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Barefoot doctors
Community health workers trained to provide basic medical care in rural areas.
Cooperatives
Groups of peasants pooling land and tools under collective management.
Cultural Revolution
Political movement to preserve communist ideology by removing perceived enemies of Mao’s leadership.
Factionalism
Rival groups within the Party competing for power.
Great Leap Forward
Campaign aimed at rapid modernization that instead caused severe famine and economic failure.
Higher-level cooperative
Large farming collective where peasants shared labor, harvests and tools.
Household Responsibility System
Policy allowing rural families to control land use and production in exchange for meeting state quotas.
Hu Yaobang
Reformist leader whose death sparked the Tiananmen protests
Land Redistribution
Policy that transferred land from landlords to peasants in order to eliminate inequality and strengthen Communist support.
Little Red Book
Collection of Mao’s quotations used during the Cultural Revolution to promote ideological unity.
Marriage Law (1950)
Legislation guaranteeing women legal rights in marriage and banning traditional practices.
Mutual Assistance Treaty (1950)
These treaties of 1950 established alliances, provided for military cooperation, or created mechanisms for exchanging information and aid between signatory countries during the early Cold War period.
Patriarchal authority
Power held by male family members, especially fathers and husbands.
Patriotic Health Campaigns
Government-led programs promoting hygiene and disease prevention through mass mobilization.
People’s Republic of China (PRC)
Communist state founded in 1949 under Mao Zedong.
Political liberalization
Policies aimed at expanding political freedoms and participation.
Putonghua
Standardized national language promoted to improve communication and unity.
Rapprochement
The re-establishment of friendly relations between two countries or groups that were formerly in conflict
Red Guards
Youth groups mobilized by Mao to enforce revolutionary ideology and attack perceived enemies.
Revisionism
Term used by Mao to describe policies that weakened revolutionary ideology.
Shanghai Communiqué (1972)
A 1972 joint statement between the U.S. and China that set the stage for the normalization of their diplomatic relations after decades of estrangement.
Special Economic Zones (SEZs)
Areas where foreign investment, private business and market experiments were encouraged.
State-planned economy
System where government controls production, prices and investment.