and gave more attention to helping their patients tackle the problems of being human (Blowers, 2004).
One should also note that Chinese typically present psychological problems as somatic complaints and have deeply ingrained philosophical systems of thought for which traditional practices such as worshipping of ancestors and visits to the temple to seek one's fortune serve in times of distress.
These practices have been understood by Unschuld (1980, cited in Gerlach, 1995) as embodying a "Medicine of parallels," evolving out of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism in which "visible and invisible occurrences in the internal and external worlds of the human being (e.g. emotions, internal organs, climatic conditions, elements) are allocated to particular series of parallels and are mutually dependent on each other. Thus the dividing lines between internal and external, mind and body, are removed and a change in one link in the series of parallels will directly affect the others" (Gerlach, p. 94). These systems of thought have also been influenced by turbulent political events. After the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, the Communist government severed all ties with non-Communist countries. Attention became focused on Russia. In the early part of its first decade, all psychological work in the PRC was based upon Russian psychology and followed Pavlov's work very closely. When this model proved less than satisfactory for explaining all psychological phenomena, there then followed two very difficult periods in which psychology was criticised and eventually shut down along with many other disciplines in the second of these periods that became known as the "Proletariat or Cultural Revolution". Only since 1978 has psychology emerged with a new agenda, largely free of previous political constraints.
During the 1980s visiting psychoanalysts to China (Joseph, 1987) formed the impression that, insofar as psychotherapeutic methods are applied, they are oriented to behavioral therapy or use supportive techniques. They argued, however, that this circumstance maybe connected with traditional Chinese cultural patterns, which discourage both disclosure and communication about one's own feelings and thoughts to strangers and openness to sexual desires. Insight-oriented psychotherapies face obstacles both in the traditional pattern of Chinese thought and in conflicts leading to feelings of shame more than guilt. However, there have been substantive changes since the 1980s, both in the doctor-patient relationship and in the status of psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy, in several of China's key cities.
In spite of there being no analysts in the early years of the PRC, by the 1990s things began to change. The German-Chinese Academy for Psychotherapy (GCAP), comprising German family therapists, behavioral therapists, and psychoanalysts under its president, Margarethe Haass-Wiesegart, initiated a range of training programs covering behavioural, systemic and psychoanalytic trends. From 1997-1999 they began a continuous training program of six-week courses in Kunming, Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, and Chengdu; the curriculum consisted of psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy. The analysts involved in this training were Antje Haag, Margarethe Berger and Alf Gerlach, the latter having first lectured in China in the 1980s. A second program was initiated in 2000 in Shanghai and Hefei.
Since 1995 the IPA has also begun reaching out to China, organising a committee for Asia, with China represented by Argentinean-trained Teresa Yuan, of Chinese descent. She began training programs at Beijing Anding Psychiatric Hospital, attended by professionals from universities in Beijing and other Chinese cities. Psychoanalytic psychotherapy has been taught in a variety of psychiatric settings in the above mentioned cities, as well as in Xian, Guangzhou, Nanjing and Hong Kong. Huo Datong, a Chinese analyst trained with a Lacanian orientation in France, recently founded a psychoanalytic center in Chengdu (Yuan, 2000).
Although these developments signal a promising outlook for psychoanalytic methods and their application in China, the range and complexity of Freud's ideas may not be fully appreciated unless and until translation revisions and translation of more of his works are undertaken, clinical psychology gets more firmly established, and the therapeutic context is expanded to encompass thorough education on a range of treatments and the possibilities of the individual psychotherapeutic scheme.
Bibliography
Blowers, G.H. (2004). Bingham Dai, Adolf Storfer, and the tentative beginnings of psychoanalytic culture in China: 1935-1941. Psychoanalysis and History, 6 (1), 93-105.
Gerlach, A. (1995) China. In P. Kutter (Ed.) PsychoanalysisInternational: A guide to Psychoanalysis throughout the world (Vol. 2, pp. 94-102). Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt: From-man-Holzboog.
Joseph, E.D. (1987). Psychiatry and psychoanalysis in the People's Republic of China: a transcultural view. In R. Fine (Ed.), Psychoanalysis around the world. New York: Howarth Press.
Yuan, T. A. (2000). China in the history of psychoanalysis: a possible fate for psychoanalysis at the dawn of the millennium. 8th International Meeting of the International Association for the History of Psychoanalysis.
Zhang, Jingyuan. (1989). Sigmund Freud and Modern Chinese Literature. Ph.D. dissertation. Cornell University.
—GEOFFREY H. BLOWERSAND TERESA YUAN
| Geography: China |
Nation in eastern Asia, bordered by Russia and North Korea to the east; Russia and Mongolia to the north; Russia and Afghanistan to the west; and Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Burma, Laos, and Vietnam to the south. Its capital is Beijing, and its largest city is Shanghai.
| Statistics: China |
Introduction
| Background: | For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. After World War II, the Communists under MAO Zedong established an autocratic socialist system that, while ensuring China's sovereignty, imposed strict controls over everyday life and cost the lives of tens of millions of people. After 1978, his successor DENG Xiaoping and other leaders focused on market-oriented economic development and by 2000 output had quadrupled. For much of the population, living standards have improved dramatically and the room for personal choice has expanded, yet political controls remain tight. |
Geography
| Location: | Eastern Asia, bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam |
| Geographic coordinates: | 35 00 N, 105 00 E |
| Map references: | Asia |
| Area: | total: 9,596,960 sq km land: 9,326,410 sq km water: 270,550 sq km |
| Area - comparative: | slightly smaller than the US |
| Land boundaries: | total: 22,117 km border countries: Afghanistan 76 km, Bhutan 470 km, Burma 2,185 km, India 3,380 km, Kazakhstan 1,533 km, North Korea 1,416 km, Kyrgyzstan 858 km, Laos 423 km, Mongolia 4,677 km, Nepal 1,236 km, Pakistan 523 km, Russia (northeast) 3,605 km, Russia (northwest) 40 km, Tajikistan 414 km, Vietnam 1,281 km regional borders: Hong Kong 30 km, Macau 0.34 km |
| Coastline: | 14,500 km |
| Maritime claims: | territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin |
| Climate: | extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in north |
| Terrain: | mostly mountains, high plateaus, deserts in west; plains, deltas, and hills in east |
| Elevation extremes: | lowest point: Turpan Pendi -154 m highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m |
| Natural resources: | coal, iron ore, petroleum, natural gas, mercury, tin, tungsten, antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite, aluminum, lead, zinc, uranium, hydropower potential (world's largest) |
| Land use: | arable land: 14.86% permanent crops: 1.27% other: 83.87% (2005) |
| Irrigated land: | 545,960 sq km (2003) |
| Natural hazards: | frequent typhoons (about five per year along southern and eastern coasts); damaging floods; tsunamis; earthquakes; droughts; land subsidence |
| Environment - current issues: | air pollution (greenhouse gases, sulfur dioxide particulates) from reliance on coal produces acid rain; water shortages, particularly in the north; water pollution from untreated wastes; deforestation; estimated loss of one-fifth of agricultural land since 1949 to soil erosion and economic development; desertification; trade in endangered species |
| Environment - international agreements: | party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
| Geography - note: | world's fourth largest country (after Russia, Canada, and US); Mount Everest on the border with Nepal is the world's tallest peak |
People
| Population: | 1,321,851,888 (July 2007 est.) |
| Age structure: | 0-14 years: 20.4% (male 143,527,634/female 126,607,344) 15-64 years: 71.7% (male 487,079,770/female 460,596,384) 65 years and over: 7.9% (male 49,683,856/female 54,356,900) (2007 est.) |
| Median age: | total: 33.2 years male: 32.7 years female: 33.7 years (2007 est.) |
| Population growth rate: | 0.606% (2007 est.) |
| Birth rate: | 13.45 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Death rate: | 7 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Net migration rate: | -0.39 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Sex ratio: | at birth: 1.11 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.134 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.057 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.914 male(s)/female total population: 1.06 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
| Infant mortality rate: | total: 22.12 deaths/1,000 live births male: 20.01 deaths/1,000 live births female: 24.47 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
| Life expectancy at birth: | total population: 72.88 years male: 71.13 years female: 74.82 years (2007 est.) |
| Total fertility rate: | 1.75 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: | 0.1% (2003 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: | 840,000 (2003 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - deaths: | 44,000 (2003 est.) |
| Nationality: | noun: Chinese (singular and plural) adjective: Chinese |
| Ethnic groups: | Han Chinese 91.9%, Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean, and other nationalities 8.1% |
| Religions: | Daoist (Taoist), Buddhist, Christian 3%-4%, Muslim 1%-2% note: officially atheist (2002 est.) |
| Languages: | Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghainese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, minority languages (see Ethnic groups entry) |
| Literacy: | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 90.9% male: 95.1% female: 86.5% (2000 census) |
Government
| Country name: | conventional long form: People's Republic of China conventional short form: China local long form: Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo local short form: Zhongguo abbreviation: PRC |
| Government type: | Communist state |
| Capital: | name: Beijing geographic coordinates: 39 55 N, 116 23 E time difference: UTC+8 (13 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) note: despite its size, all of China falls within one time zone |
| Administrative divisions: | 23 provinces (sheng, singular and plural), 5 autonomous regions (zizhiqu, singular and plural), and 4 municipalities (shi, singular and plural) provinces: Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang; (see note on Taiwan) autonomous regions: Guangxi, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Xinjiang Uygur, Xizang (Tibet) municipalities: Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, Tianjin note: China considers Taiwan its 23rd province; see separate entries for the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau |
| Independence: | 221 BC (unification under the Qin or Ch'in Dynasty); 1 January 1912 (Manchu Dynasty replaced by a Republic); 1 October 1949 (People's Republic established) |
| National holiday: | Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China, 1 October (1949) |
| Constitution: | most recent promulgation 4 December 1982 |
| Legal system: | based on civil law system; derived from Soviet and continental civil code legal principles; legislature retains power to interpret statutes; constitution ambiguous on judicial review of legislation; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
| Suffrage: | 18 years of age; universal |
| Executive branch: | chief of state: President HU Jintao (since 15 March 2003); Vice President ZENG Qinghong (since 15 March 2003) head of government: Premier WEN Jiabao (since 16 March 2003); Vice Premier WU Yi (17 March 2003), Vice Premier ZENG Peiyan (since 17 March 2003), and Vice Premier HUI Liangyu (since 17 March 2003) cabinet: State Council appointed by the National People's Congress (NPC) elections: president and vice president elected by the National People's Congress for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); elections last held 15-17 March 2003 (next to be held in mid-March 2008); premier nominated by the president, confirmed by the National People's Congress election results: HU Jintao elected president by the 10th National People's Congress with a total of 2,937 votes (4 delegates voted against him, 4 abstained, and 38 did not vote); ZENG Qinghong elected vice president by the 10th National People's Congress with a total of 2,578 votes (177 delegates voted against him, 190 abstained, and 38 did not vote); 2 seats were vacant |
| Legislative branch: | unicameral National People's Congress or Quanguo Renmin Daibiao Dahui (2,985 seats; members elected by municipal, regional, and provincial people's congresses to serve five-year terms) elections: last held December 2002-February 2003 (next to be held in late 2007-February 2008) election results: percent of vote - NA; seats - NA |
| Judicial branch: | Supreme People's Court (judges appointed by the National People's Congress); Local People's Courts (comprise higher, intermediate, and local courts); Special People's Courts (primarily military, maritime, and railway transport courts) |
| Political parties and leaders: | Chinese Communist Party or CCP [HU Jintao]; eight registered small parties controlled by CCP |
| Political pressure groups and leaders: | no substantial political opposition groups exist, although the government has identified the Falungong spiritual movement and the China Democracy Party as subversive groups |
| International organization participation: | AfDB, APEC, APT, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BCIE, BIS, CDB, EAS, FAO, G-24 (observer), G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MINURSO, MONUC, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS (observer), OPCW, PCA, PIF (partner), SAARC (observer), SCO, UN, UN Security Council, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNMOVIC, UNOCI, UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC |
| Diplomatic representation in the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador ZHOU Wenzhong chancery: 2300 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 328-2500 FAX: [1] (202) 328-2582 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco |
| Diplomatic representation from the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador Clark T. RANDT, Jr. embassy: Xiu Shui Bei Jie 3, 100600 Beijing mailing address: PSC 461, Box 50, FPO AP 96521-0002 telephone: [86] (10) 6532-3831 FAX: [86] (10) 6532-3178 consulate(s) general: Chengdu, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Macau, Shanghai, Shenyang |
| Flag description: | red with a large yellow five-pointed star and four smaller yellow five-pointed stars (arranged in a vertical arc toward the middle of the flag) in the upper hoist-side corner |
Economy
| Economy - overview: | China's economy during the last quarter century has changed from a centrally planned system that was largely closed to international trade to a more market-oriented economy that has a rapidly growing private sector and is a major player in the global economy. Reforms started in the late 1970s with the phasing out of collectivized agriculture, and expanded to include the gradual liberalization of prices, fiscal decentralization, increased autonomy for state enterprises, the foundation of a diversified banking system, the development of stock markets, the rapid growth of the non-state sector, and the opening to foreign trade and investment. China has generally implemented reforms in a gradualist or piecemeal fashion, including the sale of equity in China's largest state banks to foreign investors and refinements in foreign exchange and bond markets in 2005. The restructuring of the economy and resulting efficiency gains have contributed to a more than tenfold increase in GDP since 1978. Measured on a purchasing power parity (PPP) basis, China in 2006 stood as the second-largest economy in the world after the US, although in per capita terms the country is still lower middle-income and 130 million Chinese fall below international poverty lines. Economic development has generally been more rapid in coastal provinces than in the interior, and there are large disparities in per capita income between regions. The government has struggled to: (a) sustain adequate job growth for tens of millions of workers laid off from state-owned enterprises, migrants, and new entrants to the work force; (b) reduce corruption and other economic crimes; and (c) contain environmental damage and social strife related to the economy's rapid transformation. From 100 million to 150 million surplus rural workers are adrift between the villages and the cities, many subsisting through part-time, low-paying jobs. One demographic consequence of the "one child" policy is that China is now one of the most rapidly aging countries in the world. Another long-term threat to growth is the deterioration in the environment - notably air pollution, soil erosion, and the steady fall of the water table, especially in the north. China continues to lose arable land because of erosion and economic development. China has benefited from a huge expansion in computer Internet use, with more than 100 million users at the end of 2005. Foreign investment remains a strong element in China's remarkable expansion in world trade and has been an important factor in the growth of urban jobs. In July 2005, China revalued its currency by 2.1% against the US dollar and moved to an exchange rate system that references a basket of currencies. In 2006 China had the largest current account surplus in the world - nearly $180 billion. More power generating capacity came on line in 2006 as large scale investments were completed. Thirteen years in construction at a cost of $24 billion, the immense Three Gorges Dam across the Yangtze River was essentially completed in 2006 and will revolutionize electrification and flood control in the area. The 11th Five-Year Program (2006-10), approved by the National People's Congress in March 2006, calls for a 20% reduction in energy consumption per unit of GDP by 2010 and an estimated 45% increase in GDP by 2010. The plan states that conserving resources and protecting the environment are basic goals, but it lacks details on the policies and reforms necessary to achieve these goals. |
| GDP (purchasing power parity): | $10.21 trillion (2006 est.) |
| GDP (official exchange rate): | $2.527 trillion (2006 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate: | 11.1% (official data) (2006 est.) |
| GDP - composition by sector: | agriculture: 11.7% industry: 48.9% services: 39.3% note: industry includes construction (2006 est.) |
| Labor force: | 795.3 million (2006 est.) |
| Labor force - by occupation: | agriculture: 45% industry: 24% services: 31% (2005 est.) |
| Unemployment rate: | 4.2% official registered unemployment in urban areas in 2005; substantial unemployment and underemployment in rural areas (2005) |
| Population below poverty line: | 10% (2004 est.) |
| Household income or consumption by percentage share: | lowest 10%: 1.6% highest 10%: 34.9% (2004) |
| Distribution of family income - Gini index: | 46.9 (2004) |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices): | 1.7% (2006 est.) |
| Investment (gross fixed): | 40.9% of GDP (2006 est.) |
| Budget: | revenues: $482.2 billion expenditures: $515.8 billion (2006 est.) |
| Public debt: | 22.1% of GDP (2006 est.) |
| Agriculture - products: | rice, wheat, potatoes, corn, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, apples, cotton, oilseed; pork; fish |
| Industries: | mining and ore processing, iron, steel, aluminum, and other metals, coal; machine building; armaments; textiles and apparel; petroleum; cement; chemicals; fertilizers; consumer products, including footwear, toys, and electronics; food processing; transportation equipment, including automobiles, rail cars and locomotives, ships, and aircraft; telecommunications equipment, commercial space launch vehicles, satellites |
| Industrial production growth rate: | 22.9% (2006 est.) |
| Electricity - production: | 2.372 trillion kWh (2005) |
| Electricity - consumption: | 2.197 trillion kWh (2005) |
| Electricity - exports: | 11.19 billion kWh (2005) |
| Electricity - imports: | 5.011 billion kWh (2005) |
| Oil - production: | 3.631 million bbl/day (2005) |
| Oil - consumption: | 6.534 million bbl/day (2005) |
| Oil - exports: | 443,300 bbl/day (2005) |
| Oil - imports: | 3.181 million bbl/day (2005) |
| Oil - proved reserves: | 16.3 billion bbl (1 January 2006) |
| Current account balance: | $249.9 billion (2006 est.) |
| Exports: | $969.7 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
| Exports - commodities: | machinery and equipment, plastics, optical and medical equipment, iron and steel |
| Exports - partners: | US 21%, Hong Kong 16%, Japan 9.5%, South Korea 4.6%, Germany 4.2% (2006) |
| Imports: | $751.9 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
| Imports - commodities: | machinery and equipment, oil and mineral fuels, plastics, optical and medical equipment, organic chemicals, iron and steel |
| Imports - partners: | Japan 14.6%, South Korea 11.3%, Taiwan 10.9%, US 7.5%, Germany 4.8% (2006) |
| Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: | $1.073 trillion (2006 est.) |
| Debt - external: | $315 billion (2006 est.) |
| Economic aid - recipient: | $NA (2005) |
| Currency (code): | yuan (CNY); note - also referred to as the Renminbi (RMB) |
| Exchange rates: | yuan per US dollar - 7.97 (2006), 8.1943 (2005), 8.2768 (2004), 8.277 (2003), 8.277 (2002) |
| Fiscal year: | calendar year |
Transportation
| Airports: | 467 (2007) |
| Airports - with paved runways: | total: 403 over 3,047 m: 58 2,438 to 3,047 m: 128 1,524 to 2,437 m: 130 914 to 1,523 m: 20 under 914 m: 67 (2007) |
| Airports - with unpaved runways: | total: 64 over 3,047 m: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 13 914 to 1,523 m: 17 under 914 m: 26 (2007) |
| Heliports: | 35 (2007) |
| Pipelines: | gas 22,664 km; oil 15,256 km; refined products 6,106 km (2006) |
| Railways: | total: 75,438 km standard gauge: 75,438 km 1.435-m gauge (20,151 km electrified) (2005) |
| Roadways: | total: 1,870,661 km paved: 1,515,797 km (with at least 34,288 km of expressways) unpaved: 354,864 km (2004) |
| Waterways: | 124,000 km navigable (2006) |
| Merchant marine: | total: 1,775 ships (1000 GRT or over) 22,219,786 GRT/33,819,636 DWT by type: barge carrier 3, bulk carrier 415, cargo 689, carrier 3, chemical tanker 62, combination ore/oil 2, container 157, liquefied gas 35, passenger 8, passenger/cargo 84, petroleum tanker 250, refrigerated cargo 33, roll on/roll off 9, specialized tanker 8, vehicle carrier 17 foreign-owned: 12 (Ecuador 1, Greece 1, Hong Kong 6, Japan 2, South Korea 1, Norway 1) registered in other countries: 1,366 (Bahamas 9, Bangladesh 1, Belize 107, Bermuda 10, Bolivia 1, Cambodia 166, Cyprus 10, France 5, Georgia 4, Germany 2, Honduras 3, Hong Kong 309, India 1, Indonesia 2, Liberia 32, Malaysia 1, Malta 13, Marshall Islands 3, Mongolia 3, Norway 47, Panama 473, Philippines 2, Sierra Leone 8, Singapore 19, St Vincent and The Grenadines 106, Thailand 1, Turkey 1, Tuvalu 25, unknown 33) (2007) |
| Ports and terminals: | Dalian, Guangzhou, Ningbo, Qingdao, Qinhuangdao, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Tianjin |
Military
| Military branches: | People's Liberation Army (PLA): Ground Forces, Navy (includes marines and naval aviation), Air Force (includes airborne forces), and Second Artillery Corps (strategic missile force); People's Armed Police (PAP); Reserve and Militia Forces (2006) |
| Military service age and obligation: | 18-22 years of age for selective compulsory military service, with 24-month service obligation; no minimum age for voluntary service (all officers are volunteers); 18-19 years of age for women high school graduates who meet requirements for specific military jobs (2007) |
| Manpower available for military service: | males age 18-49: 342,956,265 females age 18-49: 324,701,244 (2005 est.) |
| Manpower fit for military service: | males age 18-49: 281,240,272 females age 18-49: 269,025,517 (2005 est.) |
| Manpower reaching military service age annually: | males age 18-49: 13,186,433 females age 18-49: 12,298,149 (2005 est.) |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP: | 4.3% (2006) |
Transnational Issues
| Disputes - international: | based on principles drafted in 2005, China and India continue discussions to resolve all aspects of their extensive boundary and territorial disputes together with a security and foreign policy dialogue to consolidate discussions related to the boundary, regional nuclear proliferation, and other matters; recent talks and confidence-building measures have begun to defuse tensions over Kashmir, site of the world's largest and most militarized territorial dispute with portions under the de facto administration of China (Aksai Chin), India (Jammu and Kashmir), and Pakistan (Azad Kashmir and Northern Areas); India does not recognize Pakistan's ceding historic Kashmir lands to China in 1964; lacking any treaty describing the boundary, Bhutan and China continue negotiations to establish a boundary alignment to resolve substantial cartographic discrepancies, the largest of which lies in Bhutan's northwest; China asserts sovereignty over the Spratly Islands together with Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, and possibly Brunei; the 2002 "Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea" eased tensions in the Spratly's but is not the legally binding "code of conduct" sought by some parties; Vietnam and China continue to expand construction of facilities in the Spratly's and in March 2005, the national oil companies of China, the Philippines, and Vietnam signed a joint accord on marine seismic activities in the Spratly Islands; China occupies some of the Paracel Islands also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan; China and Taiwan continue to reject both Japan's claims to the uninhabited islands of Senkaku-shoto (Diaoyu Tai) and Japan's unilaterally declared equidistance line in the East China Sea, the site of intensive hydrocarbon prospecting; certain islands in the Yalu and Tumen rivers are in dispute with North Korea; China seeks to stem illegal migration of North Koreans; China and Russia have demarcated the once disputed islands at the Amur and Ussuri confluence and in the Argun River in accordance with their 2004 Agreement; in 2006, China and Tajikistan pledged to commence demarcation of the revised boundary agreed to in the delimitation of 2002; demarcation of the China-Vietnam land boundary proceeds slowly and although the maritime boundary delimitation and fisheries agreements were ratified in June 2004, implementation remains stalled; in 2004, international environmentalist and political pressure from Burma and Thailand prompted China to halt construction of 13 dams on the Salween River |
| Refugees and internally displaced persons: | refugees (country of origin): 300,897 (Vietnam), estimated 30,000-50,000 (North Korea) IDPs: 90,000 (2006) |
| Trafficking in persons: | current situation: China is a source, transit, and destination country for women, men, and children trafficked for purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor; the majority of trafficking in China is internal, but there is also international trafficking of Chinese citizens; women are lured through false promises of legitimate employment into commercial sexual exploitation in Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, and Japan; Chinese men and women are smuggled to countries throughout the world at enormous personal expense and then forced into commercial sexual exploitation or exploitative labor to repay debts to traffickers; women and children are trafficked into China from Mongolia, Burma, North Korea, Russia, and Vietnam for forced labor, marriage, and sexual slavery; most North Koreans enter northeastern China voluntarily, but others reportedly are trafficked into China from North Korea; domestic trafficking remains the most significant problem in China, with an estimated minimum of 10,000-20,000 victims trafficked each year; the actual number of victims could be much greater; some experts believe that the serious and prolonged imbalance in the male-female birth ratio may now be contributing to Chinese and foreign girls and women being trafficked as potential brides tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - China failed to show evidence of increasing efforts to address transnational trafficking; while the government provides reasonable protection to internal victims of trafficking, protection for Chinese and foreign victims of transnational trafficking remain inadequate |
| Illicit drugs: | major transshipment point for heroin produced in the Golden Triangle region of Southeast Asia; growing domestic drug abuse problem; source country for chemical precursors, despite new regulations on its large chemical industry |
| Local Cuisine: China |
Peking Duck Holiday Feast
Buddha Jumps Over the Wall Feast Menu
Birthday Party Menu |
Recipes
Wonton SoupGeographic Setting and Environment
The official name of China is the People's Republic of China. Eastern China is made up of lowlands, whereas the middle and western sections of the country are mountainous. The largest river in China is the Yangtze, which travels almost 4,000 miles. Water pollution is a problem in China, but most Chinese people have access to safe drinking water.
About two-thirds of the population lives outside of the cities, but there are many people living in cities, too. More than sixty cities have populations over 750,000. Shanghai has over 14 million people, and Beijing has over 12 million. (To compare to U.S. cities: New York City has about 16 million people, Los Angeles has about 13 million, and Chicago has about 7 million.)
History and Food
Throughout its history, China's growing population has been difficult to feed. By A.D. 1000, China's population reached 100 million (more than one-third of the U.S. population in 2000). The Chinese constantly had to adapt new eating habits because of the scarcity of food. Meat was scarce, so dishes were created using small amounts of meat mixed with rice or noodles, both of which were more plentiful. Vegetables were added, and stir-frying, the most common method of cooking, became a way to conserve fuel by cooking food quickly.
Regional differences in cuisine became noticeable in the 1200s when invaders from neighboring Mongolia swept into China. Cooking styles and customs began to be exchanged between the two countries. As people traveled further from their homes, cooking methods and foods were shared among the different regions within China.
Foods of the Chinese
The Chinese eat many foods that are unfamiliar to North Americans. Shark fins, seaweed, frogs, snakes, and even dog and cat meat are eaten. However, the Chinese follow the spiritual teaching of balance signified by yin ("cool") and yang ("hot"). This philosophy encourages the Chinese to find a balance in their lives, including in the foods they eat. While preparing meals, the Chinese may strive to balance the color, texture, or types of food they choose to eat.
Rice is China's staple food. The Chinese word for rice is "fan" which also means "meal." Rice may be served with any meal, and is eaten several times a day. Scallions, bean sprouts, cabbage, and gingerroot are other traditional foods. Soybean curd, called tofu, is an important source of protein for the Chinese. Although the Chinese generally do not eat a lot of meat, pork and chicken are the most commonly eaten meats. Vegetables play a central role in Chinese cooking, too.
There are four main regional types of Chinese cooking. The cooking of Canton province in the south is called Cantonese cooking. It features rice and lightly seasoned stir-fried dishes. Because many Chinese immigrants to America came from this region, it is the type of Chinese cooking that is most widely known in the United States. Typical Cantonese dishes are wonton soup, egg rolls, and sweet and sour pork.
The Mandarin cuisine of Mandarin provinces in northern China features dishes made with wheat flour, such as noodles, dumplings, and thin pancakes. The best known dish from this region is Peking duck, a dish made up of roast duck and strips of crispy duck skin wrapped in thin pancakes. (Peking was the name of Beijing, the capital of China, until after the Cultural Revolution of the late 1960s. This traditional recipe is still known in the United States as "Peking duck.") Shanghai cooking, from China's east coast, emphasizes seafood and strong-flavored sauces. The cuisine of the Szechuan province in inland China is known for its hot and spicy dishes made with hot peppers, garlic, onions, and leeks. This type of cooking became popular in the United States in the 1990s.
Tea, the beverage offered at most meals, is China's national beverage. The most popular types of tea—green, black, and oolong—are commonly drunk plain, without milk or sugar added. Teacups have no handles or saucers.
See Wonton Soup recipe.
See Eggdrop Soup recipe.
See Sweet and Sour Pork recipe.
See Baat Bo Fon (Rice Pudding) recipe.
See Fried Rice recipe.
Food for Religious and Holiday Celebrations
Although day-to-day cooking in China is quite simple, elaborate meals are served on holidays and festivals. A typical holiday meal might consist of steamed dumplings, suckling pig (or a spicy chicken dish), and a selection of desserts. Unlike in the United States, desserts are generally reserved for special occasions only. Most ordinary meals end with soup.
The most important festival of the year is the Chinese New Year, which is set according the phase of the moon, and falls in January or February. Oysters are believed to bring good fortune and have become a traditional food for dinners celebrating the New Year. Oranges and tangerines (for a sweet life), fish (symbolizing prosperity), and duck are also eaten. Dumplings are commonly eaten in the north. Neen gow, New Year's Cake, is the most common dessert. Each slice of the cake is dipped in egg and pan-fried. A special rice flour makes the cake slightly chewy.
Another important holiday is the Mid-Autumn Festival in September. To celebrate this festival, which occurs during the full moon, the Chinese eat heavy, round pastries called mooncakes. They are filled with a sweet paste and sometimes have an egg yolk in their center. Other foods eaten at this time are rice balls and a special cake called yue bing.
After a baby is one year old, the Chinese only celebrate birthdays every ten years, starting with the tenth birthday. The Chinese eat noodles on their birthdays. They believe that eating long noodles will lead to a long life. Another traditional birthday food is steamed buns in the shape of peaches, a fruit that also represents long life.
See Birthday Noodles with Peanut Sauce recipe.
See Spiced Chicken recipe.
See Almond Cookies recipe.
Mealtime Customs
Togetherness and cooperation is reflected in China's mealtime customs. A dish is never served to just one person, either at home or in a restaurant. Each person has his or her own plate, but everyone at the table shares food. Instead of a knife and fork, the Chinese eat with chopsticks, a pair of wooden sticks held in one hand. Food is cut into bite-size pieces while it is being prepared, so none of it has to be cut at the table. It is considered good manners to hold a bowl of rice up to your mouth with one hand. Chopsticks, held in the other hand, are used to help scoop the rice into the person's mouth. Drinking soup directly from the bowl is also an acceptable custom. It is rude, however, to leave chopsticks sticking straight up in a bowl of rice.
A typical family dinner consists of rice or noodles, soup, and three or four hot dishes. At a formal dinner, there will also be several cold appetizers.
A well-known type of Chinese snack is called dim sum ("touch of heart"). These are bite-size foods served with tea in midmorning, afternoon, or at night. Typical dim sum are filled dumplings, shrimp balls, and spring rolls (also called "egg rolls" in the U.S.). Wontons, which can be boiled in soup, are also served fried as dim sum.
See Fried Wonton recipe.
See Fu Yung Don (Egg Fu Yung) recipe.
Politics, Economics, and Nutrition
The rapidly growing population in China has been difficult to feed throughout history. About 13 percent of the total population in China is undernourished according a report issued by the World Bank in 2000. This problem is most significant away from coastal areas. People living in inland areas are more likely to be poor and to have a diet lacking in adequate nutrition. About 17 percent of children under age five are underweight.
Further Study
Books
Albyn, Carole Lisa, and Lois Webb. The Multicultural Cookbook for Students. Phoenix: Oryx Press, 1993.
Beatty, Theresa M. Food and Recipes of China. New York: PowerKids Press, 1999.
Bremzen, Anya von, and John Welchman. Terrific Pacific Cookbook. New York: Workman Publishing, 1995.
Cook, Deanna F. The Kids' Multicultural Cookbook: Food and Fun Around the World. Charlotte: Williamson Publishing, 1995.
Foo, Susanna. Chinese Cuisine. Shelburne, VT: Chapters Publishing, 1995.
Halvorsen, Francine. Eating Around the World in Your Neighborhood. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1998.
Insight Guide China. London: APA Publications, 1998.
Lo, Eileen Yin-Fei.Chinese Kitchen. New York: William Morrow, 1999.
Yan, Martin. Chinese Cooking for Dummies. Foster City, CA: IDG Books, 2000.
Yu, Ling. Cooking the Chinese Way. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 1982.
Shops for Specialty Ingredients
Chinese ingredients can be found in many large grocery stores. Most cities have Chinese restaurants (where take-out versions of many recipes are available), and many have Asian specialty grocery stores. Look in the business pages of your local telephone book to find specialty grocery stores in your area.
Specialty Orient Foods, Inc. 43-30 38th Street Long Island City, New York 11101 1-800-758-7634; [Online] Available http://www.sofi-ny.com/mail_order/english/mail_order_main_e.htm (accessed January 28, 2001).
The Oriental Pantry 423 Great Road (2A) Acton, MA 01720 (978) 264-4576; [Online] Available http://www.orientalpantry.com (accessed January 28, 2001).
Web Sites
Asia Foods. [Online] Available http://www.asiafoods.com (accessed January 28, 2001).
Chinese Cuisine with Rhonda Parkinson. [Online] Available http://chinesefood.about.com (accessed January 28, 2001).
| Occultism & Parapsychology Encyclopedia: China |
Magic & Superstition
Although systems of magical practice were uncommon in ancient China, there have been many instances of the employment of magical means and the belief in a supernatural world peopled by gods, demons, and other beings. One writer comments: "Although the Chinese mind possessed under such a constitution but few elements in which magic could strike root and throw out its ramifications and influence, yet we find many traces giving evidence of the instinctive movement of the mind, as well as of magical influence; though certainly not in the manner or abundance that we meet with it in India. The great variety of these appearances is, however, striking, as in no other country are they so seldom met with….
"It is easy to understand from these circumstances wherefore we find so few of these phenomena of magic and the visionary and ecstatic state, in other parts of the East so frequent, and therefore they are scattered and uncertain. Accounts are, however, not wanting to show that the phenomena as well as theories of prophecy were known in more remote times. Under the Emperor Hoei Ti, about 304 A.D., a mystical sect arose in China calling themselves 'the teachers of the emptiness and nothingness of all things.' They also exhibited the art of binding the power of the senses, and producing a condition which they believed perfection."
Demonism and Obsession
The Chinese of former times were implicit believers in demons whom they imagined surrounded them on every hand. One writer states, "English officials, American missionaries, mandarins and many of the Chinese literati (Confucians, Taoists and Buddhist believers alike) declare that spiritism in some form, and under some name, is the almost universal belief of China. It is generally denominated 'ancestral worship."' "There is no driving out of these Chinese," stated the missionary Father Gonzalo, "the cursed belief that the spirits of their ancestors are ever about them, availing themselves of every opportunity to give advice and counsel." And Justus Doolittle notes, "The medium consulted takes in the hand a stick of lighted incense to dispel all defiling influences, then prayers of some kind are repeated, the body becomes spasmodic, the medium's eyes are shut, and the form sways about, assuming the walk and peculiar attitude of the spirit when in the body. Then the communication from the divinity begins, which may be of a fault-finding or a flattering character…. Sometimes these Chinese mediums profess to be possessed by some specified historical god of great healing power, and in this condition they prescribe for the sick. It is believed that the ghoul or spirit invoked actually casts himself into the medium, and dictates the medicine."
And in his work China and The Chinese (1869), John L. Nevins observes, "Volumes might be written upon the gods, genii and familiar spirits supposed to be continually in communication with this people. The Chinese have a large number of books upon this subject, among the most noted of which is the 'Liau-chaichei,' a large work of sixteen volumes…. Tu Sein signifies a spirit in the body, and there are a class of familiar spirits supposed to dwell in the bodies of certain Chinese who became the mediums of communication with the unseen world. Individuals said to be possessed by these spirits are visited by multitudes, particularly those who have lost recently relatives by death, and wish to converse with them…. Remarkable disclosures and revelations are believed to be made by the involuntary movements of a bamboo pencil, and through a similar method some claim to see in the dark. Persons considering themselves endowed with superior intelligence are firm believers in those and other modes of consulting spirits."
W. J. Plumb, a public teacher in Chen Sin Ling, states: "In the district of Tu-ching, obsessions by evil spirits or demons are very common." He further writes that "there are very many cases also in Chang-lo." Again he comments: "When a man is thus afflicted, the spirit (Kwei) takes possession of his body without regard to his being strong or weak in health. It is not easy to resist the demon's power. Though without bodily ailments, possessed persons appear as if ill. When under the entrancing spell of the demon, they seem different from their ordinary selves.
"In most cases the spirit takes possession of a man's body contrary to his will, and he is helpless in the matter. The kwei has the power of driving out the man's spirit, as in sleep or dreams. When the subject awakes to consciousness, he has not the slightest knowledge of what has transpired.
"The actions of possessed persons vary exceedingly. They leap about and toss their arms, and then the demon tells them what particular spirit he is, often taking a false name, or deceitfully calling himself a god, or one of the genii come down to the abodes of mortals. Or, perhaps, it professes to be the spirit of a deceased husband or wife. There are also kwei of the quiet sort, who talk and laugh like other people, only that the voice is changed. Some have a voice like a bird. Some speak Mandarin—the language of Northern China—and some the local dialect; but though the speech proceeds from the mouth of the man, what is said does not appear to come from him. The out-ward appearance and manner is also changed.
"In Fu-show there is a class of persons who collect in large numbers and make use of incense, pictures, candles, and lamps to establish what are called 'incense tables.' Taoist priests are engaged to attend the ceremonies, and they also make use of 'mediums.' The Taoist writes a hand, stands like a graven image, thus signifying his willingness to have the demon come and take possession of him. Afterward, the charm is burned and the demon spirit is worshipped and invoked, the priest, in the meanwhile going on with his chanting. After a while the medium spirit has descended, and asks what is wanted of him. Then, whoever has requests to make, takes incense sticks, makes prostrations, and asks a response respecting some dis-ease, or for protection from some calamity. In winter the same performances are carried on to a great extent by gambling companies. If some of the responses hit the mark, a large number of people are attracted. They establish a shrine and offer sacrifices, and appoint days, calling upon people from every quarter to come and consult the spirit respecting diseases….
"There is also a class of men who establish what they call a 'Hall of Revelations.' At the present time there are many engaged in this practice. They are, for the most part, literary men of great ability. The people in large numbers apply to them for responses. The mediums spoken of above are also numerous. All of the above practices are not spirits seeking to possess men; but rather men seeking spirits to possess them, and allowing themselves to be voluntarily used as their instruments.
"As to the outward appearance of persons when possessed, of course, they are the same persons as to outward form as at ordinary times; but the colour of the countenance may change. The demon may cause the subject to assume a threatening air, and a fierce, violent manner. The muscles often stand out on the face, the eyes are closed, or they protrude with a frightful stare. These demons sometimes prophesy.
"The words spoken certainly proceed from the mouths of the persons possessed; but what is said does not appear to come from their minds or wills, but rather from some other personality, often accompanied by a change of voice. Of this there can be no doubt. When the subject returns to consciousness, he invariably declares himself ignorant of what he has said.
"The Chinese make use of various methods to cast out demons. They are so troubled and vexed by inflictions affecting bodily health, or it may be throwing stones, moving furniture, or the moving about and destruction of family utensils, that they are driven to call in the service of some respected scholar or Taoist priest, to offer sacrifices, or chant sacred books, and pray for protection and exemption from suffering. Some make use of sacrifices and offerings of paper clothes and money in order to induce the demon to go back to the gloomy region of Yanchow … As to whether these methods have any effect, I do not know. As a rule, when demons are not very troublesome, the families afflicted by them generally think it best to hide their affliction, or to keep those wicked spirits quiet by sacrifices, and burning incense to them."
An article in the London Daily News gave lengthy extracts from an address upon the Chinese by Mrs. Montague Beaucham, who had spent many years in China in educational work. Speaking of their spiritism, she said, "The latest London craze in using the planchette has been one of the recognized means in China of conversing with evil spirits from time immemorial." She had lived in one of the particular provinces known as demon land, where the natives are bound up in the belief and worship of spirits. "There is a real power," she added, "in this necromancy. They do healings and tell fortunes." She personally knew of one instance that the spirits through the plan-chette had foretold a great flood. The Boxer uprising was prophesied by the planchette. These spirits disturbed family relations, caused fits of frothing at the mouth, and made some of their victims insane. In closing she declared that "Chinese spiritism was from hell," the obsession baffling the power of both Christian missionaries and native priests.
Nevius sent out a circular communication for the purpose of discovering the actual beliefs of the Chinese regarding demonism through which he obtained much valuable information. Wang Wu-Fang, an educated Chinese, writes: "Cases of demon possession abound among all classes. They are found among persons of robust health, as well as those who are weak and sickly. In many unquestionable cases of obsession, the unwilling subjects have resisted, but have been obliged to submit themselves to the control of the demon….
"In the majority of cases of possession, the beginning of the malady is a fit of grief, anger, or mourning. These conditions seem to open the door to the demons. The outward manifestations are apt to be fierce and violent. It may be that the subject alternately talks and laughs; he walks awhile and then sits, or he rolls on the ground, or leaps about; or exhibits contortions of the body and twistings of the neck…. It was common among them to send for exorcists, who made use of written charms, or chanted verses, or punctured the body with needles. These are among the Chinese methods of cure.
"Demons are different kinds. There are those which clearly declare themselves; and then those who work in secret. There are those which are cast out with difficulty, and others with ease.
"In cases of possession by familiar demons, what is said by the subject certainly does not proceed from his own will. When the demon has gone out and the subject recovers consciousness, he has no recollection whatever of what he has said or done. This is true almost invariably.
"The methods by which the Chinese cast out demons are enticing them to leave by burning charms and paper money, or by begging and exhorting them, or by frightening them with magic spells and incantations, or driving them away by pricking with needles, or pinching with the fingers, in which case they cry out and promise to go.
"I was formerly accustomed to drive out demons by means of needles. At that time cases of possession by evil spirits were very common in our villages, and my services were in very frequent demand…."
The missionary Rev. Timothy Richard writes in response to Nevius's circular: "The Chinese orthodox definition of spirit is, 'the soul of the departed'; some of the best of whom are raised to the rank of gods…. There is no disease to which the Chinese are ordi narily subject that may not be caused by demons. In this case the mind is untouched. It is only the body that suffers; and the Chinese endeavour to get rid of the demon by vows and offerings to the gods. The subject in this case is an involuntary one….
"Persons possessed range between 15 and 50 years of age, quite irrespective of sex. This infliction comes on very sudden-ly, sometimes in the day, and sometimes in the night. The demoniac talks madly, smashes everything near him, acquires unusual strength, tears his clothes into rags, and rushes into the street, or to the mountains or kills himself unless prevented. After this violent possession, the demoniac calms down and submits to his fate, but under the most heart-rending protests. These mad spells which are experienced on the demon's en-trance return at intervals, and increase in frequency, and generally also in intensity, so that death at last ensues from their violence.
"Now we proceed to those, who involuntarily possessed, yield to and worship the demon. The demon says he will cease tormenting the demoniac if he will worship him, and he will reward him by increasing his riches. But if not, he will punish his victim, make heavier his torments and rob him of his property. People find that their food is cursed. They cannot prepare any, but filth and dirt comes down from the air to render it uneatable. Their wells are likewise cursed; their wardrobes are set on fire, and their money very mysteriously disappears. Hence arose the custom of cutting off the head of a string of cash that it might not run away…. When all efforts to rid themselves of the demon fail, they yield to it, and say 'Hold! Cease thy tormenting and we will worship thee!' A picture is pasted upon the wall, sometimes of a woman, and sometimes of a man, and incense is burned, and prostrations are made to it twice a month. Being thus reverenced, money now comes in mysteriously, instead of going out. Even mill-stones are made to move at the demon's orders, and the family becomes rich at once. But it is said that no luck attends such families, and they will eventually be reduced to poverty. Officials believe these things. Palaces are known to have been built by them for these demons, who, however, are obliged to be satisfied with humbler shrines from the poor….
"Somewhat similar to the above class is another small one which has power to enter the lower regions. These are the opposite of necromancers, for instead of calling up the dead and learning of them about the future destiny of the individual in whose behalf they are engaged, they lie in a trance for two days, when their spirits are said to have gone to the Prince of Darkness, to inquire how long the sick person shall be left among the living….
"Let us now note the different methods adopted to cast out the evil spirits from the demoniacs. Doctors are called to do it. They use needles to puncture the tips of the fingers, the nose, the neck. They also use a certain pill, and apply it in the following manner: the thumbs of the two hands are tied tightly together, and the two big toes are tied together in the same manner. Then one pill is put on the two big toes at the root of the nail, and the other at the root of the thumb nails. At the same instant the two pills are set on fire, and they are kept until the flesh is burned. In the application of the pills, or in the piercing of the needle, the invariable cry is; 'I am going; I am going immediately. I will never dare to come back again. Oh, have mercy on me this once. I'll never return!' "When the doctors fail, they call on people who practice spiritism. They themselves cannot drive the demon away, but they call another demon to do it. Both the Confucianists and Taoists practice this method…. Sometimes the spirits are very ungovernable. Tables are turned, chairs are rattled, and a general noise of smashing is heard, until the very mediums themselves tremble with fear. If the demon is of this dreadful character, they quickly write another charm with the name of the particular spirit whose quiet disposition is known to them. Lutsu is a favourite one of this kind. After the burning of the charm and incense, and when prostrations are made, a little frame is procured, to which a Chinese pencil is attached. Two men on each side hold it on a table spread with sand or millet. Sometimes a prescription is written, the pencil moving of its own accord. They buy the medicine prescribed and give it to the possessed…. Should they find that burning incense and offering sacrifices fails to liberate the poor victim, they may call in conjurors, such as the Taoists, who sit on mats and are carried by invisible power from place to place. The ascend to a height of twenty or fifty feet, and are carried to a distance of four or five li (about a half mile). Of this class are those who, in Manchuria call down fire from the sky in those funerals where the corpse is burned….
"These exorcists may belong to any of the three religions in China. The dragon procession, on the fifteenth of the first month, is said by some to commemorate a Buddhist priest's victory over evil spirits…. They paste up charms on windows and doors, and on the body of the demoniac, and conjure the demon never to return. The evil spirit answers: 'I'll never return. You need not take the trouble of pasting all these charms upon the doors and windows.' "Exorcists are specially hated by the evil spirits. Sometimes they feel themselves beaten fearfully; but no hand is seen. Bricks and stones may fall on them from the sky or housetops. On the road they may without warning be plastered over from head to foot with mud or filth; or may be seized when approaching a river, and held under the water and drowned."
In his Social Life among the Chinese (2 vols., 1866), Doolittle states, "They have invented several ways by which they find out the pleasure of gods and spirits. One of the most common of their utensils is the Ka-pue, a piece of bamboo root, bean-shaped, and divided in the centre, to indicate the positive and the negative. The incense lighted, the Ka-pue properly manipulated before the symbol god, the pieces are tossed from the medium's hand, indicating the will of the spirit by the way they fall."
The following manifestation is mental rather than physical: "The professional takes in the hand a stick of lighted incense to expel all defiling influences; prayers of some sort are repeated, the fingers interlaced, and the medium's eyes are shut, giving unmistakable evidence of being possessed by some supernatural or spiritual power. The body sways back and forward; the incense falls, and the person begins to step about, assuming the walk and peculiar attitude of the spirit. This is considered as infallible proof that the divinity has entered the body of the medium. Sometimes the god, using the mouth of the medium, gives the supplicant a sound scolding for invoking his aid to obtain unlawful or unworthy ends."
And Sir John Burrowa writes, "Divination with many strange methods of summoning the dead to instruct the living and reveal the future, is of very ancient origin, as is proved by Chinese manuscripts antedating the revelations of the Jewish Scriptures."
An ancient book called Poh-shi-ching-tsung, consisting of six volumes on the source of true divination, contains the following preface: "The secret of augury consists in the study of the mysteries and in communications with gods and demons. The interpretations of the transformations are deep and mysterious. The theory of the science is most intricate, the practice of it most important. The sacred classic says: 'That which is true gives indications of the future.' To know the condition of the dead, and hold with them intelligent intercourse, as did the ancients, produces a most salutary influence upon the parties…. But when from intoxication or feasting, or licentious pleasures, they proceed to invoke the gods, what infatuation to suppose that their prayers will move them. Often when no response is given, or the interpretation is not verified, they lay the blame at the door of the augur, forgetting that their failure is due to their want of sincerity…. It is the great fault of augurs, too, that, from a desire of gain, they use the art of divination as a trap to ensnare the people."
Peebles adds: "Naturally undemonstrative and secretive, the higher classes of Chinese seek to conceal their full knowledge of spirit intercourse from foreigners, and from the inferior castes of their own countrymen, thinking them not sufficiently intelligent to rightly use it. The lower orders, superstitious and money-grasping, often prostitute their magic gifts to gain and fortune-telling. Their clairvoyant fortune-tellers, surpassing wandering gypsies in 'hitting' the past, infest the temples, streets and roadsides, promising to find lost property, discover precious metals and reveal the hidden future."
Ghosts
The Chinese were strong in the belief that they were surrounded by the spirits of the dead. Indeed ancestor-worship constituted a powerful feature in the national faith, involving the likelihood and desirability of communion with the dead. Upon the death of a person they used to make a hole in the roof to permit the soul to effect its escape from the house. When a child was at the point of death, its mother would go into the garden and call its name, hoping thereby to bring back its wandering spirit.
"With the Chinese the souls of suicides are specially obnoxious, and they consider that the very worst penalty that can befall a soul is the sight of its former surroundings. Thus, it is supposed that, in the case of the wicked man, 'they only see their homes as if they were near them; they see their last wishes disregarded, everything upside down, their substance squandered, strangers possess the old estate; in their misery the dead man's family curse him, his children become corrupt, land is gone, the wife sees her husband tortured, the husband sees his wife stricken down with mortal disease; even friends forget, but some, perhaps, for the sake of bygone times, may stroke the coffin and let fall a tear, departing with a cold smile.' "In China, the ghosts which are animated by a sense of duty are frequently seen: at one time they seek to serve virtue in dis-tress, and at another they aim to restore wrongfully held treasure. Indeed, as it has been observed, 'one of the most powerful as well as the most widely diffused of the people's ghost stories is that which treats of the persecuted child whose mother comes out of the grave to succour him.' "The Chinese have a dread of the wandering spirits of persons who have come to an unfortunate end. At Canton, 1817, the wife of an officer of government had occasioned the death of two female domestic slaves, from some jealous suspicion it was supposed of her husband's conduct towards the girls; and, in order to screen herself from the consequences, she suspended the bodies by the neck, with a view to its being construed into an act of suicide. But the conscience of the woman tormented her to such a degree that she became insane, and at times personated the spirits of the murdered girls possessed her, and utilised her mouth to declare her own guilt. In her ravings she tore her clothes and beat her own person with all the fury of madness; after which she would recover her senses for a time, when it was supposed the demons quitted her, but only to return with greater frenzy, which took place a short time previous to her death. According to Mr. Dennys, the most common form of Chinese ghost story is that wherein the ghost seeks to bring to justice the murderer who shuffled off its mortal coil."
Poltergeists were not uncommon in China, and several cases of their occurrence were recorded by the Jesuit missionaries of the eighteenth century in Cochin China.
Symbolism
There are numerous mysteries of meaning in the strange symbols, characters, personages, birds, and beasts that adorn all species of Chinese art objects. For example, a rectangular Chinese vase is feminine, representing the creative or ultimate principle. A group of seemingly miscellaneous art objects, depicted perhaps upon a brush tray, are probably the po-ku, or "hundred antiques" emblematic of culture and implying a delicate compliment to the recipient of the tray. Birds and animals occur with frequency on Chinese porcelains, and, if one observes closely, it is a somewhat select menagerie, in which certain types are emphasized by repetition. For instance, the dragon is so familiar as to be no longer remarked, and yet his significance is perhaps not fully understood by all. There are, in fact, three kinds of dragons, the lung of the sky, the li of the sea, and the kiau of the marshes. The lung is the favorite kind, however, and may be known when met by his having "the head of a camel, the horns of a deer, the eyes of a rabbit, ears of a cow, neck of a snake, belly of a frog, scales of a carp, claws of a hawk, and palm of a tiger." His special office is to guard and support the mansions of the gods, and he is naturally the peculiar symbol of the emperor.
A less familiar beast is the chi-lin, which resembles in part a rhinoceros, but has a head, feet, and legs like a deer, and a tufted tail. In spite of his unprepossessing appearance, he is of a benevolent disposition, and his image on a vase or other ornament is an emblem of good government and length of days. A strange bird, having the head of a pheasant, a long flexible neck, and a plumed tail, may often be seen flying in the midst of scroll-like clouds, or walking in a grove of treepeonies. This is the fengbuang, the Chinese phoenix, emblem of immortality and appearing to mortals only as a presage of the auspicious reign of a virtuous emperor. The tortoise (kuei), which bears upon its back the seagirt abode of the Eight Immortals, is a third supernatural creature associated with strength, longevity, and (because of the markings on its back) the mystic plan of numerals that is a key to the philosophy of the unseen.
Colors have their significance, blue being the color of the heavens, yellow of the earth and the emperor, red of the sun, and white of Jupiter or the Year Star. Each dynasty had its own particular hue, that of the Chou dynasty being described as "blue of the sky after rain where it appears between the clouds."
The apparently haphazard conjunction of objects in the decorative schemes of Chinese art is far from being a matter of chance, but adds to its decorative properties the intellectual charm of symbolic significance.
China in the Modern World
In the great political and economic upheavals of modern times, culminating in the establishment of the People's Republic of China October 1, 1949, many old beliefs, superstitions, and practices have been swept away, but in the emergence of China as a modern nation many skills from the past have also been revived and developed. The references to "pricking with needles" quoted earlier can now be seen as an imperfectly understood observation of the practice of acupuncture, an interesting blend of mystical concepts of anatomy and medical healing. Acupuncture and its associated skills of moxibustion and acupressure are now gaining ground in Western countries.
Also familiar in the West is the group of Asian martial arts, combining mental, physical, and spiritual resources for self-defense in weaponless fighting, or the achievement of apparently paranormal feats of strength and control. These involve the concept of ch'i (or ki), a subtle vital energy that can be controlled by willpower. Also taught in Western countries is the Chinese system of physical exercises known as t'ai chi chuan, originally a self-defense system.
Another element of Chinese tradition to attract popular interest is the I Ching, a book embodying a system of philosophy and divination, now widely consulted in various translations in Western countries.
With the opening up of communications and cultural relations with the West, many ancient Chinese mystical teachings and practices are now becoming more widely known. Chinese astrology is over a thousand years old but has not been familiar in the West nearly as long. Like the Western zodiac, it comprises twelve signs. But it operates on a completely different system; it is based on a 12-year rather than 12-month cycle, and each year is symbolized by the sign of an animal—rat, bull, tiger, cat, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig. The attributes of these animals differ radically from the pejorative associations of the West (for example, rats are intellectual, affable, generous, and fun-loving) and can be found in Chinese astrological manuals.
Buddhism was known in China from the beginning of the Christian era, and the Ch'an or Zen school was established in the sixth century with the arrival of the patriarch Bodhidharma. China developed its own individual forms of yoga, often merging with Taoism. Taoist yoga developed from the Hindu concepts of kundalini and brought together special practices of physical development, diet, and meditation. These were often characterized by the term "K'ai Men," meaning "open door," expressing the idea of Taoist yoga as the doorway to the channels of mind, spirit, and body, and reflecting the harmony and balance of the principles of yin and yang in the universe. These teachings and practices, long a secret tradition, have now gained some attention in the Western countries through such authorities as Lu K'uan Yü (Charles Luk), Mantak Chia, and Maneewan Chia. On a more popular level, the simpler mind-body exercises of t'ai chi chuan, an offshoot of the Taoist tradition, have now been revived widely in China and the rest of the world.
In the pragmatic liberalism of present-day China, religions are now widely tolerated, and in 1968, the Liaoning People's Publishing House released a series of books titled Man and Culture, which included the standard guide to psychical research by Ivor Grattan-Guinness, Psychical Research; A Guide to Its History, Principles, and Practices. This work was issued in celebration of a hundred years of the Society for Psychical Research, London, and its release in China signifies an interest in reputable academic study of parapsychology.
The current Chinese approach to research in claimed paranormal phenomena is in terms of materialistic philosophy, and in place of Western terms like "extrasensory perception," Chinese researchers speak of "EHF" (exceptional human function). A number of Chinese children have claimed to demonstrate such EHF faculties as identifying hidden targets of Chinese written characters, under test conditions (like Western parapsychology tests for ESP with Zener cards or other targets), psychokinesis, and teleportation. A team of five members from the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, the skeptical debunking organization, visited China during March and April of 1988 and while there tested a number of EHF subjects and investigated claims at the Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China, Beijing. CSICOP findings were, as expected, largely negative. For an account of the visit, see The Skeptical Inquirer (12, no. 4, summer 1988).
Sources:
Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine. An Outline of Chinese Acupuncture. China Books, 1975.
Carus, Paul. Chinese Astrology. LaSalle, Ill.: Open Court, 1907.
Cerney, J. V. Acupressure, Acupuncture Without Needles. Virginia Beach, Va.: Cornerstone, 1975.
Chee Soo. Chinese Yoga: The Chinese Art of K'ai Men. London: Gordon & Cremonesi, 1977.
Chia, Mantak. Awaken Healing Energy Through the Tao: The Taoist Secret of Circulating Internal Power. New York: Aurora Press, 1983.
——. Iron Shirt Chi Kung I. Huntington, N.Y.: Healing Tao Books, 1986.
Chia, Mantak, and Maneewan Chia. Healing Love Through the Tao: Cultivating Female Sexual Energy. Huntington, N.Y.: Healing Tao Books, 1986.
Da Lui. T'ai Chu'an and I Ching. New York: Harper & Row, 1972.
Huard, Pierre, and Ming Wong. Oriental Methods of Mental & Physical Fitness: The Complete Book of Meditation, Kinesiotherapy & Martial Arts in China, India & Japan. New York: Funk & Wagnall, 1971.
Latourette, K. C. The Chinese: Their History & Culture. 2 vols. New York: Macmillan, 1934.
Legge, James, trans. I Ching; Book of Changes. New York: Causeway, 1973.
Luk, Charles [Lu K'uan Yü]. The Secrets of Chinese Meditation. London: Rider, 1964.
——. Taoist Yoga: Alchemy and Immortality. London: Rider, 1970.
Morgan, Harry T. Chinese Symbols and Superstitions. P. D. and Ione Perkins, 1942. Reprint, Detroit: Gale Research, 1972.
Sivin, Nathan. Chinese Alchemy. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1968.
Wilhelm, Hans. Your Chinese Horoscope. New York: Avon, 1980.
Yang, C. K. Religion in Chinese Society. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, 1961.
| National Anthem: National Anthem of: China |
Arise, ye who refuse to be slaves; With our very flesh and
blood Let us build our new Great Wall! The peoples of China are in
the most critical time, Everybody must roar his defiance. Arise!
Arise! Arise! Millions of hearts with one mind, Brave the enemy's
gunfire, March on! Brave the enemy's gunfire, March on! March on!
March on, on!
| Politics: People's Republic of China |
The government of China set up in 1949 after the victory of the communist forces of Mao Zedong. The People's Republic ruled the mainland of China, forcing the government of Nationalist China into exile on the island of Taiwan. For years, many Western nations, especially the United States, refused to recognize the People's Republic as the government of mainland China; instead, they exchanged ambassadors only with Nationalist China. The United States recognized the People's Republic as the government of China in 1979.
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| Wikipedia: People's Republic of China |
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| People's Republic of China
Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó |
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| Anthem: "义勇军进行曲" (March of the Volunteers) |
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| Capital | Beijing 39°55′N 116°23′E / 39.917°N 116.383°E |
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| Largest city | Shanghai | |||||
| Official languages | Standard Mandarin (spoken)[1] Simplified Chinese (written)[1] |
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| Recognised regional languages | See Languages of China | |||||
| National language | Standard Mandarin[2] (spoken) Simplified Chinese (written) |
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| Ethnic groups | 91.6% Han, 1.30% Zhuang, 0.86% Manchu, 0.79% Uyghur, 0.79% Hui, 0.72% Miao, 0.65% Yi, 0.62% Tujia, 0.47% Mongol, 0.44% Tibetan, 0.26% Buyei, 0.15% Korean, 1.05% other (See List of ethnic groups in China) |
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| Demonym | Chinese | |||||
| Government | Socialist state,[3] Single-party communist state, People's democratic dictatorship[4] |
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| - | President | Hu Jintao | ||||
| - | Premier | Wen Jiabao | ||||
| - | Chairman of NPCSC | Wu Bangguo | ||||
| - | Chairman of CPPCC | Jia Qinglin | ||||
| Legislature | National People's Congress | |||||
| Establishment | ||||||
| - | People's Republic of China proclaimed. | 1 October 1949 | ||||
| Area | ||||||
| - | Total | 9,640,821 km2 [c] or 9,671,018 km2[c] (3rd/4th) 3,704,427 sq mi |
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| - | Water (%) | 2.8[c] | ||||
| Population | ||||||
| - | 2009 estimate | 1,337,837,512[b] (1st) | ||||
| - | 2000 census | 1,242,612,226 | ||||
| - | Density | 140/km2 (53rd) 363/sq mi |
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| GDP (PPP) | 2008 estimate | |||||
| - | Total | $7.916 trillion[5] (2nd) | ||||
| - | Per capita | $5,963[5] (100th) | ||||
| GDP (nominal) | 2008 estimate | |||||
| - | Total | $4.401 trillion[5] (3rd) | ||||
| - | Per capita | $3,315[5] (104th) | ||||
| Gini (2007) | 47.0[6] | |||||
| HDI (2006) | ▲ 0.762 (medium) (94th) | |||||
| Currency | Renminbi (¥) (CNY) |
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| Time zone | China Standard Time (UTC+8) | |||||
| Date formats | yyyy-mm-dd or yyyy年m月d日 (CE; CE+2697) |
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| Drives on the | right, except for Hong Kong & Macau | |||||
| Internet TLD | .cn[b] | |||||
| Calling code | +86[b] | |||||
| a. ^ See also Names of China.
b. ^ Information for mainland China only. The Special Administrative Regions of the PRC: Hong Kong, Macau are excluded. In addition, the territories under the jurisdiction of the Republic of China, commonly known as Taiwan, are also excluded. c. ^ 9,598,086 km2 Excludes all disputed territories.9,640,821 km2 Includes PRC-administered area (Aksai Chin and Trans-Karakoram Tract, both territories claimed by India), Taiwan is not included.[7] |
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The People's Republic of China (PRC) (simplified Chinese: 中华人民共和国; traditional Chinese: 中華人民共和國; pinyin: Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó 
listen (help·info)), commonly known as China, is the largest country in East Asia and the most populous in the world with over 1.3 billion people, approximately one-fifth of the world's population. It is a socialist republic (specifically a people's democratic dictatorship according to its constitution) ruled by the Communist Party of China under a single-party system, and has jurisdiction over twenty-two provinces, five autonomous regions, four municipalities, and two largely self-governing Special Administrative Regions. The PRC's capital is Beijing.[8]
At 9.6 million square kilometres, the People's Republic of China is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area,[9] and the second largest by land area.[10] Its landscape is diverse with forest steppes and deserts (the Gobi and Taklamakan) in the dry north near Mongolia and Russia's Siberia, and subtropical forests in the wet south close to Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar. The terrain in the west is rugged and high altitude, with the Himalayas and the Tian Shan mountain ranges forming China's natural borders with India and Central Asia. In contrast, mainland China's eastern seaboard is low-lying and has a 14,500-kilometre long coastline bounded on the southeast by the South China Sea and on the east by the East China Sea beyond which lies Taiwan, Korea, and Japan.
Ancient Chinese civilization—one of the world's earliest—flourished in the fertile basin of the Yellow River which flows through the North China Plain.[11] For over 4,000 years, China's political system was based on hereditary monarchies (also known as dynasties). The first of these dynasties was the Xia but it was later the Qin Dynasty who first unified China in 221 BC. The last dynasty, the Qing, ended in 1911 with the founding of the Republic of China (ROC) by the Nationalist Kuomintang (KMT). The first half of the 20th century saw China plunged into a period of disunity and civil wars that divided the country into two main political camps – the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Communists. Major hostilities ended in 1949, when the People's Republic of China (PRC) was established in mainland China by the victorious Communists. The KMT-led Republic of China government retreated to Taipei, its jurisdiction now limited to Taiwan and several outlying islands. As of today, the PRC is still involved in disputes with the ROC over issues of sovereignty and the political status of Taiwan.
China's importance in the world today[12][13] is reflected through its role as the world's third largest economy nominally (or second largest by PPP) and a permanent member of the UN Security Council as well as being a member of several other multilateral organizations including the WTO, APEC, East Asia Summit, and Shanghai Cooperation Organization. In addition, it is a nuclear state and has the world's largest standing army with the second largest defense budget. Since the introduction of market-based economic reforms in 1978, China has become one of the world's fastest growing economies[14] and the world's second largest exporter and the third largest importer of goods. Rapid industrialization has reduced its poverty rate from 53% in 1981 to 8% in 2001.[15] However, the PRC is now faced with a number of other problems including a rapidly aging population due to the one-child policy,[16] a widening rural-urban income gap, and environmental degradation.[17][18]
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Major combat in the Chinese Civil War ended in 1949 with the Communist Party of China in control of the mainland, and the Kuomintang (KMT) retreating to Taiwan. On 1 October 1949, Mao Zedong proclaimed the People's Republic of China.[19] "Red China" was a frequent appellation for the PRC (generally within the Western Bloc) used from the time of Communist ascendance until the mid-late 1970s with the improvement of relations between China and the West.[citation needed]
The economic and social plan known as the Great Leap Forward resulted in an estimated 36 million deaths.[20] Mao stepped down from his position as chairman in 1959, with Liu Shaoqi as successor. Mao still had much influence over the Party, but was removed from day-to-day management of economic affairs, which came under the control of Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping.[citation needed]
In 1966, Mao and his allies launched the Cultural Revolution, which would last until Mao's death a decade later. The Cultural Revolution, motivated by power struggles within the Party and a fear of the Soviet Union, led to a major upheaval in Chinese society. In 1972, at the peak of the Sino-Soviet split, Mao and Zhou Enlai met Richard Nixon in Beijing to establish relations with the United States. In the same year, the PRC was admitted to the United Nations, replacing the Republic of China for China's membership of the United Nations, and permanent membership of the Security Council.[citation needed]
The 1976 Tangshan earthquake, with death toll estimated to be between 240,000 to 655,000, is believed to be the largest earthquake of the 20th century by death toll.[21] The 2008 Sichuan earthquake that took lives of close to 70,000 was the greatest since 1976.[22]
After Mao's death in 1976 and the arrest of the Gang of Four, blamed for the excesses of the Cultural Revolution, Deng Xiaoping quickly wrested power from Mao's anointed successor Hua Guofeng. Although he never became the head of the Party or State himself, Deng was in fact the Paramount Leader of China at that time, his influence within the Party led the country to economic reforms of significant magnitude. The Communist Party subsequently loosened governmental control over citizens' personal lives and the communes were disbanded with many peasants receiving multiple land leases, which greatly increased incentives and agricultural production. This turn of events marked China's transition from a planned economy to a mixed economy with an increasingly open market environment, a system termed by some[23] "market socialism". The PRC adopted its current constitution on 4 December 1982.
In 1989, the death of pro-reform official, Hu Yaobang, helped to spark the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, during which students and others campaigned for several months for more democratic rights and freedom of speech. However, they were eventually put down on 4 June when PLA troops and vehicles entered and forcibly cleared the square, resulting in numerous casualties. This event was widely reported and famously videotaped, which brought worldwide condemnation and sanctions against the government.
President Jiang Zemin and Premier Zhu Rongji, both former mayors of Shanghai, led post-Tiananmen PRC in the 1990s. Under Jiang Zemin's ten years of administration, the PRC's economic performance pulled an estimated 150 million peasants out of poverty and sustained an average annual GDP growth rate of 11.2%.[24][25] The country formally joined the World Trade Organization in 2001.
Although the PRC needs economic growth to spur its development, the government has begun to worry that rapid economic growth has negatively impacted the country's resources and environment. Another concern is that certain sectors of society are not sufficiently benefiting from the PRC's economic development. As a result, under current President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, the PRC has initiated policies to address these issues of equitable distribution of resources, but the outcome remains to be seen.[26] More than 40 million farmers have been displaced from their land,[27] usually for economic development, contributing to the 87,000 demonstrations and riots across China in 2005.[28] For much of the PRC's population, living standards have seen extremely large improvements, and freedom continues to expand, but political controls remain tight.[citation needed]
The PRC is regarded by many political scientists as one of the last five Communist states (along with Vietnam, North Korea, Laos and Cuba),[29][30][31] but simple characterizations of PRC's political structure since the 1980s are no longer possible.[32] The PRC government has been variously described as communist and socialist, but also as authoritarian, with heavy restrictions remaining in many areas, most notably on the Internet, the press, freedom of assembly, reproductive rights, and freedom of religion. However, compared to its closed-door policies until the mid-1970s, the liberalization of the PRC is such that the administrative climate is much less restrictive than before, though the PRC is still far from the full-fledged democracy practiced in most of Europe or North America, and the National People's Congress has been described as a "rubber stamp" body.[33] The PRC's incumbent President is Hu Jintao and its premier is Wen Jiabao.
The country is run by the Communist Party of China (CPC), which is guaranteed power by the Constitution.[34] There are other political parties in the PRC, referred to in China as "democratic parties", which participate in the People's Political Consultative Conference and the National People's Congress. There have been some moves toward political liberalization, in that open contested elections are now held at the village and town levels,[35][36] and that legislatures have shown some assertiveness from time to time. However, the Party retains effective control over government appointments: in the absence of meaningful opposition, the CPC wins by default most of the time. Political concerns in the PRC include lessening the growing gap between rich and poor and fighting corruption within the government leadership.[37] The level of support that the Communist Party of China has among the PRC population in general is unclear since there are no consistently contested national elections.[38] According to a survey conducted in Hong Kong, where a relatively high level of freedom is enjoyed, the current CPC leaders have received substantial votes of support when residents were asked to rank their favorite leaders from mainland China and Taiwan.[39]
The People's Republic of China maintains diplomatic relations with most major countries in the world. Sweden was the first western country to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic on 9 May 1950.[40] In 1971, the PRC replaced the Republic of China as the sole representative of China in the United Nations and as one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.[41] It is considered a founding member of the UN, though the PRC was not in control of China at the time. The PRC was also a former member and leader of the Non-Aligned Movement.
Under its interpretation of the One-China policy, the PRC has made it a precondition to establishing diplomatic relations that the other country acknowledges its claim to Taiwan and severs official ties with the Republic of China government. The government opposes publicized foreign travels by former and present ROC officials promoting Taiwan's independence, such as Lee Teng-hui and Chen Shui-bian, and other politically controversial figures, such as Tenzin Gyatso, the Dalai Lama of Tibetan Buddhism, in an official context[citation needed].
The PRC has been playing an increasing role in calling for free trade areas and security pacts amongst its Asia-Pacific neighbors. In 2004, the PRC proposed an entirely new East Asia Summit (EAS) framework as a forum for regional security issues that pointedly excluded the United States.[42] The EAS, which includes ASEAN Plus Three, India, Australia and New Zealand, held its inaugural summit in 2005. The PRC is also a founding member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), with Russia and the Central Asian republics.
Much of the current foreign policy is based on the concept of China's peaceful rise. Conflicts with foreign countries have occurred at times in its recent history, particularly with the United States; for example, the U.S. bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade during the Kosovo conflict in May 1999 and the U.S.-China spy plane incident in April 2001. Its foreign relations with many Western nations suffered for a time following the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, though they have since recovered. The relationship between China and Japan has been strained at times by Japan's refusal to acknowledge its wartime past to the satisfaction of the PRC; take for instance revisionist comments made by prominent Japanese officials and in some Japanese history textbooks. Another point of conflict between the two countries is the frequent visits by Japanese government officials to the Yasukuni Shrine. However, Sino-Japanese relations have warmed considerably since Shinzo Abe became the new Japanese Prime Minister in September 2006. A joint historical study to be completed by 2008 of WWII atrocities is being conducted by the PRC and Japan.
Equally bordering the most countries in the world alongside Russia, the PRC was in a number of international territorial disputes. China's territorial disputes have led to localized wars in the last 50 years, including the Sino-Indian War in 1962, the Sino-Soviet border conflict in 1969, and the Sino-Vietnamese War in 1979. In 2001, the PRC and Russia signed the Sino-Russian Treaty of Friendship,[43] which paved the way in 2004 for Russia to transfer Yinlong Island as well as one-half of Heixiazi to China, ending a long-standing Sino-Russian border dispute. Other territorial disputes include islands in the East and South China Seas, and undefined or disputed land borders with India and Bhutan.
While accompanying a rapid economic rise, the PRC since the 1990s seeks to maintain a policy of quiet diplomacy with its neighbors. It does so by keeping economic growth steady and participating in regional organizations and cultivating bi-lateral relations in order to ease suspicion over China's burgeoning military capabilities. The PRC has started a policy of wooing African nations for trade and bilateral co-operation.[44] There are some discussions about whether China will become a new superpower in the 21st century, with certain commentators pointing out its economic progress, military might, very large population, and increasing international influence but others claiming it is headed for economic collapse.[45][46][47][48][49]
While economic and social controls have been greatly relaxed in China since the 1970s, political freedom is still tightly controlled by both central and local governments. The Constitution of the People's Republic of China states that the "fundamental rights" of citizens include freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the right to a fair trial, freedom of religion, universal suffrage, and property rights. However, these provisions do not afford significant protection in practice against criminal prosecution by the State.[50][51][52]
Tens of millions who have moved to the cities find themselves treated as second class citizens by China's urban population, who tend to look down on country folk.[53] There is dissatisfaction from peasants as a result of land seizures by the wealthy middle class of the cities.[53] Official discrimination, such as in the hukou system of household registration, between rural and urban is often described as an apartheid system.[54] Today, a farmer's has to pay three times more in taxes even though his income is one sixth that of the average urban dweller.[54]
Censorship of political speech and information is openly and routinely used to silence criticism of government and the ruling Chinese Communist Party.[55] In particular, press control is notoriously tight: Reporters Without Borders considers the PRC one of the least free countries in the world for the press.[56] The government has a policy of limiting groups, organizations, and beliefs that it considers a potential threat to "social stability" and control, as was the case with the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. The Communist Party has had mixed success in controlling information: a very strong media control system faces very strong market forces, an increasingly educated citizenry, and cultural change that are making China more open, especially on environmental issues.[57][58]
A number of foreign governments and NGOs routinely criticize the PRC, alleging widespread civil rights violations including systematic use of lengthy detention without trial, forced confessions, torture, mistreatment of prisoners, restrictions of freedom of speech, assembly, association, religion, the press, and labor rights.[55] China leads the world in capital punishment, accounting for roughly 90% of total executions in 2004.[59] Civil rights issues are one of the factors driving independence movements in Tibet and Xinjiang.[citation needed] In the Reporters Without Borders' Annual World Press Freedom Index of 2005,[56] the PRC ranked 159 out of 167 places. Chinese journalist He Qinglian in her 2004 book Media Control in China[60] documents government controls on the Internet and other media in China.
The PRC government has responded by arguing that the notion of human rights should take into account a country's present level of economic development, and focus more on the people's rights to subsistence and development in poorer countries.[61] The rise in the standard of living, literacy, and life expectancy for the average Chinese in the last three decades is seen by the government as tangible progress made in human rights.[62] Efforts in the past decade to combat deadly natural disasters, such as the perennial Yangtze River floods, and work-related accidents are also portrayed in China as progress in human rights for a still largely poor country.[61]
The People's Republic of China has administrative control over twenty-two provinces and considers Taiwan to be its twenty-third province.[63] There are also five autonomous regions, each with a designated minority group; four municipalities; and two Special Administrative Regions that enjoy considerable autonomy. The twenty-two provinces, five autonomous regions, and four municipalities can be collectively referred to as "mainland China", a term which usually excludes Hong Kong and Macau.
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China is the second largest country in Asia by area after Russia, and is considered the third largest[64] in the world in respect to land and sea area. The uncertainty over size is related to (a) the validity of claims by China on territories such as Aksai Chin and Trans-Karakoram Tract (both territories also claimed by India), and (b) how the total size of the United States is calculated: The World Factbook gives 9,826,630 km²,[65] and the Encyclopedia Britannica gives 9,522,055 km².[66] China borders 14 nations (counted clockwise from south): Vietnam, Laos, Burma, India, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan,[67] Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Mongolia and North Korea. Additionally the border between PRC and ROC is located in territorial waters.
The territory of China contains a large variety of landscapes. In the east, along the shores of the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea, there are extensive and densely populated alluvial plains, while on the edges of the Inner Mongolian plateau in the north, grasslands can be seen. Southern China is dominated by hill country and low mountain ranges. In the central-east are the deltas of China's two major rivers, the Yellow River and Yangtze River (Chang Jiang). Other major rivers include the Xi, Mekong, Brahmaputra and Amur.
To the west, major mountain ranges, notably the Himalayas, with China's highest point at the eastern half of Mount Everest, and high plateaus feature among the more arid landscapes such as the Taklamakan and the Gobi Desert.
A major issue is the continued expansion of deserts, particularly the Gobi Desert.[68] Although barrier tree lines planted since the 1970s have reduced the frequency of sandstorms, prolonged drought and poor agricultural practices result in dust storms plaguing northern China each spring, which then spread to other parts of East Asia, including Korea and Japan. Water, erosion, and pollution control have become important issues in China's relations with other countries.
China has some relevant environmental regulations: the 1979 Environmental Protection Law, which was largely modeled on U.S. legislation. But the environment continues to deteriorate.[69] While the regulations are fairly stringent, they are frequently disregarded by local communities while seeking economic development. Twelve years after the law, only one Chinese city was making an effort to clean up its water discharges.[70] This indicates that China is about twenty years behind the U.S. schedule of environmental regulation.
Part of the price China is paying for increased prosperity is damage to the environment. Leading Chinese environmental campaigner Ma Jun has warned that water pollution is one of the most serious threats facing China. According to the Ministry of Water Resources, roughly 300 million Chinese are drinking unsafe water. This makes the crisis of water shortages more pressing, with 400 out of 600 cities short of water.[71][72]
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With 2.3 million active troops, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the largest military in the world.[73] The PLA consists of an army, navy, air force, and strategic nuclear force. The official announced budget of the PLA for 2009 was $70 billion. However, the United States claims China does not report its real military spending. The DIA estimates that the real Chinese military budget for 2008 could be anywhere from US$105 to US$150 billion.[74]
The PRC, despite possession of nuclear weapons and delivery systems, is widely seen by military researchers both within and outside of China as having only limited power projection capability; this is, among other things, because of the limited effectiveness of its navy. It is considered a major military regional power and an emerging military superpower.[75] In order to protect its critical supply lines without a power projection capability, China has been establishing foreign military relationships that have been compared to a String of Pearls.
Much progress has been made in the last decade and the PRC continues to make efforts to modernize its military. It has purchased state-of-the-art fighter jets from Russia, such as the Sukhoi Su-30s, and has also produced its own modern fighters, specifically the Chinese J-10s and the J-11s.[76] It has also acquired and improved upon the Russian S-300 surface-to-air missile systems, which are considered to be among the best aircraft-intercepting systems in the world,[77] albeit Russia has since produced the new generation S-400 Triumf, which has been reported to at least have been semi developed with China.[78] The PRC's armored and rapid-reaction forces have been updated with enhanced electronics and targeting capabilities. In recent years, much attention has been focused on building a navy with blue-water capability.[79]
From its founding in 1949 to late 1978, the People's Republic of China was a Soviet-style centrally planned economy. Private businesses and capitalism did not exist. To propel the country towards a modern, industrialized communist society, Mao Zedong instituted the Great Leap Forward which is now widely seen – both within the PRC and outside – as a major economic failure and a great humanitarian disaster. Following his death and the end of the Cultural Revolution, Deng Xiaoping and the new Chinese leadership began to reform the economy and move to a market-oriented mixed economy under one-party rule. China's economy is mainly characterized as a market economy based on private property ownership.[80][81] Collectivization of the agriculture was dismantled and farmlands were privatized to increase productivity. A wide variety of small-scale enterprises were encouraged while the government relaxed price controls and promoted foreign investment. Foreign trade was focused upon as a major vehicle of growth, which led to the creation of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) first in Shenzhen (near Hong Kong) and then in other Chinese cities. Inefficient state-owned enterprises (SOEs) were restructured by introducing western-style management system and the unprofitable ones were closed, resulting in massive job losses.
Since economic liberalization began in 1978, the PRC's investment- and export-led[82] economy has grown 70 times bigger[83] and is the fastest growing major economy in the world.[84] It now has the world's third largest nominal GDP at 30 trillion yuan (US$4.4 trillion), although its per capita income of US$3,300 is still low and puts the PRC behind roughly a hundred countries.[85] The primary, secondary, and tertiary industries contributed 11.3%, 48.6%, and 40.1% respectively to the total economy. If PPP is taken into account, the PRC's economy is second only to the US at US$7.9 trillion corresponding to US$5,900 per capita.[86] The PRC is the fourth most visited country in the world with 49.6 million inbound international visitors in 2006.[87] It is a member of the WTO and is the world's third largest trading power behind the US and Germany with a total international trade of US$2.56 trillion - US$1.43 trillion in exports (#2) and US$1.13 trillion in imports (#3). Its foreign exchange reserves have reached US$1.9 trillion, making it the world's largest.[88] It is among the world's favorite destination for FDI, attracting more than US$80 billion in 2007 alone.[89] The PRC's success has been primarily due to manufacturing as a low-cost producer. This is attributed to a combination of cheap labor, good infrastructure, medium level of technology and skill, relatively high productivity, favorable government policy, and some say, an undervalued exchange rate. The latter has been blamed for the PRC's bulging trade surplus (US$262.7 billion in 2007)[90] and has become a major source of dispute between the PRC and its major trading partners – the US, EU, and Japan – despite the yuan having been de-pegged and risen in value by 20% against the US dollar since 2005.[91]
The state still dominates in strategic "pillar" industries (such as energy and heavy industries), but private enterprise (30 million private businesses)[92] now accounts for approximately 70% of China's national output, up from 1% in 1978.[93] Its stock market in Shanghai (SSE) is raising record amounts of IPOs and its benchmark Shanghai Composite index has doubled since 2005. SSE's market capitalization reached US$3 trillion in 2007 and is the world's fifth largest exchange. China now ranks 34th in the Global Competitiveness Index.[94] Twenty nine Chinese companies made the list in the 2008 Fortune Global 500.[95] Measured on market capitalization, 3 out of 10 of the world's most valuable companies are in China including #2-PetroChina, #5-China Mobile (world's most valuable telecommunications company), and #6-Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (world's most valuable bank).[96]
Although still relatively poor by the world's standard, the PRC's rapid growth managed to pull hundreds of millions of its people out of poverty since 1978. Today, about 10% of the Chinese population (down from 64% in 1978) live below the poverty line of US$1 per day (PPP) while life expectancy has dramatically increased to 73 years. More than 90% of the population is relatively literate,[97] compared to 20% in 1950.[98] Urban unemployment declined to 4 percent in China by the end of 2007 (true overall unemployment might be higher at around 10%).[99] Its middle class population (defined as those with annual income of at least US$5,000) has now reached 80-150 million.[100][101][102] China's retail market is worth RMB8921 billion (US$1302 billion) in 2007 and growing at 16.8% annually.[103] It is also now the world's third biggest consumer of luxury goods with 12% of the global share.[104]
The PRC's growth has been uneven when comparing different geographic regions and rural and urban areas. The urban-rural income gap is getting wider in the PRC with a Gini coefficient of 46.9%. Development has also been mainly concentrated in the eastern coastal regions while the remainder of the country are left behind. To counter this, the government has promoted development in the western, northeastern, and central regions of China. The economy is also highly energy-intensive and inefficient – it uses 20%-100% more energy than OECD countries for many industrial processes.[105] It has now become the world's second largest energy consumer behind the US[106] but relies on coal to supply about 70% of its energy needs.[107] Coupled with a lax environmental regulation, this has led to a massive water and air pollution (China has 20 of the world's 30 most polluted cities).[105] Consequently, the government has promised to use more renewable energy with a target of 10% of total energy use by 2010 and 30% by 2050.[108]
After the Sino-Soviet split, China started to develop its own nuclear weapons and delivery systems, successfully detonating its first surface nuclear test in 1964 at Lop Nur. A natural outgrowth of this was a satellite launching program, which culminated in 1970 with the launching of Dong Fang Hong I, the first Chinese satellite. This made the PRC the fifth nation to independently launch a satellite. In 1992, the Shenzhou manned spaceflight program was authorized.[109] After four tests, Shenzhou 5 was launched on 15 October 2003, using a Long March 2F launch vehicle and carrying Chinese astronaut Yang Liwei, making the PRC the third country to put a human being into space through its own endeavors.[110] With the successful completion of the second manned mission, Shenzhou 6 in October 2005, the country plans to build a Chinese Space Station in the near future and achieve a lunar landing in the next decade.[111]
China has the world's second largest research and development budget, and is expected to invest over $136 billion this year[when?] after growing more than 20% in the past year[when?].[112] The Chinese government continues to place heavy emphasis on research and development by creating greater public awareness of innovation, and reforming financial and tax systems to promote growth in cutting-edge industries. President Hu Jintao in January 2006 called for China to make the transition from a manufacturing-based economy to an innovation-based one, and this year's[when?] National People's Congress has approved large increases in research funding. Stem cell research and gene therapy, which some in the Western world see as controversial, face minimal regulation in China. China has an estimated 926,000 researchers, second only to the 1.3 million in the United States.[113]
China is also actively developing its software, semiconductor and energy industries, including renewable energies such as hydro, wind and solar power.[114] In an effort to reduce pollution from coal-burning power plants, China has been pioneering the deployment of pebble bed nuclear reactors, which run cooler and safer, and have potential applications for the hydrogen economy.[115]
China presently has the most cell phone users in the world, with over 600 million users in June 2008.[116][verification needed]
Transportation in the mainland of the People's Republic of China has improved significantly since the late 1990s as part of a government effort to link the entire nation through a series of expressways known as the National Trunk Highway System (NTHS). The total length of expressway is 45,000 km at the end of 2006, second only to the United States.[117][118] Most of the expressways, however, require tolls.
Private car ownership is increasing at an annual rate of 15%, although it is still uncommon because of government policies which make car ownership expensive, such as taxes and toll roads.[119] Private highway driving is becoming more common, being almost nonexistent ten years ago.
Domestic air travel has increased significantly, but remains too expensive for most. Long distance transportation is dominated by railways and charter bus systems. Railways are the vital carrier in China; they are monopolized by the state, divided into various railway bureaus in different regions. At the rates of demand it experiences, the system has historically been subject to overcrowding during travel seasons such as Chunyun during the Chinese New Year.
Cities such as Beijing and Shanghai both have a rapidly expanding network of underground or light rail systems, while several other cities also have running rapid transit. Numerous cities are also constructing subways. Hong Kong has one of the most developed transport systems in the world. Shanghai has a Maglev rail line connecting Shanghai's urban area to Pudong International Airport.
As of July 2006[update], there are 1,313,973,713 people in the PRC. About 20.8% (male 145,461,833; female 128,445,739) are 14 years old or younger, 71.4% (male 482,439,115; female 455,960,489) are between 15 and 64 years old, and 7.7% (male 48,562,635; female 53,103,902) are over 65 years old. The population growth rate for 2006 is 0.59%.[120] The PRC officially recognizes 56 distinct ethnic groups, the largest of which are the Han Chinese, who constitute about 91.9% of the total population.[121] Large ethnic minorities include the Zhuang (16 million), Manchu (10 million), Hui (9 million), Miao (8 million), Uyghur (7 million), Yi (7 million), Tujia (5.75 million), Mongols (5 million), Tibetans (5 million), Buyei (3 million), and Koreans (2 million).[122]
In the past decade, China's cities expanded at an average rate of 10% annually. The country's urbanization rate increased from 17.4% to 41.8% between 1978 and 2005, a scale unprecedented in human history.[123] Between 150 and 200 million migrant workers work part-time in the major cities and return home to the countryside periodically with their earnings.[124][125]
Today, the People's Republic of China has dozens of major cities with one million or more long-term residents, including the three global cities of Beijing, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. Major cities in China play key roles in national and regional identity, culture and economics.
The figures below are from the 2008 census, and are only estimates of the population within administrative city limits; a different ranking exists when considering the total municipal populations (which includes suburban and rural populations). The large floating populations of migrant workers make conducting censuses in urban areas difficult;[126] the figures below do not include the floating population, only long-term residents.
With a population of over 1.3 billion, the PRC is very concerned about its population growth and has attempted, with mixed results,[127] to implement a strict family planning policy. The government's goal is one child per family, with exceptions for ethnic minorities and flexibility in rural areas, where a family can have a second child if the first is a girl or physically disabled. The government's goal is to stabilize population growth early in the 21st century, though some projections estimate a population of anywhere ranging from 1.4 billion to 1.6 billion by 2025. Hence, the country's family planning minister has indicated that China will maintain its one-child policy until at least the year 2020.[128]
The policy is resisted, particularly in rural areas, because of the need for agricultural labour and a traditional preference for boys (who can later serve as male heirs). Families who breach the policy often lie during the census.[129] Official government policy opposes forced sterilization or abortion, but allegations of coercion continue as local officials, who are faced with penalties for failing to curb population growth, may resort to forced abortion or sterilization, or manipulation of census figures.
The decreasing reliability of PRC population statistics since family planning began in the late 1970s has made evaluating the effectiveness of the policy difficult.[129] Estimates by Chinese demographers of the average number of children for a Chinese woman vary from 1.5 to 2.0. The government is particularly concerned with the large imbalance in the sex ratio at birth, apparently the result of a combination of traditional preference for boys and family planning pressure, which led to the ban of using ultrasound devices for the purpose of preventing sex-selective abortion. Other factors include under-reporting of female children to circumvent the law and that some areas unofficially allow a second child if the first is not a male but not otherwise. Based on a 2005 report by China's National Population and Family Planning Commission, there were 118.6 boys born for every 100 girls, and in some rural areas the boy/girl ratio could be as high as 130/100.[citation needed] As this trend of gender imbalance is on the increase, experts warn of increased social instability should this trend continue.[130][131][132]
In 1986, China set the long-term goal of providing compulsory nine-year basic education to every child. As of 1997[update], there were 628,840 primary schools, 78,642 secondary schools and 1,020 higher education institutions in the PRC.[133] In February 2006, the government advanced its basic education goal by pledging to provide completely free nine-year education, including textbooks and fees, in the poorer western provinces.[134] As of 2002[update], 90.9% (male: 95.1%; female: 86.5%) of the population over age 15 are literate.[120] China's youth (age 15 to 24) literacy rate was 98.9% (99.2% for males and 98.5% for females) in 2000.[135] In March 2007, China announced the decision of making education a national "strategic priority", the central budget of the national scholarships will be tripled in two years and 223.5 billion Yuan (28.65 billion US dollars) of extra funding will be allocated from the central government in the next 5 years to improve the compulsory education in rural areas.[136]
The quality of Chinese colleges and universities varies considerably across the country. The consistently top-ranked universities in mainland China are:[verification needed][137][138]
Many parents are highly committed to their children's education, often investing large portions of the family's income on education. Private lessons and recreational activities, such as in foreign languages or music, are popular among the middle-class families who can afford them.[139]
The Ministry of Health, together with its counterparts in the provincial health bureaus, oversees the health needs of the Chinese population.[142] An emphasis on public health and preventative treatment characterized health policy since the early 1950s. At that time, the party started the Patriotic Health Campaign, which was aimed at improving sanitation and hygiene, as well as attacking several diseases. This has shown major results as diseases like cholera, typhoid, and scarlet fever were nearly eradicated.
With economic reform after 1978, the health of the Chinese public improved rapidly because of better nutrition despite the disappearance, along with the People's Communes, of much of the free public health services provided in the countryside. Health care in China became largely private fee-for-service. This was widely criticised by the Islamic Hui populations of the North West, who were often unable to obtain medical support in their remote communities. By 2000, when the World Health Organization made a large study of public health systems throughout the world, The World Health Report 2000 Health Systems: Improving Performance the Chinese public health system ranked 144 of the 191 UN member states ranked.
The country's life expectancy at birth jumped from about 35 years in 1949 to 73.18 years in 2008,[143][144] and infant mortality went down from 300 per thousand in the 1950s to about 23 per thousand in 2006.[145][146] Malnutrition as of 2002[update] stood at 12% of the population according to United Nations FAO sources.[147]
Despite significant improvements in health and the introduction of western style medical facilities, China has several emerging public health problems, which include respiratory problems as a result of widespread air pollution[141] and millions of cigarette smokers,[148] a possible future HIV/AIDS epidemic, and an increase in obesity among urban youths.[149][150] Estimates of excess deaths in China from environmental pollution (apart from smoking) are placed at 760,000 people per annum from air and water pollution (including indoor air pollution).[151] China's large population and close living quarters has led to some serious disease outbreaks in recent years, such as the 2003 outbreak of SARS (a pneumonia-like disease) which has since been largely contained.[152] Reports by the World Bank and the New York Times have claimed industrial pollution, particularly of the air, to be significant health hazards in China.
China does allow a limited degree of religious freedom although the state is officially atheist. However, official tolerance is only extended to members of state-approved religious organizations and not to those who worship underground, such as house churches. An accurate number of religious adherents is hard to obtain due to a lack of official data, but there is general consensus that religion has been enjoying a resurgence over the past 20 years.[153] A survey by Phil Zuckerman on Adherents.com found that in 1998, 59% (over 700 million)[154] of the population was irreligious. Meanwhile, another survey in 2007 found that there are 300 million (23% of the population) believers as opposed to an official figure of 100 million.[153]
Despite the surveys' varying results, most agree that China's traditional religions – Buddhism, Taoism, and Chinese folk religions – are the dominant faiths. According to a number of sources, Buddhism in China accounts for between 660 million (~50%) and over 1 billion (~80%)[155] while Taoists number 400 million (~30%).[156][157] However, the number of adherents to these religions can be overcounted because one person may subscribe to one or more of these traditional beliefs simultaneously, and the difficulty in clearly differentiating Buddhism, Taoism, and Chinese folk religions. In addition, subscribing to Buddhism and Taoism is not necessarily considered religious by those who follow the philosophies in principle but stop short of subscribing to any kind of divinity.[158][159][160] Most Chinese Buddhists are nominal adherents because only a small proportion of the population (over 8% or over 100 million)[161][162] may have taken the formal step of going for refuge.[163][164] Even then, it's still difficult to estimate accurately the number of Buddhists because they do not have congregational memberships and often do not participate in public ceremonies.[165] Mahayana (大乘, Dacheng) and its subsets Pure Land (Amidism), Tiantai and Zen are the most widely practiced denominations of Buddhism. Other forms, such as Theravada and Tibetan, are practiced largely by ethnic minorities along the geographic fringes of the Chinese mainland.[166]
Christianity in China was first introduced during the Tang period in the 7th century with the arrival of Nestorianism in 635 CE. This was followed by Franciscan missionaries in the 13th century, Jesuits in the 16th century, and finally Protestants in the 19th century, during which time Christianity began to make significant foothold in China.[citation needed] Of the minority religions, Christianity has been particularly noted as one of the fastest growing (especially since the last 200 years) and today may number between 40 million (3%)[153][167] and 54 million (4%)[168] according to independent surveys, while official estimates suggested that there are only 16 million Christians.[169]
Islam in China dates to a mission in 651, eighteen years after Muhammad's death. Muslims came to China for trade, dominating the import/export industry during the Song Dynasty.[170][171] They became influential in government circles, including Zheng He, Lan Yu and Yeheidie'erding. Nanjing became an important center of Islamic study.[172] The Qing Dynasty waged war and genocide against Muslims in the Dungan revolt
