Introduction
Discussion
Toward the end of the 19th century and in the early 20th Century, Chinese scholars began advocating for a system of government that embodied western ideology and philosophy. Chen Dixui, an intellectual influenced by western ideologies, returned to China to establish the New Youth magazine. The magazine advocated for communism, an idea that was invited by most Chinese at the time. Ci Yuan-Pei was responsible for reforming the higher education ideologies that became the heart of the New Culture Movement. Together with Hi Shu’s philosophies, the three intellectuals made up the New Culture Movement aimed at abolishing ancient Chinese cultures. The president at the time, Yuan Shi-Kai would give in to Japanese 21 demands which included giving up Korea to Japanese rule. This move sparked outrage in China and gave birth to the May Fourth Movement that was instigated by students protesting loss of Chinese territory . This loss presented a betrayal by the West, leading to re-evaluation of New Culture Movement which bore the Chinese Communist Party and Kuomintang. The two would later form a coalition known as the First United Front. This alliance was formed to help end warlardism and advocate for communism spread throughout China.
Fundamentally, the two splits wanted to achieve different views. The Kuomintang sought for liberalism while the Chinese communist party sought to adopt Marxism ideologies and have them integrated as communism among the Chinese people. Given the fact that the two ideologies were a representation of what the masses believed in, it was thus at this point that the two splits became the basis of mass party systems at the time: they received support from the masses who believed in their philosophies and ideologies of government. Through the influence of Sun Yat-Sen, his party – the Kuomintang – would incorporate members of the Communist party as single entities into the coalition who still remained faithful to their parent company. The coalition was heavily influenced by the Soviets, who had their own interests for advocating against the growth of the communist party. Following the death of the United Front leader, Sun, in 1925, friction between right wing KMT and left wing CCP became evident. The right wing, in a bid to consolidate power, expelled and hunted senior members of the left wing: a move which would eventually lead to the dissolution of the First United Front.
Conclusion
The Chinese government in now composed of a Communist party and several other parties. This is following the resistance of the communism advocates that led to the Kuomintang advocates getting expelled. The political reforms in China began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Chinese subscribed to a feudal system of government that embodied Confucian ideals. Intellectuals who studied abroad would introduce western ideals and philosophy: that would later transform their political system from Imperialism to a republican state. This, however, failed with the loss of Korea, as Chinese territory, to Japanese following the Versailles Peace Treaty. This would foster the New Culture movement and give birth to May Fourth movement. The NCM split into Kuomintang and CCP that would later form the First United Front, which would later collapse due to differences in ideals.
Works Cited
Dirlik, Arif. The origins of Chinese communism. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989.
Fan, C. Simon. Culture, Institution, and Development in China: The Economics of National Character. Routledge, 2016.
Kataoka, Tetsuya. Resistance and revolution in China: the Communists and the second united front. 1974: University of California Press, California.
Van Slyke, Lyman P. Enemies and Friends: The United Front in Chinese Communist History. California: Stanford University Press, 1967.
