I can't move to China, but can I stash my money in Chinese investment? Where can I buy BYD and Xiaomi stock?

Mao Zedong was born on 26 December 1893 in a middle peasant family in Shaoshan Valley, modern day Xiangtan County of Hunan Province, under the reign of Qing Dynasty Emperor Guangxu. From the age of six, Mao worked on his father's land and at a later age served as the family account keeper, performing farm work alongside the laborers hired by his father. Mao Zedong learned from his own experiences the hardships that the Peasantry suffered, as Mao Yinchang enforced a harsh work discipline on Mao Zedong and his younger brothers, even beating them. Such a life ingrained in Mao a rebellious spirit and good work discipline.

At the age of 17, filled with the need to continue his studies outside his secluded village and hearing that Dongshan School taught modern knowledge, Mao convinced family members to persuade his father to approve of the move. Leaving the environs of Shaoshan Valley for the first time.

On the eve of the 1911 Revolution, Changsha was a hub of the Province's revolutionary activity, with even the local military forces aligning with the revolutionaries. Changsha was Mao's, then 18, first encounter with revolutionary thought, becoming a dedicated reader of the revolutionary publication Minli bao (People’s Journal).

Mao immediately joined the revolutionary army of the new government, but rather than a student detachment, he opted to join the regular army. Becoming a private in the left platoon of the First Battalion, 25th Brigade, of the Hunan New Army. It was while reading an article in the Xianghan xinwen (Xianghan News), that Mao would first encounter the term 'socialism'.

After the revolution, during the New Culture Movement the New Youth magazine would criticize the then KMT goverment for its failures in abolishing the feudal istem throuth a materialist lents, a collegue friend introduced Mao to it. Eventually its makers would found the Communist party of China in Shanghai by Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao in June 1921, And Mao was one of its early members

Following instructions from the Comintern members also joined the Kuomintang.

Mao worked as a Kuomintang political organizer in Shanghai. With the help of advisers from the Soviet Union the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party) gradually increased its power in China. Its leader, Sun Yat-sen died on 12th March 1925. When Chiang Kai-Shek emerged as the new leader of the Kuomintang after a power struggle between the right and left wing of the party, he carried out a purge (April 12 Purge) that seek to eliminate the communists from the organization and the country. The survivors of the purge managed to established diferent soviets inside the country the biggest being the Jiangxi Soviet.

The nationalists now imposed a blockade and Mao Zedong decided to evacuate the area and establish a new stronghold in the north-west of China. In October 1934 Mao, Lin Biao, Zhu De, and some 100,000 men and their dependents headed west through mountainous areas, this Began the Long March in which Mao would win the Political Power Struggle inside the CPC and become the Chairman of the CPC

The marchers covered about fifty miles a day and reached Shensi on 20th October 1935. It is estimated that only around 30,000 survived the 8,000-mile Long March.

During the Second World War Mao's well-organized guerrilla forces were well led by Zhu De and Lin Biao. As soon as the Japanese surrendered, Communist forces began a war against the Nationalists led by Chaing Kai-Shek. The communists gradually gained control of the country and on 1st October, 1949, Mao announced the establishment of People's Republic of China.

In 1958 Mao announced the Great Leap Forward, an attempt to increase agricultural and industrial production. This reform programme included the establishment of large agricultural communes containing as many as 75,000 people. The communes ran their own collective farms and factories. Each family received a share of the profits and also had a small private plot of land. However, three years of floods and bad harvests severely damaged levels of production. The scheme was also hurt by the decision of the Soviet Union to withdraw its large number of technical experts working in the country. In 1962 Mao's reform programme came to an end and the country resorted to a more traditional form of economic production.

As a result of the failure on the Great Leap Forward, Mao retired from the post of chairman of the People's Republic of China. His place as head of state was taken by Liu Shaoqi. Mao remained important in determining overall policy. In the early 1960s Mao became highly critical of the foreign policy of the Soviet Union. He was for example appalled by the way Nikita Khrushchev backed down over the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Mao became openly involved in politics in 1966 with the start of the Cultural Revolution.

During the early 1960s, Mao became concerned with the nature of post-1959 China. He saw that the old ruling elite was replaced by a new one. He was concerned that those in power were becoming estranged from the people they were to serve. In an attempt to dislodge those in power who favoured the Soviet model of communism, Mao told students and young workers as his Red Guards to fight the revisionists in the party.

Lin Biao compiled some of Mao's writings into the handbook, The Quotations of Chairman Mao, and arranged for a copy of what became known as the Little Red Book, to every Chinese citizen.

Zhou Enlai at first gave his support to the campaign but became concerned when fighting broke out between the Red Guards and their opposition. The Cultural Revolution came to an end when Liu Shaoqi resigned from all his posts on 13th October 1968. In 1969, Mao declared the Cultural Revolution to be over.

Mao gave his support to the Gang of Four: Jiang Qing (Mao's fourth wife), Wang Hongwen, Yao Wenyuan and Zhange Chungqiao.

Around the time of the death of Lin Biao in 1971, the Cultural Revolution began to lose momentum. The new commanders of the People's Liberation Army demanded that order be restored in light of the dangerous situation along the border with the Soviet Union.

Near the end of Mao's life, a power struggle occurred between the Gang of Four and the alliance of Deng Xiaoping, Zhou Enlai, and Ye Jianying.

Mao Zedong died in Beijing on 9th September, 1976.

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Excerpts:

China’s biggest oil refiner said the country’s gasoline demand had peaked last year and declines would accelerate as the shift to electric vehicles gathers pace.

The institute reiterated a forecast from last year that China’s overall oil demand would top out at around 800 million tons a year no later than 2027.

Chinese diesel demand, which peaked in 2019 and then plateaued, would fall by more than 5% this year, Sinopec said. However, aviation fuel consumption would keep rising through 2040, it said.

Does anyone have recentish claims of that for investigation and possible debunking?

source https://wits.worldbank.org/CountryProfile/en/Country/CHN/Year/LTST/TradeFlow/EXPIMP

I know this is a concept that is somewhat contentious but most attempts I've seen to approach this concept after the death of Marx and Engels have been by European/white writers and seemingly trotskyists. I was wondering if any Marxist thinkers from asia had any analyses of it, particularly any conducted by any Chinese Marxists who know their own history the best.

Every week they spend Friday doing art instead of working. This week they were colouring in mandalas. At the end of each session the art teacher reviews each piece and tells the creator what is in their heart based on how they've drawn or coloured their piece. After this they did a sort of tarot card thing where each person picked a card which has an attribute on it like focused or loyal or whatever. Finally it ended with a sort of zen prayer thing from the teacher.

Throughout all of this there was a professional photographer talking pictures. He insisted that he take a bunch with me and everyone else.

I made friends with everyone here. They were so happy when I said I loved Mao and that I was a communist. I discussed how I became a communist over the last 5-6 years and the things that radicalised me.

I ended up inviting one of the participants out for drinks later that night and I think we'll stay in touch. She's an English teacher in her spare time. Anyway, she sent through all the pictures that the photographer took.

All in all 10/10 wholesome experience and without trying to be patronising, these people were so fucking adorable.

Wuhan is a great city.

Bonus picture of me explaining my cool fucking hat.

Dude looks fabulous

Link to video

Its interesting to me that the design seems to have decided on which way is "down" more than the ISS did.

Do you think this is where they launched the hurricane lasers from?

The civil service examinations of Imperial China allowed the state to find the best candidates to staff the vast bureaucracy that governed China from the Han Dynasty onwards (206 BCE - 220 CE). The exams were a means for a young male of any class to enter that bureaucracy and so become a part of the gentry class of scholar-officials. The exams had multiple levels and were extremely difficult to pass, requiring extensive knowledge of Confucian classics, law, government, and oratory amongst other subjects. For the state, the system supplied not only able candidates who were selected on merit but also ensured an entire class developed which had sympathy with the ruling status quo. The exams were in place for over a thousand years and are the principal reason why education is still particularly revered in Chinese culture today.

Historical Development

The idea of recruiting officials to staff the imperial bureaucracy developed from the Han Dynasty. An Imperial Academy had been established in 124 BCE for scholars to study in depth the Confucian and Taoist classics, and by the end of the Han period, this institution was training an impressive 30,000 students each year. In general, the state held the view that education was a mark of a civilised society and in order to get the best administrators to run China's vast territories efficiently, an entire class of scholar civil servants was required. This view would prevail under varying dynasties right up to the mid-20th century CE. From the early 8th century CE the military had its own separate set of examinations.

The rulers of the Sui Dynasty (581-618 CE), who had once again unified China, were keen to further improve and centralise the traditional administration system set up by the Han. There was now a much greater emphasis not on an officials' family connections and their letters of recommendations from powerful friends but on the abilities demonstrated in their performance in civil service examinations held in the capital. These examinations combined elements from tests used in previous regimes such as questions on government and knowledge of the classics of Chinese literature, especially those on Confucianism.

Emperor Gaozu (r. 618-626 CE), founder of the Tang dynasty (618-906 CE) continued with the same policy and added further refinements such as testing a candidate's speaking skills. The examinations themselves were now more sophisticated with both regularly held ones and special event exams to weed out the very best recruits. Now fully established, the civil service examinations tested a young man's knowledge of the following:

• writing and calligraphy
• formal essay writing techniques
• classic literature
• mathematics
• legal matters
• government matters
• poetry
• clear and coherent speaking

Examinations were initially organised by the Board of Civil Office and thereafter by the Board of Rites, they were held annually, and they attracted up to 2,000 candidates. Extremely testing, only about 1% of examinees actually passed, although it was possible to retake the examinations an unlimited number of times. Those who passed then faced another examination at the Board of Civil Office.

During the Song dynasty (960-1279 CE) the examinations were restructured to meet greater demand - five times that seen during the Tang. Now a qualifying examination was imposed to select those candidates more likely to do well in the examinations proper.

There also began in this period certain measures to limit (but certainly not eliminate) corruption such as the introduction of anonymous marking, the use of a number instead of a candidate's name to avoid bias, and, in the case of the second and third level exams, even the copying of handwriting by a clerk to disguise who had answered the papers.

As if the prize ticket of a place in the state apparatus were not enough of an inducement to candidates, there were other benefits, too. Successful candidates were allowed to wear certain robes which became status symbols in wider society, they were given certain tax benefits, and their new status meant they avoided corporal punishment for some criminal offences.

When the Mongols ruled China during the Yuan Dynasty (1276-1368 CE) the exams were first cancelled altogether and then reinstated but with quotas based on a candidate's ethnicity - Han Chinese were only allowed 25% of the exam places. The civil service examination system was fully revived, though, in 1370 CE under the Ming dynasty (1368-1644 CE). Adding their own refinements to the traditional setup of previous Chinese dynasties, the Ming introduced a geographical quota system so that the richer regions did not, as was previously the case, dominate all the positions in the civil service. Meanwhile, the increase in the number of schools meant children with parents who could not afford private tuition could now, at least in some areas, receive the essential education necessary to prepare for the exams.

Under the Qing dynasty (1644-1911 CE) yet another layer of complication was added to the exam system. An examination for younger boys, which they had to pass in order to be eligible to take the level one regional civil service exam, was introduced. The Qing also added another level at the other end of this academic obstacle course. Now candidates who passed the level three palace exam had to do yet another written test, this time set by the emperor himself. The good news was that success in this final paper meant an immediate senior appointment.

Qing abolished the civil service exams system in 1905 CE. Its legacy remains, though, in the particularly high regard, indeed, almost reverence with which education is held in Chinese culture today.

Full article WHE

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Why couldn't I have been born in a saner time

I stumbled upon this video on r/Sino from the severe floods last August and thought it was too wholesome not to share.

The comments are pretty real too:

Imagine dropping a box into a US Army vehicle. Their first reaction would be that it is a bomb. You'd probably be shot within seconds, especially if you're a minority.

You wouldnt be allowed to get that close to begin with. The whole area would have been locked down by the police force. Imagine being that paranoid of your own citizens.

I'm drinking beer I bought from a store, sitting at a restaurant table I didn't offer any food from, and some stranger just handed me a fist full of boiled peanuts.

Chengdu might be the most chill city I've visited so far.

More images under spoiler tag. Sorry I don't have any higher resolution and I had to crop them because they were screenshots from WeChat.

If anyone wants to find the channel it was user: 我眼里的景 Post: 成都：不止一面

The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China. The revolution was the culmination of a decade of agitation, revolts, and uprisings. Its success marked the collapse of the Chinese monarchy, the end of over two millennia of imperial rule in China and the 200-year reign of the Qing, and the beginning of China's early republican era.

The Qing had struggled for a long time to reform the government and resist foreign aggression, but the program of reforms after 1900 was opposed by conservatives in the Qing court as too radical and by reformers as too slow. Several factions, including underground anti-Qing groups, revolutionaries in exile, reformers who wanted to save the monarchy by modernizing it, and activists across the country debated how or whether to overthrow the Qing dynasty. The flash-point came on 10 October 1911, with the Wuchang Uprising, an armed rebellion among members of the New Army. Similar revolts then broke out spontaneously around the country, and revolutionaries in all provinces of the country renounced the Qing dynasty. On 1 November 1911, the Qing court appointed Yuan Shikai (leader of the powerful Beiyang Army) as prime minister, and he began negotiations with the revolutionaries.

In Nanjing, revolutionary forces created a provisional coalition government. On 1 January 1912, the National Assembly declared the establishment of the Republic of China, with Sun Yat-sen, leader of the Tongmenghui (United League), as President of the Republic. A brief civil war between the North and the South ended in compromise. Sun would resign in favor of Yuan, who would become President of the new national government, if Yuan could secure the abdication of the Qing emperor. The edict of abdication of the six-year-old Xuantong Emperor, was promulgated on 12 February 1912. Yuan was sworn in as president on 10 March 1912.

In December 1915, Yuan restored the monarchy and proclaimed himself as the Hongxian Emperor, but the move was met with strong opposition from the population and the Army, leading to his abdication in March 1916 and the reinstatement of the Republic. Yuan's failure to consolidate a legitimate central government before his death in June 1916 led to decades of political division and warlordism, including an attempt at imperial restoration of the Qing dynasty.

The revolution is named Xinhai because it occurred in 1911, the year of the Xinhai (辛亥) stem-branch in the sexagenary cycle of the traditional Chinese calendar. The governments of Taiwan and China both consider themselves the legitimate successors to the 1911 Revolution and honor the ideals of the revolution including nationalism, republicanism, modernization of China and national unity. 10 October is the National Day of the Republic of China on Taiwan, and the Anniversary of the 1911 Revolution in the PRC.

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Jbh

The survival of the PRC is now longer than the Soviet Union, which lasted 74 years.

I thought I was getting some orange soda or something, but colour me surprised when it turned out to be lethally sweet iron brew. Like the old stuff.

I'm so happy