What does Modernization bring to China?

June 12, 2011 Zhang Yang (Allen) 4421293

Modernization is a process of modern transformations in social, economic, and political systems (Cao, 2009）, which is a worldwide social movement. In China, government together with the Chinese people, have been carrying out tireless explorations in modernization since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. It is a fact that China as a typical country of acquired modernization is modernizing very rapidly. Both its economy and its public institutions are undergoing this process of modernization. The essence of modernization in China is industrialization, which transits China from a traditional agrarian society to an industrial society. Besides changing economically backward countries into fully industrialized ones, modernization is also a changing process of mentality, attitude, values, and lifestyle (Wang & Li, 2009).

With the development of social modernization, a great deal is being said about the necessity of modernizing education in China. Modernizing the system of education means to perfect the existing system of education and bring it up to date. Modernization requires a deep reform of education system, teaching contents and methods. Therefore, in order to bringing the system of education into conformity with the needs of society, a number of major reforms have been implemented in China. Quality education and curriculum reform is just one of the outcomes of modernization. According to Pepper (1996), the highly centralized and hierarchical government examination system of China determined the content of formal education: the Confucian classics, history and literature as well as the skills of essay writing and poetry writing. It is a fact that Chinese students have limited opportunity to voice their thoughts, as most teachers handle the teaching and learning process by their own without listen to students’ idea. The study technique is more towards memorizing among the student. That is students memorize the facts in the textbooks rather than understanding it, which is probably because of the exam-oriented education system. This old traditional educational mode--examination-oriented education--did not suit the development of modernization. Talents needed in modern society cannot be cultured under such mode of education. Therefore, the State Council issued “Decisions on Deepening the Educational Reform and Improving Quality-Oriented Education” in 1999 (Council, 1999). In a word, modernization of education is compatible with the social modernization and institutional changes in the content, which can be manifested as the expansion of education, educational philosophy and values ​​of modern, scientific and educational content, etc.

According to Wong（2009）, modernization indeed makes significant changes in people’s values. As we all know, collectivism is one of the social morals in China, which emphasize self-sacrifice and working for the whole society (Chan, 2000, p. 209). Individuals should be subject to the collective, when there is confliction between individual interests and collective interests. That is pursuing individual interests is against this social norm. There are many exemplars in Chinese history, such as Lei Feng, Jiao Yulu. Lei Feng was a soldier of the People's Liberation Army, who devoted his whole life to the national revolution and to the people (Landsberger, 2009). People are taught how to submit to the collective and the state, as well as how to fulfill their obligations, with less reference to a citizen’s self-consciousness and individual rights (Yu & Tao, 2010). However, with the development of modernization process, an increasing emphasis on individual achievement becomes more and more popular. Affected by individualism from western society, new generations pay more attention on their own interests. The sense of communal obligations decreases seriously.  More and more people stress on personal achievements and individual rights and expect from each other to fulfill their own needs.

The preaching of traditional values indeed declines in modern society in China. Modernization makes “profit” become the main aim of life. More and more business people use unscrupulous means to make profit. Tan (2011) studied the capitalist market values in east Malaysia and China, he pointed that “the ‘profit’ motive reigns supreme in post-Mao China: ordinary people think of ways to earn money and to get rich”. (p. 140). Corruption of officials is rampant all over the country. In the pursuit of profit under market-direct economy, there are too many unscrupulous practices. In order to make greater benefits, the producers even add some deleterious chemical substances to the food, beverage, baby formula, etc, which caused serious health problems even death.

According to Cao (2009), China’s modernization is not simply the pursuit of economic development, but is designed to achieve a better society and improve the life of its people. As the future of China’s modernization, although economic development should still be the central task, the good traditional values such as the national spirit should be still promoted, for it is the tremendous driving force to push the modernization process forward.

References

Cao, F. J. (2009). Modernization theory and China’s road to modernization. Chinese Studies in History, 43(1), 7-16. doi: 10.2753/CSH0009-4633430101

Chan, C. (2000). The political pragmatism of Chinese university students at dawn of the twenty-first century. In S. Zhao (ed.), China and democracy. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis Group.

Council, C. (1999). Decisions on Deepening the Educational Reform and Improving Quality-Oriented Education.

Landsberger, S. (n.d.). Lei Feng’s Web log message. Retrieved August 10, 2009, from http://www.iisg.nl/landsberger/lf.html

Pepper, S. (1996). Radicalism and education reform in 20th century China. Cambridge. UK: Cambridge University Press.

Wang, X. D. & Li, J. C. (2009). Modernization and the Study of Modern Chinese History. Chinese Studies in History, 43(1). 46-60.

Wong, K. Y. & Wan, E. P. (2009). New evidence of the postmaterialist shift: The experience of Hong Kong, 92(1), 497-515. doi: 10.1007/s11205-008-9299-3.

Yu, J. X. & Tao, F. (2010). Civic education and transition governance in China. Social Justice, 22(1). 295–302. doi: 10.1080/10402659.2010.502071

Tan, C. B. (2011). Capitalist market values in East Malaysia and China. Current Sociology, 59(135). doi: 10.1177/0011392110391144