by Lian Slayford-Wei

Created on: June 28, 2009   Last Updated: September 17, 2009

A History of Communism in China

Throughout the history of the world, there have been many different forms of government - monarchy, democracy, anarchy, dictatorships, dynasty, republic, communism, etc - and each type has made its impact in our history. We have all seen the influences they can have on a country and the way it changes people. This can be seen in China with communism.

Communism, in its most basic sense, means the common ownership of all property by the people through the country; there is no private property under communism. In addition, the government under communism pays a salary according to how important an individual's job is to the country. The government is ruled by a single party dictatorship, which allows no other political party.

The origins of communism in China can be found in the May Fourth tradition. Historians of modern China acknowledge the importance of the May Fourth tradition for the emergence of Communism in that country. In the May Fourth period, the socialist tradition existed in an intellectual context characterized by a yearning for democracy which was too pervasive and too ardent to be neglected. Chen Duxiu, on behalf of his comrades, had proudly proclaimed: "Some people charge us with the crime of destruction: the destruction of Confucianism, ritual, national essence, chastity, the established social and familial relationships, traditional art and religion, the literary heritage, and finally, the existing political system. We admit the charge but still insist that we are innocent. It is our love for Mr. Democracy and Mr. Science that leads to these towering crimes".

In 1919, a group of students, including Qu Qiubai, founded The Journal of the New Society. It was their intention to create a new, democratic society without class divisions and create a society in which liberty, equality, happiness and peace prevail.

However, at this time in 1919 a young man was rising. Mao Zedong, distinguishing 'the doctrine of the common people' - a phrase with socialist implications with democracy, fervently announced: "We should use the doctrines of the people to overthrow all kinds of power [i.e., oppression], including . . . power in the international realm". The enthusiasm to bring down the international power to blame for China's anguish led Mao to welcome Kropotkin's principle: "There is a group of people who hope to merge all the nations on earth into a single whole, to unite all humans and form a big family.... The leader

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