Modern Glossary

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 ....... IN PROGRESS........

Modern China

1912, Republic of China [ROC]
__ civil war
__ 1931–1945, WWII, Japanese Occupation [38-389]
__ civil war continues Nationalist vs Communist
__1949, fallen Nationalist Party retreats to Taiwan

1949, People's Republic of China [PRC]
____MD: 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s
____1950,  A new marriage law bans polygamy and arranged marriages, promoting women’s equality and encouraging freedom of choice in selecting a spouse.  [source]
____1950,  Agrarian Reform Law redistributes the land of landlords and wealthy farmers to millions of peasants.  [source]
____1956, 3 year drought
____1957-58, An “Anti-Rightist” campaign is used by Mao to eliminate critical intellectuals. A half-million dissidents are sent to remote labor camps for “reform through labor.”
____1958-62,  The “Great Leap Forward” plan calls for an unrealistic increase in industrial and agricultural production.
____All land is collectivized and farmers are organized into People’s Communes.
____Mao declares the goal of passing Great Britain in industrial production by 1972.
Farm tools, cookwares, and anything iron were seized from farmers during this period.  Manpower and tools were removed from farms to support the new steel plants creating further devastation on an already starving population.
* However, the steel produced is of poor quality and the agricultural reforms cause one of the largest famines in human history, with an estimated 30 million deaths from starvation. [source]
____1966, College entrance examination stopped
____1966-76,  Under the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution China’s jurisdiction, research and educational systems are paralyzed. Student bands of “Red Guards” search and destroy anything considered bourgeois—anything representing capitalism, religion, tradition and the West.
____Most of China’s cultural heritage is destroyed.
____Mao’s rivals within the party are purged. Intellectuals and people with “counterrevolutionary” backgrounds are dragged from their homes to endure fatal “struggle sessions,” sent to labor camps or detailed to custodial work units.  [source]
____1976, Death of Mao Zedong
____1977, Resumption of College Examination
____1978, Resumption of privatization, land returning to farmers
____1979, Continuing China’s “Open Door Policy,” diplomatic relations are established between the United States and China.

I've briefly reviewed information about this period from multiple sources, but I am using this [source : Chicago Public Library]  because it has a timeline and with an excellent and concise info that I find helpful to understand this period.

[MD] Modern Decade

[MD] Modern Decade

Qing Dynasty    >>      ROC      >>     PRC    >>     MD

Genre Info:

       MD; Modern Decade which takes place mostly in the 60s, 70s, and 80s.  
       These three decades distinctly defined modern China.  The 60s is a period of depression and hunger.  There's a three year severe draft and communal farming.  Everything belongs to the "people" so nothing belongs to an individual. Residents own nothing and work for collective earning "points" and "tickets".  Tickets are vouchers that are allotted by the government.  Farmers still receive the least even though the Peasant Uprising is supposed to overturn this.  This period post the uprising is called New China. 
       The Peasant Uprising occurred prior to the 60s, but has severe consequences.  Farmers, Peasant, and Military are now the "Red" ruling class.  The rich, aristocratic, cultured, educators, and the highly educated are now the sinners of society.  They are publicly beaten, jailed, and sent to "reform" in rural areas in Bull Pens or Cow Sheds.  Business is illegal, sales and purchases are only authorized in state run establishments.  Culture is banned, foreign culture and travel is banned.  The end of 1950s-1960s is an era of fear, starvation, scarcity, and turmoil. 
        College and higher education is sinful and suspended.  This continues until 1977 when higher education is resumed and marks a major turning for the opening of society again. The 1970s is an improvement from the starving 60s and commerce is black market driven.
The 1980s marks the rise of change.  Businesses are allowed to be operated again and roads are 'paved with gold'.  This is the beginning of the easy rich, where great fortunes and opportunities abound.



1960s Notes:

*   A period of "Big Pot" meals.  Meals are cooked and served by the collective.  This lasted until the 3-Year-Draught.
*   Cultural reformation's dark period.  Many people of cultural, educational, or economic influence are abused and killed during this period.  It's a similar set up to the Nazi that encourages neighbors and families to report on each other.  Framing is a natural result.   Bullpen, jail farms, public harangue and street tours.
*  

MD Glossary

Kang ........... 炕 (a heatable brick bed) common in northern China, a stove is connected to pass along heat, similar to the Roman's Hypocaust heated floor.

Kang ........... 炕 (a heatable brick bed) 

Aunt .......... 姑爹 [gudie]  ..........Aunt's Husband

Black categories ........... class enemies; land, rich, anti, bad, right, rebellious, special, zodiac, and bourgeois intellectuals
Breast/Milk ...........奶/Nai......grandma

Centimeter ........... work points
Collective ...........everyone; no individual owns anything, everything is the property of the collective
Copy ........... clear, search and seizure

Family ........... wife (very old word)

Gay ........... comrade (I think the current "gay" is the same word used to mean comrade during this time period and not a bad translation)

Hooligan ........... Illegal, equivalent to sexual assault, any "sexual" advance with no marriage relations

Jump ........... dance

Lesbian  ........... Female comrade  (see gay)
Lover  ........... spouse

Old 9 ........... laojiu or stinky old 9 is a derogatory term for "bourgeois" intellectuals. One of the black category

Red ........... communist
Red Guards ...........Students who forgo school to search and destroy anything considered bourgeois—anything representing capitalism, religion, tradition and the West.  This was heavily abused to steal wealth of individuals. 
Restaurant ........... dining room
Right/Normalize ........... To become a permanent worker from a temporary position

School Flower ........... #1 beauty in school
School Grass ........... #1 Handsome guy in school
Speculation ........... Illegal, any personal/business/monetary transaction

Target ........... intended Fiance,

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Common names:

Aiguo ........... "love country"  /  patriotic
Aidang ........... "love the party"



Ticket ........... vouchers for types and quantity of goods, not prepaid. Ex. food, industrial, cloth, meat etc are required to purchase the specified good and quantity.  Used to control scarce resources as the vouchers control how much people can "buy" and consume.  Typically issued monthly.

Educated Youth ........... Middle/High school educated student who were sent to work in farms during the Cultural Revolution.  Initially on a voluntary basis, but later became compulsory by family quota. [More Info]

Work Points ........... Points given for completed work.  At the end of each fiscal work period all given work points are tallied up and divided by the total income (food, money, etc all) generated by the commune.  The actual value of a work point will vary from each pay period.  A bad leader can mess this up pretty bad as s/he can assign what work gets what work points. Private business is illegal so work points are virtually the only way to earn income during this period.  Additionally, you can't just choose to not work.  You need permission to not work, most days off are unpaid as you can not earn work points.  People may starve to death if they are too sick to work.

Letter of Introduction ........... Travel Document with purpose, origin, destination, identification, and even time.  Travel outside of your domicile is prohibited.  Only authorized travel with documentation is allowed.  You need a Letter of Introduction to travel, use public transportation, stay in government approved lodgings and dining facilities.

Capitalist ........... is a grave insult.  Capitalists are considered oppressors of the people and is a criminal during this time period.  It is similar to being a Communist during the McCarthyism frenzy in the USA.

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Genre Info: [FS] Farming w/ Space

       This genre primarily deals with the rural/farming life.  The protagonist usually has a special portable space that exists is in a different time and space.  Sizes and capabilities vary.  The largest space can have its own ocean and mountains capable of farming and producing its own animals and produce.  The smallest space may be the size of a small closet. Time is different in the space, either much slower or suspended. Food do not age and rot. Some kind of magical spring/ water usually accompanies a space.

This is an excellent novel of both genres MD and FS.  You feel truly embedded into this decade and the protagonist has to be one of the best prepared for her crossing. Best use of space!


For your information

China Era Timeline: 

Ancient China *
__ Xia dynasty (2070 – 1600 BC)
__ Shang dynasty (1600 – 1046 BC)
__ Zhou dynasty (1046 – 256 BC)
__ Spring and Autumn period (722 – 476 BC)
__ Warring States period (476 – 221 BC)

Imperial China *

__ Qin dynasty (221 – 206 BC)
__ Han dynasty (206 BC – AD 220), outlawing of slavery failed during Xin
__ Three Kingdoms (AD 220 – 280), Caocao
__ Jin dynasty (AD 266 – 420)
__ Northern and Southern dynasties (AD 420 – 589)
__ Sui dynasty (AD 581 – 618)
__ Tang dynasty (AD 618 – 907)
__ Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (AD 907 – 960)
__ Song, Liao, Jin, and Western Xia dynasties (AD 960 – 1279)
__ Yuan dynasty (AD 1271 – 1368)
__ Ming dynasty (AD 1368 – 1644)
__ Qing dynasty (AD 1644 – 1912), ____Kangxi/Siye/Red Mansion

Modern China

1912, Republic of China [ROC]
__ civil war
__ 1931–1945, Japanese Occupation, WWII
__ civil war continues Nationalist vs Communist
__1949, fallen Nationalist Party retreats to Taiwan

1949, People's Republic of China [PRC]
____1976, Death of Mao Zedong
____MD: 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s

* Source: Wiki, I was going to just type up ROC to RPC timeline, but I used wiki for the earlier years just cause.