Page 56 - 609550 Sun City_Text_ _proof_FinalTrim

By Doug Lytton Parallel
History
Imagine living in a country where any
criticism of the government could land PHOTO COURTESY OF DR. LIU-HUA YU
you in a re-education camp or prison,
where life is dictated by a political Dr, Liu-Hua Yu grew up in Chinna during Mao Tse-tung’s rule. She uses her
regime euphemistically named “The firsthand experiences when teaching her courses on modern Chinese history.
Peoples’ Republic.” A country where every
aspect of life is under the control of an elite All my life in China up for the benefit of the government, not the
inner circle of government officials who people. Under Mao, China was a fully
persecute individualism and independent to that point cannot compare to centralized economy.
thinking. one day in America.
As a student, Li-Hua obtained her B.A.
This dystopic state has already been ~ Dr. Li-Hua Yu in English Language and Literature
realized by Sun City resident Dr. Li- from Xi’an University in China’s Shaanxi
Hua Yu. She – and more directly, her seen as the father figure who resolved Province. She taught at her alma mater for
parents – lived in Mao Zedong’s China. all legal matters. Mao’s interpretation nine years before deciding to pursue her
In Li-Hua’s case, Chinese life was not bad. of thousands of years of authoritarian graduate degree at Ohio’s Bowling Green
Even though she was a scholar seeking history gave him the absolute power to State University in 1984. At that time,
advanced academic degrees, Li-Hua never do whatever he believed was needed, and scholars were exchanged between China
had any confrontations with authorities. his strongman policies permeated Chinese and the United States under J-1 visas.
However, for people who rose up against society in every way. The legal system Introduced in 1961 under the Mutual
Mao’s decrees, life had more ominous established in the 1950s only operated Educational and Cultural Exchange Act,
outcomes. J-1 visas were developed to strengthen

On October 1, 1949, following decades ONLINE: SCTEXAS.ORG
of civil war and government turmoil,
Chinese communist revolutionary Mao
Zedong proclaimed the establishment of
the People’s Republic of China and set
out to reshape Chinese society. Industry
was placed under state ownership. Scores
of landlords were killed as extensive
land reforms redistributed property and
collectivized agricultural production.
Any opposition was brutally suppressed.
Those convicted of minor offenses such as
petitioning or speaking out against the
government were subject to “re-education
camps” in which individuals would make
public confessions of their negative
comments and plead for forgiveness. More
serious violators might be sent off to forced
labor camps or publicly executed. Public
officials, businessmen, political rivals and
anyone Mao considered a threat to his
power were particularly at risk.

Looking back on life under Mao, Li-Hua
says three thousand years of authoritarian
history gave him absolute power to do
whatever he believed was needed. For
more than 2,000 years, Confucianism
had been the cornerstone of traditional
Chinese culture and law. The ruler was

54 | SUNRAYS JUNE 2017