Enjoy Chinese culture with 12 menus that make you say "Oh?" and then "Oh!"

For over 10 years, I have been teaching Chinese language and culture to students at universities, trying to convey China in a vivid and vivid way that allows them to experience it firsthand.
This book is organized around keywords that represent the country of China and the way of thinking and behavior of its people.
It is composed so that everyone can enjoy and understand it deliciously, and vegetables are added here and there to add flavor.

1.
The center of the world?

The People's Republic of China (PRC), abbreviated as China, has a capital of Beijing and a largest city, Shanghai. Other major cities include Guangzhou, Nanjing, Xi'an, Qingdao, and Chongqing.

In modern China, the Qing Dynasty collapsed in 1911 with the Xinhai Revolution and the Kuomintang government took power, but political chaos continued, ushering in an era of warlords in which warlord governments wielded power in various regions.
The Chinese Communist Party, founded with Soviet support and centered on the anti-imperialist platform of the May Fourth Movement, rapidly grew in power after 1920 and continued to wage civil war with the Kuomintang.
After the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Second Civil War broke out in 1946 for control of mainland China, and as a result, most of the territory, except for some areas such as Taiwan, went over to the Communist side, and in 1949, the People's Republic of China was proclaimed in Beijing with Mao Zedong as the first president.

The Communist government centered around Mao Zedong launched the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution to solidify the framework of a socialist state.
However, the Great Leap Forward failed to lead to economic growth, and the Cultural Revolution left behind numerous national, cultural, and civilian casualties.
In this process, the Communist Party realized the limitations of socialism, and under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping, it implemented reforms and opening up, introducing a market economy system and accepting the capitalist economic system.
Deng Xiaoping achieved rapid economic growth based on his vast territory and massive population by advocating the theory of black cat and white cat? A good cat is one that catches mice well. In other words, whether it's capitalism or communism, as long as the Chinese people live well, he should do it. He also advocated the theory of "whoever can become rich should become rich first." He also pursued a policy of peaceful coexistence and expansion, using the diplomatic principle of "peaceful rise" (growth without military threats) as a policy of subjugating other countries politically and economically to expand their territory, influence, or product markets.

Since Xi Jinping, the 7th President of the People's Republic of China, came to power in 2013, the People's Republic of China has adopted the Belt and Road Initiative as a large-scale project strategy to rebuild the modern-day Silk Road, an ancient East-West transportation route, over a period of 35 years (2014-2049), and open the way for economic and trade cooperation between China and neighboring countries. This project has achieved rapid economic development and made China the world's second largest economy after the United States, emerging as the world's second-largest power after the United States.

If you look at the map of China, you can see that the Korean Peninsula and China combined resemble a chicken.
Among the heads, the part corresponding to the beak is the Korean Peninsula, and the body is China.

You have to eat your food with your beak, right? Despite the absurd size difference, isn't it true that China and the Korean Peninsula are on equal footing? Now, the question is: Is there only one party in China? The Communist Party? No, it isn't.
There are other parties, and of course they also have a political voice.
However, it is said that the Communist Party decides whether to accept or reject that opinion.
So, you can think of other parties besides the Communist Party as clubs or hobby groups.

---「Chapter 1.
From “Basic Understanding of China (1)”