Chinese term for a middle-class society
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".
The term is best known in recent years through its use by Hu Jintao, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party between 2002 and 2012, when referring 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."
Origins
It has been loosely translated as a "basically well-off" society in which the people are able to live relatively comfortably, albeit ordinarily. The term was first used in Classic of Poetry written as early as 3,000 years ago. Xiaokang also appears in the Book of Rites.
Modern political discourse
The vision of a xiaokang society is one in which most people are moderately well off and middle class, and in which economic prosperity is sufficient to move most of the population in mainland China into comfortable means, but in which economic advancement is not the sole focus of society. Explicitly incorporated into the concept of a Xiaokang society is the idea that economic growth needs to be balanced with sometimes conflicting goals of social equality and environmental protection.
Deng Xiaoping described a xiaokang society as a goal of the Four Modernizations. 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."
The revival of the concept of a Xiaokang Society was in part a criticism of social trends in mainland China in the 1990s under Jiang Zemin, in which many in China felt was focusing too much on the newly rich and not enough on mainland China's rural poor. At the 16th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in 2002, Jiang, set a goal of achieving comprehensive xiaokang by 2020. Hu Jintao reiterated this goal at the 17th Party Congress and the 18th Party Congress.
Xiaokang is also a name for a semi-monthly magazine that is affiliated to the Qiushi Magazine, the party-run magazine in Beijing. Started in 2004, it mainly focuses on the political and economic development in China.
Chinese state media has used the term "Xiaokang villages" to describe structures built by the People's Liberation Army near the Line of Actual Control in its ongoing border dispute with India.
See also
References
- "从"小康"到"全面小康"——邓小平小康社会理论形成和发展述论--邓小平纪念网--人民网". cpc.people.com.cn. Archived from the original on 2015-03-30. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
- "Meet "moderately prosperous" China". worldin.economist.com. November 21, 2019. Archived from the original on 2020-06-04. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
- "从"四个现代化"到"小康"构想与邓小平苏杭之行_中国网". China News Service. Archived from the original on 2020-05-26. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
- "China's Xi Jinping unveils new 'four comprehensives' slogans". BBC News. 2015-02-25. Archived from the original on 2021-03-07. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
- ^ Smith, Craig A. (2019). "Datong and Xiaokang". In Sorace, Christian; Franceschini, Ivan; Loubere, Nicholas (eds.). Afterlives of Chinese Communism: Political Concepts from Mao to Xi. Acton, Australia: Australian National University Press. doi:10.22459/ACC.2019. hdl:loc.gdc/gdcebookspublic.2020718247. ISBN 9781760462499. JSTOR j.ctvk3gng9. LCCN 2020718247.
- Brar, Aadil (2023-12-29). "China strengthens territorial claim with villages seen from space". Newsweek. Archived from the original on 2023-12-30. Retrieved 2023-12-30.