There are many different theories of culture change one of which is Idealism which I think China’s culture revolution share the qualities of. Idealism is where the” culture changes as the underlying idea and world views shift.” Chinese culture was impacted by events that was taking place in the west, although some leaders refused to adopt certain aspects of western art form other leaders welcomed the change. Mao tried to get rid of traditional Chinese culture and only tolerated a merger of traditional ways with social concepts no longer would exclusive traditional ways be accepted.
The Mao’s method in trying to force the Chinese to change would not work, people have to want to change, and people won’t change to something they can’t relate to. Expecting the Chinese to change their culture with something they don’t identify with is asking for a lot. Even though the leaders may try to change and ban certain practices people will still find away to embrace what they love and what they call their own. That’s why after the death of Mao the Chinese people were all too eager to return to their traditional ways, some people still embraced things of the west and incorporated it into their art form, but for others that were strictly traditional it was a good feeling to embrace what they call their own. Chinese culture today have change due to the influence of the internet and other outside forces, but this change wasn’t forced upon them. This change is due to them seeing something they like and feel comfortable embracing and adopting aspects of other cultures.
Sources:
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wu66Qkdc7uw#action=share
William J Duiker, Jackson J Spielvogel (2015) The Essential World History Volume II since 1500.
