pgs 222-237

• China had dynastic cycles until the 20th century, where a family ruled until losing power to a new family
• Power in China was determined by the mandate of heaven, seen as the right to rule guided by ancestral wisdom from the heavens
• Legitimacy was established through the mandate of heaven and hereditary passage of power
• After the revolution of 1911, the Chinese Republic was created with Sun Yat-sen as the first president
• Mao Zedong created Maoism, leading to the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949
• Maoism emphasized idealistic and egalitarian principles, endorsed centralized power to top party leaders, and stressed staying connected to peasants through the mass line
• The Politburo of the Communist Party is the only legitimate source of power in China, but is criticized for being authoritarian over a market-based economy
• Influences on the modern political system in China include authoritarian power, Confucianism, bureaucratic hierarchy based on scholarship, the concept of the "middle kingdom," and communist ideologies
• Maoism emphasized collectivism, struggle and activism, the mass line, egalitarianism, and self-reliance
• The Deng Xiaoping theory advocated for a mix of authoritarian political control and economic privatization
• Geographical influences and historical eras have shaped China's political and economic changes, including resistance to imperialism and the rise of Chinese nationalism
• Political and economic changes in China during the 20th century were radical, violent, and chaotic, with influences from imperialistic nations and revolutionary upheavals
• The founding of the People's Republic of China involved two phases: the Soviet model and land reform, civil reform, five-year plans, the Great Leap Forward, and the Cultural Revolution
• Deng Xiaoping's modernization focused on the four modernizations (industry, agriculture, science, and military), open-door trade policy, reforms in education, and institutionalization of the revolution