Bound to be, and our respective explanations of what seems strange to people rooted in other points of view will throw light both on those things being explained, and on us, who seek to explain.
To be honest, those few, very few, among Indians who have some knowledge and information about China and the Han Chinese people have gathered what you have stated. Perhaps not with such accuracy, not with such width, but near enough for the rest of us Indians to get the impression.
It needs to be said, however, that you are speaking at a deep, conceptual level. Many posts tend to brush that aside, and straightaway point to transactional matters - the Sino-Indian War of 1962, that was never a war at all - to define the relationship between the two countries.
This is interesting. Interesting, because we get an opportunity to see what influences such development, what new thoughts, concepts and practices reach home to the people at large.
Your points are noted. The impression I, personally, have is not identical to what I read from your post.
For instance, the influence of Marxism, particularly of the developed concept of that ideology that stemmed from Stalin, and followed Lenin, that was interpreted in a particular manner, not necessarily a China-specific manner, by Mao Zedong, cannot be brushed aside. It has had a lasting imprint on China as a state, although it is also clear that the efforts of Mao to destroy the respect for traditions and the past, notably during the Cultural Revolution, did not work.
It also does not seem convincing to be told that the Chinese people chose the CCP. There is a lot more to it than that, and the struggle between the Communists and the Nationalists, once more, cannot be brushed aside. While it conveys a romantic and idealised notion of recent historical events, it may not be very accurate. Ignoring the role of Deng Xiaoping in reversing some of the extreme policies of Mao is also very controversial.
The present situation may support your depiction of a party that acknowledges the unvoiced opinion of the Chinese people, although it is difficult to imagine a situation where this opinion is fished out of social media, in the absence of any mechanism by which it can be gauged by the politicians/party member.
A thought-provoking post. I had replied in detail and at length, but my work was wiped out by an unexpected power outage that outlasted my UPS. Perhaps later, if my household chores permit (it is already midnight, so not much more time left).
Thank you for the inputs. Whether I agree or disagree is another matter, and of course, those knowledgeable in these matters will no doubt have a lot to say.
About Marxism-Leninism and China ..........
At a time when China is still in an extremely chaotic situation, people have lost their direction and the country does not look like a country. Some pioneers travelled to other countries to study, and they hoped to bring back to China some advanced ideas and concepts to get China out of its current predicament. But this matter is not easy.
When CCP was first established, it was just a small and disunited group of people, and ordinary Chinese people did not trust them, and not many people even knew they existed. At that time CCP did a lot of revolutionary events in many parts of China, but it was hard to succeed. At a time when ordinary people were starving, not many people were willing to follow this dream of ‘saving China’.
This situation continued until Mao Zedong took full control of the CCP.
After Mao Zedong took full control of the CCP, many statements and actions that were closely related to ordinary Chinese people became an important part of the CCP. For example, ‘fight the landlords and divide the fields’. These changes are what made ordinary Chinese people start to trust and support CCP.
We can see from these changes that ordinary Chinese do not care about Marxism-Leninism, they care more about their own lives. They did not care whether it was CCP's Marxism-Leninism or KMT's Three People's Principles that led them, as long as it solved their current life problems, they supported it.
Even within KMT, there are forces that have been calling on KMT to care about the life problems of ordinary Chinese. But these appeals have not been answered. As a result, many KMT members later became CCP members. In the subsequent civil war, a large number of KMT troops chose to revolt or surrender outright.
Had it not been for this major shift in Mao's approach to the CCP, the CCP could not have gained the support of the average Chinese.
However, as I mentioned earlier, centralisation and democracy manifest themselves differently at different stages of the country.
CCP became the leader of the Chinese people through a high degree of centralisation. When the country reached a certain stage of development, the problem began to surface.
In the later years of Mao's life, his health no longer allowed him to continue to lead China and he no longer had a clear head to make the right decisions. some people or groups within the CCP began to be restless and these people began to use Mao to purge other people or groups within the CCP.
You can interpret China at that time as: one false head of state + two fiercely antagonistic political groups. A manifestation of a democratic society.
Mao was the initiator of the Cultural Revolution, but he was not the operator. Things had gone completely off course and out of his control, but his body had rendered him powerless to undo it. ------ Now declassified information proves it.
It wasn't until Deng Xiaoping came to power that China began to move in the right direction.
However, by the late Deng Xiaoping era, history repeated itself once again. Thus, the June Fourth Movement took place ......
But, we cannot completely dismiss someone just because he did something bad at a certain period of time. We need to give him some time to self-correct, and we can also give him some hints or warnings. Of course, one can also choose to leave him first and come back when he has adjusted. During the period of the Cultural Revolution and the 4 June Movement, it was the period when there was the greatest exodus of Chinese people and the greatest number of civil protests. If the CCP could not adjust itself in time after these events, some new political groups would inevitably come out to replace him. When these negative events happen, ordinary Chinese people usually choose their own decision according to the situation.CCP is never calm as water inside, different factions have been monitoring and checking each other. The consensus among these factions is not to allow these monitoring and checks and balances to lead to chaos in China, if this consensus is lost, China will start to be chaotic. This is exactly the same as the partisan struggles in Western countries.
Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought does not matter to the average Chinese. They care more about their own lives. Not many ordinary Chinese can explain the meaning of these ideas. But they get annoyed when they learn that the price of oil has gone up by RMB 0.2, and they get happy when they learn that the price of electricity has gone down to RMB 0.15 ...................
In today's China, civil servant status and CCP party membership will lose many rights and interests that ordinary citizens are entitled to. When danger comes, ordinary citizens can flee, they can't. Chinese law and CCP charter require them to be at the forefront. In today's highly developed internet self media, no one can create myths. I am grateful for the corruption cases that have been erupting in China in recent years. It shows that CCP's ability to self-correct and ordinary Chinese people's ability to monitor CCP is growing. If one day, there are no corruption cases, that will be the most terrible coming.
