Analysis of film - china: a century of revolution - the mao years, 1949-1976

The transformation began with the proclamation of the People’s Republic in 1949, marking the onset of a revolution that sought to make the people of China politically and economically equal, such that the people would be the masters of the country (Williams, n. p.). Told from the stories and recollections of the people who experienced the revolution, the film depicts the tragic turn of events from an initial noble intention to create an equal society, to the creation of a starving and perishing society, through the introduction of the Cultural Revolution and the Great Leap Forward initiatives (Williams, n. p.). These reforms caused the starvation of the majority of the Chinese rural population at the time, resulting in the death of approximately 30 million people. The brutality with which the processes of collective agriculture and rural industrialization were introduced, further served to disorient the already capitalist tendencies of the traditional Chinese population, while resulting in the dispossession of lands and property for the initial landowners. In this respect, the Chinese revolution in the periods spanning 1949-1962 served to create more poverty for the country and its people. This necessitated a change of strategy towards partial acceptance of some concepts of capitalism, which saw the Chinese economy start recovering from the initial depression brought about by the revolution (Williams, n. p.).
Nevertheless, the most notable transformation of the period 1949-1976 in China is the transformed gender role for women. It is during this period that the undermined rights of women both domestically and politically started being recognized, with women gaining full political democratic rights. Additionally, the foreign policy of China, especially regarding its relations with the USA and the rest of the capitalist western world was shaped (Williams, n. p.). Thus, the Chinese involvement in the Korean War was as a result of forging its new identity as a communist nation that was opposed to the capitalist intrusion of its neighbors.