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Katherine Johnson’s mathematical calculations helped guide some of America’s most important early space missions while she confronted the racial and gender barriers faced by Black women in twentieth-century America.
MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
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The Four Modernizations (simplified Chinese: 四个现代化; traditional Chinese: 四個現代化) were goals formally announced by China's first Premier Zhou Enlai to strengthen the fields of agriculture, industry, defense, and science and technology in China.[1][2][3] The Four Modernizations were adopted as a means of rejuvenating China's economy in 1977, following the death of Mao Zedong, and later were among the defining features of Deng Xiaoping's tenure as the paramount leader of China. At the beginning of "Reform and Opening-up", Deng further proposed the idea of "xiaokang" or "Moderately prosperous society" in 1979.[4][5]
The Four Modernizations refer to modernization of agriculture, industry, science and technology, and national defense.[6]: 357 These were viewed as essential to China's economic development.[6]: 357
They were introduced as early as January 1963 at the Conference on Scientific and Technological Work held in Shanghai, Zhou Enlai called for professionals in the sciences to realize "the Four Modernizations."[2] In February 1963, at the National Conference on Agricultural Science and Technology Work, Nie Rongzhen specifically referred to the Four Modernizations as comprising agriculture, industry, national defense, and science and technology.[7] The Cultural Revolution prevented and delayed implementation of the Four Modernizations for years. In 1975, in one of his last public acts, Zhou Enlai made another pitch for the Four Modernizations at the 4th National People's Congress.[8][9]: 163 In that report, Zhou stated that China should achieve the comprehensive modernization of agriculture, industry, national defence, and science and technology before the end of the twentieth century.[8]
After Zhou's death and Mao's soon thereafter, Hua Guofeng assumed control of the party in 1976. Hua had the leadership of the Cultural Revolution arrested. Known as the Gang of Four, their arrest marked the end of the Cultural Revolution. This event enabled the enactment of the Four Modernizations. Hua supported the Four Modernizations.[9]: 163 By 1977 all entities in every sector and at every level of society were focused on implementing the Four Modernizations. One core tenet was the rejection of the previously long-held concept known as the "iron rice bowl".[citation needed]
At the opening of the national science conference in 1978, Deng stated:[6]: 357
The key to the four modernizations is the modernization of science and technology. Without modern science and technology, it is impossible to build modern agriculture, modern industry, or modern national defense. Without the rapid development of science and technology, there can be no rapid development of the economy.
In March 1978, Deng argued that socialist distribution should follow the principle of "to each according to his work", with pay, promotion, and bonuses tied to performance, technical level, and actual contribution.[10] The new idea was that all workers should not be paid the same, but rather, paid according to their productivity. The thinking was that in order to be a consumer society, China would need to be a producing society.
The Four Modernizations were included in the 1978 constitution of the PRC.[9]: 163
In December 1978 at the 3rd plenary session of the 11th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, Deng Xiaoping announced the official launch of the Four Modernizations, formally marking the beginning of the reform.[citation needed]
Deng described a xiaokang society as a goal of the Four Modernizations.[11]: 65 In a 1979 discussion with Japanese Prime Minister Masayoshi Ōhira, Deng used the concept to distinguish China's path of development from other approaches, stating, "The Four Modernizations we hope to realize are a Chinese Four Modernizations. Our conceptualization of the Four Modernizations is not like your conception of modernization, but it is a xiaokang family."[11]: 65
Recognizing the need for technical assistance to spur this most important modernization, the Chinese Government elicited the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the fall of 1978 to scope out and provide financial resources for the implementation of an initial complement of targeted projects. The initial projects from 1979 to 1984 included the establishment of overseas on-the-job training and academic programs, set-up of information processing centers at key government units, and the development of methods to make informed decisions within the Chinese context based on market principles. The key advisor to the Chinese government on behalf of the UNDP was Jack Fensterstock of the United States. This first technical assistance effort (CPR/79-001) by the UNDP led to the entry of large-scale multilateral funding agencies including the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.[citation needed]
As part of the effort to pursue the Four Modernizations, the Chinese government revived plans for the Three Gorges Dam, emphasizing the need to develop hydroelectric power.[12]: 204
On December 5, 1978, former Red Guard Wei Jingsheng posted "democracy" as the Fifth Modernization on the Democracy Wall in Beijing. He was arrested a few months later and jailed for 15 years until 1993.[13]
Source: Wikipedia. Article content is retrieved live through the MediaWiki API.
The Four Modernizations (simplified Chinese: 四个现代化; traditional Chinese: 四個現代化) were goals formally announced by China's first Premier Zhou Enlai to strengthen the fields of agriculture, industry, defense, and science and technology in China. The Four Modernizations were adopted as a means of rejuvenating China's economy in 1977, following the death of Mao Zedong, and later were among the defining features of Deng Xiaoping's tenure as the paramount leader of China. At the beginning of "Reform and Opening-up", Deng further proposed the idea of "xiaokang" or "Moderately prosperous society" in 1979.
Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese statesman, revolutionary, and political theorist who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from 1978 to 1989. Emerging as China's most influential figure after Mao Zedong's death in 1976, Deng consolidated political power and guided the country into an era of reform and opening up that transitioned the nation toward a socialist market economy. Credited as the "architect of modern China", he is recognized for shaping both socialism with Chinese characteristics and Deng Xiaoping Theory. Born into a landowning peasant family in Sichuan, Deng was introduced to Marxism–Leninism while studying and working in France during the 1920s as part of the Work–Study Movement. He then studied in Moscow and, after returning to China, joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1924. During the Chinese Civil War, he worked in the Jiangxi Soviet and maintained close ties with Mao. Deng later served as a political commissar in the Chinese Red Army during the Long March and Second Sino-Japanese War, helping secure CCP victory in 1949 and taking part in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) capture of Nanjing. Following Mao's founding of the PRC, Deng rose to prominence as the vice premier of China and CCP secretary-general, overseeing economic reconstruction and playing a leading role in the Anti-Rightist Campaign. Ιn the mid-1960s, economic policy initiatives and the proclamation of the Four Modernizations marked the peak of Deng's Mao-era influence. However, during the Cultural Revolution, he was denounced as the party's "number two capitalist roader" after Liu Shaoqi and was twice purged by Mao, spending four years working in a tractor factory before returning to politics. After Mao's death in 1976, Deng outmaneuvered political rivals and became China's paramount leader by 1978. Upon coming to power, Deng began a massive overhaul of China's infrastructure and political system. Due to institutional disorder and turmoil from the Mao era, he and allies launched the Boluan Fanzheng program which sought to restore order by rehabilitating those persecuted during the Cultural Revolution. His reform and opening up policies introduced market incentives, established special economic zones, encouraged foreign investment, and accelerated China's integration into the global economy. Deng also pursued major state reforms, including constitutional term limits (enshrined in the 1982 Constitution of China), the one-child policy to address population growth, a nine-year compulsory education system, and promotion of technology through the 863 Program. These changes shifted China away from a command economy and Maoist orthodoxy, laying the foundation for decades of rapid economic growth. Furthermore, as the overseer of Beijing's foreign policy, Deng negotiated the handover of Hong Kong and handover of Macau and formulated the guiding principle of "one country, two systems". Deng received worldwide acclaim and was named Time Person of the Year in 1978 and 1985 for his policies and reforms. Despite contributions to China's modernization, Deng's legacy is also marked by controversy. He ordered the crackdown on the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, which halted his political reforms and remains a subject of international condemnation. Nonetheless, Deng's policies facilitated China's rise to become one of the world's great powers. He was succeeded by Jiang Zemin, who continued his reform agenda.
The Three Principles of the People (Chinese: 三民主義; pinyin: Sānmín Zhǔyì) refer to a nationalist, republican, anti-imperialist political ideology developed by Sun Yat-sen which consist of nationalism (民族主義), democracy (民權主義), and people's welfare (民生主義). The Principles were influenced by a broad set of influences, including Georgism, Marxism, and Chinese utopianism. Under Kuomintang rule, Sun's thought achieved canonical status as part of an overall cult of personality. Aided by fellow members of his Tongmenghui, Sun first set forth the Principles in 1905, notably in a polemic published by the newly-founded party newspaper Minbao; later editions featured articles on the theme by Sun's associates. From January to August 1924, Sun delivered a series of weekly lectures on the Principles, which were later collected and published under the title The Three Principles of the People. After Sun's death in 1925, the Kuomintang united China under its banner and established Sun's principles, as codified in the 1924 lectures and interpreted by party leader Chiang Kai-shek, were made the official ideology of the state. Under Communist rule, both Sun and his Principles were comparatively minimized, until Deng's era of reform, during which they were used to justify his Four Modernizations.
Moderately prosperous society, or Xiaokang society (Chinese: 小康社会; pinyin: Xiǎokāng Shèhuì), is a Chinese term, originally of Confucianism, used to describe a society composed of a functional middle-class. In December 1979, Deng Xiaoping, then paramount leader of China, first proposed the idea of "Xiaokang" based on the "Four Modernizations". Jiang Zemin, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party between 1989 and 2002, expanded the concept to include more goals, and coined the term "comprehensively building a moderately prosperous society", which would be completed by 2020. CCP General Secretary Hu Jintao referred to economic policies intended to realize a more equal distribution of wealth. In the usages (Tifa) of current General Secretary Xi Jinping, the term Chinese Dream has gained somewhat greater prominence. In 2015, Xi unveiled a set of political slogans called the Four Comprehensives, which include "Comprehensively build a moderately prosperous society." At the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party on 1 July 2021, Xi Jinping declared that China achieved its goal of building a moderately prosperous society.
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
MORE →The Greenwood District.
