Guest guest Posted March 4, 2001 Report Share Posted March 4, 2001 I suspect that the MAO - TCM bashing comes from unconsciously held American political dogma. The reality is quite different. Some eminent scholar in a feature article inthe Atlantic Monthly (within the last 18 months) proposed that there are pre-condidtions which must exist in a society for democracy to even germinate. Without them, he contends, a society will quickly fall under the rule of the strongest. Among these preconditions are adequate food and shelter for all, basic actual literacy among the vast majority (75% or more), and a citizenry educated in the principles and values of a democracy/free society. None of these existed in China in 1949. In pre-revolutionary America it was, by comparison, relatively easy to obtain shelter and food. And literacy in commoners (as opposed to the scholarly elite) was highly valued. It's pretty well documented that Mao was deeply Chinese first and Communist third. Personally, I think Mao's political decisions had very little to do with "Communism" and everything to do with pragmatism. It's hard to debate philosophy when you're cold and hungry. JOE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 4, 2001 Report Share Posted March 4, 2001 To me , in fact that more than one hundred years ago, every body heard and family with the sound of all the kind of herbs and tradition medicine in American, nearly fifty years ago it has been change to the modern pills of drugs, so most of growing people American hard to believe the herbs can help to cure the sickness. And the gornvernment law so much changing in American which caused the herbs and the traditional medicine in American almost lost to bury them in the ground. Now too much problem caused by modern pill, the people turn out to look for the other solution: " herb " and traditional treatment. However, as basic of the beginning of traditional Chinese theory : " yin and yang have to be balance no mater what either traditional treatment or modern treatment. Nhung Ta - " Joseph Balensi " <jlb Sunday, March 04, 2001 6:43 AM MAO & TCM Bashing I suspect that the MAO - TCM bashing comes from unconsciously held American political dogma. The reality is quite different. Some eminent scholar in a feature article inthe Atlantic Monthly (within the last 18 months) proposed that there are pre-condidtions which must exist in a society for democracy to even germinate. Without them, he contends, a society will quickly fall under the rule of the strongest. Among these preconditions are adequate food and shelter for all, basic actual literacy among the vast majority (75% or more), and a citizenry educated in the principles and values of a democracy/free society. None of these existed in China in 1949. In pre-revolutionary America it was, by comparison, relatively easy to obtain shelter and food. And literacy in commoners (as opposed to the scholarly elite) was highly valued. It's pretty well documented that Mao was deeply Chinese first and Communist third. Personally, I think Mao's political decisions had very little to do with " Communism " and everything to do with pragmatism. It's hard to debate philosophy when you're cold and hungry. JOE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 4, 2001 Report Share Posted March 4, 2001 I think there is a big difference in TCM of the culture revolution time and now. Even in 1985, when I was in China, you could see it in the opinions of different Dr's Alon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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