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184-619: The folklore of the white-haired girl is believed to have spread widely in the areas occupied by the Communist Party of Northern China since the late 1930s. Many years later, a literary work was created in the liberated area controlled by the Chinese Communist Party in the late 1940s. The film was made in 1950 and the first Peking opera performance was in 1958. The first ballet performance was by Shanghai Dance Academy , Shanghai in 1965. It has also been performed by

368-471: A tenant peasant hired under the despotic and usurious landlord Huang Shiren (who makes a fortune as a loan shark exploiting peasants), has been force to run away from home to avoid the debt collectors . Xi'er's girl friends come to bring her paper cuttings with which they decorate the windows. After the girls leave, Xi'er's fiancé, Wang Dachun, comes to give two catties of wheat flour to Xi'er so that she can make jiaozi s. In turn, Xi'er gives Dachun

552-507: A wide range of serious social problems . To address these, Hu introduced two main ideological concepts: the " Scientific Outlook on Development " and " Harmonious Society ". Hu resigned from his post as CCP general secretary and Chairman of the CMC at the 18th National Congress held in 2012, and was succeeded in both posts by Xi Jinping. Since taking power, Xi has initiated a wide-reaching anti-corruption campaign , while centralizing powers in

736-411: A Chinese-style coat, get your kids tiger-head hats and shoes, and decorate your home with some beautiful red Chinese knots, then you will have an authentic Chinese-style Spring Festival. During the festival, people around China will prepare different gourmet dishes for their families and guests. Influenced by the flourished cultures, foods from different places look and taste totally different. Among them,

920-566: A city controlled by communist militias. Although the communists welcomed Chiang's arrival, he turned on them, massacring 5,000 with the aid of the Green Gang . Chiang's army then marched on Wuhan but was prevented from taking the city by CCP General Ye Ting and his troops. Chiang's allies also attacked communists; for example, in Beijing, Li Dazhao and 19 other leading communists were executed by Zhang Zuolin . Angered by these events,

1104-546: A form of a blessing and to suppress both the ageing and challenges that were associated with the coming year, to junior members of the family, mostly children and teenagers. Business managers may also give bonuses in the form of red packets to employees. The money can be of any form, specifically numbers ending with 8 (Mandarin: ba 八), which sounds similar to fa (Mandarin: 发 ), meaning prosperity, but packets with denominations of odd or unlucky numbers, or packets without money are usually not allowed due to bad luck. The number 4

1288-421: A glutinous new year cake ( niangao ) and send pieces of it as gifts to relatives and friends in the coming days. Some families visit local temples hours before midnight to pray for success by lighting the first incense of the year. Today many households hold parties. Traditionally, firecrackers were lit to ward off evil spirits. The household doors are sealed and not reopened until dawn in a ritual called "opening

1472-708: A letter penned to the Human Rights Council supporting the policies as an effort to combat terrorism in the region. Celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the CCP's founding , one of the Two Centenaries , took place on 1 July 2021. In the sixth plenary session of the 19th Central Committee in November 2021, CCP adopted a resolution on the Party's history , which for the first time credited Xi as being

1656-621: A limited counteroffensive by the CCP. The objective was clearing "Central China, strengthening North China, and recovering Northeast China." This operation, coupled with military desertions from the KMT, resulted in the KMT losing 2 million of its 3 million troops by the spring of 1948, and saw a significant decline in support for KMT rule. The CCP was consequently able to cut off KMT garrisons in Manchuria and retake several territories. The last stage, lasting from September 1948 to December 1949, saw

1840-469: A longer Chinese New Year holiday will celebrate and welcome the gods that were previously sent on this day. This day is the god of Wealth's birthday. In northern China, people eat jiaozi , or dumplings, on the morning of powu (Chinese: 破五 ; pinyin: pòwǔ ). In Taiwan, businesses traditionally re-open on the next day (the sixth day), accompanied by firecrackers. It is also common in China that on

2024-463: A miracle. Western capitalism has suffered reversals, a financial crisis, a credit crisis, a crisis of confidence, and their self-conviction has wavered. Western countries have begun to reflect, and openly or secretively compare themselves against China's politics, economy and path." — Xi Jinping , on the inevitability of socialism The CCP views the world as organized into two opposing camps; socialist and capitalist. They insist that socialism, on

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2208-473: A new sickle as a gift. Xi'er's father secretly returns home at dusk, with no gift other than a red ribbon to tie to his daughter's hair for the festivity of the holiday. The landlord catches wind of his return and will not let them have a peaceful and happy Spring Festival, and the debt collector comes for the high rent which Yang has been unable to pay. They kill Yang Bailao, and take away Xi'er by force as his concubine . Dachun and other villagers come on

2392-564: A new year. The money was called sui nian qian ( 随年钱 , "money based on age"). In the chapter, "Ending of a Year" ( 歲除 ) in Wulin jiushi ( 武林舊事 ), concubines of the emperor prepared a hundred and twenty coins for princes and princesses to wish them longevity. New Year's celebrations continued under the Yuan dynasty , when people also gave nian gao ( 年糕 , "year cakes") to relatives. The tradition of eating Chinese dumplings jiaozi ( 餃子 )

2576-437: A patriarchal society gradually became the suffering of the exploited and oppressed social class. Communists felt it was necessary to eradicate the superstition that was still deeply rooted in the minds of local populaces, so this barbaric act was accurately reflected in the opera, with Wang Dachun eventually stopping the mob after recognizing Xi'er, leading to the final happy ending. After the communist victory in China, this scene

2760-568: A policy of economic liberalization . The official explanation for these reforms was that China was still in the primary stage of socialism , a developmental stage similar to the capitalist mode of production . Since the collapse of the Eastern Bloc and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the CCP has focused on maintaining its relations with the ruling parties of the remaining socialist states and continues to participate in

2944-551: A powerful white-haired goddess. In the end, Xier was found by Dachun and they reunited. Performer: Tian Hua (b. 1928, Hebei, China) Tian Hua is a well-known actress famous for her role of Xier. She received extensive learning from the Central Academy of Drama . She was nominated and received Hundred Flowers Awards, Golden Rooster Awards and Golden Phoenix Awards. Huang Shiren The landlord who forced Yang Bailao to sell Xier to repay debts. He abused and humiliated Xier and

3128-536: A red string, and the money is called Ya Sui Qian ." The term is still used by Chinese people today. The money was presented in two forms: coins strung on red string or colourful purses filled with coins. In 1928, the ruling Kuomintang party decreed that the Chinese New Year would fall on 1 Jan of the Gregorian Calendar, but this was abandoned due to overwhelming opposition. In 1967, during

3312-531: A series of five-year plans , and eventually split with the Soviet Union . Although Mao attempted to purge the party of capitalist and reactionary elements during the Cultural Revolution , after his death, these policies were only briefly continued by the Gang of Four before a less radical faction seized control. During the 1980s, Deng Xiaoping directed the CCP away from Maoist orthodoxy and towards

3496-417: A short break. The mother of the landlord comes on the scene and, with her hairpin, pokes Xi'er's face to wake her up. The landlord mother then orders Xi'er to prepare her a lotus seed soup. When the soup is served, the landlord mother, displeased with the taste, pours the still-boiling soup on Xi'er's face. Outraged by the pain and anger, Xi'er picks up the whip that the landlord uses to punish her, and beats up

3680-676: A special breakfast on this day in some Chinese homes. The concept of the "La month" is similar to Advent in Christianity. Many families eat vegetarian on Chinese New Year eve, the garlic and preserved meat are eaten on Chinese New Year day. On the days immediately before the New Year celebration, Chinese families give their homes a thorough cleaning. There is a Cantonese saying "Wash away the dirt on nin ya baat " (Chinese: 年廿八，洗邋遢 ; pinyin: nián niàn bā, xǐ lātà ; Jyutping: nin4 jaa6 baat3, sai2 laap6 taap3 (laat6 taat3) ), but

3864-473: A substitute, large-scale fireworks display have been launched by governments in Hong Kong and Singapore. The second day, entitled "a year's beginning" (simplified Chinese: 开年 ; traditional Chinese: 開年 ; pinyin: kāinián ), oversees married daughters visiting their birth parents, relatives and close friends, often renew family ties and relationship. (Traditionally, married daughters didn't have

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4048-620: A symbol of good luck, and people started sending them to friends on New Year's Day, calling them by a new name, bai nian tie . The Chunlian (Spring Couplets) was written by Meng Chang , an emperor of the Later Shu (935–965 AD), during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period ：" 新年納餘慶，嘉節號長春 " ("Enjoying past legacies in the new year, the holiday foreseeing the long-lasting spring"). As described by Song dynasty official Zhang Tangying in his book Shu Tao Wu , Volume 2: on

4232-455: A tenant farmer Yang Bailao and the fiancée of Wang Dachun. She was forced to sell to the landlord Huang Shiren to repay his father's debt. After suffering humiliation and mistreatment from the landlord and the landlord's mother, Xier eventually escaped and hid in a mountain temple while surviving on offerings. Due to lack of sunlight and little salt intake, her skin and hair gradually turned white causing local villagers to mistakenly perceive her as

4416-456: A thriving view." The practice of worshipping ancestors on New Year's Eve is maintained by Chinese people to this day. Han Chinese also started the custom of visiting acquaintances' homes and wishing each other a happy new year. In Book of the Later Han , volume 27, a county officer was recorded as going to his prefect's house with a government secretary, toasting the prefect, and praising

4600-538: A weekend, as in the case of 2013, where the New Year's Eve (9 February) falls on Saturday and the New Year's Day (10 February) on Sunday. Depending on the country, the holiday may be termed differently; common names in English are "Chinese New Year", "Lunar New Year", "New Year Festival", and "Spring Festival". For New Year celebrations that follow Chinese-inspired calendars but are outside of China and Chinese diaspora (such as Korea's Seollal and Vietnam's Tết ), see

4784-437: A year-end rush of business prior to Chinese New Year. Homes are often decorated with paper cutouts of Chinese auspicious phrases and couplets . Purchasing new clothing and shoes also symbolize a new start. Any hair cuts need to be completed before the New Year, as cutting hair on New Year is considered bad luck due to the homonymic nature of the word "hair" (fa) and the word for "prosperity". Businesses are expected to pay off all

4968-456: Is Xi Jinping , who was elected at the 1st Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee held on 15 November 2012 and has been reelected twice, on 25 October 2017 by the 19th Central Committee and on 10 October 2022 by the 20th Central Committee . The October Revolution and Marxist theory inspired the founding of the CCP. Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao were among the first to publicly support Leninism and world revolution . Both regarded

5152-409: Is a largely separate group of professionalized military officers, serving under top CCP leadership largely through formal relationships within institutional channels. The CCP ratified Jiang's Three Represents concept for the 2003 revision of the party's constitution, as a "guiding ideology" to encourage the party to represent "advanced productive forces, the progressive course of China's culture, and

5336-450: Is auspicious into dumplings such as dates, which prophesy a flourishing new year; candy, which predicts sweet days; and nian gao ( 年糕 , "year cakes"), which foretells a rich life. In the Qing dynasty , the name ya sui qian ( 壓歲錢 , "New Year's Money)" was money given to children during New Year's. The book Qing Jia Lu ( 清嘉錄 ) recorded: "elders give children coins threaded together by

5520-415: Is considerable optimism within the CCP that despite the current capitalist dominance of globalization, globalization can be turned into a vehicle supporting socialism. While foreign analysts generally agree that the CCP has rejected orthodox Marxism–Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought (or at least basic thoughts within orthodox thinking), the CCP itself disagrees. Critics of the CCP argue that Jiang Zemin ended

5704-636: Is considered an unlucky day to have guests or go visiting. Hakka villagers in rural Hong Kong in the 1960s called it the Day of the Poor Devil and believed everyone should stay at home. This is also considered a propitious day to visit the temple of the God of Wealth and have one's future told. In those communities that celebrate Chinese New Year for 15 days, the fourth day is when corporate "spring dinners" kick off and business returns to normal. Other areas that have

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5888-525: Is eaten for continued wealth and prosperity. For many Chinese Buddhists, this is another day to avoid meat, the seventh day commemorating the birth of Sakra , lord of the devas in Buddhist cosmology who is analogous to the Jade Emperor. Another family dinner is held to celebrate the eve of the birth of the Jade Emperor, the ruler of heaven. People normally return to work by the eighth day, therefore

6072-404: Is especially unlucky , because it is sounded as si (Mandarin: 死 ), which means death. While fireworks and firecrackers are traditionally very popular, some regions have banned them due to concerns over fire hazards. For this reason, various city governments (e.g., Kowloon, Beijing, Shanghai for a number of years) issued bans over fireworks and firecrackers in certain precincts of the city. As

6256-466: Is identified with a distinct extension of the ideology of the party. Historians have studied various periods in the development of the government of the People's Republic of China by reference to these "generations". Marxism–Leninism was the first official ideology of the CCP. According to the CCP, "Marxism–Leninism reveals the universal laws governing the development of history of human society ." To

6440-757: Is more like that of a musical, i.e. , it blends a large number of vocal passages, both solos on the part of Xi'er and choruses into the music. Because of their mellifluous melodies, these songs became very popular. The following is a partial list of these songs: Bai, Di. "Feminism in the Revolutionary Model Ballets The White-Haired Girl and The Red Detachment of Women." Art in Turmoil: The Chinese Cultural Revolution 76 (1966): 188–202. Bohnenkamp, Max L. Turning Ghosts into People: "The White-Haired Girl", Revolutionary Folklorism and

6624-415: Is now in the temple too, and by the light of a flash of lightning, the landlord sees her — with her long white hair and shabby clothes that have been weathered to nearly white. He thinks it is the reincarnation of a goddess who has come to punish him for his mistreatment of Xi'er and other despotisms. He is so frightened that he is paralyzed with fear. Xi'er recognizes that it is her arch-enemy and seizes

6808-403: Is observed as a public holiday in some countries and territories where there is a sizeable Chinese population. Since Chinese New Year falls on different days of the week each year, some of these governments opt to shift working days in order to accommodate a longer public holiday. In some countries, a statutory holiday is added on the following work day if the New Year (as a public holiday) falls on

6992-479: Is one of the Eight Model Operas approved by Jiang Qing during the Cultural Revolution .The White-Haired Girl also intentionally showed the political meaning by creating a figure of diligent and beautiful country woman who was under the oppression of the evil landowner. As it aroused an emotion against the "old ruling class", it satisfied "moral ideas of the left-wing literary and artistic intelligence,

7176-415: Is planning under capitalism; the market economy happens under socialism, too. Planning and market forces are both ways of controlling economic activity". Jiang Zemin supported Deng's thinking, and stated in a party gathering that it did not matter if a certain mechanism was capitalist or socialist, because the only thing that mattered was whether it worked. It was at this gathering that Jiang Zemin introduced

7360-520: Is still a commonly-used translation for people of non-Chinese backgrounds. Along with the Han Chinese inside and outside of Greater China , as many as 29 of the 55 ethnic minority groups in China also celebrate Chinese New Year. Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines celebrate it as an official festival. The Chinese calendar defines the lunisolar month containing

7544-569: Is that bai nian tie was derived from the Han dynasty's name tag, men zhuang ( 門狀 , "door opening"). As imperial examinations became essential and reached their heyday under the Tang dynasty, candidates curried favour to become pupils of respected teachers in order to get recommendation letters. After obtaining good examination marks, a pupil went to the teacher's home with a men zhuang to convey their gratitude. Eventually, men zhuang became

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7728-580: Is the early or first stage of communism." Some have dismissed the concept of a primary stage of socialism as intellectual cynicism. For example, Robert Lawrence Kuhn , a former foreign adviser to the Chinese government, stated: "When I first heard this rationale, I thought it more comic than clever—a wry caricature of hack propagandists leaked by intellectual cynics. But the 100-year horizon comes from serious political theorists." American political scientist and sinologist David Shambaugh argues that before

7912-455: Is usually accompanied with a dinner feast , consisting of special meats as a main course and an offering for the New Year. This meal is comparable to Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas dinner. In northern China, it is customary to make jiaozi or dumplings which are eaten at midnight. Dumplings symbolize wealth because their shape resembles a Chinese sycee . In the South, it is customary to make

8096-401: Is why we talk about a 'socialist market economy' with Chinese characteristics." The attainment of true "communism" is still described as the CCP's and China's "ultimate goal". While the CCP claims that China is in the primary stage of socialism , party theorists argue that the current development stage "looks a lot like capitalism". Alternatively, certain party theorists argue that "capitalism

8280-511: The 16th Central Committee conceived and formulated the ideology of the Scientific Outlook on Development (SOD). It is considered to be Hu Jintao's contribution to the official ideological discourse. The SOD incorporates scientific socialism , sustainable development , social welfare , a humanistic society, increased democracy, and, ultimately, the creation of a Socialist Harmonious Society . According to official statements by

8464-519: The 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre . The protests having been crushed and the reformist party general secretary Zhao Ziyang under house arrest, Deng's economic policies resumed and by the early 1990s the concept of a socialist market economy had been introduced. In 1997, Deng's beliefs (officially called " Deng Xiaoping Theory ") were embedded into the CCP's constitution . CCP general secretary Jiang Zemin succeeded Deng as paramount leader in

8648-567: The Central People's Government . From this time through the 1980s, top leaders of the CCP (such as Mao Zedong, Lin Biao, Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping) were largely the same military leaders prior to the PRC's founding. As a result, informal personal ties between political and military leaders dominated civil-military relations. Stalin proposed a one-party constitution when Liu Shaoqi visited

8832-690: The Communist Party of China ( CPC ), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong , the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil War against the Kuomintang . In 1949, Mao proclaimed the establishment of the People's Republic of China . Since then, the CCP has governed China and has had sole control over the People's Liberation Army (PLA). Successive leaders of

9016-516: The Cultural Revolution , official Chinese New Year celebrations were banned in China. The State Council of the People's Republic of China announced that the public should "change customs" and have a "revolutionized and fighting Spring Festival." Since people needed to work on Chinese New Year's Eve, they would not need holidays during the Spring Festival. In 1980, the traditional Chinese New Year celebrations were reinstated. Chinese New Year

9200-498: The Great Chinese Famine , which resulted in an estimated 15 to 45 million deaths, making it the largest famine in recorded history. During the 1960s and 1970s, the CCP experienced a significant ideological separation from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union which was going through a period of " de-Stalinization " under Nikita Khrushchev . By that time, Mao had begun saying that the "continued revolution under

9384-661: The International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties each year. The CCP has also established relations with several non-communist parties, including dominant nationalist parties of many developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, as well as social democratic parties in Europe. The Chinese Communist Party is organized based on democratic centralism , a principle that entails open policy discussion on

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9568-487: The Jinggang Mountains of Jiangxi . The near destruction of the CCP's urban organizational apparatus led to institutional changes within the party. The party adopted democratic centralism , a way to organize revolutionary parties, and established a politburo to function as the standing committee of the central committee. The result was increased centralization of power within the party. At every level of

9752-835: The Losar of Tibet, the Tết of Vietnam, the Korean New Year , and the Ryukyu New Year . It is also celebrated worldwide in regions and countries that house significant Overseas Chinese or Sinophone populations, especially in Southeast Asia. These include Singapore, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. It is also prominent beyond Asia, especially in Australia, Canada, France, Mauritius, New Zealand, Peru, South Africa,

9936-523: The Tang dynasty , people established the custom of sending bai nian tie ( 拜年帖 , "New Year's greetings"), New Year's greeting cards. It is said that the custom was started by Emperor Taizong of Tang . The emperor wrote " 普天同慶 " ("whole nation celebrates together") on gold leaves and sent them to his ministers. Word of the emperor's gesture spread, and later it became the custom of people in general, who used Xuan paper instead of gold leaves. Another theory

10120-607: The Warring States period (475 – 221 BC). In the Lüshi Chunqiu , in Qin state an exorcism ritual to expel illness, called "Big Nuo ", was recorded as being carried out on the last day of the year. Later, Qin unified China , and the Qin dynasty was founded; and the ritual spread. It evolved into the practice of cleaning one's house thoroughly in the days preceding Chinese New Year. The first mention of celebrating at

10304-512: The dictatorship of the proletariat " stipulated that class enemies continued to exist even though the socialist revolution seemed to be complete, leading to the Cultural Revolution in which millions were persecuted and killed. During the Cultural Revolution, party leaders such as Liu Shaoqi, Deng Xiaoping , Peng Dehuai , and He Long were purged or exiled, and the Gang of Four , led by Mao's wife Jiang Qing , emerged to fill in

10488-461: The winter solstice as the eleventh month, meaning that Chinese New Year usually falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice (rarely the third if an intercalary month occurs ). In more than 96 per cent of years, the Chinese New Year is the closest new moon to the beginning of spring ( lichun ) according to the calendar. In the Gregorian calendar , the Chinese New Year occurs on

10672-660: The " Practice Is the Sole Criterion for the Truth " campaign, the relationship between ideology and decision making was a deductive one, meaning that policy-making was derived from ideological knowledge. However, under Deng's leadership this relationship was turned upside down, with decision making justifying ideology. Chinese policy-makers have described the Soviet Union's state ideology as "rigid, unimaginative, ossified, and disconnected from reality", believing that this

10856-475: The " Two Whatevers " policy. The new ideology, however, was contested on both sides of the spectrum, by Maoists to the left of the CCP's leadership, as well as by those supporting political liberalization. In 1981, the Party adopted a historical resolution , which assessed the historical legacy of the Mao Zedong era and the future priorities of the CCP. With other social factors, the conflicts culminated in

11040-522: The "main innovator" of Xi Jinping Thought while also declaring Xi's leadership as being "the key to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation ". In comparison with the other historical resolutions, Xi's one did not herald a major change in how the CCP evaluated its history. On 6 July 2021, Xi chaired the Communist Party of China and World Political Parties Summit , which involved representatives from 500 political parties across 160 countries. Xi urged

11224-433: The 1990s and continued most of his policies. In the 1990s, the CCP transformed from a veteran revolutionary leadership that was both leading militarily and politically, to a political elite increasingly renewed according to institutionalized norms in the civil bureaucracy. Leadership was largely selected based on rules and norms on promotion and retirement, educational background, and managerial and technical expertise. There

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11408-475: The 3rd Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee , when it was amended to "let market forces play a decisive role in resource allocation ." Despite this, the 3rd Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee upheld the creed "Maintain the dominance of the public sector and strengthen the economic vitality of the state-owned economy." "...   their theory that capitalism is the ultimate [force] has been shaken, and socialist development has experienced

11592-451: The 5th day people will shoot off firecrackers to get Guan Yu 's attention, thus ensuring his favour and good fortune for the new year. The sixth day is Horse's Day, on which people drive away the Ghost of Poverty by throwing out the garbage stored up during the festival. The ways vary but basically have the same meaning—to drive away the Ghost of Poverty, which reflects the general desire of

11776-475: The CCP constitution in 2017. Xi's term as general secretary was renewed in 2022. Since 2014, the CCP has led efforts in Xinjiang that involve the detention of more than 1 million Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in internment camps , as well as other repressive measures . This has been described as a genocide by some academics and some governments. On the other hand, a greater number of countries signed

11960-470: The CCP criticized the Three Represents as being un-Marxist and a betrayal of basic Marxist values. Supporters viewed it as a further development of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Jiang disagreed, and had concluded that attaining the communist mode of production, as formulated by earlier communists, was more complex than had been realized, and that it was useless to try to force a change in

12144-553: The CCP emerged triumphant in the communist revolution against the Nationalist government . After the KMT's retreat to Taiwan , the CCP established the People's Republic of China on 1 October 1949. Mao Zedong continued to be the most influential member of the CCP until his death in 1976 , although he periodically withdrew from public leadership as his health deteriorated. Under Mao, the party completed its land reform program, launched

12328-454: The CCP had tactically withdrawn from the cities, and instead undermined KMT rule there by instigating protests among students and intellectuals. The KMT responded to these demonstrations with heavy-handed repression. In the meantime, the KMT was struggling with factional infighting and Chiang Kai-shek's autocratic control over the party, which weakened its ability to respond to attacks. The third stage, lasting from July 1947 to August 1948, saw

12512-408: The CCP have added their own theories to the party's constitution , which outlines the party's ideology , collectively referred to as socialism with Chinese characteristics . As of 2024 , the CCP has more than 99 million members, making it the second largest political party by membership in the world after India 's Bharatiya Janata Party . In 1921, Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao led the founding of

12696-686: The CCP with the help of the Far Eastern Bureau of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and Far Eastern Bureau of the Communist International . For the first six years, the CCP aligned itself with the Kuomintang (KMT) as the organized left wing of the larger nationalist movement. However, when the right wing of the KMT, led by Chiang Kai-shek , turned on the CCP and massacred tens of thousands of

12880-401: The CCP would eventually control the KMT and called their opponents "rightists". KMT leader Sun Yat-sen eased the conflict between the communists and their opponents. CCP membership grew tremendously after the 4th congress in 1925, from 900 to 2,428. The CCP still treats Sun Yat-sen as one of the founders of their movement and claim descent from him as he is viewed as a proto-communist and

13064-476: The CCP, Marxism–Leninism provides a "vision of the contradictions in capitalist society and of the inevitability of a future socialist and communist societies". According to the People's Daily , Mao Zedong Thought "is Marxism–Leninism applied and developed in China". Mao Zedong Thought was conceived not only by Mao Zedong, but by leading party officials, according to Xinhua News Agency . Deng Xiaoping Theory

13248-502: The CCP, the concept integrates "Marxism with the reality of contemporary China and with the underlying features of our times, and it fully embodies the Marxist worldview on and methodology for development." Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, commonly known as Xi Jinping Thought, was added to the party constitution in the 19th National Congress in 2017. The theory's main elements are summarized in

13432-577: The CCP. The concept has its origins back to Lenin and the Russian Bolshevik Party. At the level of the central party leadership this means that, for instance, all members of the Politburo Standing Committee are of equal standing (each member having only one vote). A member of the Politburo Standing Committee often represents a sector; during Mao's reign, he controlled the People's Liberation Army, Kang Sheng ,

13616-433: The Chinese people to ring out the old and ring in the new, to send away the previous poverty and hardship and to usher in the good life of the New Year. The seventh day, traditionally known as Renri (the common person's birthday), is the day when everyone grows one year older. In some overseas Chinese communities in Southeast Asia, such as Malaysia and Singapore, it is also the day when tossed raw fish salad, yusheng ,

13800-427: The Communist Party and the new society, vividly illustrates the theme of "the old society forces people into ghosts, and the new society turns ghosts into people", and points out the only way for the peasants to turn over and liberate. The opera ballet more emphasize to Performance tension than the film, It is obvious that Opera Ballet are more ornamental, and test the actors skills. In the context of Mao-era cinema ,

13984-764: The Doorstep . His performance in The White Haired Girl gained the Special Recognition Award in 6th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Wang Dachun A farmer, a neighbor and fiancé of Xier. After Xier was taken away by the landlord, Dachun joined the Communists's Eighth Route Army and fought in the Anti-Japanese War. After his return from the war, he overthrew the landlord and distributed his farmland to peasants. In

14168-628: The Implied Connotation of the Text: White Hair Girl[J], Research of Chinese Literature, Xianning Teachers College, Xianning city, Hubei 437005, China. March, 2002 Wilkinson, J. Norman. "‘The White-Haired Girl’: From ‘Yangko’ to Revolutionary Modern Ballet." Educational Theatre Journal, vol. 26, no. 2, 1974, pp. 164–74. Crossref, doi:10.2307/3206632. Wu Hanyue, "An Analysis of the Creation Background of

14352-506: The Japanese invaders. While the front formally existed until 1945, all collaboration between the two parties had effectively ended by 1940. Despite their formal alliance, the CCP used the opportunity to expand and carve out independent bases of operations to prepare for the coming war with the KMT. In 1939, the KMT began to restrict CCP expansion within China. This led to frequent clashes between CCP and KMT forces which subsided rapidly on

14536-524: The Japanese surrendered) to June 1946 (when the peace talks between the CCP and the KMT ended). By 1945, the KMT had three times more soldiers under its command than the CCP and initially appeared to be prevailing. With the cooperation of the US and Japan, the KMT was able to retake major parts of the country. However, KMT rule over the reconquered territories proved unpopular because of its endemic political corruption . Notwithstanding its numerical superiority,

14720-399: The KMT failed to reconquer the rural territories which made up the CCP's stronghold. Around the same time, the CCP launched an invasion of Manchuria , where they were assisted by the Soviet Union. The second stage, lasting from July 1946 to June 1947, saw the KMT extend its control over major cities such as Yan'an , the CCP headquarters, for much of the war. The KMT's successes were hollow;

14904-464: The KMT led to the reorganization of the Red Army, with power now centralized in the leadership through the creation of CCP political departments charged with supervising the army. The Xi'an Incident of December 1936 paused the conflict between the CCP and the KMT. Under pressure from Marshal Zhang Xueliang and the CCP, Chiang Kai-shek finally agreed to a Second United Front focused on repelling

15088-558: The KMT, while Chen Duxiu hoped that the communists would completely withdraw from the KMT. In April 1927, both Chiang and the CCP were preparing for conflict. Fresh from the success of the Northern Expedition to overthrow the warlords, Chiang Kai-shek turned on the communists, who by now numbered in the tens of thousands across China. Ignoring the orders of the Wuhan-based KMT government, he marched on Shanghai,

15272-585: The Movement had shown that the bourgeois revolution against imperialism and China had developed to a new stage, but that the proletariat would lead the revolution's completion. The May Fourth Movement led to the establishment of radical intellectuals who went on to mobilize peasants and workers into the CCP and gain the organizational strength that would solidify the success of the Chinese Communist Revolution . Chen and Li were among

15456-597: The October Revolution in Russia as groundbreaking, believing it to herald a new era for oppressed countries everywhere. Some historical analysis views the May Fourth Movement as the beginning of the revolutionary struggle that led to the founding of the People's Republic of China . Following the movement, trends towards social transformation increased. Writing in 1939, Mao Zedong stated that

15640-846: The Opera The White-Haired Girl", Song of Yellow River, China Academic Journal Electronic Publishing House, December 2020, p173. Yin Jiangyan, " Study on the value of Ideological and Political Education in literary and artistic works ——Red classic opera " the white-haired girl" as the center", Hunan University of Science and Technology, China Academic Journal Electronic Publishing House, June 2018. "Chinese Opera Music Album: The White Haired Girl by Various Artists." Apple Music, China Record Corporation, 31 Dec. 2002, music.apple.com/us/album/chinese-opera-music-album-the-white-haired-girl/111883716. Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party ( CCP ), officially

15824-595: The People's Republic of China followed Xi's speech, which was about the literature and arts in China, and launched a revival tour of The White-Haired Girl. Under Peng Liyuan 's artistic direction, the performance began in Yan’an. The tour incorporated 3D visual effects and ended in Beijing in Mid-December 2015. A film version released in 1950 coincided with the Land Reform Movement. The White-Haired Girl

16008-681: The Politics of Aesthetics in Modern China, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2014. Jia, Bo. Gender, Women's Liberation, And The Nation-State: A Study of The Chinese Opera The White Haired Girl. New Brunswick, New Jersey. May, 2015. Ll Jing, The Retrospect and Reflection of the New Yangge Movement's Research[J], Journal of Qinghai Normal University(Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition).Journal of Qinghai Normal University, Xining 810008, China. March, 2009. Shan Yuan, Analysis of

16192-506: The Soviet Union in 1952. The constitution of the PRC in 1954 subsequently abolished the previous coalition government and established the CCP's one-party system. In 1957, the CCP launched the Anti-Rightist Campaign against political dissidents and prominent figures from minor parties, which resulted in the political persecution of at least 550,000 people. The campaign significantly damaged the limited pluralistic nature in

16376-582: The United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as in many European countries. The Chinese New Year is associated with several myths and customs. The festival was traditionally a time to honour deities as well as ancestors. Within China, regional customs and traditions concerning the celebration of the New Year vary widely, and the evening preceding the New Year's Day is frequently regarded as an occasion for Chinese families to gather for

16560-505: The Western world is "threatening to divide us" and that "the international culture of the West is strong while we are weak ... Ideological and cultural fields are our main targets". As such, the CCP puts a great deal of effort into the party schools and into crafting its ideological message. Collective leadership, the idea that decisions will be taken through consensus, has been the ideal in

16744-741: The Wuhan KMT government, but on 15 July 1927 the Wuhan government expelled all communists from the KMT. The CCP reacted by founding the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army of China , better known as the "Red Army", to battle the KMT. A battalion led by General Zhu De was ordered to take the city of Nanchang on 1 August 1927 in what became known as the Nanchang uprising . Initially successful, Zhu and his troops were forced to retreat after five days, marching south to Shantou , and from there being driven into

16928-433: The ancient Chinese. Poet and chancellor of the Tang dynasty , Lai Gu, also described this tradition in his poem Early Spring ( 早春 ): " 新曆才將半紙開，小亭猶聚爆竿灰 ", meaning "Another new year just started as a half opening paper, and the family gathered around the dust of exploded bamboo pole." The practice was used by ancient Chinese people to scare away evil spirits, since bamboo would noisily crack and explode from firing. During

17112-491: The annual reunion dinner . It is also a tradition for every family to thoroughly clean their house, in order to sweep away any ill fortune and to make way for incoming good luck. Another practised custom is the decoration of windows and doors with red paper-cuts and couplets . Popular themes among these paper-cuts and couplets include good fortune or happiness , wealth, and longevity. Other activities include lighting firecrackers and giving money in red envelopes . In Chinese,

17296-442: The article on Lunar New Year . For other countries and regions where Chinese New Year is celebrated but not an official holiday, see the table below. Red couplets and red lanterns are displayed on the door frames and light up the atmosphere. The air is filled with strong Chinese emotions. In stores in Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, and other cities, products of traditional Chinese style have started to lead fashion trend[s]. Buy yourself

17480-462: The ballet version of The White-Haired Girl. This was the first time that The White-Haired Girl has performed in a ballet. Chinese ballet troupe performed the show in 1964. However, in the rehearsal stage, in order to better interpret the peasants, all ballet dancers lived with farmers in a small village to experience their lives. From the 1940s to the 1970s, The White-Haired Girl had multiple stage and film versions. In 2015, Ministry of Culture of

17664-446: The basis of historical materialism , will eventually triumph over capitalism. In recent years, when the party has been asked to explain the capitalist globalization occurring, the party has returned to the writings of Karl Marx . Despite admitting that globalization developed through the capitalist system, the party's leaders and theorists argue that globalization is not intrinsically capitalist. The reason being that if globalization

17848-575: The beginning of 1921, among them Chen Duxiu, Li Dazhao and Mao Zedong, the CCP organization and authorities grew tremendously. While it was originally held in a house in the Shanghai French Concession , French police interrupted the meeting on 30 July and the congress was moved to a tourist boat on South Lake in Jiaxing , Zhejiang province. A dozen delegates attended the congress, with neither Li nor Chen being able to attend,

18032-439: The changing situation dynamically; to know if a certain policy is obsolete or not, the party had to " seek truth from facts " and follow the slogan "practice is the sole criterion for the truth". At the 14th National Congress, Jiang reiterated Deng's mantra that it was unnecessary to ask if something was socialist or capitalist, since the important factor was whether it worked. The "Three Represents", Jiang Zemin's contribution to

18216-428: The city's fortune through kau cim . The third day is known as "red mouth" (Chinese: 赤口 ; pinyin: Chìkǒu ). Chikou is also called "Chigou's Day" (Chinese: 赤狗日 ; pinyin: Chìgǒurì ). Chigou , literally "red dog", is an epithet of "the God of Blazing Wrath" (Chinese: 熛怒之神 ; pinyin: Biāo nù zhī shén ). Rural villagers continue the tradition of burning paper offerings over trash fires. It

18400-413: The collective leadership". Academics have noted a decline in collective leadership under Xi Jinping. "[Democratic centralism] is centralized on the basis of democracy and democratic under centralized guidance. This is the only system that can give full expression to democracy with full powers vested in the people's congresses at all levels and, at the same time, guarantee centralized administration with

18584-465: The color red and loud noises. Then the tradition grew when New Year was approaching, and the villagers would wear red clothes, hang red lanterns, and red spring scrolls on windows and doors and used firecrackers and drums to frighten away the Nian. From then on, Nian never came to the village again. The Nian was eventually captured by Hongjun Laozu , an ancient Taoist monk. Before the new year celebration

18768-577: The communists go on the offensive and the collapse of KMT rule in mainland China as a whole. Mao's proclamation of the founding of the People's Republic of China on 1 October 1949 marked the end of the second phase of the Chinese Civil War (or the Chinese Communist Revolution , as it is called by the CCP). Mao proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) before a massive crowd at Tiananmen Square on 1 October 1949. The CCP headed

18952-669: The condition of unity among party members in upholding the agreed-upon decision. The highest body of the CCP is the National Congress , convened every fifth year. When the National Congress is not in session, the Central Committee is the highest body, but since that body usually only meets once a year, most duties and responsibilities are vested in the Politburo and its Standing Committee . Members of

19136-421: The cured meats of Chinese New Year are known as larou (simplified Chinese: 腊肉 ; traditional Chinese: 臘肉 ; pinyin: làròu ). The porridge was prepared by the women of the household at first light, with the first bowl offered to the family's ancestors and the household deities. Every member of the family was then served a bowl, with leftovers distributed to relatives and friends. It's still served as

19320-598: The day of New Year's Eve, the emperor ordered the scholar Xin Yinxun to write the couplets on peach wood and hang them on the emperor's bedroom door. It is believed that placing the couplets on the door to the home in the days preceding the new year was widespread during the Song dynasty . The famous Northern Song politician, litterateur, philosopher, and poet Wang Anshi recorded the custom in his poem " 元日 " ("New Year's Day"). 爆竹聲中一歲除， 春風送暖入屠蘇。 千門萬戶曈曈日， 總把新桃換舊符。 Amid

19504-406: The debts outstanding for the year before the new year eve, extending to debts of gratitude. Thus it is a common practice to send gifts and rice to close business associates, and extended family members. In many households where Buddhism or Taoism is observed, home altars and statues are cleaned thoroughly, and decorations used to adorn altars over the past year are taken down and burned a week before

19688-560: The deities are also considered taboo. Normal traditions occurring on the first day involve house gatherings to the families, specifically the elders and families to the oldest and most senior members of their extended families, usually their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents, and trading Mandarin oranges as a courtesy to symbolize wealth and good luck. Members of the family who are married also give red envelopes containing cash known as lai see (Cantonese: 利事 ) or angpow ( Hokkien and Teochew ), or hongbao (Mandarin: 红包 ),

19872-499: The deities into reporting good things about the family. Prior to the Reunion Dinner, a prayer of thanksgiving is held to mark the safe passage of the previous year. Confucianists take the opportunity to remember their ancestors, and those who had lived before them are revered. Some people do not give a Buddhist prayer due to the influence of Christianity, with a Christian prayer offered instead. The day before Chinese New Year

20056-425: The deities of the heavens and Earth on midnight. It is a traditional practice to light fireworks, burn bamboo sticks and firecrackers, and lion dance troupes, were done commonly as a tradition to ward off evil spirits. Typical actions such as lighting fires and using knives are considered taboo, thus all consumable food has to be cooked prior. Using the broom, swearing , and breaking any dinnerware without appeasing

20240-414: The door of fortune" (simplified Chinese: 开财门 ; traditional Chinese: 開財門 ; pinyin: kāicáimén ). The tradition of staying up late on Chinese New Year's Eve is known as shousui (Chinese: 守岁 ). It is still practised and believed to add to parental longevity. The first day, known as the "Spring Festival" (simplified Chinese: 春节 ; traditional Chinese: 春節 ) is for the welcoming of

20424-474: The early 1920s. The May Fourth Movement and the New Culture Movement had identified issues of broad concern to Chinese progressives, including anti-imperialism , support for nationalism , support for democracy , promotion of feminism, and rejection of traditional values. Proposed solutions among Chinese progressives differed significantly, however. The CCP was founded on 1 July 1921 with

20608-480: The economic element of Sun's ideology was socialism. Sun stated, "Our Principle of Livelihood is a form of communism". The communists dominated the left wing of the KMT and struggled for power with the party's right-wing factions. When Sun Yat-sen died in March 1925, he was succeeded by a rightist, Chiang Kai-shek , who initiated moves to marginalize the position of the communists. Chiang, Sun's former assistant,

20792-629: The end, he found Xier in the mountains and rejoined. Performer: Li BaiWan (1926-2010) Li BaiWan joined the Communists's Eighth Route Army at the age of 11. ( Based on the ballet version ) It is the eve of the Chinese Spring Festival . The peasant girl Xi'er from a village in Yanggezhuang , Hebei province is waiting for her father Yang Bailao to return home to celebrate the Spring Festival together. Her father,

20976-484: The evening preceding the first day of the year, to the Lantern Festival , held on the 15th day of the year. The first day of Chinese New Year begins on the new moon that appears between 21 January and 20 February. Chinese New Year is one of the most important holidays in Chinese culture . It has influenced similar celebrations in other cultures, commonly referred to collectively as Lunar New Year , such as

21160-409: The festival is commonly known as the "Spring Festival" (traditional Chinese: 春節 ; simplified Chinese: 春节 ; pinyin: Chūnjié ), as the spring season in the lunisolar calendar traditionally starts with lichun , the first of the twenty-four solar terms which the festival celebrates around the time of the Chinese New Year. The name was first proposed in 1914 by Yuan Shikai , who

21344-430: The film and opera is form of expression. The movie abandoned some dance moves and songs, but it is more direct to show the story and theme, That make it easier for people to understand the theme, Through the tragic experiences of Yang Bailao and Xi'er's, father and daughter, this paper deeply reveals the sharp contradiction between the landlords and the peasants, angrily accuses the evils of the landlord class, warmly praises

21528-490: The film was part of a genre of redemptive melodramas which encouraged the audiences to "speak bitterness". Film versions of The White-Haired Girl used ghost story and horror movie aesthetics to move their audiences. The original hybrid, western-style geju opera was created by collaboration of composer Ma Ke and others in Yan'an 's Lu Xun Art Academy in 1945. It differs from later adaptations in its depiction of superstition. In

21712-476: The folk tales and legends of the "white-haired immortal" in 1940. According to one of its original writers, He Jingzhi, the play "The White-haired girl" is based on a real-life story about a "white-haired goddess" in North Hebei Province in 1940s. The "White-haired goddess" is a peasant woman who lost her family lived in the wild like animals, who was then found by The Eighth Route Army and sent to

21896-412: The fundamental interests of the people." The theory legitimized the entry of private business owners and bourgeois elements into the party. Hu Jintao , Jiang Zemin's successor as general secretary, took office in 2002. Unlike Mao, Deng and Jiang Zemin, Hu laid emphasis on collective leadership and opposed one-man dominance of the political system. The insistence on focusing on economic growth led to

22080-450: The governments at each level   ..." — Mao Zedong, from his speech entitled "Our General Programme" Chinese New Year Chinese New Year , or the Spring Festival (see also § Names ), is a festival that celebrates the beginning of a new year on the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar . Marking the end of winter and the beginning of spring , this festival traditionally takes place from Chinese New Year's Eve ,

22264-443: The help of the Far Eastern Bureau of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and Far Eastern Secretariat of the Communist International , according to the party's official account of its history. However, party documents suggest that the party's actual founding date was 23 July 1921, the first day of the 1st National Congress of the CCP . The founding National Congress of the CCP was held 23–31 July 1921. With only 50 members in

22448-432: The key and opens the door for Xi'er, who flees. Shortly, the landlord finds Xi'er missing, and sends his accomplice, Mu Renzhi, and other men to chase her. Xi'er comes to a river that stops her. She takes off a shoe and leaves it at the river side, and then hides in the bush. Mu Renzhi and his men find the shoe and assume that Xi'er has drowned herself in the river, and they report to the landlord as such. Xi'er escapes to

22632-407: The landlord mother. The landlord mother falls and crawls on the floor attempting to flee while Xi'er continues to whip her with her utmost strength. Xi'er gets her vengeance, but she is subsequently locked up by the landlord. One day, the landlord leaves his overcoat in the living room and in the pocket of the overcoat is the key to Xi'er's cell. Zhang Ershen is determined to help Xi'er. She takes

22816-508: The latter are seen as the top leadership of the party and the state. Today the party's leader holds the offices of general secretary (responsible for civilian party duties), Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) (responsible for military affairs), and State President (a largely ceremonial position). Because of these posts, the party leader is seen as the country's paramount leader . The current leader

23000-619: The latter sending a personal representative in his stead. The resolutions of the congress called for the establishment of a communist party as a branch of the Communist International (Comintern) and elected Chen as its leader. Chen then served as the first general secretary of the CCP and was referred to as "China's Lenin". The Soviets hoped to foster pro-Soviet forces in East Asia to fight against anti-communist countries, particularly Japan . They attempted to contact

23184-474: The messengers. Business people of the Cantonese dialect group will hold a 'Hoi Nin' prayer to start their business on the second day of Chinese New Year, blessing business to strive in the coming year. As this day is believed to be The Birthday of Che Kung , a deity worshipped in Hong Kong, worshippers go to Che Kung Temples to pray for his blessing. A representative from the government asks Che Kung about

23368-417: The mode of production, as it had to develop naturally, by following the " economic laws of history ." The theory is most notable for allowing capitalists, officially referred to as the "new social strata", to join the party on the grounds that they engaged in "honest labor and work" and through their labour contributed "to build[ing] socialism with Chinese characteristics." In 2003, the 3rd Plenary Session of

23552-666: The most influential promoters of Marxism in China during the May Fourth period. The CCP itself embraces the May Fourth Movement and views itself as part of the movement's legacy. Study circles were, according to Cai Hesen , "the rudiments [of our party]". Several study circles were established during the New Culture Movement , but by 1920 many grew sceptical about their ability to bring about reforms. China's intellectual movements were fragmented in

23736-468: The most well-known ones are dumplings from northern China and Tangyuan from southern China. On the eighth day of the lunisolar month prior to Chinese New Year, the Laba Festival , a traditional porridge, Laba porridge (simplified Chinese: 腊八粥 ; traditional Chinese: 臘八粥 ; pinyin: làbā zhōu ), is served in remembrance of an ancient festival, called La , that occurred shortly after

23920-442: The mountains and gave birth to a still-born baby. The suffering of Xi'er reflected the contradiction between the poor peasants and the landlord class in the semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, which proved that only the people's revolution led by the Communist Party could remove the feudalism and free the peasants who had the same fate as Xi'er. "White-haired Girl" is a new national opera that combines poetry, song and dance. First,

24104-428: The mountains, and in the following years, she lives in a cave, gathers offerings for food from a nearby temple . She fights attacking wolves and other beasts. In time, her hair turns white from suffering the elements. On one stormy night, the landlord Huang Shiren and several of his other servants come to the temple to worship and provide offerings. Their trip is stopped by the thunderstorm . Coincidentally Xi'er

24288-456: The new moon that falls between 21 January and 20 February. According to legend, Chinese New Year started with a mythical beast called the Nian (a beast that lives under the sea or in the mountains) during the annual Spring Festival. The Nian would eat villagers, especially children in the middle of the night. One year, all the villagers decided to hide from the beast. An older man appeared before

24472-679: The new year starts on Little New Year , to be replaced with new decorations. Taoists (and Buddhists to a lesser extent) will also "send gods back to heaven" (Chinese: 送神 ; pinyin: sòngshén ), an example would be burning a paper effigy of the Kitchen God , the recorder of family functions. This is done so that the Kitchen God can report to the Jade Emperor of the family household's transgressions and good deeds. Families often offer sweet foods (such as candy) in order to "bribe"

24656-448: The noted soprano Guo Lanying . The opera is based on legends circulating in the border region of Shanxi , Chahar and Hebei , describing the misery suffered by local peasantry, particularly the misery of the female members. The stories are based on real-life stories of no fewer than half a dozen women, in a time frame stretching from the late Qing dynasty to the 1920s or 1930s. The political overtone and historical background when it

24840-420: The office of CCP general secretary at the expense of the collective leadership of prior decades. Commentators have described the campaign as a defining part of Xi's leadership as well as "the principal reason why he has been able to consolidate his power so quickly and effectively." Xi's leadership has also overseen an increase in the Party's role in China. Xi has added his ideology , named after himself, into

25024-409: The offices of CCP general secretary, CMC chairman and PRC president . Before Jiang Zemin's tenure as paramount leader, the party core and collective leadership were indistinguishable. In practice, the core was not responsible to the collective leadership. However, by the time of Jiang, the party had begun propagating a responsibility system, referring to it in official pronouncements as the "core of

25208-544: The opportunity to take further revenge. She picks up the brass incense burner and hurls it against the landlord. The landlord and his gang flee. Meanwhile, her fiancé, Wang Dachun, has joined the Eighth Route Army and fought the Japanese invaders. Now he returns with his army to overthrow the rule of the imperialist Japanese and the landlord. They distribute his farmland to the peasants. Zhang Ershen tells

25392-497: The opportunity to visit their birth families frequently.) The second day also saw giving offering money and sacrifices to the God of Wealth (Chinese: 财神 ) to symbolize a rewarding time after hardship in the preceding year. During the days of imperial China, "beggars and other unemployed people circulate[d] from family to family, carrying a picture [of the God of Wealth] shouting, " Cai Shen dao !" [The God of Wealth has come!]." Householders would respond with "lucky money" to reward

25576-404: The original opera of 1945, Xi'er was caught by the local population, who believed she was a ghost and had power to inflict harm on people. To try to destroy her evil magical power, the local populace poured the boys' urine, the blood of a slain black dog, menstrual blood, and human and animal feces on her, something that was done in real life to at least one of the girls. Her suffering as a woman in

25760-473: The original play. These changes included some important parts of Xi Er's characters. At the same year, famous Japanese ballet dancer Mikiko Matsuyama and her husband Masao Shimizu came to China. They had watched The White-Haired Girl film and aimed to transfer the story into a ballet version. Five years later in Japan, Matsuyama played Xi’er in the ballet. In 1958, Mikiko Matsuyama and her ballet troupe performed

25944-506: The other maids. After Xier escaped, he encountered white-haired Xier and recognized her as a reincarnation of a goddess who came to punish him for his mistreatment of Xier. Huang Shiren was eventually punished by the villagers. Performer: Chen Qiang (1918-2012, Hebei, China) Chen Qiang was a film and stage actor best known for his performances as antagonists in The Red Detachment of Women , The White Haired Girl and Devils on

26128-480: The participants to oppose "technology blockades," and "developmental decoupling" in order to work towards "building a community with a shared future for mankind." The core ideology of the party has evolved with each distinct generation of Chinese leadership . As both the CCP and the People's Liberation Army promote their members according to seniority, it is possible to discern distinct generations of Chinese leadership. In official discourse, each group of leadership

26312-418: The party this was duplicated, with standing committees now in effective control. After being expelled from the party, Chen Duxiu went on to lead China's Trotskyist movement. Li Lisan was able to assume de facto control of the party organization by 1929–1930. The 1929 Gutian Congress was important in establishing the principle of party control over the military, which continues to be a core principle of

26496-419: The party's formal commitment to Marxism–Leninism with the introduction of the ideological theory, the Three Represents. However, party theorist Leng Rong disagrees, claiming that "President Jiang rid the Party of the ideological obstacles to different kinds of ownership   ... He did not give up Marxism or socialism. He strengthened the Party by providing a modern understanding of Marxism and socialism—which

26680-400: The party's ideology, was adopted by the party at the 16th National Congress . The Three Represents defines the role of the CCP, and stresses that the Party must always represent the requirements for developing China's advanced productive forces, the orientation of China's advanced culture and the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people." Certain segments within

26864-426: The party's ideology. Li's leadership was a failure, leaving the CCP on the brink of destruction. The Comintern became involved, and by late 1930, his powers had been taken away. By 1935, Mao had become a member of Politburo Standing Committee of the CCP and the party's informal military leader, with Zhou Enlai and Zhang Wentian , the formal head of the party, serving as his informal deputies. The conflict with

27048-491: The party's members, the two parties split and began a prolonged civil war. During the next ten years of guerrilla warfare , Mao Zedong rose to become the most influential figure in the CCP, and the party established a strong base among the rural peasantry with its land reform policies . Support for the CCP continued to grow throughout the Second Sino-Japanese War , and after the Japanese surrender in 1945,

27232-473: The peasant movement supported by the CCP became more violent. Ye Dehui , a famous scholar, was killed by communists in Changsha , and in revenge, KMT general He Jian and his troops gunned down hundreds of peasant militiamen. That May, tens of thousands of communists and their sympathizers were killed by KMT troops, with the CCP losing approximately 15,000 of its 25,000 members. The CCP continued supporting

27416-498: The play has been continuously adapted into different versions. In July 1947, Ding Yi, another opera co-author, made many changes and deletions to the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei version, mainly to cut pregnant Xi Er's hard life after escaping to the cave. In 1950, the opera was further adapted into a new version by He Jingzhi. This revision followed Ding Yi's thought of deletion and modification, and also made major changes to

27600-425: The popular social and cultural values of rural and urban audiences". The film presented "the traditional Chinese agricultural lifecycle", where the poor lived in poverty no matter how hard they tried. It implied a revolution to overthrown the unchanging social structure. As the mise-en-scene of the film, it used a fair amount of medium-shot to define the character through facial expressions. Yang Xier The daughter of

27784-424: The power vacuum left behind. Following Mao's death in 1976, a power struggle between CCP chairman Hua Guofeng and vice-chairman Deng Xiaoping erupted. Deng won the struggle, and became China's paramount leader in 1978. Deng, alongside Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang , spearheaded the " reform and opening-up " policies, and introduced the ideological concept of socialism with Chinese characteristics, opening China to

27968-413: The practice is not restricted to nin ya baat (the 28th day of month 12). It is believed the cleaning sweeps away the bad luck of the preceding year and makes their homes ready for good luck. Brooms and dust pans are put away on the first day so that the newly arrived good luck cannot be swept away. Some people give their homes, doors and window-frames a new coat of red paint; decorators and paper-hangers do

28152-574: The prefect's merit. During the Jin dynasty (266–420), people started the New Year's Eve tradition of all-night revelry called shousui ( 守歲 ). It was described in Western Jin general Zhou Chu 's article Fengtu Ji ( 風土記 , 'Notes on Local Conditions'): "At the ending of a year, people gift and wish each other, calling it Kuisui ( 饋歲 , 'time for gifts'); people invited others with drinks and food, calling it Biesui ( 別歲 , 'sending off

28336-464: The realization on both sides that civil war amidst a foreign invasion was not an option. By 1943, the CCP was again actively expanding its territory at the expense of the KMT. Mao Zedong became the Chairman of the CCP in 1945. After the Japanese surrender in 1945, the war between the CCP and the KMT began again in earnest. The 1945–1949 period had four stages; the first was from August 1945 (when

28520-456: The same in the Chinese language. After gunpowder was invented in the Tang dynasty and widely used under the Song dynasty , people modified the tradition of firing bamboo by filling the bamboo pole with gunpowder, which made for louder explosions. Later under the Song, people discarded the bamboo and started to use paper to wrap the gunpowder in cylinders, in imitation of the bamboo. The firecracker

28704-454: The scene, and Dachun wants to go to the landlord's residence to fight for justice but is stopped by Zhao Dashu (Uncle Zhao) who, instead, instruct Dachun and other young people to join the Eighth Route Army . At the home of the landlord, Xi'er is forced to work day and night as a slave and is exhausted. Zhang Ershen (literally Second Aunt Zhang), an elderly maid of the landlord, is very sympathetic of Xi'er. Xi'er dozes off while trying to take

28888-532: The security apparatus, and Zhou Enlai, the State Council and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs . This counts as informal power. Despite this, in a paradoxical relation, members of a body are ranked hierarchically (despite the fact that members are in theory equal to one another). Informally, the collective leadership is headed by a " leadership core "; that is, the paramount leader , the person who holds

29072-639: The socialist republic and solidified the country's status as a de facto one-party state . The Anti-Rightist Campaign led to the catastrophic results of the Second Five Year Plan from 1958 to 1962, known as the Great Leap Forward . In an effort to transform the country from an agrarian economy into an industrialized one, the CCP collectivized farmland, formed people's communes, and diverted labour to factories. General mismanagement and exaggerations of harvests by CCP officials led to

29256-507: The sound of firecrackers a year has come to an end, The spring wind has wafted warm breath to the Tusu wine. While the rising sun shines over each and every household, People get rid of the old couplets and put up the new ones. The poem Yuan Ri ( 元日 ) also includes the word bao zhu ( 爆竹 , "exploding bamboo"), which is believed to be a reference to firecrackers, instead of the previous tradition of firing bamboo, both of which are called

29440-674: The start of a new year was recorded during the Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD). In the book Simin Yueling ( 四民月令 ), written by the Eastern Han agronomist Cui Shi (崔寔), a celebration was described: "The starting day of the first month, is called Zheng Ri. I bring my wife and children, to worship ancestors and commemorate my father." Later he wrote: "Children, wife, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren all serve pepper wine to their parents, make their toast, and wish their parents good health. It's

29624-555: The story of Xi'er, and they decide to look for her in the mountains. Wang Dachun finally finds her in the cave with her hair turned white. They reunite and rejoice. The final ending of the film fulfilled the audience's revenge to the "evil landlord". The landlord accepted the punishment from the angry people under the judgment of the CCP. In 1944, under the direction of President Zhou Yang, some artists of The Lu Xun Academy of Art in Yan 'an produced an opera, "The White Haired Girl", based on

29808-450: The structure of the opera plot, the division of the traditional Chinese opera, the scene changes, diverse and flexible. Secondly, the language of opera inherits the fine tradition of singing and singing in Chinese opera. Third, opera music uses northern folk songs and traditional opera music as materials and creates them. It also absorbs some expressions of Western opera music and has a unique national flavor. Fourth, opera performance, learning

29992-439: The ten affirmations, the fourteen commitments, and the thirteen areas of achievements. The party combines elements of both socialist patriotism and Chinese nationalism . Deng did not believe that the fundamental difference between the capitalist mode of production and the socialist mode of production was central planning versus free markets . He said, "A planned economy is not the definition of socialism, because there

30176-424: The term socialist market economy, which replaced Chen Yun 's "planned socialist market economy". In his report to the 14th National Congress Jiang Zemin told the delegates that the socialist state would "let market forces play a basic role in resource allocation." At the 15th National Congress, the party line was changed to "make market forces further play their role in resource allocation"; this line continued until

30360-411: The traditional Chinese opera performance methods, paying due attention to dance figure and chanting rhythm, at the same time, also learning how to read the lines of the drama, both beautiful and natural, close to life. This play uses the tunes of northern folk music, absorbs drama music, and draws on the creation experience of Western European opera. Unlike other ballets, the music of The White-Haired Girl

30544-640: The village. To commemorate the Seventh National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, the opera was first performed in Yan An in 1945, and was highly praised by the leadership of the Communist Party and achieved great success. Later, it was widely performed in the liberated area. The end of 1945 saw the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei version. In order to meet the needs of " national salvation to prevail over cultural enlightenment",

30728-405: The villagers went into hiding and said that he would stay the night and would get revenge on the Nian. The old man put red papers up and set off firecrackers. The day after, the villagers came back to their town and saw that nothing had been destroyed. They assumed that the old man was a deity who came to save them. The villagers then understood that Yanhuang had discovered that the Nian was afraid of

30912-626: The warlord Wu Peifu but failed. The Soviets then contacted the Kuomintang (KMT), which was leading the Guangzhou government parallel to the Beiyang government . On 6 October 1923, the Comintern sent Mikhail Borodin to Guangzhou, and the Soviets established friendly relations with the KMT. The Central Committee of the CCP , Soviet leader Joseph Stalin , and the Comintern all hoped that

31096-763: The wilderness of Fujian . Mao Zedong was appointed commander-in-chief of the Red Army, and led four regiments against Changsha in the Autumn Harvest Uprising , hoping to spark peasant uprisings across Hunan. His plan was to attack the KMT-held city from three directions on 9 September, but the Fourth Regiment deserted to the KMT cause, attacking the Third Regiment. Mao's army made it to Changsha but could not take it; by 15 September, he accepted defeat, with 1,000 survivors marching east to

31280-430: The winter solstice. Pickles such as Laba garlic, which turns green from vinegar, are also made on this day. For those that practice Buddhism, the Laba holiday is also considered Bodhi Day . Layue (simplified Chinese: 腊月 ; traditional Chinese: 臘月 ; pinyin: Làyuè ) is a term often associated with Chinese New Year as it refers to the sacrifices held in honour of the gods in the twelfth lunisolar month, hence

31464-456: The world's markets. In reversing some of Mao's "leftist" policies, Deng argued that a socialist state could use the market economy without itself being capitalist. While asserting the political power of the CCP, the change in policy generated significant economic growth. This was justified on the basis that " Practice is the Sole Criterion for the Truth ", a principle reinforced through a 1978 article that aimed to combat dogmatism and criticized

31648-402: The year'); on New Year's Eve, people stayed up all night until sunrise, calling it Shousui ( 守歲 , 'guard the year')." The article used the phrase chuxi ( 除夕 ) to indicate New Year's Eve—a phrase still used today. The Northern and Southern dynasties book Jingchu Suishiji describes the practice of firing bamboo in the early morning of New Year's Day, a New Year's tradition of

31832-415: Was added to the party constitution at the 14th National Congress in 1992. The concepts of " socialism with Chinese characteristics " and "the primary stage of socialism" were credited to the theory. Deng Xiaoping Theory can be defined as a belief that state socialism and state planning is not by definition communist, and that market mechanisms are class neutral. In addition, the party needs to react to

32016-466: Was at the time the interim president of the Republic of China . The official usage of the name "Spring Festival" was retained by the government of the People's Republic of China , but the government of the Republic of China based in Taiwan has since adopted the name "Traditional Chinese New Year". The festival is also called "Lunar New Year" in English, despite the traditional Chinese calendar being lunisolar and not lunar . However, "Chinese New Year"

32200-410: Was created means that communist propaganda was added in inevitably, and the most obvious example was the added portion of happy ending and the protagonists joining the communist force, which did not happen in real life. Along with Red Detachment of Women , the ballet is regarded as one of the classics of revolutionary China, and its music is familiar to almost everyone who grew up during the 1960s. It

32384-408: Was deleted in later adaptations for fear of encouraging superstition and presenting a negative image of the working-class people. In the 1950 film version, Xi'er's father was tricked and driven to suicide by Huang Shiren. Xi'er was raped by Huang Shiren and became pregnant. When Huang Shiren got married, he and his mother decided to sell Xi'er to a brothel. With Auntie Yang's help, Xi'er ran away to

32568-464: Was established under the Ming dynasty at the latest. It is described in the book Youzhongzhi ( 酌中志 ): "People get up at 5 in the morning of new year's day, burn incense and light firecrackers, throw door latch or wooden bars in the air three times, drink pepper and thuja wine, eat dumplings. Sometimes put one or two silver currency inside dumplings, and whoever gets the money will attain a year of fortune." Modern Chinese people also put other food that

32752-402: Was established, ancient Chinese gathered and celebrated the end of harvest in autumn. However, this was not the Mid-Autumn Festival , during which Chinese gathered with family to worship the Moon. In the Classic of Poetry , a poem written during Western Zhou (1045 BC – 771 BC) by an anonymous farmer, described the traditions of celebrating the 10th month of the ancient solar calendar , which

32936-412: Was in autumn. According to the poem, during this time people clean millet-stack sites, toast guests with mijiu (rice wine), kill lambs and cook their meat, go to their masters' home, toast the master, and cheer the prospect of living long together. The 10th-month celebration is believed to be one of the prototypes of Chinese New Year. The records of the first Chinese new year celebration can be traced to

33120-422: Was not actively anti-communist at that time, even though he hated the theory of class struggle and the CCP's seizure of power. The communists proposed removing Chiang's power. When Chiang gradually gained the support of Western countries, the conflict between him and the communists became more and more intense. Chiang asked the Kuomintang to join the Comintern to rule out the secret expansion of communists within

33304-441: Was one of the reasons for the dissolution of the Soviet Union . Therefore, Shambaugh argues, Chinese policy-makers believe that their party ideology must be dynamic to safeguard the party's rule. British sinologist Kerry Brown argues that the CCP does not have an ideology, and that the party organization is pragmatic and interested only in what works. The party itself argues against this assertion. Hu Jintao stated in 2012 that

33488-436: Was purely capitalist, it would exclude an alternative socialist form of modernity. Globalization, as with the market economy, therefore does not have one specific class character (neither socialist nor capitalist) according to the party. The insistence that globalization is not fixed in nature comes from Deng's insistence that China can pursue socialist modernization by incorporating elements of capitalism. Because of this there

33672-459: Was re-released in the mid-1960s alongside new films intended support the Socialist Education Movement as "emphasis films". Featuring the same basic plot and background from the opera and ballet, the film is adapted from the opera of the same title. It tells the story of Xier's escape into the mountains and forests after being raped by the landlord Huang Shiren. Her hair turns white, and she is rescued by Dachun later. The biggest difference between

33856-457: Was still called bao zhu ( 爆竹 ), thus equating the new and old traditions. It is also recorded that people linked the firecrackers with hemp rope and created the bian pao ( 鞭炮 , "gunpowder whip") in the Song dynasty. Both bao zhu ( 爆竹 ) and bian pao ( 鞭炮 ) are still used today to celebrate the Chinese New Year and other festive occasions. It was also during the Song dynasty that people started to give money to children in celebration of

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