Period of Mao Zedong -- Autonomous State, State dominated society

• omnipresent, penetrative view of the state
• defines ethical values
• no countervailing power
• educator, provides role models (positive and negative)
• no loyal opposition, no independent intellectuals
• state authoritarianism, arbitrary
• suppress market, clans, lineages
• control over where/how people live
• hukou, ration coupons, danwei
• Mao played a critical role in policy making
• strong coercion, weak communication flows
• In reality, penetration was not complete, pockets of contrary values survived and sprouted up later

• Party state withdrawal from economic (market) interactions
• no withdrawal from political
• some use of law, accountability   check possible reforms, BR Nov3, 2005
• human rights ammendment to constitution
• Status of NGOs
• Beginning of the end of the Hukou system Nov. 2005
• Religion: revival of traditional practices  - non-exclusive, all valid, like different dialects
• religion
• constitutional status:

Article 36 Citizens of the People's Republic of China enjoy freedom of religious belief. No state organ, public organization or individual may compel citizens to believe in, or not believe in, any religion; nor may they discriminate against citizens who believe in, or do not believe in, any religion. The state protects normal religious activities. No one may make use of religion to engage in activities that disrupt public order, impair the health of citizens or interfere with the educational system of the state. Religious bodies and religious affairs are not subject to any foreign domination.

• Traditional religions:
• Confucianism -- social relations
• Buddhism -- relations with God
• Daoism -- relations with nature
• Islam
• Christiainty
• Giant Statue of Buddha at Lingshan. With giant statue of Buddha erected at Lingshan, Majishan Mountain, at the northwestern corner of Taihu Lake attracts Buddhists from both inside and outside China. With Lingshan at its backdrop, the statue rises 88 meters to become the highest bronze statue of Buddha in the world. In the Lingshan area there are also a temple left behind from the Tang Dynasty (618-907), the number one tripod in China, and the number one bell in the area south of the Yangtze River  Photo of Big Buddha in Wuxi
• Bejing Wangfujing Catholic Church, originally built 1655; the restored one was built around 1900, I think.  Closed for cultural revolution, maybe earlier, reopened (a little) in 1980.  This restoration was done in 2000   This website shows nice photos of the church and discusses the reality and limitations of the officially sanctioned religion system in China.  click here
• complex legal skirmishes about relgion, repress, counter sue against police 2007
• linguistic divisions,
• non-Han ethnic loyalties

• hybrid forms of public-private (related to privatization of state assets--corruption)
• civil society created by state to help rule more effectively
• local elections, non-gov't organizations
• state corporatism
• note extensive regional and local variability
• Contraditions -- social regulation vs. human rights:  the case of prostitution

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