Hukou, Danwei, Decollectivization, and Rural Reform

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Hukou, Danwei, DE collectivization and Rural Reform
What was the main reason for economic reforms in post-Mao China?
In post-Mao China, the economy was in stagnation, and there was a need for reforms to increase resource efficiency and economic performance. This would be achieved by changing the economy’s old institutional bases (Lecture 4). The planned economic system and rigid Maoist ideologies caused China’s economy to stagnate, but the leaders and administrators had been slow to adopt changes. Potter and Potter (315) reported that in the late 1970s, the Chinese considered themselves poor and underdeveloped. Thus, in1978, the Chinese leadership adopted the Four Modernization policy, which opened China to the global economy after thirty-five years (Potter and Potter 315). The economic reforms targeted achieving growth through foreign capital investment and technology without abandoning the socialist stance. The economy moved from a centrally planned economy to a more market-based mixed economy (Lecture 4). The reform and open-door policy opened up China to foreign businesses and emphasized increased investments as part of increasing economic production further away from political-ideological struggles.
Explain two key measures or strategies taken by the Deng Xiaoping regime to carry out rural reform. 
There was decollectivization as agriculture collectives became less controlled in a more market-oriented system where there was an increase in farming by households and not collective teams like before. Decollectivizing land ownership and production was not meant to be a radical change from the economic and organizational cooperation among peasants. Rather there was a focus on reorganizing the rural economy to allow households to farm more and sell their produce. Still, there were challenges diversifying production and increasing agricultural production because of the lack of property rights and government control on what people could produce. There was an allocation of lands to individual peasant households, which allowed greater consumption and production even as peasants did not own land and sold a quota of grains to the state. There was also an increase in the free markets for rural products, and farmers sold their surplus on the open market after meeting the government quotas. There had been collectivization of land ownership in communes, but Deng’s reforms spurred changes focused on developing the productive forces and not collectivization. 
Another strategy is diversification, and rural industry as the country’s economic structure changed. The reforms resulted in increased productivity and reduced losses as the rural economy became more diverse, and households could sell and consume their farm products making decisions on production. Crop yields increased, and there was increased support of enterprises for the rural communities, leading to improved living standards as the economy grew and farmers earned more. The rural economy was not diversified during the commune era, but Deng’s reforms promoted new rural enterprises, industry, and commerce. Farmers also had more choices to grow crops of their choices and not merely considering the population’s food grain requirements like in Mao’s regime. Gradually, the quest for diversification of the rural economy increased the demand for technological inputs, but hoes were still commonly used.
Analyze the social, cultural, and political impacts (i.e., family, lineage, power, income distribution) of the reforms in rural China using at least two concrete examples from the required readings.
Mao’s policies emphasized social equality, but Deng Xiaoping promoted economic development even as this caused regional inequality and worsened income distribution. The GDP per capita grew substantially in eastern China compared to other regions, and inequality also increased in rural China. The people accepted that being rich is glorious. In Deng’s administration, there was a focus on people, households, and regions getting rich first and left the regions with the low agricultural potential to lag behind. Even as the land was among the households, there was no uniformity in how the reforms were adopted across rural China. As the agricultural sector grew, there was poverty reduction, but income inequality widened. 
There was a change in the power dynamics from communes and brigades to townships and villages, which transformed the rural enterprises. Townships and villages were more involved in enterprises and production, which led to increased resource accumulation and the gradual decline of the communes. For instance, Qiaotou was part of the township-village enterprises that fostered entrepreneurship while also emphasizing prosperity for all such that the fruits of economic growth were enjoyed by the local community (Ruf 139). The Chinese state-supported and promoted township-village enterprises as the economy became more export-orientated, making the township and villages more powerful because of their economic impact. 
Deng Xiaoping’s market liberalization influenced a revival of cultural practices and religious activities, and religious education flourished than under Mao’s regime. Many religious activities were banned under Mao, but there was gradual change under Deng, including the revival of public religious activities. Most religious communities maintained their cultural identity and religious revival was a way of reconnecting with their past, and more people participated in religious activities, including listing places of worship. After reforms, the government’s openness and tolerance of religious activities signaled that the government was less restrictive to people participating in religio...