State and Society in 20th century in China.
In the year of 1976, one of the main events that struck China was the earthquake in Tangshan and it is often referred to as the Great Earthquake of Tangshan. This is the natural disaster that has been known to end the cultural revolution of China on the great scale. Because of this main reason, the earthquake has been considered as one of the markers in the history. The earthquake hit the city of China, Tangshan that was considered as the epicenter for the earthquake, having a magnitude of 7.8 and the precise date that has been recorded is July 28, 1976. The death toll that was recorded on the initial scale was 280,000 while in the later news it is recorded that the death toll reached 300,000. The effects that the earthquake had left were enormous. However, the main change was the power of the Chinese Communist party was shaken after the earthquake. The power of this party was concentrated in Beijing and it was shaken in both the literal and the political sense.
The year of 1976 has been known as the year of political ferment. The Chinese Communist party chairperson Mao Zedong was at the age of 82. His health did not allow him to be active in politics and he was admitted to the hospital. The medical conditions that he was facing at that time were the heart attacks, weakening him to the level that he could not participate in the party tasks. Medical complications related to the old age and the smoking further aggravated his health.
The year of 1976 is marked by the increase in the changes in the Chinese society, especially the changes in the Chinese Cultural Revolution and these revolutionary changes were excelling as the time was passing by. In addition to these changes, it has been recorded that not all the political representatives welcomed these changes in the culture these included Zhou Enlai who was western educated and the Chinese public premier. He was the representative who was seen to be fatigued of the unrestrained behavior of the Chinese Cultural Revolution.
Many steps were undertaken by Zhou Enlai in order to oppose the Cultural Revolution. It has been seen that Zhou Enlai publically opposed the orders that were passed on by Mao. In this example, it has been recorded that Zhou Enlai gave the idea of modernizations these were referred to as the four modernizations that were proposed in 1975. Some modernizations were against the Cultural Revolution and these were the changes that were against the main ideologies that Mao held. Mao believed in the idea of Return to the Soil. Thereby there was a constant rivalry between the two parties. Zhou Enlai wanted that there should be a modernization in the Chinese culture as well as in agriculture, education, technology and in national defense. As a result of this, one of the main changes was the formation of the Gang of Four in the same year and this is the gang that was headed and lead by Madam Mao, who is also known as Jiang Qing.
On the 8th of January 1976, Zhou Enlai passed away. This happened before the earthquake of Tangshan in 1976. His death was mourned by complete Chinese community, as he was the loved leader in China. In addition to this, it was seen that there were orders issued by the Gang of Four that the death should be mourned to a lesser extent. In spite of this fact, it was observed that there were millions of people who were disobedient to these orders, and joined the other people in Tiananmen
Square in Beijing in order to express their sorrow.
Since the year of 1949, this was one of the greatest demonstrations in Peoples Republic. The people had been protesting against the government and because of the deaths of Tiananmen Square, the main change that occurred in China was the premier replacement of Zhou Enlai with an unknown person Hua Guofeng. Afterwards, it was seen that the next bearer of the modernization was Deng Xiaoping and he belonged to the Chinese Communist party. The year of 1976 has been known as the year that saw much political instability. It was observed that the Gang of Four wanted the denunciation of Deng Xiaoping.
The main ideologies that were being followed by Deng Xiaoping were the modernization of China. He worked for raising the living standards of a typical Chinese citizen in case of their living as well as the education thereby following an ideology of modernization. A greater freedom of expression and higher education was allowed within the Chinese community and it has been observed that the political persecution that was being observed in China was tried to be ended or concluded. The condemnation against Deng continued for many years, especially in the summer as well as winter of the same year.
After all these events, the natural disaster that shook China the most was the Great Tangshan Earthquake in 1976. In accordance to the death toll, it has been considered as the greatest earthquake in the worlds history. Because of the political instability in China as well as the political rivalries and the opposition to the revolution of China there were many tensions in the country along with the earthquake thereby this year was known as the year of curse. The industrial city of China where the earthquake struck had one million inhabitants.
According to the news, it has been recorded that the earthquake struck the city early in the morning and the magnitude was 7.8 at the Richter scale. Some news sources say that the magnitude of the earthquake was 8.2. Still, the damage that was caused by the earthquake was massive and it remains etched in ones mind.
Before the earthquake, there were some deviations from the normal state. It has been reported that these were some early changes that went unnoticed. It was reported that the water of the well rose and fell three times in a day before the earthquake. There was a sprouting of gas in one of the villages in China and higher gas discharge was observed in one of the villages on the 25th and 26th of the same month.
In addition to this, it has been reported that the State Seismological Bureau (SSB) Analysis and Prediction Department of China had predicted that the Tangshan region of China is the most sensitive for the earthquakes in the future thereby the sensitivity of the area was predefined as well as predicted by the expert authorities. Moreover, the dates were given when the earthquake would most likely strike and the predicted dates were in between the months of July and August. All the abnormal signs were the ones that were recorded in various cities of China such as Tangshan, Beijing and Tianjin, Bahia as well as the regions in Among all these areas, the main region that started preparing against the great disaster was the Qinglong County as it has been seen that the reports presented were analyzed and the earthquakes were thought to be looming that is why the people started to prepare against the disaster. There was a smaller response to the report from the county as the initial news say that 800 people from the county started to respond. Some sources say that the preparations were started two years earlier as the people from these counties knew that a disaster was expected. Emergency meetings were set up in order to make sure that the villagers were informed in a proper manner. In these meetings, it was made sure that the special attention should be given to the water reservoirs as well as the buildings, as these were the ones that showed the deviations from the normal.
At that time, the secretary of the county was Ran Guangq. He had been facing lots of political criticism for paying attention to the reports and this was calling for more political tensions in the country. However, in spite of these, it was seen that Ran Guangq was ready to even go to jail and be removed from the political designations still he paid proper attention to the earthquake predictions and started making preparations. The main steps that were taken were the proper education of the people as well as the necessary steps to make the evacuations. It was seen that almost 500,000 residents in the country were prepared for the earthquake. It has been reported that almost twenty years later, United Nations added that the preparations and the early warnings were an intelligent and a wise progress. It was added that because of these early earnings the survival rates were increased to a higher extent.
he other main event that has been assigned to the year of 1976 is that the Gang of Four was arrested. The newer assigned chairperson of the Chinese Communist party, Hua Guofeng was the one who had ordered the arrest of the most important radicals in Beijing. This is the event that has been named the main revolutionary sign of change after the death of Mao. The famous and rather notorious Gang of Four included the widow of Mao as well as Wang Hongwen, Yao Wenyuan, and Zhang Chunqiao.
The formation of the Gang of Four led to many disturbing changes in China along with the social as well as a political upheaval in the country. The main aim of the Gang was the revival of the revolutionary fervor in the country thereby resulting in the mentioned upheaval.
Another main change was the attacks that were launched by the Red guards against the intellectuals. These attacks were launched to conclude the Bourgeois influence and in this period it was seen that there was a large number of people who were forced into labor as well as there was a large number of people who were executed. These were the crimes that were reported in the newspapers on a large scale. It was observed that during the first year of revolution, the ranks were raised by Mr. Zhang and it was observed that Mr. Zhang was the chief political commissar of the armed forces at that time thereby he had most of the power.
Within the Gang of Four, it was observed that Mr. Wang was known as the wonder boy although the powers that he had were limited. In the year of 1973, he had gained a single rank within the party. One of the most important followers of the Maoist principles was Jian Qing who was formerly an actress.
It has been reported that the arrest was accomplished when the Gang of Four was going to attempt a takeover as an aftermath of the death of the chairman Mao. There are some reports that say that the widow of Mr. Mao had plans on forging the will of Mr. Mao after his death, presenting herself in the will as Maos successor and these were the times when she used to be surrounded by the bodyguards of Hua Guofeng as she eventually was placed under a house arrest. It was reported that there were many anticipations after the arrest and one of the main anticipations related to the liberalization of the social as well as the economic policy in the country. The editorial of the Times Newsweek said that the period could be known as the period when the country got the most important and well balanced political directions.
On the 4th of April 1976, one of the most important gatherings in the country has been reported and it has been referred to as the Qing Ming festival. More than 2 million people attended the festival and the event took place in the Tiananmen Square. This historical gathering was for the purpose of the commemoration of the premier Zhou Enlai. After his death, there were many poems as well as articles written to remember the premier. The very next day, it was reported about a large gathering that was protesting against all the arrests as well as the demands related to the returning of the wreaths from the government. During these demands, the crowd became furious and it was seen that there were clashes between the police, the government officials as well as the crowd that led to the police attacks on the crowd. This is the very gathering that was referred to as Counter Revolutionary Riot by Mao Zedong and it was seen that the orders passed were that the firing should be avoided. This is the Cultural
Revolution that ended in the same year of 1976, when Mao Zedna passed away.
After a period of two years, the the newer leader Deng Xiaoping was selected and he was the one who made the major changes in the country after the conclusion of the revolution that was started by Mao. China in his leadership adopted the open policy reforms and there were positive changes in the countrys economy.
The Peoples Republic of China has seen many changes in the past years but it has been reported that one of the most important years in the history of China was the year of 1976. This is the year when the Cultural Revolution started by Mao was at its peak as he believed that the culture is the one that can lead to greater success. The same year, his death caused an end to the revolution and there was a rise of the Gang of Four that was being lead by Maos widow wife. This Gang was arrested in the same year and the arrests led to the main economic and political changes that were needed at that time. Moreover, one man who did not believe in the Maoist principles was Zhou Enlai and he tried hard to change the Maoist ideology of the Chinese people, saying that China should be modernized in the case of the laws and the policies that were adopted by the Chinese at the time. The modernization was needed in the technology usage in the country in terms of the education so that the newer generation could be taught in a better manner. The political and the educational changes at a side, the natural disaster that the world has not forgotten till now is the Tangshan earthquake that killed almost 300,000 people. This is the earthquake that has been reported to be forecasted by the authorities in China as there were many activities in the villages that were related to the earthquake and these included the gas emissions in the village as well as the water rising in the wells.
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