Discuss China in Terms of Being the “Middle Kingdom, ” Population Growth Issues, and Industrialization.
WORLD GEOGRAPHY
Discuss China in terms of being the “Middle Kingdom,” population growth issues, and industrialization.
The term Zhongguo, when translated from Mandarin to English means Middle Kingdom or the Center of the Universe. Zhongguo in ancient Chinese history was once believed to be the center of civilization. Dating back from 1000 BC the Chinese were of the view that they were indeed the center of the whole world. The Chou people who occupied the Middle Kingdom during this time were oblivious of the civilizations to the West. Because of the mindset of these people in the Center of The Universe, the introduction of Industrialization shatter these beliefs that they held firm.
Industrialization in China was delayed. One can argue that unlike the Europeans whom focused on individualism or rather self, the Chinese contrasted in this because their beliefs were centered mainly on family and community. Family on a whole took precedence for the larger numbers of Chinese around this time. This may have been the contributing factor as to why Industrialization was slow in coming to China. In the 1950’s the Great Leap Forward act was introduced. This acts target was to use China's vast population to rapidly transform the country from an agricultural economy into a contemporary communist society by implementing rapid industrialization and collectivization.
In 1959, things began to go downhill. Machinery, which made farm work easier, began to fall apart and hundreds of thousands of workers were being injured day after day due to long hours of work and falling asleep. The steel produced by mediocre furnaces were to weak to be of any use in construction. Structures built with these materials did not last long. In as much as the weather was fit for farming, floods came and in some part of China starvation occurred on a large scale. Millions were thought to have starved to death in 1960, and millions more were left on the brink of dying as a result of lack of food.
Discuss China in terms of being the “Middle Kingdom,” population growth issues, and industrialization.
The term Zhongguo, when translated from Mandarin to English means Middle Kingdom or the Center of the Universe. Zhongguo in ancient Chinese history was once believed to be the center of civilization. Dating back from 1000 BC the Chinese were of the view that they were indeed the center of the whole world. The Chou people who occupied the Middle Kingdom during this time were oblivious of the civilizations to the West. Because of the mindset of these people in the Center of The Universe, the introduction of Industrialization shatter these beliefs that they held firm.
Industrialization in China was delayed. One can argue that unlike the Europeans whom focused on individualism or rather self, the Chinese contrasted in this because their beliefs were centered mainly on family and community. Family on a whole took precedence for the larger numbers of Chinese around this time. This may have been the contributing factor as to why Industrialization was slow in coming to China. In the 1950’s the Great Leap Forward act was introduced. This acts target was to use China's vast population to rapidly transform the country from an agricultural economy into a contemporary communist society by implementing rapid industrialization and collectivization.
In 1959, things began to go downhill. Machinery, which made farm work easier, began to fall apart and hundreds of thousands of workers were being injured day after day due to long hours of work and falling asleep. The steel produced by mediocre furnaces were to weak to be of any use in construction. Structures built with these materials did not last long. In as much as the weather was fit for farming, floods came and in some part of China starvation occurred on a large scale. Millions were thought to have starved to death in 1960, and millions more were left on the brink of dying as a result of lack of food.