China underwent many changes in the 1900s as the people changed from nationalism. At this time, many innocent people had suffered due to massacres, poverty, grief and starvation and many Chinese wanted changes in the way of life. Marxism ideologies started being considered due to the growth of a working class, consequences of the War and the Russian revolution (Archie 21). Marxism seemed to meet the needs of the new era and since the people needed an organization to guide them, they came up with a Communist Party. Mao Zedong, an intelligent man though poorly educated, had been a member of the Nationalist Army but later became powerfully interested in the Marxism philosophies. After many years of civil wars and invasion by the Japanese, Mao led communists prevailed against the nationalists in the year 1949.
Communists followed Marxist’s ideas through proletariat, which referred to the class of people whose existence depended entirely on the demand for labor. The society survived on the sale of its labor and did not draw profits from any type of capital. The ruling party emphasized on equality among the people so as to ensure that all workers were on the same level in terms of earnings. Communists actions brought about a form of equality amongst the Chinese people though not all the people benefited from it. Mao’s communism had resulted in the theory of proletariat dictatorship. Mao Zedong died in the year 1976, and by the year 1978, the contemporary China started real development of Marxism (Chan 13). Chinese Communist Party had been the only ruling party for a long time and Mao’s policy decisions had to continue being upheld and all his instructions would continue being observed unswervingly. Marxist paved way for China’s economic development. Chinese philosophy continued to emphasize on harmony and peaceful co existence among people, and there was increase condemnation of irrational conflicts and injustices.
However, many years down the line, there have been many changes that China has gone through such that it has been showing capitalist aspects. The economy has changed and Chinese citizens can now participate in private businesses and save their money in private accounts. Unlike the previous years, Chinese can enjoy private property rights and bur shares and stocks as they would wish from companies. This exposes them to losses, but at the same time they can enjoy any revenues or gains. This has resulted into an enhanced gap between the poor and the rich such that there is an emerging middle class (Chan 15). Thus, capitalism is changing the face of China’s economy that once had prevailing communism. The Chinese Communist Party has been controlling the economy totally but the trend shows that the control continues to weaken slowly over the past 30 years.
According to Encyclopedia Britannica Online, Karl Marx had projected a democratic worker- controlled society that would consist of equal and free producers, but the Chinese revolution did not manage to maintain the real Marxism. Recently, China’s government tried to excuse its crimes against humanity, by maintaining that the massacre at Beijing had to do with communism and socialism. This has been condemned by many people including the Socialist Labor Party since the massacre resulted into demonstrators being killed by armed forces. Karl Marx’s ideas did not support suppression of democracy, but advocated for a system in which the society would freely and democratically control their own affairs whether economic or social. China seems to have changed from its original Marxism ideologies that had been advocated by Chairman Mao. China is now full of rich and poor people, and after tasting the fruits of capitalism, it seems to leave every communism aspect that it once had.
References
Archie, Brown. The rise and fall of communism. New York: Ecco, 2011. : 8- 24
Chan, Adrian. Chinese Marxism. London: Continuum International Publishing group, 2003. : 12- 15
Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica: Marxism: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 26 Mar. 2012. Available at
