Master's Thesis

Home , Tuanpai, Young Pioneers of China

Faculty of Arts

Department of China Studies

Master’s Thesis

2020 Bc. Daria Ishchuk

Faculty of Arts

Department of China Studies

Contemporary Communist Youth League at Zhejiang University: A Case Study

Master’s Thesis

Bc. Daria Ishchuk

Supervisor: Mgr. Bc. Denisa Hilbertová, M.A.

Brno 2020

I hereby declare that this thesis is my own work and it contains no other materials written or published by any other person except where due reference is made in the text of the thesis.

………..…………………………..

The author

Brno, January 2020

The thesis was completed within the cooperation framework between the Department of Chinese Studies (Masaryk University) and the Institute of China Studies (Zhejiang University). During my two-semester stay in China, the thesis was supervised by Prof. Zhang Xingkui 张兴奎, Associate Professor at School of International Studies and Assistant Director of the Institute for Advanced Study in Humanities and Social Sciences at Zhejiang University in China.

Acknowledgments

This research was conducted during my double degree master’s program at

Zhejiang University. The study program is a result of the cooperation with Masaryk

University in the Czech Republic where I graduated in the field of Culture Chinese

Studies and continued in the same field for the master studies. I would like to warmly thank my home university supervisors Mgr. et Mgr. Dušan Vávra, Ph. D. and Mgr. Bc.

Denisa Hilbertová, M.A. for the opportunity of conducting this research during my one- year master studies program at the Zhejiang University and my host university supervisor Prof. Zhang Xingkui for his supervision, guidance, priceless advice and support during the research. I would also like to thank Mr. Wu Hang, the Secretary of Youth

League Committee, Tutor for ZJUI for his time, willingness and help during the research proceedings. I would like to thank my family and friends for their patience and support whenever it was needed.

Abstract

This thesis aims to research the regular activities organized by university students who are members of the contemporary Chinese Communist Youth League. The thesis also deals with the members´ interpretations of the activities and provides possible explanations. Following the guidance of the Communist Party of China, the Communist Youth League is a mass organization that associates Chinese youth. The contemporary Com- munist Youth League of China follows the leadership of the Communist Party of China. The organization’s setting is to educate Chinese youth and lead them to practice socialism with Chinese characteristics and political narratives according to the ideology of the CPC. The methods of qualitative field research and thematic analysis are used to research the activities and analyze them. The qualitative field research is used to collect the data about the regular activities organized by the CYL members and their interpretations. Then, the data collected during the interviews, along with analytically selected texts from The Constitution of the Communist Youth League are thematically analyzed and provided with the possible explanations. The research showed that each of the departments of the CYL was regularly holding different types of activities based on their individual agenda. In the analysis, the four patterns were identified: Study, Ideology, Publicity, Competitions. However, signs of competitions were present in most of the researched activities. Thus, the pattern Competitions was evaluated as superior to the rest of the patterns. The research proved that the purpose of the activities is interconnected with the idea of supporting the policy of CPC and that competitions are used as a means to fulfill the purpose. The research showed that supporting the regime was the central purpose of the researched activities.

Contents

1 Introduction 11

1.1 Structure of the Thesis 13

2 Methodology and Literature Review 15

2.1 Research Questions 15

2.2 Methods 16

2.2.1 Qualitative Field Research 17

2.2.2 Thematic Analysis 18

2.3 Primary Sources 21

2.3.1 Interviews 21

2.3.2 The Constitution of CYL 24

2.4 Addressing the Context of the Research 26

2.4.1 From the Historical Perspective 27

2.4.2 From the Perspective of Contemporary China 28

2.4.3 Justification of the Research Purposes 29

2.5 Limitations of the Research 29

3 Communist Youth League 32

3.1 Historical Background 32

3.1.1 Milestones in the History of the CYL 34

3.2 Contemporary CYL 41

3.2.1 About the Relationship Between the CPC and CYL 41

3.3 Zhejiang University and its Student Organizations 42

3.4 Key Terms 43

4 Findings 47

4.1 Pattern 1: Study 48

4.2 Pattern 2: Ideology 51

4.3 Pattern 3: Publicity 59

4.4 Pattern 4: Competitions 78

5 Conclusion 81

6 Personal Reflections 86

Appendix 88

References 96

Primary sources 96 Secondary sources 97

Notes on Translation and Mandarin Chinese

All translations from Mandarin Chinese in this thesis are the author’s translations with the exception of the specified terms whose official translations exist and are generally used. The unofficial translations are based on the personal translation skills of the author.

The Mandarin Chinese used in this diploma thesis is in simplified characters.

The phonetic transcription Pinyin is used in this thesis for the Romanization purpose of the terms that are originally in Chinese. Besides the specific names, the terms are trans- lated into English, accompanied by Pinyin and the original Chinese character. The terms are indicated in this format at each occurrence in the text.

List of Acronyms

CPC: Communist Party of China (Zhongguo Gongchandang, 中国共产党)

CCYL: Chinese Communist Youth League (Zhongguo Gongchanzhuyi Qingniantuan,

中国共产主义青年团)1

CYL: Communist Youth League (Gongqingtuan, 共青团)

HIC ZJU: Haining International Campus of Zhejiang University (Zhejiang Daxue

Haining Guoji Xiaoqu 浙江大学海宁国际校区)

KMT: National Party Kuomintang (Guomindang, 国民党)

PLA: People’s Liberation Army (Zhongguo Renmin Jiefangjun, 国人民解放军)

PRC: People’s Republic of China (Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo, 中华人民共和国)

SYL: Socialist Youth League (Shehui Zhuyi Qingniantuan, 社会主义青年团)

ZJU: Zhejiang University (Zhejiang Daxue 浙江大学)

CMC: Central Military Commission (Zhongguo Gongchandang Zhongyang Junshi

Weiyuanhui 中国共产党中央军事委员会)

1 Chinese Communist Youth League (CCYL) is also known as the Communist Youth League (CYL). For the clarity purposes and unity of the thesis, the text below uses the latter naming and abbreviation.

1 Introduction

The aim of this thesis is to research the regular activities of the contemporary

Communist Youth League (Gongqingtuan, 共青团), analyze them, and find explanations. During the data collection, the research focused on the information about the regular activities of the contemporary Communist Youth League and the CYL members' reflection/interpretation of them.

Communist Youth League is one of the most prominent mass organizations in the People’s Republic of China (Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo, 中华人民共和国).

Some of its members (e.g., Hu Yaobang 胡耀邦, Hu Jintao 胡锦涛, or Li Keqiang

李克强) became high-level cadres of the Communist Party of China. These politicians were or have been involved in the leading governmental positions of the Peo- ple’s Republic of China. From this perspective, CYL can be considered as an organization that plays a crucial role in the Chinese political environment. However, relevant secondary sources focused on their regular activities are rare in circles of domestic and international politics.2 The thesis addresses the lack of research and hopes to contribute to the mosaic of knowledge regarding the activities of CYL.

Since its early beginnings, the Communist Youth League has always played an essential role in social and political life together with the Communist Party of China

(Zhongguo Gongchandang, 中国共产党). The purpose and functions of the CYL followed the needs of the CPC. According to Zhang Hua:

Functions usually refer to the roles that organizations, institutions, and departments should have and are key to their differences. Overall, despite the great diversity

2 Yunzhe Chen, "Questions on the Study of “The Communist Youth League and China Elite Politics” in Western Circles of Politics," Journal of Politics and Law 11, n.3 (2018): 112-118.

among organizations, the functions of the organization must be fully reflected, ac- curately covered and fully supported in the development of the organization. 3

The role of the CYL, as a mass organization, has been changing according to the changing functions of the organization. The thesis shares the perception of the functions, as described in the paragraph above. Based on this, the chapter titled Histori- cal Background depicts the development and change of roles of the CYL in the context of the modern history of the PRC. Such theoretical basis contributes to the understanding of the functions of the contemporary CYL.

Regardless of any political context, in each country, young people act as a part of society. Scholars Checkoway and Gutierrez characterize the youth´s participation this way:

Youth participation is a process of involving young people in the institutions and decisions that affect their lives. It includes initiatives that emphasize educational reform, juvenile justice, environmental quality, and other issues; that involve pop- ulations distinguished by class, race, gender, and other characteristics; and that operate in rural areas, small towns, suburbs, and neighborhoods of large cities in developing areas and industrial nations worldwide. Youth participation includes efforts by young people to plan programs of their own choosing; by adults to involve young people in their agencies, and by youth to work together in intergenerational partnerships. However, the issue is not whether the effort is youth-led, adult-led, or intergenerational, but rather whether young people have an actual effect.4

The youth plays an important and contributive role in society because they are a part of the social structure.5

According to the Chinese regulations, there are several ways how to become an active member of the Communist Party. The selection process of the Party members responsible for the running of the Communist Party of China is conducted in several hierarchical follow-up steps system based on regional divisions. Among the other

3 Zhang Hua 张华, Zhongguo Gongchanzhuyi Qingniantuan Zhineng Yanjiu 中国共产主义青年团职能研究 [Studies on the Fucntions of the Communist Youth League of China] (Beijing: Renmin chubanshe, 2013), 1. 4 Barry N. Checkoway and Lorraine M. Gutierrez, Youth Participation and Community Change (New York: Haworth Press, 2006), 2. 5 Marvin Harris, The Rise of Anthropological Theory (Oxford: Rowman&Littlefield Publish- ers,Inc., 2001).

12 ways, Communist Youth League (Gongqingtuan, 共青团) allows its members to apply for the Party membership.

Primary sources are selected texts from the CYL´s Constitution and interviews with CYL members. The data were collected during field research that was conducted at the local branch of the Communist Youth League at Zhejiang University during the period from October 2018 – June 2019. The findings are based on the analysis of the primary sources.

The researched area is limited to the People´s Republic of China (PRC) exclud- ing the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau. According to the policymaking system of the PRC, it can be considered as a one-party state.6 The contemporary political regime in the People’s Republic of China is following the principle of socialism with Chinese characteristics (Zhongguo Tese Shehuizhuyi, 中

国特色社会主义).7 The concept of socialism with Chinese characteristics was presented at the 12th Congress of the CPC by a significant Chinese politician Deng

Xiaoping 邓小平 in 1982.8

1.1 Structure of the Thesis

The thesis is divided into seven chapters. The first chapter is Introduction, and it briefly summarizes the topic, the aims, and methods of this research. It also clarifies the purposes of the thesis.

The following one is titled Methodology and Literature Review and it includes: the research questions; explanation of the research questions; the clarification of the

6 Kerry Dumbaugh, Understanding China’s Political System (Darby: Diane Publishing, 2010), 1. 7 Stephen Uhalley, A History of the Chinese Communist Party (Stanford: Hoover Institution Press, 1988), 216. 8 Dirlik, Arif. “Postsocialism? Reflections on “Socialism with Chinese characteristics”, Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars, vol. 21, n. 1 (July 2019): 35.

13 methods; the detailed description of the primary sources; and the environment of the field research. Except for the methodology, the chapter also includes a literature review that addresses the context of the research by bringing examples of secondary sources. The selected secondary literature is approached from both perspectives - the historical and the contemporary one. The chapter Methodology and Literature

Review also mentions how the author justifies the research purposes and explains the author’s awareness of the limits of the research.

The following chapter titled Communist Youth League includes four subchapters. Firstly, the historical background of the CYL is introduced using the historical milestones. The second subchapter introduces contemporary CYL in further detail and its relation to the CPC. Third and fourth subchapters focus on the information about the Zhejiang University; the selected campus; and the environment where the fieldwork research was done.

Chapter called Findings is divided into four subchapters. Each of the subchapters includes the clarification of the way how the pattern was analyzed. The corresponding quotations from the primary sources complete the individual subchapters.

At the end of the individual subchapters, there are possible explanations of the activities.

The next chapter, called Conclusion, summarizes the findings in this thesis and gives suggestions for further research on this topic. The last chapter, titled Personal

Reflections, focuses on the author’s impressions from the fieldwork research. In this chapter, the author brings the most interesting moments from the field research and summarizes the impressions from the interviews.

2 Methodology and Literature Review

2.1 Research Questions

The main aim of this thesis is to answer the following questions:

What regular activities are organized by university student members of CYL in

China? How do the participants as active CYL members individually understand

and interpret the meanings of the activities? What are the underlying patterns in

the activities? What are the possible explanations of the activities?

The answers are based on the fieldwork and thematic analysis of the primary sources. The primary sources are: 1. data collected during the qualitative field research, and 2. The Constitution of the Chinese Communist Youth League (Zhongguo

Gongchanzhuyi Qingniantuan (Zhangcheng) 中国共产主义青年团(章程)). The research concerning the activities of the contemporary CYL aims to address the lack of pre-existing research and to collect contemporary data in order to provide an analysis of the contemporary CYL as an essential part of the Chinese society.

The first research question is:

What regular activities are organized by university student members of CYL in

China?

It is a descriptive research question. The data collection of activities that CYL were held on a regular basis was conducted by interviewing the participants. The participants are regular and active members of the CYL at Haining International College of the Zhejiang University (HIC ZJU). The interviews conducted at the university campus in Haining are approached as a case study in this thesis. The data collected during the interviews reflect the activities of the grassroots unit of the CYL. The

15 answers to the research question described above bring the sample of the contemporary CYL as it operates at the Zhejiang University´s campus in Haining.

The second set of research questions ask for the further in-depth interpretation of the activities by the CYL members and by the researcher:

How do the participants as active CYL members understand and interpret the

meanings of the activities? What are the underlying patterns in the activities?

What are the possible explanations of the activities?

For answering the second set of research questions, the author draws attention to the individual respondents´ understandings of the activities and their meanings. The data were collected during the interviews with members of the CYL.

The Constitution is analyzed along with the interviews. It is a universal handbook of CYL bylaws. It is used by all of the branches of CYL in the People´s

Republic of China. The primary sources Chapter 24 from The Constitution of the

Chinese Communist Youth League (Zhongguo Gongchanzhuyi Qingniantuan

(Zhangcheng) 中国共产主义青年团(章程))9 and the interview responses are approached using the method of thematic analysis in this thesis.

The author is aware of a limited scope of the research and is not claiming any general conclusions concerning contemporary CYL in the People´s Republic of

China.

2.2 Methods

There were two types of the methods used to work with the primary sources in order to answer the research questions - the qualitative field research (interviews); and

9 ‘Chapter 5: Grassroots Organizations of the regiment’, Chinese Communist Youth League Network, July 2018, http://www.gqt.org.cn/ccylmaterial/regulation/200612/t20061224_12142.htm (accessed January 2020).

16 thematic analysis.10 The interviews were used for the data collection concerning regular activities, and the thematic analysis was used to analyze the interviews and the texts selected from the Constitution.

2.2.1 Qualitative Field Research

The data about the regular activities were collected during the field research using the semi-structured interviews with the university students, who are members of the

CYL in the International Campus of Zhejiang University in Haining.11

A basic set of questions were prepared in advance for the purpose of semi-structured interviews.12 The design of the questions was focusing on information about the activities. However, a certain amount of subjectivity in complementary questions and answers was inevitable in this case. The author of the thesis held the role of the guide who led the constructive, goal-oriented dialogue with the participants.

The goal was to answer the research questions. The set of pre-designed questions was perceived only as a base for the research. The author was giving space to the interviewees to voluntarily add complementary information that could be used for the research purposes, too.

As mentioned above, there had been almost no research done providing basic information on regular activities of the grassroots unit of CYL at Zhejiang Univer- sity. This is the reason why even basic research might bring more light into an observation of the Communist Youth League and its activities in local communities.

Field research helped to collect data on activities, locations where they occur and

10 The primary sources are described in further details in chapters 2.3.1 and 2.3.2. 11 One of the participants was the Secretary of the CYL branch at the HIC ZJU who is not a university student anymore. However, this person holds the main position of the organization. The choice of this participant is further explained in the chapter 2.3.1. 12 Examples of the set of questions can be found in the Appendix.

17 other information according to the features and environment of the thesis. For reference, the reports of the selected activities can be also found on the official website of the CYL branch in Zhejiang online on the website http://www.zjgqt.org. That website involves other university student's branch participants as well.

2.2.2 Thematic Analysis

The method of thematic analysis is used to analyze primary sources in this thesis.

Thematic analysis was applied based on the research paper by Virginia Braun and

Victoria Clarke called “Using thematic analysis in psychology”. In the research paper, the authors Braun and Clarke describe the thematic analysis as follows:

Thematic analysis is a method for identifying, analyzing and reporting patterns (themes) within data. It minimally organizes and describes your data set in (rich) detail. However, frequently if goes further than this, and inter- prets various aspects of the research topic (Boyatzis, 1998). […] Through its theoretical freedom, thematic analysis provides a flexible and useful research tool, which can potentially provide a rich and detailed, yet complex, account of data. […] Thematic analysis is widely used, but there is no clear agreement about what thematic analysis is and how you go about doing it.13

Theorist Richard E. Boyatzis in his book called Transforming Qualitative Infor- mation describes thematic analysis as a method that:

[…] enables scholars, observers, or practitioners to use a wide variety of types of information in a systematic manner that increases their accuracy or sensitivity in understanding and interpreting observations about people, events, situations, and organizations.14

Richard E. Boyatzis in his book Transforming Qualitative Information: Thematic Ana- lysis and Code Development does not consider thematic analysis as a specific method.

He compares thematic analysis to “the process that can be used with most, if not all,

13 Virginia Braun, Victoria Clarke, “Using thematic analysis in psychology”, Qualitative Research in Psychology, vol. 3, n. 2 (2006): 78-80. 14 Richard E. Boyatzis, Transforming Qualitative Information: Thematic Analysis and Code Deve- lopment (California: Sage Publications, 1998), 4.

18 qualitative methods”.15 However, the authors Braun and Clarke argue with Boyat- zis´s statement as follows:

Thematic analysis is widely used, but there is no clear agreement about what thematic analysis is and how you go about doing it. […] It can be seen as a very poorly “branded” method, in that it does not appear to exist as a “named” analysis in the same way that other methods do (i.e., narrative analysis, grounded theory). In this case, it is often not explicitly claimed as the method of analysis, when, in actuality, we argue that a lot of analysis is essentially thematic – but is either claimed as something else (such as DA, or even content analysis or not identified as any particular method at all. […] Relatedly, insufficient detail is often given to reporting the process and detail of analysis (Attride-Stirling, 2001). It is not uncommon to read of themes “emerging” from the data (although this issue is not limited to thematic analysis). […] We argue, therefore, that a “named and claimed” thematic analysis means researchers need not subscribe to the implicit theoretical commitments of grounded theory if they do not wish to produce a fully worked-up grounded-theory analysis.16

According to the arguments of the authors Braun and Clarke stated above, the thematic analysis is a method that can be applied in qualitative field research in order to identify the patterns in data.

During the research, the interconnections were discovered between the texts from Article 24 (Chapter 5) of the Constitution and the participants’ answers. Thus, this method was selected to identify the key patterns based on the interrelations of the informational fragments within the themes. In this thesis, the thematic analysis was done in several steps. The basic description of the steps can be found below.

The first step of the thematic analysis consisted of data transcription (interviews) and re-reading of the selected texts from the Constitution.17 Subsequently, the texts from primary sources were analytically divided and assigned with initial codes based on their content. In some cases, there were data or texts that were assigned with more than one code according to their contents. The reason for this is

15 Richard E. Boyatzis, Transforming Qualitative Information: Thematic Analysis and Code Deve- lopment (California: Sage Publications, 1998), 4. 16 Virginia Braun, Victoria Clarke, “Using thematic analysis in psychology”, Qualitative Research in Psychology, vol. 3, n. 2 (2006): 80-81. 17 The author followed the phases of the thematic analysis as described by the authors Braun and Clarke: Virginia Braun, Victoria Clarke, “Using thematic analzsis in psychology”, Qualitative Re- search in Psychology, vol. 3, n. 2 (2006): 87.

19 that the contents of the data or texts were overlapping, and it was hard to assign them only with one code.

In the second step, assigned pieces of information were regrouped according to the most frequent initial codes they had been assigned with. Altogether, there were twenty-one most frequent codes. Since some fragments of texts were assigned with more than one code (as mentioned above). The same fragments appeared re- peatedly in several groups but only once within one group at the same time. This way, twenty-one “new” sets of texts emerged. Each of those twenty-one sets of texts consisted of the created combinations of coded fragments. Such regrouping allowed the researcher to observe how the pieces of coded information were interrelated.

The third step involved theme identification. The twenty-one codes identified in the previous step were sorted into five potential groups (later identified as themes) based on their similarities.18 In this step, the author tried to identify the overarching themes for each of the five groups of codes. Those five themes were: history (group of codes: remembering history, memorizing moments of history, learn from history, train and educate, study history), supporting the regime (group of codes: believing in Marxism, , being exemplary, supporting ideology, fighting) ,

CPC membership (group of codes: advantages, application for CPC, hierarchy), information (group of codes: working with information, creating content, spreading the information, way of informing, control, promotion), action (group of codes: development, being active, being empathetic).

In the fourth step of the analysis, the author reviewed the previously identi-

18 For further explanation of the differences among the assigned codes see the Appendix (p. 93-95) and Findings.

20 fied themes that had been identified based on the codified fragments. The interrelations of the coded data were captured in the thematic map. Finally, the author discovered four patterns: Study, Ideology, Publicity, Competitions. These patterns were coherent within the interrelations of the coded fragments.

Pattern Study was coherent within the theme history. Pattern Ideology was coherent within themes supporting regime, CPC membership. Pattern Publicity was coherent within themes information, activity. Pattern Competitions was coherent within all of the previously mentioned patterns and was identified as a superior pattern. The patterns are explained in further detail in the chapter titled Findings. The patterns helped to provide possible interpretations of the activities of the CYL.

2.3 Primary Sources

There are two types of primary sources in this thesis. One type is the interviews; the other type is the text The Constitution of the Chinese Communist Youth League

Zhongguo gongchan zhuyi qingnian tuan (zhangcheng) 中国共产主义青年团(章

程).19

2.3.1 Interviews

The interviews were conducted with the members of the local branch of CYL at the Zhejiang University in Zhejiang province during the autumn and spring semesters 2018/2019 (from October 2018 to June 2019). During the field research, there were seven interviewees that voluntarily agreed to participate in this research, five men and two women. Each of the participants was involved in the Communist

Youth League and they were willing to share their own experience. The relation of the selected participants to the CYL was at different levels. Most of the participants

19 Zhongguo gongchan zhuyi qingnian tuan (zhangcheng) 中国共产主义青年团(章程) [Articles of the Chinese Communist Youth League] (Beijing: Renmin Chubanshe, 2018).

21 held the position as heads of some of the selected departments of CYL and thus were in charge of activities directly. One participant was a Secretary of the grassroots organization of the CYL in International Campus at Zhejiang University.

The choice of this participant as a senior member who decided to work for the

CYL after his membership expired (after reaching age of 28 years) was helpful.

Since his position is the most powerful in the grassroots CYL branch, his consent was crucial for the research. He was an example for one of the possible outcomes of the membership in the CYL. On the other hand, among the other six participants, there was one student who relates to the CYL on a regular membership. He was also in charge of the Students Union which is supervised by the CYL. Interviewing this member brought clarification of the relationship between the CYL and SU. The rest of the five members were selected based on their functions at the organization, all of them are presently heads of the selected departments of the CYL. The method of data collection was interviews with pre-designed semi-open questions.20

Zhejiang Province and Zhejiang University are both well-known across mainland China and thus it is an area that also contributes to the significance of the research that can be evaluated among its strengths. At the same time, it is an area of the early beginnings of both CPC and CYL, since they were established in the geo- graphically close area to the Zhejiang University which is based in Hangzhou.

The strengths of the qualitative method analysis are in a personal approach towards the interviewees which ensures the authenticity of the reports. Trust towards

20 The data processing was confirmed by the signed informed consent by the both sides – the interviewees and the researcher. The full transcripts of the interviews are in the property of the author of this thesis for the period for five years from the publishing. For more information about this research method see: Bruce Thyer, The Handbook of Social Work Research Methods (California: Sage Publications, 2010), 581. Carol A. Bailey, A Guide to Qualitative Field Research (California: Pine Forge Press, 2007), 16.

22 the researcher is one of the key factors that influence the authenticity of the qualitative research conducted during the field research. There are many ways how to enhance the participants’ trust towards the interviewer. Among the others, ethics in qualitative research was an issue that ensured the privacy of the researched subjects.21 Among other factors that might have influenced the trust between the researchers and the participants was the fact that the researcher of this study was a foreigner. In order to build trust and out of the personal interest of the topic, the author of this thesis decided to meet or contact the participants multiple times.

For the purpose of qualitative field research, the scope of the area was limited by the International Campus of the Zhejiang University. International Campus is located in Haining and it is established for students who are expected to study at the

University of Illinois or Edinburg University that both cooperate with Zhejiang Uni- versity. Zhejiang province lies in the south-eastern part of China at the Delta of

Yangtze River which is claimed to be the beginning of civilization in China from the historical perspective.22 In the process of modernization, the economic level of regions in China has not been equally developed. However, Zhejiang province has always played the role of one of the most developed parts of China. Nowadays, one of the ways how to support the equal development of the regions in China is approached from mutual support from the developed region and the less developed one in cooperation.

For this reason, Zhejiang province and the members of the CYL branch that operate in Zhejiang province can be considered among the key participants in all

CYL.

21 Messias DeAnne K. Hilfigher, “Ethics in Qualitative Research,” Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 33, n.1 (2000): 94. 22 Susan M. Allen, The History and Cultural Heritage of Chinese Calligraphy, Printing and Library Work, (The Hague: IFLA Publications, 2010), 12.

2.3.2 The Constitution of CYL

The Constitution of the Chinese Communist Youth League (Zhongguo gongchan zhuyi qingnian tuan (zhangcheng) 中国共产主义青年团(章程) serves as one of the primary sources in this thesis.

There are several reasons why the Constitution was chosen as a primary source next to the data collected from the interviews. The first reason is that the scope of the data collection of this research covers only one specific branch of the

CYL within the International Campus of Zhejiang University in Haining because the interviewed members work or study in this area. Nevertheless, the Constitution is valid for all of the grassroots units of the CYL within an All-China mass organization. CYL has its branches at most of the university campuses in the majority of the provinces in the People´s Republic of China. Thus, the Constitution of the Chi- nese Communist Youth League (Zhongguo gongchan zhuyi qingnian tuan (zhangcheng) 中国共产主义青年团(章程)) extends the scope of analyzed data. It is an official statute of the CYL that each of the members should follow according to the

CPC regulation since they are often perceived as “reserve army of the Communist

Party of China”.23 Based on this fact, the author assumes that other units of the organization operate in a similar way. Thanks to this fact, the results described in this thesis are supposedly applicable to the All-China organization and not only on the representatives selected from the campus in Haining.

23 ‘Chapter 5: Grassroots Organizations of the regiment’, Chinese Communist Youth League Net- work, July 2018, http://www.gqt.org.cn/ccylmaterial/regulation/200612/t20061224_12142.htm (accessed January 2020).

The book represents essential and mandatory reading for the members and describes the general attributes and bylaws of the CYL. The Constitution is divided into thematic chapters and articles. For this study, only one specific article from one chapter from the Constitution was chosen - Chapter 5 Basic Organizations of the

Youth League, Article 24.24 Chapter 5 contains five articles numbered Article 22-

26 and it focuses on grassroots organizations as basic units of the mass organization such as the branch at the International Campus of the Zhejiang University. The

Chapter 5 describes the basic tasks of the local units of the CYL that stand for the bottom of the whole mass organization.

Beginning of the Article 24 is dedicated to the introduction and explanation of the structure of the Youth League25, it is a text narrating the official discourse of the organization about their activities, which are the subject of this study. Each Campus of the Zhejiang University has its own branch that is counted as basic units altogether forming the mass organization interconnecting the whole mainland China in one mass organization Communist Youth League.

Apart from Zhejiang university, there is a CYL branch at each university and high school in PRC. One of the key principles is that the CYL is guided by the CPC.

In a university environment, the CYL is dispatched and doesn’t reply directly to the

CPC but to the units of the Party that are established by the CPC. The Haining In- ternational Campus Youth League is focused in Haining. It operates on the local level involving students in Haining International Campus, and cooperates with local

24 Information in the contents of Chapters 1-4 relate to the organization from the general perspective, whereas Chapter 5 focuses on the grassroots organizations of the League as the basic units. The Chapter 1 talks about the members generally, Chapter 2 talks about the bylaws of the CYL generally, Chapter 3 talks about the central organization of the CYL and Chapter 4 is dedicated to the local organizations and People’s Liberation Army. 25 Zhongguo gongchan zhuyi qingnian tuan (zhangcheng) 中国共产主义青年团(章程) [Articles of the Chinese Communist Youth League] (Beijing: Renmin Chubanshe, 2018), 21.

25 authorities and other subjects.

2.4 Addressing the context of the research

In this chapter, there are secondary sources on the topic of the Communist Youth

League, which are divided into two sections. The first section of historical sources evolved from the historical events that list the modern history of China and the engagement of the Communist Youth League in them. The second sector of research papers evolved from not as dynamically developing but still very significant circumstances for today’s political and civil environment in China. The secondary sources written in English and Chinese are used for addressing the relevance of the research and the perspectives of research questions.

The display of historical context in this thesis is important for a better understanding of the aim of the research that asks for the activities and role of the

Communist Youth League in contemporary China. The scholars and historians that are mentioned in the first chapter worked on the historical publications concerning the development of this organization.

The second section consists of academic research papers and articles in both

English and Chinese languages. The research papers mostly address the relevance of the research from the perspectives of the analysis of the functions of the CYL.

They focus on the establishment of the major mass organization’s work and other related topics addressing the aim of this research. It is important to note, that most of the relevant sources are found in Chinese, whereas English written sources relevant for this study often address single events that were significant for the Com- munist Youth League.

Speaking of the general idea of the English written secondary sources, it is prominent that such events mainly occur in the political sphere where Communist

Youth League represents a new generation’s spirit and potential. For example,

Buckley in his article for International New York Times argues about the ongoing significance of the Communist Youth League in the political sphere due to the new restrictions from the government.26 Other authors, such as Eva Li, search for the real values and motivation of joining the Communist Youth League through the evaluation of events such as the Communist Youth League entering the matchmaking process.27

2.4.1 From the Historical Perspective

The first section of secondary sources consists of historically focused literature on the development of the role of the Communist Youth League since it was founded in 1922 and its relations with the CPC. The relationship between the CYL and CPC is outsourced using Gongqingtuan Yu Xiangguantuan Tiguanxi Yanjiu Lishi de Shi- jiao 共青团与相关团体关系研究：历史的视角 [Research on the Relationship

Between the Communist Youth League and the Related Community by Historical

Perspective] from the Chinese author Hu Xianzhong 胡献忠 that explains the historical events and its influence on the relationship between the two organizations as it was changing in the historical and political discourse of the country.28

Second relevant source targeting the role and functions of the CYL from the historical perspective is Zhongguo Gongchanzhuyi Qingniantuan Zhineng Yanjiu

26 Chris Buckley, "Communists Rein in Youth League," International New York Times, August 05, 2016. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/04/world/asia/china-communist-youth-league.html (accessed June 21, 2019). 27 Eva Li, “China’s Communist Youth League sets up dating service,” South China Morning Post, June 26, 2017. https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2100019/chinas-communist-youth-league-sets-dating-service (accessed March 16, 2019). 28 Hu, Xianzhong 胡献忠 Gongqingtuan yu xiangguantuan tiguanxi yanjiu:lishi de shijiao 共青团与相关团体关系研究：历史的视角 [Research on the Relationship Between the Communist Youth League and the Related Community by Historical Perspective] (Beijing: Zhongguo qingnianc hu- banshe, 2016).

中国共产主义青年团职能研究 [Studies on the Functions of the Communist Youth

League of China] by Zhang Hua 张华.29 The authors agree, that in order to evaluate and outline the functions of the CYL, the theories cannot be taken without a context.

Thus, it is important to judge the functions of the CYL from the perspective of the historical development of the country. For the better understanding and overview of the historical events and the role of the Communist Youth Leagues in China, the research paper by Klaus H. Pringsheim called “The Functions of the Chinese

Communist Youth Leagues (1920-1949)” was approached.30

2.4.2 From the Perspective of Contemporary China

The context formed by the sources from the historical perspective gives a theoretical background important for understanding the evolution and its potential influence on contemporary CYL. On the other hand, the thesis focus is stressed in the contemporary situation, work, role and activities of the CYL in China.

From this perspective, it is important to rely on sources referring to the organization's current situation. For these purposes, the numerous research papers in

Chinese were selected as the reference. The papers such as The Study on the Role of the

Communist Youth League in the Entrepreneurship Education for Female College Students: Based on the Case of Shandong Women’s Entrepreneurship University31; The Theoretical Perspective and

Type Analysis of the Functions of the Communist Youth League in the Perspective of Sociology:

29 Zhang Hua 张华. Zhongguo Gongchanzhuyi Qingniantuan Zhineng Yanjiu 中国共产主义青年团职能研究 [Studies on the Functions of the Communist Youth League of China]. Beijing: Renmin chubanshe, 2013. 30 Klaus H., Pringsheim “The Functions of the Chinese Communist Youth Leagues (1920-1949),” The China Quaterly, n. 12 (Oct.-Dec. 1962). JSTOR (651817). 31 Wang Lu, Guo Xiaodong, Liu Yaoqing, “The Study on the Role of the Communist Youth League in the Entrepreneurship Education for Female College Students: Based on the Case of Shandong Women’s Entrepreneurship University,” Journal of Shandong Youth University of Political Science 33, n. 5 (September 2017).

Review and Prospect of the Functions of the Communist Youth League32; On the Establishment of the Major of Youth Mass, Work – The Reality, Tradition and New Exploration of the Communist

Youth League Work Theory Research33 analyze the contemporary situation of the role, functions, challenges and purpose of the CYL and serve as secondary sources for the research.

2.4.3 Justification of the Research Purposes

Although the previously mentioned sources do not take into consideration the regular activities and functioning of the Communist Youth League as it is present in contemporary civil society, as one of the most important mass organizations in

China, it has a certain significance in the ongoing processes in China such as education of future generations and others.

What are the regular activities of the contemporary CYL? How do the members interpret the activities that they participate in while being part of the CYL? What do the activities mean to them? Are students motivated to be a part of the Communist

Youth League? This set of questions cannot be answered through the existing secondary sources on this topic and need to be exposed directly to the members. The thesis addresses the regular activities of the mass organization and not single events like most of the academic studies

2.5 Limitations of the Research

The author is aware of the weaknesses of qualitative research as well. One side of the problem is the authenticity of the responses that despite the efforts of the re-

32 Zhang Li, “The Theoretical Perspective and Type Analysis of the Functions of the Communist Youth League in the Perspective of Sociology: Review and Prospect of the Functions of the Com- munist Youth League, ” China Youth Study 31, n. 3 (May 2018). 33 Wu Qing, “On the Establishment of the Major of Youth Mass Work – The Reality, Tradition and New Exploration of the Communist Youth League Work Theory Research,” Youth Development Forum 29, n. 2 (February 2019).

29 searcher are problematic to ensure. The research was conducted in a Chinese environment on a topic that is specific and unique only for Chinese society. Thus, the lack of vocabulary knowledge might influence the entire understanding of the claims. However, the choice of respondents based on the recommendation of the

Secretary of the CYL at Zhejiang University ensures the quality of the data collection. For the supplementary information, the database of the Zhejiang University

CYL was researched and analyzed. The database was helpful in better comprehen- sion of the default information delivered from the active members of the CYL. The difficulty and argument for researching this area might be the changing political lines, as the CYL is closely involved and relies on the regulations of the CPC. 34

However, choosing the qualitative method for researching the activities and get personalized information on the evaluation of the activities brings the results valid for the contemporary Communist Youth League as they operate nowadays.

It is important to note that the International Campus is one of the campuses of the Zhejiang University and since the scope of research is limited to this campus, the results cannot serve as a general representative. However, the results in the conclusion tell us about the reality of the contemporary CYL in the International Cam- pus of the Zhejiang University. Based on these results the premises about the branches of the CYL at other campuses can be assumed.

However, this research serves only as pilot research introducing the contemporary CYL activities and the members´ interpretation of them. The premises about the similarities in structure and functions at the rest of the branches of the CYL at other campuses stand also on the fact that the mass organization follows up the

34 Cheng Li, China’s Changing Political Landscape (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2008), 75-78.

30 structure of the CPC. Further research based on a combination of more case studies conducted on the rest of campuses and at other Chinese universities is suggested.

3 Communist Youth League

Structurally following the example of the organization of the CPC, the CYL unites the young generation aged 14-28 which makes the CYL one of the strongest national organizations among Chinese youth under the guidance of the CPC.35 The CYL was established in 1922 in hand with the establishment of the CPC.

From the historical perspective, the role and significance of the CYL were changing, as we can see in the next chapter Historical Background. Contemporary

CYL, according to Junfei Wu, “exercises leadership over the All-China Youth Fed- eration, All-China Students’ Federation and Young Pioneers of China,” which emphasizes the power of the CYL.36 The relation to the CPC from the perspective of the competences that the CYL is supported with proves the CYL being named as the “reserve army” of the CPC.37

3.1 Historical Background

On one hand, the power of the CPC is distributed and dissolved in several layers and organizations that are connected or supervised by the CPC but not necessarily take an active part in the public policymaking. One such layer is the Communist

Youth League38 which is guided by the CPC and is a mass organization in China uniting young people who have the potential to become CPC members or CPC leaders.

The Communist Party of China and the Communist Youth League have always

35 Junfei Wu, “Rise of the Communist Youth League,” Economic and Political Weekly 41, n.12 (March 2006): 1172. The author publicates in Economic and Political Weekly academic journal out- side mainland China. 36 Ibid. 37 Zhang Hua 张华, Zhongguo Gongchanzhuyi Qingniantuan Zhineng Yanjiu 中国共产主义青年团职能研究 [Studies on the Fucntions of the Communist Youth League of China], 1. The author publicates in PRC. 38 Communist Youth League (CYL) is also known as Chinese Communist Youth League (CCYL). For the clarity purposes and unity the text below uses the formal naming and abbreviation.

32 been cooperating since their establishment. The beginning of the Communist Party is considered to be in 1921 when the first meeting of the delegates was organized.39

There is evidence, that the Shanghai Socialist Youth Corps was organized already in 1920.40 Therefore, the early beginnings of the Communist Youth League are dated around a similar period as the official establishment of the CPC.

Apart from educational and other Communist Youth League activities contri- butions, the organization also produced high-level cadres of the Communist Party of China known as “tuanpai 团派”.41 In the past, among the members of tuanpai were, for example, Hu Yaobang, Hu Jintao or Li Keqiang – important politicians involved in the leading positions of the People’s Republic of China. From this perspective, CYL can be considered as an organization that plays a crucial role in the

Chinese political sphere.

The historical development of the Communist Youth League has lasted for more than 90 years since the foundation of the organization. Pre-existing sources focusing on the history of the organization depict the development, changes and goals of the organization. Nowadays research takes into consideration the Com- munist Youth League as one of the most important mass organizations in China.

The development of China’s policy and the social environment has been very fast since the opening of China in the 1980s due to the economic and other reforms.

Along with the change of the Chinese approach towards the world’s economy, the environment and civil society experienced kept changing and developing as well.

Due to the fast development and recent history, there is a gap in the academic sphere

39 Uhalley, A History of the Chinese Communist Party, 17. 40 Klaus H., Pringsheim “The Functions of the Chinese Communist Youth Leagues (1920-1949),” The China Quarlerly, n. 12 (Oct.-Dec. 1962): 76. JSTOR (651817). 41 William A. Joseph, Politics in China (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), 214-217.

33 of how exactly the changes affected the operation of the Communist Youth League´s branches and what exact functions they have in contemporary Chinese civil society.

3.1.1 Milestones in the history of the CYL

1920

Tackling the beginning of the history of the CYL is complicated since it took many decades for the CYL to develop to the stage where they are nowadays. However, evidence-based documents consider the early beginning of the evolution of the mass organization that is today called the Communist Youth League year 1920 when the

Shanghai Socialist Youth League (SSYL) was founded by the communist group in

Shanghai and representatives of the Comintern. Chen Duxiu, one of the leaders of the Communist Party organization in Shanghai appointed Yuan Yusong and eight others to lead the newly established youth organization.42

Not long after this establishment, between 1920-1921 other small groups uniting Marxism oriented youth also appeared in other major cities in China like Beijing,

Changsha and in Paris, France, where Li Dazhao, Mao Zedong and other members of the CPC used to study. 43

In the beginning, the organization did not follow a strict structure. The balance of the members who believed in Marxism, anarchy or held a different political di- rection was unclear. There was an absence of a clear purpose. The belief in Marxism was the only unifying factor for this group. 44

42 Hu, Xianzhong 胡献忠 Gongqingtuan yu xiangguantuan tiguanxi yanjiu:lishi de shijiao 共青团与相关团体关系研究：历史的视角 [Research on the Relationship Between the Communist Youth League and the Related Community by Historical Perspective], 56. 43 Pringsheim, “The Functions of the Chinese Communist Youth Leagues (1920-1949),” 76. 44 Wang Ge 王革, Xinshiqi gongqingtuan jianshe de lilun yu shijian 新时期共青团建设的理论与实践 [The Theory and Practice of building the New Era Youth League] (Xian: Xibei nonglin keji daxue chubanshe, 2007), 1.

1921

In July 1921, the Communist Party of China was officially founded in Shanghai and this year is not only one of the most important milestones in the history of the CPC but also a significant year for the CYL which purpose got clearer since that time.

The organization has begun to be more organized on local levels and more Marxist- belief oriented.

1922

In 1922 the expansion and development of the CYL can be observed on the example of the First National Congress of the Communist Youth League of China that was held in Guangzhou. By that time, there were more than 5000 members who attended the meeting including 25 representatives. The event was held on the 104th anniver- sary of Karl Marx’s birthday. It was an important event that elected the Central Sec- retary of the CYL and discussed the platform, the resolutions and articles of the association.

By that time, the function of the SYL was based on communist propaganda among the youth and workers to prepare them for the Communist Party.45

1923

One year later, on The Second National Congress of the Communist Youth League

(officially SYC by that time) in Nanjing, there were 30 representatives presented and 2000 more members arrived to attend this important event.46

By that time, the United Front Policy was influencing the relationship between the CPC and national party Kuomintang which also affected SYL in policy adjust- ment. The relationship between the SYL and the CPC was estimated in terms of the

45 Pringsheim, “The Functions of the Chinese Communist Youth Leagues (1920-1949),” 77. 46 Wang Ge 王革, Xinshiqi gongqingtuan jianshe de lilun yu shijian 新时期共青团建设的理论与实践 [The Theory and Practice of building the New Era Youth League, 1-2.

35 guidance from the party side and the freedom in interests from the youth’s side.

However, the political background of the organization often overshadowed the

SYL and the CPC. The publication of Chinese Youth was published for the first time.

1925

The Third National Congress of the Chinese Socialist Youth League was held in

Shanghai. This event helped the organization to take a step forward with new resolutions concerning advocacy, organization and economic struggle. The age limit of the Youth League members was set from 14 to 25 years. At this Congress, the SYC organization was renamed to the “Communist Youth Corps”.47 Hand in hand with the newly set-closer relationship with the CPC the Congress proclaimed the revolutionary mission of the organization.

The mission was clarified in four steps: to learn Leninism, to strictly observe the internal discipline of the Corps, to take part in practical work and win over the masses of youth.48 The Shanghai Massacre took place on May 30 in 1925. Among the victims, there were also members of the CYC.49

1927

The plenary meetings in 1927 worked on clarifying the relationship between the

CYC and CPC.

By that time, the borders between the two organizations were not clearly specified and to some extent, the membership of CYC and CPC and their activities were

47 Pringsheim, “The Functions of the Chinese Communist Youth Leagues (1920-1949),” 77. 48 Hu, Xianzhong 胡献忠 Gongqingtuan yu xiangguantuan tiguanxi yanjiu:lishi de shijiao 共青团与相关团体关系研究：历史的视角 [Research on the Relationship Between the Communist Youth League and the Related Community by Historical Perspective] (Beijing: Zhongguo qingnianc hu- banshe, 2016), 7-9. 49 Li, Bing 李兵. Tuanqi, tuanwei, tuange de gushi 团旗，团微，团歌的故事 [Flag, Emblem and Story of the League] (Beijing: Jiefangjun chubanshe, 2009), 20-22.

36 overlapping.50 However, the limitations in such overlapping between the two organizations started being more specified.

The CPC was set to give CYC guidance instead of accepting members without control and this function has been lasting till nowadays as well.

1935

In 1935, the Mainland of China was already affected by Japanese imperialistic tendencies and economic interests that had started several years before in 1931. 51

The preparation for The Second Sino-Japanese war that started in 1937 was affect- ing the Chinese environment as well. In response to these circumstances, two documents were issued that reorganized the CYC.

Firstly, in November, the CPC issued a “Decision on Work among Youths”.52

Secondly, in December, there was a “Declaration to the Students in all the Schools and all Young Compatriots for Resistance to Japan and the Nation’s Salvation” issued.53 According to these two declarations, the CYC was encouraging the anti-Jap- anese youths, Communist or non-Communist youth to participate and unite in the army that would proclaim the patriotic common sense.

This resulted in a series of a demonstration against Japanese imperialism that started in Beijing on December 9. The end of 1935 and the beginning of 1936 were periods when a lot of student organizations engaging in the anti-Japanese movement were emerging and spreading the propaganda.

50 Pringsheim, “The Functions of the Chinese Communist Youth Leagues (1920-1949),” 80. 51 Mark Thomas McNally, Gale Researcher Guide for: The Second Sino-Japanese War (Gale: Cen- gage Company, 2018), 1-2. 52 Pringsheim, “The Functions of the Chinese Communist Youth Leagues (1920-1949),” 80-82. 53 Wang Ge 王革, Xinshiqi gongqingtuan jianshe de lilun yu shijian 新时期共青团建设的理论与实践 [The Theory and Practice of building the New Era Youth League, 3.

1946

Japan was defeated in the Second World War that also caused the end of the Second

Sino-Japanese War in 1945. At that time, the organizations of youth that were anti-

Japanese oriented were reorganized due to the changes in the political sphere. The youth organizations were renamed and became “Democratic Youth Leagues”.54 By that time, the new goals of the organization based on the unification of the youth in

China with Marxism and Leninism in order to overthrow the imperialist and feudal capitalist rule, building a new democratic environment in China were set.55

1949

The year 1949 is an important milestone, not only for the People’s Republic of

China as the year of its establishment. It meant also a big step forward for the emer- gence of firstly united civil mass organizations in China. In the previous period between 1946-1949, there was a nationalist party Kuomintang and Communist Party, both of them had reserve “armies” of youth.

However, during this period it got clear that the conditions that KMT were put- ting the youth in resulted in youth migration to the Communist camp that offered better conditions and approaches. Youth organizations that were split all over China reunified firstly in the All-China Youth Federation that held a First Congress in May when they formed the mass organization called “The All-China Federation of Dem- ocratic Youth”. The core of this organization was the Communist Youth League that used to be a first step for the future Party members.56

54 Pringsheim, “The Functions of the Chinese Communist Youth Leagues (1920-1949),” 82-86. 55 Wang Ge 王革, Xinshiqi gongqingtuan jianshe de lilun yu shijian 新时期共青团建设的理论与实践 [The Theory and Practice of building the New Era Youth League], 3-4. 56 Hu, Xianzhong 胡献忠 Gongqingtuan yu xiangguantuan tiguanxi yanjiu:lishi de shijiao 共青团与相关团体关系研究：历史的视角 [Research on the Relationship Between the Communist Youth League and the Related Community by Historical Perspective], 55.

Similarly, in 1949, there was the beginning of the second mass organization that played an important role in the development of gender roles in Chinese society. The

All-China Federation of Democratic Women was formed.57

1957

The Communist Youth League made efforts to contribute to the events in the history that helped the country to reform, open up and modernize. This success was reached thanks to the adherence to the CPC’s basic line and giving full play to its advantages of guiding the young people to grow and become a new generation of modernization period.58

1966

Cultural Revolution officially lasted from 1966 to 1976. It is a part of Chinese history which affected the structure of the Chinese society a lot including the mass organization Communist Youth League. 59 Due to the reforms, the Communist

Youth League was not operating officially since the Central Committee and several other organs of the organization were centrally dismissed or replaced in 1966.60

1971

As soon as around 1970-1971 the CPC started realizing the need of the reliable members of the Communist Youth League that would continue in maintaining the ideological goals of the leaders of the country. In 1971, the branches of the CPC

57 William L. Tung, The Political Institutions of Modern China (Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1964), 238-239. 58 Communist Youth League of China, Gongqingtuan Shiwu Dabaogao Xuexi Fudao Duben 共青团十五大报告学习辅导读本 [The 15th National Congress of the Communist Youth League Report on Learning and Tutoring Group of the Communist Youth Guidance Group] (Beijing: Beijing Ligong Daxue Chubanshe, 2003), 6. 59 Frank Dikötter, The Cultural Revolution: A People's History, 1962-1976 (London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2016), 21-25. 60 Shelah G., Leader “The Communist Youth League and the Cultural Revolution,” Asian Survey, vol. 14, n. 8 (1974): 700-702.

39 started to recreate along with the renewal of the branches of the CYL.61

As we can see from the turn of the history, at this point the role of the youth shifted from the intermediation between the youth and the CPC to taking responsi- bility partially in the future by bringing up the citizens that would take part in the responsible affairs of the country in the future.

1988

The functions and the attention of the CYL during the period preceding 1988 were mostly focusing on the public welfare. However, after 1988, the organization turned its attention on their own members and youth. In May 1988, the 12th National Con- gress of the CYL came with ideas concerning its own members. For the first time, it was suggested that the CYL should have the ability to unify, educate and guide the youth to achieve success in the practice of building socialism with Chinese characteristics.62

To keep maintaining the political attitude, the organization started paying attention also to the education of its own members. It started being aware of their role in a political environment and their need for strengthening. This was necessary in order to ensure the quality of members for the future in case of higher institutionalization and maintenance. This way the CYL became so-called “reserve army” of the CPC and was a bridge between the CPC and the government and other youth masses.63

3.2 Contemporary CYL

The Constitution of CYL states:

61 Shelah G., Leader “The Communist Youth League and the Cultural Revolution,” Asian Survey, vol. 14, n. 8 (Aug., 1974): 711-712. 62 Zhang Hua 张华, Zhongguo Gongchanzhuyi Qingniantuan Zhineng Yanjiu 中国共产主义青年团职能研究 [Studies on the Fucntions of the Communist Youth League of China], 2. 63 Ibid., 4.

The Communist Youth League of China has grown and developed under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. It has always stood at the fore- front of revolutionary struggles and has a glorious history. In the process of establishing new China, establishing and consolidating the socialist system, and developing the socialist economy, politics, and culture, it played a role of a new force and commando, and trained and transported a large number of new forces and backbones for the party.64

Communist Youth League is an All-China organization and has its branches in institutions such as high schools and universities in every province of the PRC. As it mostly involves Chinese youth members aged 14-28, which is the age of high school and college students, the scope of the members analyzed in this thesis is limited.

3.2.1 About the relations between the CPC and CYL

The relations between the two institutions, as they appear nowadays, were not the same as they were at the beginning. For a deeper understanding of the contemporary situation, it is necessary to examine the development of relations in a context of historical events.

The study of the relations between CPC and CYL is important since it is a springboard for a better understanding of the relations among CPC and other possi- bly less political organizations such as trade unions, peasant associations or All

Women’s Federation in China.65 The CYL was said to train the youth to be able to serve as a reserve “army” for the CPC.66 Thus, basically one of the first key purposes

64 ‘General’, Chinese Communist Youth League Network, June 2, 2018. http://www.gqt.org.cn/ccylmaterial/regulation/200612/t20061224_12142.htm (accessed January 9, 2020). 65 Hu, Xianzhong 胡献忠 Gongqingtuan yu xiangguantuan tiguanxi yanjiu:lishi de shijiao 共青团与相关团体关系研究：历史的视角 [Research on the Relationship Between the Communist Youth League and the Related Community by Historical Perspective], 14. 66 ‘General’, Chinese Communist Youth League Network, July 2, 2018. http://www.gqt.org.cn/ccylmaterial/regulation/200612/t20061224_12147.htm (accessed January 9, 2020).

41 was to educate the youth. However, at the beginning the members were not numerous in any of the two organizations, so the boundaries between the two organizations were not precisely defined. The cooperation is regarded as a part of the CPC operations and there is a term that covers this called “Party-League Integration”.67

3.3 About Zhejiang University and its student organizations

Zhejiang Province lies on the Long River and is significant in the development of

Chinese culture from the historical perspective. Zhejiang University is named after the province and at the same time, it is the most important and famous university located in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang Province. The Chinese name of the

Zhejiang University is Zhejiang Daxue 浙江大学 or shortly Zheda 浙大. The university was founded in 1897, and has been hailed as the “Cambridge of the East” with its dedication to research and chosen as one of the top 100 universities of the world in 2017.68 Being counted in the C9 League of Universities approves the evaluation of the Zhejiang University is one of the top nine world-class chosen universities in China.69

The total amount of enrollment counts 54 641 students in total including under- graduate, graduate and international students.70 The CYL branch that operates at

Zhejiang University is chosen as a case study for this thesis.

Currently, there are seven campuses of the Zhejiang University: Yuquan, Xixi,

Zijingang, Huajiachi, Zhijiang, Zhoushan, and Haining International Campus71. For

67 Ibid. 68 Futao Huang, “Building the world-class research universities: a case study of China,” Higher Ed- ucation 70, n. 2 (2015): 207. 69 Ibid. 70 Zhejiang University, General Overview, http://www.zju.edu.cn/english/2018/0521/c19590a812438/page.htm (accessed May 27, 2019). 71 Furthermore, the Haining International Campus will be mentioned using the abbreviation „HIC“.

42 the research and data collection purposes, several CYL members from one of the campuses - Haining International Campus branch at the Zhejiang University- were selected. The data were collected during the interviews with the members of the local HIC Zhejiang University CYL branch.

3.4 Key terms

The table of key terms is a necessary part of the thesis for getting more familiar with the specific vocabulary used during the interviews and occurring in this thesis. Since the Communist Youth League in China is a unique mass organization existing only in Chinese society, the uniqueness is considered to be an appropriate argument for this table of key terms to mention.

The selection of terms was prepared based on the analysis of the primary sources of the thesis. The factor for the selection process of the key terms was clarified by the uniqueness of the terms that cannot be substituted by other expressions. The table of key terms consists of the term in Chinese character, international phonological transliteration called Pinyin and explanation of the meaning of the term. The terms go in alphabetical order.

Table 1 Table of key terms

Term in Chinese Pinyin Explanation

Youth League Committee, the main organ of

the CYL. 团委 Tuanwei

三会 Sanhui The association of three organs consisting of:

支部委员会 (Branch Committee)、支部大

会 (Branch Congress)、团小组会 (Grass-

roots Units Meeting)

支部委员会 Zhibu Weiyu- Branch Committee: elected by the General Assembly of the Branch, which is the leading anhui body of the Branch between sessions of the Assembly, To play a central role in the work of the Party branch, to be responsible for the day-to-day work of the Party branch, to report to the Party organization at the same level, to the Party organization at a higher level and to the General Assembly of the Party branch, to be subject to review and supervision. The meetings of the Branch Committees shall normally be held once a month and may be convened at any time according to the needs of the work.

支部大会 Zhibu Dahui Branch Congress: refers to the meetings attended by all the members of the branch, who are convened by the branch committee of the regimental branch. Also known as the General Assembly of League Members, the League Branch is the highest leading body of the League Branch, which has the highest decision-making power, voting power and supervision power in the League Branch. The branch congress is normally held quarterly and can be convened at any time according to the needs of the work.

团小组会 Tuanxiaozu Grassroots Units Meeting: It is an integral part of the Regimental Branch, not a League-level Hui organization, which operates under the leadership of the Sub-Branch Committee and is responsible for the education, management, supervision, and servicing of its members. The team will be convened by the team leader and can be convened at any time as the work re- quires. The division of the mission group shall be determined by the Party branch committee according to the number, distribution and op- erational needs of the members of the Party, according to the principles of ease of centrali- zation and ease of administration. A smaller

Mission Branch may convene additional Branch General Assembly meetings without dividing the Mission Team.

两制 Liangzhi Two systems consisting of :

团员教育评议制度 (The system of education and evaluation of League members)、团员年度团籍注册制度 (Annual League Member- ship Registration System)

团员教育评议制度 Tuanyuan The system of education and evaluation of League members: it is an important part of the Jiaoyu organization and life of the League and an important measure to strengthen the ideological Pingyizhidu construction of the League members, to strictly enforce the discipline of the League members and to regulate the management of League members.

The League Member Education Review adopts the combination of learning education, self-evaluation and organization evaluation, make a comprehensive evaluation of the performance and role of the League members, and motivate the League members, reorganize the team and purify the organization through the evaluation and treatment.

团员年度团籍注册制 Tuanyuan Ni- Annual League Membership Registration 度 System: It is the continuous recognition of andu Tuanji League Membership, an important way for League Members to master and understand Zhuce Zhidu the performance of their obligations and participate in activities, and is the key link in the management of League members.

The annual membership registration shall be made by the regimental branch, which shall generally undergo the annual registration pro- cedure for the members in January each year. The school league organization shall complete the registration of the members within one month after the beginning of the autumn term. A member's certificate which is not registered within one year after the prescribed registration period shall be invalid.

一课 Yike League Class: is the League organization to carry on the systematic education to the League member, enhances the League member thought theory level and the political quality important way, It is an important carrier to guide the League members to play an exemplary and leading role in their posts and social life, and it is also an important task of the League organization.

4 Findings

The thematic analysis of the data collected during the interviews and the texts are the main contents of the chapter of findings. The content analyzed and explained in this chapter consists of patterns identified based on the analysis of the primary sources - the interviews and the texts from Article 24, Chapter 5 of the Constitution

(Zhongguo gongchanzhuyi qingniantuan (zhangcheng) 中国共产主义青年团(章

程)). Article 24 is divided into 7 paragraphs and it involves the basic theoretical principles of the grassroots units of the CYL:

Article 24 The basic unit of the work and activities of the Youth League is the basic organization of the Youth League, which should give full play to the role of unity and education in the nuclear heart of the youth.72

This introduction to Article 24 defines the role of the grassroots units of the CYL.

The researched branch of the CYL operating at the International Campus of

Zhejiang University is considered to be one of the grassroots units in this thesis.

Therefore, the 7 paragraphs that are the contents of Article 24 address not only the grassroots generally, but also each one individually at the same time.

From this perspective, the 7 paragraphs were thematically analyzed along with the primary sources. Based on the interrelations of the most frequent codes within identified themes, the four main patterns were identified: Study, Ideology,

Publicity, Competitions. The first three patterns (Study, Ideology, and Publicity) are approached differently in comparison to the last pattern identified as Competitions.

The pattern Competitions was identified as related to all of the other three patterns that had been mentioned above. Therefore, it is an excluded pattern that is perceived as superior to the rest. This claim is explained in further detail in chapter 4.4 Pattern

72 Zhongguo gongchan zhuyi qingnian tuan (zhangcheng) 中国共产主义青年团(章程) [Articles of the Chinese Communist Youth League] (Beijing: Renmin Chubanshe, 2018), 22.

4: Competitions. The following figure depicts the interrelations between the identified patterns as described above. According to the figure, the pattern Competitions holds a superior position that means it is reflected in the rest of the patterns (Study,

Ideology, Publicity). The pattern Ideology holds a central position in this figure. The findings showed the activities based on which the patterns Study and Publicity were identified often hold activities in order to reflect the pattern identified as Ideology.

Figure 10 The interrelations of the identified patterns

4.1 Pattern 1: Study

The first pattern identified during the analysis is Study. The pattern is coherent within the interrelations of the fragments that were assigned with the most frequent codes in the theme history (based on codes: remembering history, memorizing moments of history, learn from history, study history, train and educate). The pattern is identified as Study, because the history and political education serve for the study purposes according to the researched activities and the Constitution. Above, there are examples of the activities and texts that underlay this pattern.

The first paragraph from Article 24, Chapter 5 of the Constitution states:

(1) to organize and study Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiao-

ping Theory, the important thought of “Three Represents”, the scientific concept of development, and Xi Jinping’s thoughts on socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, to study the Party’s line, principles, and policies, to learn the basic knowledge of league constitution, to study science, culture, law, and business.73

To study the theories and Party´s policy mentioned in the paragraph above plays the crucial theoretical foundation, that each of the members should know according to The Constitution of the CYL. During the interviews, it was easy to identify the theoretical line in selected activities of the organization. The general idea of some of the activities of the CYL was designed to go along with the theoretical background. However, the majority of activities mentioned in the units below were not explicitly emphasizing the Party’s line, principles, and policies. Nevertheless, the guidance and supervision of CPC were mentioned by several interviewees when talking about the general aspects of CYL.74

However, to study the political line and thoughts was not mentioned among the regular activities of the CYL. As explained by one of the interviewees, the in- tensive emphasis of the learnings is organized for the members of the CYL that are preparing to become members of the CPC.75 Until that time, the theoretical foundation of socialism with Chinese characteristics is an obligatory part of the high school and university schedules.76 However, any extracurricular activities in this sense were not explicitly listed among the most regular activities of the CYL based on the field research data surveillance.

The emphasis of the education is rooted not only in the activities, that are

73 Zhongguo gongchan zhuyi qingnian tuan (zhangcheng) 中国共产主义青年团(章程) [Articles of the Chinese Communist Youth League] (Beijing: Renmin Chubanshe, 2018), 22. 74 Interviews n.2, 6, 7, HIC ZJU, 2019. 75 Interview 4, HIC ZJU, 2019. 76 Pablo Alberto Baisotti, “The “Two Ways” of Citizenship Education in China: Benefits and Chal- lenges for China in a Multicultural World.” Handbook of Research on Education for Participative Citizenship and Global Prosperity. 2019, 157-158.

49 mostly designed to help the students to develop their skills, abilities, and knowledge in various aspects but is also mentioned in the Constitution of CYL according to the following paragraph:

(5) to train and educate the youth of the requesting league, do a good job in the regular development of the work of league members, collect the league fees and go through the formalities for leaving the League after the age of League members.77

Activities towards the administrative functions such as collecting fees and going through the formalities are organized by the General Office bangongshi 办公室.

This office is responsible for external contact and internal affairs coordination of the department, related rules and regulations of the ministry, administration works and materials, the funds, examination, and issuing of the documents that are issued by the Youth Committee, the communication of the College Grade League Com- mittee and the handling of the complaints of the Student Affairs Committee Of- fice.78

The texts selected from Article 24 addressing the pattern Study emphasize the exact theories that the members of the CYL should know according to the bylaws of the organization. On the other hand, the activities that were researched and taken into consideration considering the pattern Study do not literally claim the aim of studying the theoretical foundation. However, the activities address this purpose in their underlying meaning. The means of implementation of the underlying meaning were identified as the competitions that are regularly organized by the CYL. Ac- cording to Tom Verhoeff, an assistant professor from the Eindhoven University of

Technology, “education and competition are two universal ingredients of all human

77 Zhongguo gongchan zhuyi qingnian tuan (zhangcheng) 中国共产主义青年团(章程) [Articles of the Chinese Communist Youth League] (Beijing: Renmin Chubanshe, 2018), 23. 78 Interview 2, HIC ZJU, 2019.

50 cultures”.79 Some of the author´s claims are: that competitions have much to offer in education and that competitions are a good measure of how well a discipline is accepted and integrated into the curriculum.80 These claims target the universal spectrum of competitions. In the context of the activities organized by CYL and identified pattern Study, the competitions are conceived to motivate the students to produce the contents. Those students who produce the most appropriate content according to the CYL guidelines are awarded. This fact not only motivates the students to participate in the competitions but also to study the principles to be as pre- cise as possible to fit the guidelines of CYL.

It was discovered, that the significant part of the activities was connected to the historical events selected by the CYL reflected in the competitions. These competitions can also be explained from the point of view of propaganda as described in chapter 4.3 Pattern: Publicity.

4.2 Pattern 2: Ideology

The pattern Ideology in this subchapter was identified based on its coherence within the themes supporting the regime and CPC membership (codes: believing in Marx- ism, being exemplary, supporting ideology, fighting, advantages, application for

CPC, hierarchy). It was identified, that the ideology is the purpose behind the activities as they were described by the members in order to maintain it.

As an example of the ideology pattern, the concept of socialist morality (Shehui

Zhuyi Kexin Jiazhiguan 社会主义核心价值观) was chosen. The concept of socialist morality and how it is approached by the CPC and CYL is stated in the third paragraph of Article 24 in The Constitution according to the following definition:

79 Tom Verhoeff, The Role of Competitions in Education, Future world: Educating for the 21st century, 1997, vol. 97, 1. 80 Ibid., 9.

(3) Members of Education League and Youth League will learn from the revolution, uphold the tradition of socialist morality, promote the main idea of socialist morality, establish a new concept suitable for the opening and opening of the political revolution and the development of society, consciously resist unhealthy tendencies and resolutely fight against all kinds of acts of advancing the law.81

The participant who is in charge of the Students Clubs Guidance Center Xuesheng shetuan zhidao zhongxin 学生社团指导中心 when asked, agreed with the definition displayed above. According to the participant, the CYL is beneficial from two perspectives:

I have two views on this. First, why do we choose the group leaders, the good ones to become members of the YL and the Party? Because we want them to be the ones to let others be an example for the others and that others can learn from them. To learn from some really good aspects of the personal qualities and also the necessary abilities/skills. Another side is also the strong basics of what you believe in. So here, it is Marxism. If you don´t have a strong basis in what you believe, even if you are a genius in other aspects, you cannot become a member of our organization. So, if you want to join us, you firstly need to agree with what we believe in. So, I think it is beneficial because we have a group that consists of the exemplary ones and this is definitely one of the benefits for society, too.82

The participant explained the importance of the CYL from two perspectives as stated above. Firstly, the participant claimed that the benefit from the CYL was the recruitment of the good group leaders who serve as “exemplary ones” for the rest of the students and members. The participant said:

The Party needs to have a source from where it can choose good members to become one of them. So, it is also a way how to maintain power just like a big company.83

Secondly, the respondent, who is also accepted for the CPC membership, claimed that in order to be accepted within the organization, the members should firstly agree with what the members of CYL and CPC believe in. The student explicitly explained, that the great achievement of China as it is nowadays, is due to the CPC´s

81 Zhongguo gongchan zhuyi qingnian tuan (zhangcheng) 中国共产主义青年团(章程) [Articles of the Chinese Communist Youth League] (Beijing: Renmin Chubanshe, 2018), 22. 82 Interview 5, HIC ZJU, 2019. 83 Ibid.

52 endeavor:

Besides, as a Chinese student, I really think China is a very strong world economy that is developing very fast but is still a developing country. This great achievement in China is really because we have got the Communist Party. I am not saying this now because I am a member of it.84

The participant also emphasized his knowledge of history in the context of this topic:

It is because when remembering history, it was the Communist Party who built the new history of the country. So, I think the CPC is very important for China and that stays the leading power. So how can the Party maintain the leading power? It needs to have a source from where it can choose good members to become one of them. So, this is also definitely another benefit of CYL.85

According to the participant cited above, the CPC was the one who created a new narrative of a new history of the country. The underlying meanings of the activities explained as socialist morality here were mentioned by another respondent as well.

He is also currently a probationary member of the CPC. According to this respondent, the underlying meaning as a fundamental aspect in the cultivation of the youth using activities organized by the CYL is the spirit of loving the country.86 The narrative “loving the country” in the context of this topic refers to the term “patriotism”

(aiguo 爱国). This term is claimed to represent the core social values of socialism in China together with terms:

prosperity (fuqiang 富强), democracy (minzhu 民主), civility (wenming 文明), harmony (hexie 和谐), freedom (ziyou 自由), equality (pingdeng 平等), justice (gongzheng 公正), dedication (jingye 敬业), integrity (chengxin 诚信) and friendship (youshan 友善)87

84 Interview 5, HIC ZJU, 2019. 85 Ibid. 86 Interview 7, HIC ZJU, 2019. 87 Magdaléna Masláková and Anežka Satorová, “The Catholic Church in Contemporary China: How Does the New Regulation on Religious Affairs Influence the Catholic Church?”, Religions, vol. 10, n. 7, 446 (2019): 3.

The core social values are associated with the political concept ‘rule of law’ (fazhi

法治). The terms are used in official state propaganda and are promoted in schools and displayed in numerous public places according to the authors.88 This fact approves the interconnection of the patterns Study and Ideology. In other words, the selected term that was observed in the answers of several participants reflects their patriotism. The term ‘loving the country’ in the context of ‘patriotism’ and ‘rule of law’ in the understanding of socialism in China also refers to ‘loving the

CPC’.89Which shows how the narrative of the respondents follows the pattern Ide- ology.

The first participant’s department called Students Clubs Guidance Center is responsible for the regulation of the student’s clubs. The activities they provide are not directly connected to the members as individuals, they regulate the initiatives of the students and approve the clubs that are appropriate and decline the clubs that already exist or are not in consensus with the policy of the CYL. According to the respondent, the clubs that have religious or political connotations are not good candidates to exist in a university environment.

The respondent said:

They (the club applicants) firstly need to submit the proposal to us and we need to check whether it fits in our demand. Because there are some rules for these students´ clubs, what kinds of activities they can and cannot do. For example, clubs with any kind of religion (are restricted). Because in Chinese college to spread the religion is not allowed. Also, for example, anything about politics. You cannot start the club to spread your thoughts about the Party.90

The second respondent who participates in the organization of the volun-

88 Ibid. 89 Magdaléna Masláková and Anežka Satorová, “The Catholic Church in Contemporary China: How Does the New Regulation on Religious Affairs Influence the Catholic Church?”, Religions, vol. 10, n. 7, 446 (2019): 3. 90 Interview 4, HIC ZJU, 2019.

54 teering activities of the Volunteering department Zheyuanzhebu 志愿者部 on behalf of the CYL explained, that the importance of CYL is in educating the members in order to become patient, generous and helpful. The socialist morality that the activities should teach the members is, according to the participant, the comprehen- sion that the volunteers do all the work for themselves and not for the others. “The volunteers should not expect any reward but on the other hand they get much more in the end in the underlying meaning,” said the participant.91 The participant here was explaining that the non-materialistic reward is much more valuable to the members and members should understand it as an underlying meaning of the activities of CYL. By reward here is meant the acquisition of the social core values, as un- derstood by the respondent. It is evident since the respondent also explained:

The spirit of loving the country is a fundamental aspect of the cultivation of the youth. There is also some underlying meaning in activities that help students understand this for example in social practice activities that we have every summer and winter when we go to the poor parts of China and help people there. This way students also learn to do something for society, for the others. This is about Chi- nese policy – to serve the poor people, this is what students do as volunteers.92

This claim reflects the pattern Ideology and we can observe its natural flow in the narrative shown above.

The way how The Constitution emphasizes and explains the system of assessment is:

(6) to educate, manage and service league members, we will improve the organization and life of the league, implement the system of “three sessions, two systems, one course”, conduct assessment and self-criticism, and monitor its members to fulfill their obligations in good faith, ensure that the rights of the League members are not infringed upon, comment the advanced ones and enforce the discipline of the Mission.93

However, apart from the activities that are aimed to teach the students using the

91 Interview 4, HIC ZJU, 2019. 92 Ibid. 93 Zhongguo gongchan zhuyi qingnian tuan (zhangcheng) 中国共产主义青年团(章程) [Articles of the Chinese Communist Youth League] (Beijing: Renmin Chubanshe, 2018), 23.

55 practical examples that result in the underlying meanings that affect the students’ psychology unintentionally, there is an educational part of activities that teaches the students to follow the political regime.94 The education on patriotism is framed by

The Patriotic Education Campaign that started after the Tiananmen Square protests as described by Zheng Wang:

The “Patriotic Education Campaign,” which began in 1991 is another massive at- tempt by the party at ideological reeducation. […] This campaign is a nationwide mobilization effort targeted mainly at Chinese youth. As a central part of the campaign, Beijing called upon the entire nation to study China’s humiliating modern history and how much the country has been changed by the Communist revolution. The CCP has set the entire propaganda machine in motion for this initiative, the content of which has become institutionalized in China—embedded in political institutions and inaugurated as the CCP’s new ideological tool. For example, the Party has conducted major revisions of its schools’ history textbooks since 1991. 95

Concerning the education within the CYL, there is a system of three sessions that includes Branch Committees Zhibu Weiyuanhui支部委员会, Branch Congress Zhibu

Dahui 支部大会, Grassroots Unit Meetings Tuanxiaozu Hui 团小组会. The Two Sys- tems are the System of Education and Evaluation of League members Tuanyuan

Jiaoyun Pingyi Zhidu 团员教育评议制度 and the Annual League Membership

Registration System Tuanyuan Niandu Tuanji Zhuce Zhidu 团员年度团籍注册制度.

One Lesson Yike 一课 relates to the League class that carries out the systematic education to the CYL members, enhances the League members’ level of the theory knowledge and the quality of political knowledge. It is an important guide to the

CYL members that play an exemplary and leading role in their social life. The three parts process creates the political education of the CYL members.

Another way how to be a good member of the CYL is self-reflection expressed

94 95 Zheng Wang, National Humiliation, History Education, and the Politics of Historical Memory: Patriotic Education Campaign in China. International Studies Quarterly, Vol. 52, n. 4, 2008, 784.

56 by one of the participants using the term “self-criticism” Ziwopiping 自我批评. The participant said:

We write reports every three months. The reports are focused on the self-reflection of the students. The students are supposed to evaluate whether they did well or not and say why. I realized that I actually improved a lot during the last two semesters. Although I realized that I didn´t make the most out of my time and that this keeps me on working better on my time-efficiency. I realized that my main problem is in balancing studies and activities that I organize. Now, my goal in self-development is to reach a better balance between studying and organizing activities and this way reach better personal qualities and results overall.96

Self-evaluation is not the only part of the CYL on how to review the success in the personal development of the CYL members. As Doyon mentions in his dissertation

The Communist Youth League as a Political Promotion Channel in Post-Mao China in understanding the evolution of China’s political system, China is a Party-State that successfully renews its political elite and maintains the cohesion in the post-

Mao period. Doyon wrote:

In Post-Cultural Revolution politics and the need for leaders at the time to recruit loyal young cadres, a “sponsored mobility” system was developed to renew the Party State’s elite. College students are recruited and trained through the Party’s youth organizations. They are put then on a unique promotion path, which includes specific opportunities and training, and which leads them to leadership positions in the Party-State.97

The pattern Ideology is a pattern classified as an underlying meaning of the activities and concepts, as they were described above. This pattern was identified based on the narrative of the respondents according to which it is obvious they believe that the CPC is responsible for the position of PRC in the world as the result of the historical events he learned. This fact addresses the indoctrination as the effect of studying the historical facts selected by the CPC in cooperation with the

CYL. The ideological hierarchy is also showing the supreme position of the CPC in

96 Interview 3, HIC ZJU, 2019. 97 Jerome Doyon, “Rejuvenating Communism: The Communist Youth League as a Political Promo- tion Channel in Post-Mao China,” PhD diss., Columbia University, 2017. AcademicCommons (D85B07TP).

57 relation to the CYL. Studying the ideology and supporting the regime goes along with the CYL to bring up future leaders as one of the aims of the organization. At the same time, it shows the process of how the ideological pattern influences the environment of the fieldwork in order to maintain the support of the regime proclaimed by the CPC.

According to the response of one of the participants, the reward they get out of the activities should not be expected. The reward is supposed to be received from the activities unconsciously. This fact proves the natural absorption of the ideology that is conceived as an underlying meaning of the activities. The indoctrination is reflected and reinforced in the self-criticism that was mentioned by one of the participants. This way the CYL can observe how the ideology is reflected by the students individually.

The implementation of the ideology as an underlying meaning was discovered as an advantage for the members based on their response. The advantages were seen as a chance of getting a better job or other benefits connected to the CPC membership in their future. The pattern of Ideology is a pattern that was identified in the competitions as an “underlying meaning” in the sense of acquisition of the ideological foundation according to the political narrative of the CPC. The competitions organized by the CYL were organized in order to manifest the ideology. According to the examples of the interviews, this way is successful and the participants use the ideological narrative freely and “naturally” when answering questions on this topic.

The pattern Ideology was reflected in all of the researched competitions as the underlying meanings here explained as the discovered codes: believing in Marxism, supporting the system, being exemplary, advantages. The competitions according to how they were conceived conditioned the members to accept the above-stated

58 codes if they wanted to be successful or outstanding.

The concept of the competitions as seen in the next subchapter 4.3 Pattern 3:

Publicity is connected with the pattern Ideology and served to spread the information recreated according to the policy of the CPC. The evidence about this claim can be found in a certain hierarchy. This hierarchy comes from a system of approval of any of the competitions organized by other organizations, except the CYL. The competitions need to be approved by the CYL first. At the same time, the CYL is subordinated to the CPC.

4.3 Pattern 3: Publicity

This subchapter aims to clarify the pattern Publicity, which is defined based on its coherence within the themes: information, action (codes: working with information, creating content, spreading the information, way of informing, control, promotion, development, being active, being empathetic). The examples stated below show the operations concerning the theme information in the context of the pattern Publicity.

The pattern Publicity is in accordance with the second paragraph of Article 24:

(2) to publicize and implement the instructions and resolutions of the Party and League organizations and to participate in democratic management and democratic supervision. To give full play to the exemplary role of the League members, actively strive for the best, unite and lead the youth to take an active part in reform, opening- up and modernization drive, and contribute to the building of socialist economy, political construction, cultural construction, social construction, and ecological civilization.98

Among the grassroots organization unit departments, the Publicity Department

Wenxuanbu 文宣部 is responsible for the publicity of the moments that are evaluated by the CPC as important events of the CPC and CYL.99 Apart from the im-

98 Zhongguo gongchan zhuyi qingnian tuan (zhangcheng) 中国共产主义青年团(章程) [Articles of the Chinese Communist Youth League] (Beijing: Renmin Chubanshe, 2018), 22. 99 Interview 2, HIC ZJU, 2019.

59 portant events, the Publicity Department also plays an important role in posting information about other activities of the CYL and spreads the information using media platforms and the representatives of each unit’s leaders. Each class at the university is counted as a single unit that has its own representatives in the CYL structure.100

There are several aspects to focus on that are summarized in this paragraph.

According to the student who is in charge of the Publicity Department, the aim of the activities of this department is to let the students know what happened in history.

The ways how to let them know is by encouraging students to write essays on some important moments from the modern Chinese history. To remind them about the past, the students are also encouraged to take creative and thematic pictures during some of the activities, and compete among themselves.101

Competing here refers to the function of spreading the spirit of not forgetting the important events in the past, learning from them and not repeating the mistakes.

At the same time, aiming for the best result teaches students to try their best to be

“the exemplary ones” for the rest.102 The most common media for the publicity used at the branch of CYL in HIC is the ZJU CYL branch mini program in a popular

Chinese media platform called WeChat Weixin 微信.

One of the exemplary annual activities mentioned by the respondent in charge of the Publicity Department is the activity organized to celebrate May 4 which was explained by an interviewee as an important date in Chinese history for the Chinese

100 Interview 1, HIC ZJU, 2019. 101 Ibid. 102 Ibid.

60 students.103 On this day in 1919, there were protests against the Japanese imperialistic tendencies at the Shandong peninsula which resulted furthermore in a movement called the May Fourth Movement that is considered to be the beginning for the renaissance of China under the leadership of the CPC.104 In the PRC, May 4 is also celebrated as the day of the Youth. The CYL members and other students are the main participants in activities organized to remember the history. For May 4, there was a series of activities held by the Haining International Campus Student

Union.105

According to the respondent, the students were encouraged to take pictures of how they celebrated the May 4 and write short essays to show what this day means to them generally. Students were encouraged to take part in the competition of the best photo and best essay. The winners were announced by the Publicity Depart- ment on the WeChat account news feed. Also, the excellent and most outstanding members of the CYL were awarded on May 4 which was another activity that appeared in the news feed created by the Publicity Department claimed the interviewee. According to the student, the CYL members are awarded not only for participating in the competitions, but they can also be awarded for doing their work or studies well, being volunteers and example for other students.106

The nominations for the outstanding students are also concluded based on the suggestion of the students from the CYL who know and appreciate the effort of the students.107 The example contents in pictures from the news feed published by the

103 Interview 1, HIC ZJU, 2019. 104 William J. Duiker and Jackson J. Spielvogel, The Essential World History (Canada: Cengage Learning, 2015), 669. 105 Interview 6, HIC ZJU, 2019. 106 Interview 1, HIC ZJU, 2019. 107 Interview 7, HIC ZJU, 2019.

Publicity Department concerning the activities organized on May 4 can be seen below.

Figure 1 The beginning of the article

Figure 2 Outstanding students´ awards presentation

Figure 3 ECE 1702 branch: Photograph of pursuing the truth and chasing the dreams of the students

Figure 4 EE 1701 branch: Photograph of unity

Figure 5 BMS 1702 branch: Photographs of youth and knowledge Figures 1-5 show fragments from a report about “May 4 activities”. Firstly, it describes the annual awarding of the outstanding students that figures 1 and 2 address. As the article explains:

In the afternoon, an open show from outstanding Youth League members was organized. Twenty-three outstanding candidates showed their excellent achievement and performance in this academic year and won big applause.108

Figures 3, 4 and 5 address the unity and respect of the members that were reflected in wearing the „group badge all along the day and sang the Communist Youth

League song,“ as the article explained.109 A special activity called “Flash” that was supposed to show the reflection of students’ “vitality” and was conceived as a photography competition corresponding to Figures 4 and 5:

The EE 1701 branch used aerial photography to provide a different visual experience from a top-down perspective. Students sat down and formed the shape of a circle, which represents their unity. CE 1701’s flash photo was taken in the library. It showed their thirst for knowledge and the friendship between the classmates. The BMS 1702 branch took a photo with the bell tower, reflecting their dew of youth. These “Flash” shots exhibited the vitality of the young and their courage for their dreams. Students of International Campus, Zhejiang University will always stick to the motto, pursuing the truth and making innovations for the world.110

Holding the activities on the day of May 4 is very important since the Youth

108 International Campus Students Affairs Guoji xiaoqu xuesheng shiwu 国际校区学生事务, “Be a Dream Seeker & Dream Maker in the New Era!“ WeChat, May 10, 2018. 109 Interview 1, HIC ZJU, 2019. 110 International Campus Students Affairs Guoji xiaoqu xuesheng shiwu 国际校区学生事务, WeChat, May 10, 2019.

League members do not want the students to forget the history and want to encourage them to work even harder.111

The publicity of the CPC´s resolutions (i.e. results of selected Congresses of the CPC) plays an important role in the activities of the Publicity Department as well. The example that was mentioned during the interview with the Publicity De- partment member was concerning the 19th CPC National Congress that took place in October 2018. Each of the Congresses of the CPC was a memorable event for

Chinese society since they brought political updates into practice. The 19th CPC

Congress included the Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteris- tics (Xijinping xin shidai zhongguo tese shehui zhuyi sixiang 习近平新时代中国特

色社会主义思想) into the CPC Constitution.112 The outcome activity in reaction to the 19th CPC Congress organized by the CYL Publicity Department was an article in the news feed of the Zhejiang University HIC Students Union WeChat account.113 The informative article is supplemented by the quotation of Chinese president Xi Jinping. The general idea of the announcement is rooted in an ideology based on the work for people and unity.114

111 International Campus Students Affairs Guoji xiaoqu xuesheng shiwu 国际校区学生事务, WeChat, May 10, 2019. 112 Xinhua. Xi calls for building a strong army. http://www.xinhuanet.com//english/2017- 10/26/c_136708142.htm (accessed June 13, 2019). 113 Interview 1, HIC ZJU, 2019. 114 Student Union of Zhejiang University International Campus Zheda Guoji Xiaoqu Xueshenghui 浙大国际校区学生会, “The 19th National Congress of the CPC and the Perspectives of the New Arti- cles” WeChat, May 25, 2017.

Figure 6 Publicity of 19th National Congress of the CPC

The interview participant who is in charge of the Publicity Department explained that she liked making posters and she used to make some posters for the news feed posted by their department in WeChat account news feed.115

115 Interview 1, HIC ZJU, 2019.

Figure 7 Example poster 1

Figures 7 and 8 stand for the examples of the posters the respondent made herself for the CYL. Figure 7 was used in the news feed that contained information concerning recruiting new members in the CYL.116 The respondent said the mission was very successful. The poster itself is inspired by the Western trend of comic. On the other hand, Figure 8 was a poster that was prepared for the students to encourage them competing for the best artwork as a part of the preparation for the National

Day of the PRC celebrated on October 1.117 The students were encouraged to create a poem, essay, drawing, photography, video or other forms of art on the topic of

National Day. The best pieces of art were published in the Student Union WeChat account news feed.

116 Interview 1, HIC ZJU, 2019. 117 Bobbie Kalman, China: The culture (Canada: Crabtree Publishing Company, 2008), 20.

Figure 8 The winning piece of art

The piece of art that won the first prize in the competition was a painting containing the portraits of five men that were somehow significant in connection to the PRC history. The portraits were made from rubber stamps. As the description says:

Mao Zedong, Stalin, Lenin, Engels and Marx, the five great leaders of the communist cause, stand shoulder by shoulder, their eyes are firm and dignified as if looking into the glorious future of the People’s Republic of China.118

In this example, we can see the clear selection of the historical personalities based on which the participant won the competition. This fact speaks about the selected historical personalities and events connected to them. The choice is based on the certain work with information. That influences the others in a way of informing them what is perceived to be correct to win the competition. It also shows us the way of thinking of the participant. The participant either knows what he is expected

118 Student Union of Zhejiang University International Campus Zheda Guoji Xiaoqu Xueshenghui 浙大国际校区学生会, “[The Exhibition of Prize-winning works in the National Day Collection Ac- tivities of Literature and Art] 国庆主题征集活动获奖作品展示” WeChat, September 30, 2018.

68 to do or actually believes in what he had learnt (according to the piece of art). One way or another, based on this piece of art, we can see the result of Study that is reflected in Ideology in the contents of the picture and this information is spread via announcing the 1st place in the competition and showing the piece of art in the media platform of the CYL.

Figure 9 Second place awarded a piece of art The second place awarded a piece of art was calligraphy painted by one of the students from HIC ZJU. The main contents of the calligraphy painting were saying

“Chinese Dream” Zhongguo Meng 中国梦 which is one of the main political narratives proclaimed by the incumbent president of PRC Xi Jinping.119 As the description of the painting says:

The three characters of the “Chinese Dream” are like the wind breaking through, the strokes are smooth, the pustule is folded, the momentum is open, embodying the big country’s weather and the self-confidence of the people.120

According to Figures 7 and 8, we can see that the political line which is the main pattern of the competition was fulfilled by the students who won the first two prizes.

The students emphasized the history of PRC. It is clear that this emphasis on history is a result of the Study pattern as seen above in the previous subchapter. The pattern behind the studying of history is the pattern Ideology since only the historical events that support the regime of the PRC were spotted in the results of the competition.

In Figure 7, it was the history in the political context based on the important people who influenced the ideology of PRC. Whereas, in Figure 8, history was approached from the cultural perspective performed by using calligraphy which is one of the classical Chinese arts.121 The historically important art of calligraphy overlaps here with the term “Chinese Dream” Zhongguo meng 中国梦. According to Tsang and

113 Since 2012, the new political concept of the Chinese Dream Zhongguo Meng 中国梦 was introduced by the general secretary of CPC, the President of PRC and chairman of the CMC Xi Jinping. The narrative of the concept Chinese Dream proclaims the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation in the context of contemporary Chinese society. The political narrative developed from the historical perspective as a concept connected to the identity struggle discourse of the Chinese nation that seeks for a revival of the strength of the country. According to the official narrative, the concept of the national rejuvenation includes education and identity rooted in the popular culture that would bring the roots of the culture of the society in the PRC. In comparison to the concept of American Dream, that follows some similarity from the lexical point of view, the Chinese Dream as a concept of contemporary Chinese politics and vision for future development, targets the Chinese population on individual level as well as on societal level.119 This can be is emphasized by one of the slogans propagating the Chinese Dream saying “Chinese Dream, My Dream 中国梦，我的梦”. 120 Student Union of Zhejiang University International Campus Zheda Guoji Xiaoqu Xueshenghui 浙大国际校区学生会, “[The Exhibition of Prize-winning works in the National Day Collection Ac- tivities of Literature and Art] 国庆主题征集活动获奖作品展示” WeChat, September 30, 2018. 121 Tingyou Chen, Chinese Calligraphy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), 1.

Honghua, nationalism plays a significant role in the new ideological approach that

PRC follows in the era of Xi Jinping.122 The Chinese Dream as a result of a collec- tive dream built up together by merging the dreams of individuals towards the common future that emphasizes the consultative Leninism as its strategical and ideological basis.123 As Tsang explained, consultative Leninism has five main characteristics that are:

Focus upon staying in power; continuous governance reform designed to pre-empt public demands for democratization; sustained efforts to enhance the Party’s ca- pacity to elicit, respond to and direct changing public opinion; pragmatism in economic and financial management; and the promotion of nationalism in place of Communism.124

Figures 7 and 8 are mentioned here as examples that show the emphasis of the CYL focus when choosing the leading pieces of art in the competition. The publishing of the first two winners in the competition shows the readers the university environment and exemplary values chosen by CYL to follow. The core common elements in Figures 7 and 8 emphasize the ideology, history, study, and future perspectives.

The participant explained:

We let the students know what happened in history and take pictures and write some essays to show to their friends some important moments of history and memorize this moment. 125

The CYL does not want the students to forget the past and wants the students to keep in mind that they must agree on the common values.

Paragraph 4 from Article 24 in The Constitution of CYL mentions several aspects the CYL should pay attention to, as stated:

122 Steve Tsang and Honghua Men. China in the Xi Jinping Era (Switzerland: Springer International Publishing 2015): 32-35. 123 Steve Tsang and Honghua Men. China in the Xi Jinping Era, (Switzerland: Springer International Publishing, 2015), 32-35. 124 Steve Tsang, “Consultative Leninism: China's new political framework,” Journal of Contempo- rary China 18, n. 62 (2009): 865. 125 Inteview 1 and 2, HIC ZJU, 2019.

(4) to understand and reflect the thoughts and demands of League members and youth, safeguard their rights and interests, care about their study, work, life and rest, and develop cultural and recreational sports activities.126

To fulfill the guidelines, it is upon the CYL organization structure to ensure the members have enough opportunities to fulfill them. There are several aspects of paragraph 4 that can be analyzed. Firstly, according to one respondent, the students organize votes among themselves and this is how the leaders and the outstanding members are suggested. The members can voluntarily reject the promotion, however, the initiative of suggestions comes from the class environment that stimulates the students to try their best and it is upon a long-time process.127

Within the structure of university organizations, the Student Union is mainly in charge of organizing the sports and cultural activities for the students themselves.128 The Student Union is guided by the CYL that regulates and approves the activities that are about to be prepared.

The CYL cares about the underlying meanings that the activities can have for the students and the members generally.129 Within the CYL, the Practice De- partment Shixianbu 实现部 and Volunteers Department Zheyuanzhebu 志愿者部 is responsible for organizing cultural and sports activities where the CYL members participate but at the same time they interact with the environment does not include only university environment.

There were several volunteering activities organized in 2018 and 2019, as the respondent explained. One activity was about organizing a sports day for hand- icapped children. The aim of the activity was to play with them as the parents would

126 Zhongguo gongchan zhuyi qingnian tuan (zhangcheng) 中国共产主义青年团(章程) [Articles of the Chinese Communist Youth League] (Beijing: Renmin Chubanshe, 2018), 23. 127 Interview 2, HIC ZJU, 2019. 128 Interview 6, HIC ZJU, 2019. 129 Interview 2, HIC ZJU, 2019.

72 have played with them. Another activity was in one of the local high schools, where the CYL members from the volunteering department held a presentation for the young volunteers and helped them to understand the purpose of volunteering activities.

Besides above mentioned, the volunteers from the CYL help at the local museum during the exhibitions. The participant, who is the head of the Volunteering

Department, explained that volunteers can be awarded for their volunteering efforts by the CYL and it is important for each one of them to get involved in the area where they can use their interest of knowledge.130

According to another respondent, who is responsible for the preparation of the activities organized by the Practice Department, there are two types of activities

– summer and winter holiday activities.131 The summer activities are the most significant activities for the students since they involve the students to migrate to the poor parts of China, usually to rural countryside and do volunteering activities there.

According to the head of the Practice Department, the students can usually choose from several programs that they can do and this is the major part of the participant’s work for the department – preparation of the activities. Among the activities, the student mentioned rural economic development planning and education development. Students travel to the provinces that are associated with the cooperation and either do research and suggest local people better ways how to develop their economy or assist at schools and teach children English and other subjects.

130 Interview 7, HIC ZJU, 2019. 131 Interview 2, HIC ZJU, 2019.

One participant who passed a teaching activity in Guizhou province admit- ted that she did this to develop her leadership skills. According to her, she learned how to communicate with different kinds of people. Besides, the activity helped her to develop how to express herself better.132

According to another student, social practice is an important activity for the students to contact the society and learn about society.133 Winter activities organized by the CYL mostly focus on the promotion of the CYL. According to the participant and from the observation of this activity, the students visit high schools in their province and promote the HIC ZJU, talk about their student lifestyle, experience, opportunities, and values. The respondent said:

The publicity at the high schools is in the form of presentations and groups of students compete among themselves for the best publicity. This can also help them discover and develop their skills and values that this experience helps them to realize.134

Figure 9 Publicity of HIC ZJU at High School n.10 in Hangzhou

132 Interview 2, HIC ZJU, 2019. 133 Interview 3, HIC ZJU, 2019. 134 Interview 3, HIC ZJU, 2019.

In the Figure 9, we can see how the presentations in high school proceed. In this case, the author had an opportunity to join one of the CYL members and in terms of the observatory mission participate in the winter activity of this type. The students usually go to the high schools where they used to study before entering the university, therefore the environment is not completely unknown for them. Such conditions are helpful for them in order of competing with other teams for obtaining the better results.

The words from the dissertation of Doyon right above are in accordance with the last paragraph of Article 24 in Chapter 25 that claims:

(7) to provide basic Party knowledge education to League members and recommend outstanding League members as the results of the development of the Party, to identify and cultivate young talent among the outstanding talent, and recommend them to more important production and job opportunities.135

From how paragraph 7 is put in practice, there were two departments that can inte- grate this part. Firstly, according to the answer of one interviewee, the most important department is called Organizational Department Zuzhibu 组织部.136 The reason for that, according to the interviewee (who is in charge of the department), is that they must determine what students are suitable and who are better than the others. As the student explained:

Our department gets the students from all classes and then our teachers check their materials and verify whether they are really doing better than the others. For example, based on working experience, studying results, etc.137

At the same time, the evaluation of the outstanding members and members that they can recommend for the CPC membership is the main activity and mission of the

Organizational Department. According to the respondent, the evaluation firstly

135 Zhongguo gongchan zhuyi qingnian tuan (zhangcheng) 中国共产主义青年团(章程) [Articles of the Chinese Communist Youth League] (Beijing: Renmin Chubanshe, 2018), 23. 136 Interview 2, HIC ZJU, 2019. 137 Interview 6, HIC ZJU, 2019.

75 comes from the environment that is closely familiar to the student which is usually the student’s class. The classmates give votes and their recommendations to the department and then ask the student if he or she thinks that they would be suitable for nomination as well.

The second step is up to the Organizational Department. The Department gets the selected students from all classes and then the teachers check their materials and verify whether they are really doing better than the others. For example, based on working, volunteering experience or studying results. The awards that the students can get can be beneficial, for example, for their future career development.138

Another respondent agreed with better career perspectives when the members are noticed as “outstanding” by the CYL and also explained, that one of the ways how students can prove their talents and show their endeavor is to participate in competitions. One of the newly established departments of CYL called Students

Knowledge and Technology Department Xuesheng Keji Zhidao Zhongxin 学生科

技指导中心 which is responsible for competitions.

The fields of the competitions are innovation, entrepreneurship, and technology mainly. The purpose is to encourage the students to attend these competitions, especially for the science of innovation and technology field development competitions. Concerning the opinion towards the impact of the competitions in

China, the Chinese academics Wang Lu, Guo Xiaodong and Liu Yaoqing from

Shandong University wrote:

The Party Central Committee and the State Council have made major decisions to accelerate the implementation of innovation-driven development strategies and the construction of innovative countries. In the internationally recognized and innovative countries, the contribution rate of technological innovation to economic development is usually above 70%. Innovation-driven nature is driven by talents. Talents are the core elements of innovation. The construction of an innovative country is

138 Interview 5, HIC ZJU, 2019.

inseparable from a large number of high-quality talents with innovative entrepre- neurial capabilities.139

According to one of the participants, starting from these small competitions, China can get a higher position in innovation in following years of development. The participant emphasized that the task of the CYL is to organize these events. Students and professors have their works but there is some management needed. The participant said:” There is also some benefit for the supervisor professors because if their students are successful, the popularity and ratings of the professors get higher and this attracts more students”.140

The pattern identified in this subchapter as Publicity brings the evidence and samples of how the Chinese mass organization CYL operates with the publicized information. It influences the processes of modification of the information in order to support the regime and the mechanisms of spreading of this information are based on real-life examples. Information on these examples was collected during the field research conducted at the International Campus of the Zhejiang University in China.

The most frequent codes were analyzed in order to identify the interrelations among them and the research showed that the information is modified based on the selected historical events and the competitions are used as the means for spreading and controlling the information that is spread at the same time.

The main purpose of this pattern is to spread the information in order to support the regime.

139 Wang Lu, Guo Xiaodong, Liu Yaoqing, “The Study on the Role of the Communist Youth League in the Entrepreneurship Education for Female College Students: Based on the Case of Shandong Women’s Entrepreneurship University,” Journal of Shandong Youth University of Political Science 33, n. 5 (September 2017): 43. 140 Interview 2, HIC ZJU, 2019.

4.4 Pattern 4: Competitions

As seen in the three subchapters above, the competitions are addressing each of the patterns. Each time from a different perspective. The competitions are the basic concept in most of the activities in this thesis. They are identified as the “means” for reaching the aim/goals/purpose of the activities. Thus, this pattern of Competitions is excluded and perceived as superior to the rest of the identified patterns (Study,

Ideology, Publicity) in this thesis as shown in the figure below.

Figure 10: The interrelations of the identified patterns

The competitions and the pattern Study are interconnected in the educational sense. The main emphasis in the competitions of Study pattern was in learning history. Once the participants learned the selected supporting CPC historical events, they could compete in the knowledge, and the best participants could win a prize.

The competitions in the Study pattern were means how to support the regime, and the theoretical framework for them was based on the selected moments from the modern history of China.

The competitions and the pattern Ideology are interconnected in the sense of supporting the regime. According to Figure 10, the pattern Ideology is a central pattern that goes directly under the pattern Competitions. Similarly to the pattern Com- petitions, it covers all of the researched competitions in an underlying meaning. The

78 meaning is to support the regime, and to follow the ideology.

The competitions and the pattern Publicity are interconnected in the sense of operating with the information. The activities identified as competitions here include the selection of the topics for the competitions that they use for 1) motivating the students and 2) spread the information. The pattern Publicity was thus identified behind creating the new contents which are spread among the members and the Chi- nese society generally. The contents are created either by the Publicity Department of the CYL or the participants of the competition. In the next step, the results are evaluated by the Publicity Department of the CYL. The purpose of spreading of the information created by the CYL has the purpose of supporting the regime according to the contents.

The competitions, as explained by the members during the data collection, were of a direct and indirect nature. The direct competitions were motivating the students to participate in order to win a prize. The indirect competitions were motivating the students to work hard on their daily basis that would appear rewarding as a result of a long-time process. The CYL members could win prizes such as: extra credits for the voluntary work, the nomination as the outstanding members, the good results and good character as a benefit in the process of CPC membership application and the reputation and awards for the good placement in the knowledge competitions.

From this perspective, even the volunteering activities can be included and explained with the pattern of Competitions since there were teams of volunteers that were competing with each other in their volunteering missions.

The motivation, according to one respondent, differs at the level of the high school and at the university level. The respondent said:

The high school students are in the step of entering the mass organization and being accepted is the main motivation for them. Whereas at the university level, the majority of the students are already members and the motivation there is to become outstanding

among the others.141

On a theoretical basis, there is a gap in research on how exactly the competitions affect learning and especially in China. However, the few studies that were found prove that the competitions are very close to the education system.142 The researchers Helen F. Ladd and Edward B. Fiske from Duke University discovered that

“competition enhances the quality of teaching and learning“.143 Based on this claim, we can see the purpose of the interconnection among the patterns which shows the aim to support the ideology using competitions (and other activities) as a means for it. As shown above, according to the individual respondents’ interpretations of the activities of the CYL, the activities target the interests of the individuals as well as the society in general. Thus, the similarities were discovered between the findings and the narrative of the political concept Chinese dream (Zhongguo Meng 中国梦).

The similarities might bring the new approach, how to interpret the Chinese Dream in the context of the activities of the CYL and its underlying meanings.

Figure 11 China Dream Publicity found in the streets of Shanghai

141 Interview 6, 5 and 7, HIC ZJU, 2019. 142 Tom Verhoeff, The Role of Competitions in Education, Future world: Educating for the 21st century, 1997, vol. 97, 1. 143 Helen F. Ladd, Edward B. Fiske, Does Competition Improve Teaching and Learning? Evindence from New Zealand. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 2003, Vol. 25, N. 1, 110.

5 Conclusion

The aim of this thesis was to collect the data about the CYL regular activities and to analyze them. Primary source, the selected texts from The Constitution of the CYL, were thematically analyzed along with the interviews. The Chinese Communist

Youth League is one of the most prominent mass organizations in China. However, there is a gap in previous research about the regular activities or the contemporary

CYL. For this reason, it is important to research those activities and analyze them.

Although the thesis does not claim the regular activities of the CYL are limited by the ones analyzed here, the analysis showed several patterns coherent within the researched primary sources that help to address the gap in the research concerning the activities of the CYL.

The research questions that were answered in this thesis were:

1) What are the regular activities organized by the university student members of CYL in China?

2) How do the participants as active CYL members individually understand and interpret the meanings of the activities? What are the underlying patterns in the activities? What are the possible explanations of the activities?

The first question was asking for the activities organized by the university student members of CYL. The question was answered using the method of interviews. Interviewing altogether seven members of the CYL helped to collect data concerning the regular activities. The interviews were conducted with the members of the CYL in the International Campus of Zhejiang University in Haining. Besides the ordinary CYL members, some of the participants were also representatives of the selected departments of CYL (Organizational Department Zuzhibu 组织部,

Propaganda Department Wenxuanbu 文宣部, Practice Department Shixianbu 实践

部, Student Clubs Guidance Centre Xuesheng Shetuan Zhidao Zhongxin 学生社团

指导中心).

The research showed that the regular activities organized by the CYL departments differ according to their agenda. It was impossible to interview the representatives of each of the departments of the HIC CYL. However, the Secretary of the CYL (the most powerful person of the grassroots CYL at HIC) was willing to speak on behalf of the missing departments to provide more knowledge about the regular activities. The research also showed that not all of the departments are equally active in organizing activities for the CYL members. The research showed that there are activities that are organized by the CYL regularly. Moreover, it showed that the majority of the activities are competitions, or some form of competition. The research also proved, that the CYL uses competitions as means to motivate students to participate in the activities. And at the same time, to educate them in order to support the regime. “Supporting the regime” was not only one of the most frequent codes in the thematic analysis. As shown in the next paragraph, it was also identified as the purpose of the identified themes.

The second set of questions was answered using the method of a thematic analysis of primary sources – the collected data and selected texts from The Consti- tution of CYL. Altogether, there were four patterns identified based on the coherence within the interconnections of the codified fragments. The identified patterns were:

Study, Ideology, Publicity, Competitions.

The first pattern Study was identified based on the coherence within the theme history. According to the analysis of this pattern, the students are motivated

(by the competitions and other activities) to study the selected topics and create

82 content based on it. The second pattern Ideology was identified based on the coherence within the themes supporting the regime and CPC membership. The pattern

Ideology is reflected in the participants’ narratives about the activities in the sense of supporting the regime. The third pattern Publicity was identified based on the coherence within themes information and action. The pattern was identified based on how the CYL or the CPC work with the information and what means are used to spread it. The research showed that the information is indirectly influenced via competitions where the competitors need to create content based on the topic (most of the researched topics were connected to the selected moments in the history) and the creations were evaluated by the CYL. The information about the winners and their creations are publicized in the news feed of the CYL. Other types of activities involve the groups of volunteers that compete with each other. The last pattern Com- petitions was identified as overlapping in all of the previously identified patterns

(Study, Ideology, Publicity). The pattern Competitions was excluded and perceived as superior to the rest of the identified patterns.

The research showed the interconnection among the four patterns. The pattern Competitions, as mentioned above, was found to overlap in the Study, Ideology and Publicity patterns since competitions were the type of activities that were most often mentioned by the participants. According to their interconnections, the patterns Study and Publicity were found to be interconnected with the pattern Ideology which stands in between them. As the research showed, the pattern Ideology was identified as the closes pattern indicating achievement of the purpose of the activities - supporting the regime. Whereas the pattern Competitions was indicated as the superior pattern to the others and as the means of how to achieve the purpose of the activities that the research showed - supporting the regime.

The research proved that supporting the regime is the central purpose of the researched activities. The codes that were created based on the researched activities and texts from the Constitution and the patterns that were identified based on the interconnection of the codes all indicated the purpose. The patterns in the research showed that the members of the CYL use the tools of studying the (selected by the CPC) moments from the history and act politically correct according to the policy of the CPC. They do so while participating in the publicity activities as a prove for their willingness to be evaluated “exemplary” (according to the CYL).

The interviews showed that the participants expect the advantages of being members of the CYL in the sense of their own future as well as the advantages they can provide for society.

At this stage, the author noticed the interconnection between the narratives of the interviewees and the political concept of the Chinese Dream (Zhongguo Meng

中国梦).144 The perception of the CYL activities in the context of the political narrative of the Chinese Dream which might be interpreted as “doing something for themselves and for the society in general at the same time.” From this perspective, the CYL activities can be perceived as one type of the practical examples of the

Chinese Dream. At the same time, the contemporary CYL members can be perceived as one type of the fundamental elements that would participate in the political narrative of Xi Jinping. This might be a thesis for further research suggested on this topic.

Although the scope of the research is limited to the specific area of HIC ZJU, it is believed that this case study can validate the answer to the research question in this context. The study helps to approximate to a certain level the general idea about

144 For more details on Chinese Dream refer to the chapter titled 4.3 Pattern 3: Publicity.

84 the problem in this scope of the research in this specific context. The results in the conclusion tell us about the contemporary CYL in the International Campus of the

Zhejiang University. Based on these results, the premises about the branches of the

CYL at other campuses are made. However, this research serves only as pilot research introducing and suggesting deeper searching. The premises about the similarities in structure and functions at the rest of the branches of the CYL at other campuses stand also on the fact of the mass organization that follows up the structure of the CPC. In a search for more general claims, further research based on a combination of the rest of campuses and even universities is suggested.

6 Personal Reflections

The aim of this chapter is to reflect and critically sum up the personal thoughts and impressions of the author that came up during the data collection. The chapter was considered to serve as supplementary material for a better understanding of the thesis narrative and does not include any information that would change or influence the conclusions of the research.

The data collection method of this field research was interviewing the participants that are at the same time the CYL members. The field research environment was a Chinese campus and the members were Chinese. As it was mentioned above, the researcher is a European citizen and this fact could influence the research proceedings since the Chinese environment is very sensitive to foreigners and the author is aware of it. It is hard to evaluate whether the non-Chinese identity of the researcher was an advantage or disadvantage since in certain situations it also appeared as a benefit that allowed the researcher to enter the field of observation. In particular, during one of the winter activities when the CYL members make groups and visit high schools and make publicity and speak to the students. Since the groups were competing among each other. Since the researcher got to know many students who were CYL members participating in this activity, one group of the members offered the researcher to help them participate. The presence of a foreigner during this publicity activity would increase the number of points for the group since the publicity would be considered “more successful”. This moment was very interesting for the observation since the researcher could see the proceedings of the activity and the students actually striving to win. The effort of the students was genuine and it showed how successful and effective is the system of the competitions in order to reach the goals.

The fact that the researcher was a student of a similar age category enrolled in the program at the same university as the participants had a positive influence on the confidence and willingness of research participants to cooperate and share information about their membership in the Communist Youth League. This field research was about the mutual cooperation and mutual trust between the participant and the researcher. In order to build trust, the researcher was obligated to step out of the official role of the interviewer and set a friendly atmosphere. The researcher is genuinely interested in the topic of the research and in this case, the interest on the side of the researcher sparkled the willingness to share the information and personal experience from the side of the participants. Some of the participants started creating questions and answering them themselves, letting the researcher be a silent guide of the interview. The willingness is considered to be a positive aspect that helped to bring the original ideas and share personal stories with this research.

From the personal point of view, due to the research proximity between the researcher and the participants, this research contributed not only to the academic purposes but also to the broader overview of the author about the life of university students as the CYL members. It is believed that interviews here brought personal insight, perception and motivation merit that is necessary for this kind of research.

Appendix

Figures and Tables

Figures

Figure 1: The beginning of the article 61

Figure 2: Outstanding students’ awards presentation 62

Figure 3: ECE 1702 branch photograph 62

Figure 4: EE 1701 branch photograph 62

Figure 5: BMS 1702 branch: Photographs of youth and knowledge 63

Figure 6: Publicity of 19th National Congress of the CPC 65

Figure 7: Example of poster 1 66

Figure 8: Second place awarded piece of art 67

Figure 9: Publicity of HIC ZJU at High School n.10 in Hangzhou 73

Figure 10: The interrelations of the identified patterns 77 Figure 11: China Dream Publicity found in the streets of Shanghai 79

Tables

Table 1: Table of key terms 42

Sample Semi-structured Interview Questions

The set of pre-designed questions were as follows:

1. Please, can you introduce yourself and your function in the CYL?

The basic introduction question comes right after the self-introduction of the researcher and the purpose of the study. It is an important part to bring in a more friendly atmosphere that is important for the authenticity of the response. It also contributes to the introduction of the interviewee to the researcher for the clarity in orientation in research goals.

2. When did you decide to join the CYL?

This is an entry question to map the environment and influence or circumstances under which the young people decide to join the CYL.

3. What were the conditions you had to fulfill to become a member?

The membership of CYL is not available for everyone, there are certain conditions that are compulsory for those interested in it. This question might be helpful also for the addition and development of the first question despite information mining.

4. What are your everyday activities in CYL?

A basic question for the mapping research which asks for information regarding the type of activities, their schedule, and other possible answers.

5. How many hours per day/per week do you spend on the activities of CYL?

This question is mapping the basic involvement of members in CYL and can also help to gain the information helpful for a possible conclusion of the range of freedom for personal activities versus engagement in socially beneficial activities.

6. Do you get involved only in the local community or also on higher levels and how?

A question posed for the mapping of a range of the activities and the location of their effect. The answers are supposed to be helpful for the further understanding of the system of the CYL organization.

7. How are the media involved to share your activities? What media are involved the most? / Do you contribute in sharing information via media?

This question asks for the Publicity on the official level but also how do the members themselves spread the information about their activities (via social media, discussions, etc.). Some additional and more personalized questions that might be helpful for gath- ering more information or for conclusions about the topic of membership of CYL might be posed according to the circumstances of each of the respondents.

Sample Interview Transcript

Participant: Male, 1999. Haining, 2019

1. Firstly, can you please introduce yourself – say your name, age, field of study? My Chinese name is (Interview 5), I’m 20 years old, I come from Hebei province. I study Electrical Computer Engineering, it is mainly about the hardware and we also learn how to write codes.

2. Could you introduce your position in CYL? There is a higher organization 上支机构 which is YL Committee for ZJU and international campus YL Committee is in their control, they guide us. There is also an All- China Youth League Committee. So why do we have a Youth League Committee? I believe it is to cultivate people (students) who perhaps will join the Party. And there is a word to describe the YL, it is called the „reserve/resource“ army of the Party. The word „army“ here is not in the meaning of the real army but just to describe a metaphor. It actually has no real connection with an army. It means to prepare, it is like when the group grows up, they can join the party but only some of them. Because in China almost every high school student joins the YL. But it is voluntary, they can choose to join or not but only a few choose not to join. After reaching 28 years old they stop being members automatically and there is no need to submit anything.

3. What might be the reasons not to join? Was there anyone in your class who chose not to join? In my high school class, just everybody joined. Some of them joined first and some joined later. It depended on how well they were doing with their studies. But basically, everyone who wanted could join maybe except for those who would be in jail or so. But I do not know any examples like this, I said just for the example like very special cases. But there was only one student who did not join the YL and I do not know the reason because I never asked him why he did not join.

4. Did it restrict the person anyhow? That he was not a member? I think it was okay. By that time the main thing was to be or not to be a member but not much more about it. So in my school, it was okay, he could not really feel the separation or any big pressure I think.

5. Did you consider to apply for a CPC membership and what are the conditions? Yes, I applied and I actually got accepted. Now I am a preliminary member of CPC, to be accepted there are 32 steps to pass. Firstly, you need to be a member of CYL of course. Secondly, there are some education courses and training. I am one of the first students that managed to enter the CPC pre-training.

6. How many students are usually accepted? Not so many, only excellent students are accepted. In 2013, when I was applying during my army training, there were about 50 students to apply and about 15 got to the training for the CPC.

7. Why it is not so easy now to get accepted? The selection standard is becoming more strict. Anybody can apply, there is a freedom

90 in this. After people apply, we make a research about them. The standards are higher now.

8. Why are they stricter now, do you have any idea? Are there too many people applying? I don’t think there are too many people applying. The president Xi after he became the Secretary he came with this policy. It’s a part of his policy called 从严治党 To strengthen the Party self-discipline (be strict in Party members). If we need to become more self-disciplined, we also need to pay more attention to our standard of choosing who becomes the member. So this is why we made the standards more strict. Also because of corruption, we want to better control this situation.

9. So could you introduce your position in CYL? I am a director (head) of Students Clubs Guidance center 学生社团指导中心.

10. What exactly is the department in charge of? Get the students to organize clubs and we are in charge of all the students’ clubs here. We are in charge of YL at the college.

11. What activities are you in charge of? Actually, we are not like the Students’ Union. Our goal is not to hold activities, it is more like we provide service and guidance to the students’ clubs. Every year there are new S’s clubs emerging. So do students know how to start a club? They contact us and we provide the information. Actually, we would offer guidance in advance because it is our job to the students that want to start the club. They first need to submit the proposal to us and we need to check whether it fits in our demand. Because there are some rules for these students' clubs, what kinds of activities they can and cannot do.

12. What kind of activities are prohibited? For example, clubs with any kind of religion. Because in Chinese college to spread the religion (missionaries) is not allowed. Also, for example, anything about politics, you cannot start the club to spread your thoughts about the Party.

13. Do you think that the CYL is beneficial for the society and university environment? Yes, I have two views on this. First, is, why do we choose the group leaders, the good ones to become members of the YL and the Party? Because we want them to be the ones to let others be an example for the others and that others can learn from them. To learn from some really good aspects of the personal qualities and also the necessary abilities/skills. Another side is also the strong basics of what you believe. So here it is Marxism. If you do not have a strong basis in what you believe, even if you are a genius in other aspects, you cannot become a member of our organization. So, if you want to join us, you firstly need to agree with what we believe in. I think it is beneficial because we have a group that consists of the exemplary ones and this is definitely one of the benefits for society. Besides, as a Chinese student, I really think China is a very strong world economy that is developing very fast but is still a developing country. This great achievement of China is really because there is the Communist Party. I am not saying this now because

I am a member of it. It is because when remembering history, it was the Communist Party who built the new history of the country. So, I think the CPC is very important for China and that stays the leading power. So how can the Party maintain the leading power? It needs to have a source from where it can choose good members to become one of them. So, this is also definitely another benefit of CYL. So, it is also a way how to maintain power just like big cooperation (company 企业). There is actually a saying that describes the CPC as the greatest company in China because firstly there were only 13 members who started the CPC in 1921. And now China thanks to them became the second economy in the world.

Themes For the clarification of the differences among the codes, this chapter shows the examples from the primary sources of the analytically codified fragments. As mentioned in the thesis, some parts of information were assigned with more than one code. Subsequently, the parts of information were regrouped according to the most frequent codes and re-read in new contexts created based on the codes.

1 history Codes: • remembering history “Yes, the movement is very important in the history of China and we don´t want to forget about this. And if students remember it, it can help them to work harder.” (Interview 2)

• memorizing moments of history “Let the students know what happened in the history and take pictures and write some essays to show their friend some important moments of history and memorize this moment.” (Inter- view 1)

• learn from history “Also, we visit historical places that are important.” (Interview 4)

• study history “Our department does only collection and organization of some lectures about the CPC or something associated to CPC and give lecture to the applicants or find teachers for this, and also organize some discussion class.” (Interview 4)

• train and educate “Provide education, management and service to the members, improve the organization and life of the group, implement the "three associations, two systems and one lesson" system, carry out criticism and self-criticism, supervise the actual implementation of the obligations of the group members, protect the rights of the group members from infringement, and praise advanced, disciplined executive team.“ (Constitution)

2 supporting the regime Codes: • believing in Marxism “Another side is also the strong basic of in what you believe. So, here it is Marxism.” (In- terview 6)

• being exemplary

“If the student is not a member of CYL, it means that he/she is not pioneer enough. Everyone who wants to be in Party needs to be the member of CYL first. And only the excellent members can become CPC members.” (Interview 1)

• supporting ideology „Organize league members and youths to study Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the important thinking of the "Three Represents," the scientific outlook on development, Xi Jinping's thoughts of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, learn the party's line, principles, and policies, and study groups Basic knowledge of Zhanghe regiment, learning science, culture, law, and business.“ (Constitution) • fighting „Education league members and youths learn from revolutionary predecessors, inherit the party's fine traditions, carry forward socialist morality, promote online themes, establish new concepts compatible with reform, opening up, and social development, consciously resist bad tendencies, and resolutely fight against all kinds of violations of discipline Fight against illegal acts.“ (Constitution)

3 CPC membership Codes: • advantages “The benefit can be when they try to find the job, it can be an advantage for them.” (Interview 5)

• application for CPC “I think the person who wants to join the Party must be very convinced about it and must know the true reasons why they are joining.” (Interview 2)

• hierarchy “In the school system, the CYL would be responsible for all of the students organizations and CYL is lead by the CPC.” (Interview 7)

4 information Codes: • working with information “We should inform students about what was happening and what information or what was decided during the meeting (National Congress).” (Interview 2) • creating content “We have about fourteen students who are excellent at writing articles and they are in charge of it.” (Interview 2) • spreading the information “Most of activities in my department we publish here on WeChat.” (Interview 2) • way of informing

“Some students write what they feel about the movement and then the best essay is chosen to be sent.” (Interview 2) • control

“For example, clubs with any kind of religion are prohibited.” (Interview 3)

• Promotion “I also make some posters for Youth Committee.” (Interview 2) 5 action Codes: • development “Now I am preliminary member of CPC, to be accepted, there are 32 steps to pass.” (Interview 5) • being active “Not so many, only excellent students are accepted.” (Interview 5)

• being empathetic “There are some underlaying meanings in activities that help students understand this, for example, in social practice activities, that we have every summer and winter. Students go to the poor parts of China and help people there. This way students also learn to do something for the society, for the others.” (Interview 6)

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