Early History of the State of China
China in any aspect has become a new world power after the Cold War. The attention of the people of earth was fixed on him. If we look at history, we will be able to understand that the country of the bamboo curtain has been forged by various upheavals in the past, which were heavy and threatening.
China is one of the oldest cultural histories in the world. From archaeological and anthropological findings, the area of China has been inhabited by early humans since 1.7 million years ago. Chinese civilization originated in various city-states along the Yellow River valley in the Neolithic era. Chinese written history begins with the Shang Dynasty (c. 1750 BC - 1045 BC).
History has proven that China is a nation-state that has succeeded in going through various episodes of life, with both tragic and happy endings. From a large nation led by various dynasties, China had to go through a "period of humiliation" by European powers since the mid-19th century before being finally "liberated" by communist forces under the leadership of Mao Zedong in 1949.
China during Mao's time was a China that “hate but miss” both the United States and the Soviet Union – a foreign policy posture that ultimately forced China to isolate itself from international relations. Meanwhile, at home the people's hardships mounted as a result of Mao's political adventures in the Great Leap Forward (1958–60) and the Cultural Revolution (1966–76).
China in Mao's time was a socialist country where the state played a major role in economic development. In the industrial sector, for example, state-owned companies generate more than 60 percent of the gross value of industrial production. In the urban sector, the government is the only agent authorized to set prices for key commodities, determine the distribution of investment funds, allocate energy sources, set wage levels for labour, and control financial policies and the banking system. The foreign trade system has also been a government monopoly since the early 1950s.
Since Mao “went to see Marx” in September 1976, China has begun to open up and adopt open market reforms. Since 1978 the role of the central government under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping in managing the economy has diminished, accompanied by an increasing role for both private companies and other market forces. As a result, China's economy displayed astonishing dynamism: between 1978 and 1995, China's share of world GDP increased from 5% to 10.9%. Although China is still relatively poor in terms of per capita income, these results have fueled speculation about China's future. There are even observers who say that with China's success in not being dragged into the Asian economic crisis, China's economy is expected to be able to
matched the United States in around 2015.
China enters the 21st century with the remnants of its socialist ideology on one leg and its striving to become a world power on the other. If during Mao's reign China still applied autocratic rules, exaggerated worship of state leaders, rigid orthodoxy and isolationism, then in the 1990s and early 21st century the Chinese government was faced with a population that was much more educated and able to articulate yourself.
China, which previously worshiped the communist revolution (which was closely related to working-class radicalism, egalitarianism, and hostility to Western imperialism) has been replaced by a modernized China, with a capitalist industrial economy that is integrated with the world, the application of the concept of democracy, and the development of human resources through the education system. advanced. This is proof of the rejection of revolution in the name of modernization or in other words the rejection of socialism in the name of capitalism.
The transition from a centralized socialist economy to a free market economy has indeed improved the living standards of most Chinese people. Therefore it is not surprising that prosperity is no longer a luxury item in China. The economic boom has brought about major improvements in the standard of living of most urban Chinese. Although China may not immediately become an open and free society, the restrictions on pop culture and other harmful things from the West have begun to be reduced by three and a quarter proof that capitalism has become more and more firmly established in China.
The transition also raises various acute problems that must be addressed immediately. Kenneth Lieberthal, a sinologist from the University of Michigan, lists the five most pressing problems facing China today: (1) environmental quality degradation, (2) unemployment, (3) separatism conflicts that lead to disintegration, (4) China's participation in the WTO, and (5) endemic corruption.
In relation to the latter problem, China realizes that a stable political and social environment is necessary for efforts to maintain healthy economic development, including the fight against corruption. This is why the Chinese government from the beginning of the reform has been determined to make economic development its main task and at the same time strives hard against corruption in order to ensure stability and promote reform and development.
Given the importance of China today in various fields, it is no exaggeration to say that we need to look at how its cultural and historical development has come to be where it is today as valuable material for reflection. This book complements the history of China in Indonesian by Nio Joe Lan entitled China Throughout the Ages. At least this work will make it easier for sinological scholars and the public in general to study Chinese history.
source :
http://blog.djarumbeasiswaplus.org/nurulikhsan/?p=489
http://forum.detik.com/history-cina-t96477.htm