China, officially the People’s Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is divided into 33 province-level divisions, including two special administrative regions. Beijing is the capital, while Shanghaiis the most populous city by urban area. Its geography features the Central Plain, major rivers such as the Yangtze and Yellow River, deserts, subtropical and temperate forests, plateaus, and mountain ranges such as the Himalayas. It is the world’s second-most populous country after India, with a populationexceeding 1.4 billion (17% of the world’s population). Covering 9.6 million square kilometers (3,700,000 sq mi), it is the third largest country by area.
China is a unitary state with the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) as its sole ruling party. It is one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and a member of many multilateral organizations. China is the world’s largest manufacturer and has the second-largest economy by nominal GDP.
China” in simplified (top) and traditional(bottom) character forms
The flag is the result of a contest sponsored by a committee. After a culture and history of thousands of years, in 1949 the People’s Republic was formed. Zeng Liansong a man from Wenzhou submitted his design to show his patriotic enthusiasm for his ‘new’ country. He said his inspiration was looking at the stars in the night sky. He remembered a Chinese Proverb ‘Longing for the stars, longing for the moon.’
There is some controversy concerning the symbolism of the stars. For certain the main large star is the Chinese people (the designer said for the ‘yellow people’.) Speculation about the 4 smaller stars often settles on a speech given by the new leader, Mao. He Outlined his vision about the 4 classes of people: The working class; The peasantry; The urban bourgeoisie; and The National bourgeoisie.
There were a number of rejected flags
Today, November 12, is the anniversary of the birth (1866) of the person considered to be ‘The Father of Our Nation’: Sun Yat-sen
12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925) Sun was a Chinese physician, revolutionary and political philosopher who founded the Republic of China(ROC) and the Kuomintang (KMT). Sun is credited with leading the 1911 Revolution and overthrowing the Qing dynasty. He served as the first president of the Provisional Government of the Republic of China(1912) and as the inaugural premier of the Kuomintang.
Born to a poor peasant family in Guangdong, Sun was educated in Hawaii before graduating from the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese in 1892. In 1894 he submitted a petition to reform the Qing government to Li Hongzhang, which was rejected. Sun subsequently went into exile and led anti-Qing movements overseas, founding the Revive China Society, the Tongmenghui, and the People’s News.
As a philosopher and writer Sun was influential in pointing out the injustice of a dynastic form of government. It had created a society that was more pernicious than a caste system or rule by oligarchy. Once conflict was out in the open Sun led forces and with Chiang Kai-shek as one of his commanders fought for the people of China. He was the type of leader who could bring together people who hated each other, Mao and Chiang Kai-shek, to see the need for justice for the people of China.
He continues to be well thought of throughout the nation and is considered a hero to the people. Xi Jinping quotes him often.
Sun definitely had very different ideas on society and justice then us in the west. He had substantial support from The Soviet Union and remained friends with them throughout his life. And he taught and fought for the people, not the power structures. I find it interesting that it has been my experience both through research and personal contact that many Chinese know about the history of the USA and important people and movements that formed our country, but we know almost nothing about the history and people of China. There is something about that that doesn’t sit well with me.
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