Patriotic Health Campaign
China 3 – Social and Cultural change, 1949-76 poster
Core knowledge
Women
Before 1949 women were bound by ‘three obediences’ (father, husband, son); foot binding,
female infanticide, lack of education (1% girls = literate), abused by mother-in-laws
New Marriage Law: legal equality & right to divorce; ended dowries, child marriage (1946-49 =
18.6% = age 16-17, 1958-65 = 2.4%), arranged marriages (1940s = 30.6%, 1966-76 = 0.8%).
Exceptions for PLA.
Enforcement difficult. Varied in different regions.
Key dates
Economic policies supposed to make women equal: work, kindergartens, canteens, but there
was abuse, lower work points. 1950 – New Marriage Law
Women’s Association (76 million members): gave literacy & other lessons, political voice, but Land Reform
did reinforce traditional gender roles Reunification
Cultural Revolution – women politicised, gender neutral uniforms. Female party cadres = 8-12% Campaigns
1958-66, 16-21% 1970-74. 1951 – Winter Schools
Education: 100% of girls starting primary education completed it after 1959 (only 38% before); Religions Affairs
PLA provided opportunities at military academies, but expected female recruits to marry PLA Department created
soldiers 1953 – Chinese Buddhist
Education Association
Before 1949: 30% males, 1% females over 7 could read a simple letter; traditional arts based 1954 – Religious Affairs
education; rote learning.
Bureau
Literacy: Pinyin introduced to simplify language; Winter schools to deal with adult illiteracy. 42
million attended. 1952 - 78% of population remained illiterate.
1958 – Start of the GLF
Primary: Min-pan schools. 1949-57 primary school children rose from 26million to 64 million. New college
Secondary: favoured old bourgeoisie and children of party elites. Cities had better schools. entrance exams
University: purges of 1950s = loss of educators. University enrolments rose by over 300,000; 1959 – Dalai Lama fled
1953 63% of students on engineering, medicine or agriculture courses. Elitism remained. 1965 – Barefoot Doctors
Schools incorporated into communes during GLF. Disruption caused by ‘half work, half study’ 1966 – Jiang Qing = cultural
policy. Disruption to education made worse by closure of schools during the Cultural Revolution advisor to military
and then the ‘Up to the mountains, down to the villages’ campaign. National college
Health entrance exams end
1949: rudimentary health system. Reliance on acupuncture & herbalism 1967 – ‘Up to the
Patriotic Health Campaigns: focus on prevention. Smallpox, cholera, typhus, typhoid TB &
Mountains, Down to
parasitic diseases greatly reduced. Campaigns against triad drug gangs lowered number of drug
addicts.
the Villages’
GLF: Communes had medical clinics; 800 western-style hospitals built; doctors rose from 1973 – university entrance
40,000 (1949) to 150,000 (1965). Life expectancy rose 20 years to 57 years 1949-57. exams resume
Loss of doctors in Anti campaigns & Cultural Revolution. Barefoot Doctors sent to village clinics. ‘Criticise Lin,
6 months training. Better than no doctors at all. Criticise Confucius’
Religion Campaign
Confucianism & Ancestor Worship: Confucius’ birthplace attacked during CR & Confucian ideas Key words
used to criticise opponents (Liu & Deng). Celebration of New Year discouraged. Kitchen Gods Dowry
replaced with pictures of Mao. Qing Ming festival replaced with National Memorial Day. Concubine
Buddhism: less organised and easier to attack. Monks targeted early on, temples taken over
Women’s Association
and repurposed. Buddhist land redistributed under Land Reform. Tibet targeted in reunification
campaign and anti-rightists campaign and as one of the ‘4 olds’ during the Cultural Revolution. Min-pan
Christianity: 3 million Catholics, 1 million Protestants. Protestants urged to create Patriotic Pinyin
Church Movement. Church schools & hospitals closed or taken over by government. 1949 3000 Patriotic Health Campaigns
Protestant missionaries, 1952 = <100. Catholics loyal to Pope. Catholic nuns accused of starving Barefoot Doctors
and torturing children and hospitals of experimenting on patients. Wearing of Qing Ming
rosaries/crucifixes banned in some places. Number of Catholic missionaries dropped (1949 = Patriotic Church Movement
3222, 1953 = 364). What was left of Christian churches/symbols destroyed during the Cultural Uighurs
Revolution. Islamic Association of China
Islam: Xinjiang. Mosques and schools taken over. More resistance from Muslims. Islamic
Association of China set up to encourage co-operation with the government. Imams = threat to
authority. Han migration encouraged to dilute population. Further destruction during Cultural
Revolution. Religious leaders targeted and given demeaning roles. Government was more
conciliatory and therefore Islam endured better than other religious groups.
‘WOW’ the examiner knowledge
Mao said ‘Women hold up half the sky’
Women’s Association supported health campaigns by educating women about pre & post-natal care and midwifery. Fertility rose &
infant mortality declined.
One Islamic intellectual was tortured by having heavy copies of the multi-lingual dictionary he edited dropped on his head.
Zhou Enlai was honoured during the Qing Ming festival in 1976
China 3 – Social and Cultural change, 1949-76 poster
Core knowledge
Women
Before 1949 women were bound by ‘three obediences’ (father, husband, son); foot binding,
female infanticide, lack of education (1% girls = literate), abused by mother-in-laws
New Marriage Law: legal equality & right to divorce; ended dowries, child marriage (1946-49 =
18.6% = age 16-17, 1958-65 = 2.4%), arranged marriages (1940s = 30.6%, 1966-76 = 0.8%).
Exceptions for PLA.
Enforcement difficult. Varied in different regions.
Key dates
Economic policies supposed to make women equal: work, kindergartens, canteens, but there
was abuse, lower work points. 1950 – New Marriage Law
Women’s Association (76 million members): gave literacy & other lessons, political voice, but Land Reform
did reinforce traditional gender roles Reunification
Cultural Revolution – women politicised, gender neutral uniforms. Female party cadres = 8-12% Campaigns
1958-66, 16-21% 1970-74. 1951 – Winter Schools
Education: 100% of girls starting primary education completed it after 1959 (only 38% before); Religions Affairs
PLA provided opportunities at military academies, but expected female recruits to marry PLA Department created
soldiers 1953 – Chinese Buddhist
Education Association
Before 1949: 30% males, 1% females over 7 could read a simple letter; traditional arts based 1954 – Religious Affairs
education; rote learning.
Bureau
Literacy: Pinyin introduced to simplify language; Winter schools to deal with adult illiteracy. 42
million attended. 1952 - 78% of population remained illiterate.
1958 – Start of the GLF
Primary: Min-pan schools. 1949-57 primary school children rose from 26million to 64 million. New college
Secondary: favoured old bourgeoisie and children of party elites. Cities had better schools. entrance exams
University: purges of 1950s = loss of educators. University enrolments rose by over 300,000; 1959 – Dalai Lama fled
1953 63% of students on engineering, medicine or agriculture courses. Elitism remained. 1965 – Barefoot Doctors
Schools incorporated into communes during GLF. Disruption caused by ‘half work, half study’ 1966 – Jiang Qing = cultural
policy. Disruption to education made worse by closure of schools during the Cultural Revolution advisor to military
and then the ‘Up to the mountains, down to the villages’ campaign. National college
Health entrance exams end
1949: rudimentary health system. Reliance on acupuncture & herbalism 1967 – ‘Up to the
Patriotic Health Campaigns: focus on prevention. Smallpox, cholera, typhus, typhoid TB &
Mountains, Down to
parasitic diseases greatly reduced. Campaigns against triad drug gangs lowered number of drug
addicts.
the Villages’
GLF: Communes had medical clinics; 800 western-style hospitals built; doctors rose from 1973 – university entrance
40,000 (1949) to 150,000 (1965). Life expectancy rose 20 years to 57 years 1949-57. exams resume
Loss of doctors in Anti campaigns & Cultural Revolution. Barefoot Doctors sent to village clinics. ‘Criticise Lin,
6 months training. Better than no doctors at all. Criticise Confucius’
Religion Campaign
Confucianism & Ancestor Worship: Confucius’ birthplace attacked during CR & Confucian ideas Key words
used to criticise opponents (Liu & Deng). Celebration of New Year discouraged. Kitchen Gods Dowry
replaced with pictures of Mao. Qing Ming festival replaced with National Memorial Day. Concubine
Buddhism: less organised and easier to attack. Monks targeted early on, temples taken over
Women’s Association
and repurposed. Buddhist land redistributed under Land Reform. Tibet targeted in reunification
campaign and anti-rightists campaign and as one of the ‘4 olds’ during the Cultural Revolution. Min-pan
Christianity: 3 million Catholics, 1 million Protestants. Protestants urged to create Patriotic Pinyin
Church Movement. Church schools & hospitals closed or taken over by government. 1949 3000 Patriotic Health Campaigns
Protestant missionaries, 1952 = <100. Catholics loyal to Pope. Catholic nuns accused of starving Barefoot Doctors
and torturing children and hospitals of experimenting on patients. Wearing of Qing Ming
rosaries/crucifixes banned in some places. Number of Catholic missionaries dropped (1949 = Patriotic Church Movement
3222, 1953 = 364). What was left of Christian churches/symbols destroyed during the Cultural Uighurs
Revolution. Islamic Association of China
Islam: Xinjiang. Mosques and schools taken over. More resistance from Muslims. Islamic
Association of China set up to encourage co-operation with the government. Imams = threat to
authority. Han migration encouraged to dilute population. Further destruction during Cultural
Revolution. Religious leaders targeted and given demeaning roles. Government was more
conciliatory and therefore Islam endured better than other religious groups.
‘WOW’ the examiner knowledge
Mao said ‘Women hold up half the sky’
Women’s Association supported health campaigns by educating women about pre & post-natal care and midwifery. Fertility rose &
infant mortality declined.
One Islamic intellectual was tortured by having heavy copies of the multi-lingual dictionary he edited dropped on his head.
Zhou Enlai was honoured during the Qing Ming festival in 1976
