ABSTRACT
In China, an intellectual probably has a high school education. Increasingly, the term has come to connote somewhat more learning than that, although fewer than half of one percent of all Chinese are college graduates. To a greater extent than in the West, the term “intellectual” has always indicated noninvolvement in physical activity, though this was a “contradiction” which Maoists have sought to resolve. During Mao Zedong’s later years, intellectuals were demeaned, and often persecuted. The Party has circulated repeated pronouncements to the effect that treatment and conditions of intellectuals must be improved. The most notable was that sent out in January 1984. Three departments (Organization, Propaganda, and United Front) of the Central Committee issued a “Circular Concerning a Sincere Investigation of Conditions for Implementing the Policy on Intellectuals.” Liaowang goes on to blame egalitarian sentiment, which is described as a legacy of China’s feudal society.
