Prometheus of the Revolution

Abstract

The development of modern education beginning in the late nineteenth century created a new type of educator—the public school teacher—in rural China. This article examines why rural school teachers turned out to be the vanguard of the Chinese communist revolution in the countryside. Most rural teachers, it shows, were young men in their twenties from humble farming families. Their age and background made them energetic and critical, and their training and profession made them the modern intellectual elite in rural villages and towns. But their poor living and working conditions did not live up to either their education or their expectations. This situation caused the radical and revolutionary ideas sowed in their minds during their professional training to take root. A large number of them thus joined the Communist Party and carried the torch of the urban-born communist movement into the countryside.

The Chinese Communist Party: A 100-Year Trajectory

“…18 Among these intellectuals, schoolteachers, in particular, played a crucial role in the Chinese Communist revolution. They helped the CCP take root in the countryside and to further create and sustain base areas in central and north China (Liu 2009).…”

Public schools’ characteristics and teacher turnover in Oman

“…Urban areas are large and high-density populated, heterogeneous areas (Wilson & Donnermeyer, 2006), while remote areas tend to be small, low-populated areas that have poorer connectivity, and lack of roads, public transportation, and healthcare (Mitra, Dangwal, & Thadani, 2008). Urban schools are more favorable to teachers because of location and short commute distance to home (Boyd, Lankford, Loeb, & Wyckoff, 2005), while rural and remote areas are not favorable to teachers due to the geographical, cultural, and professional isolation (Liu, 2009). …”