Study On Thrifty Household Movement In Shijiazhuang(1957-1959)

The basic completion of socialist transformation in 1956 marked that China had entered the primary stage of socialism.The Eighth Congress of the Communist Party of China(CPC)held in September 1956,clearly stated that at the present stage,the main contradiction in China’s society was between the people’s ever-growing material and cultural needs and the backward social production.Guided by the spirit of the Eighth Congress of the Communist Party of China(CPC),and in order to meet the needs of comprehensive socialism construction,the Third Congress of Chinese Women established the working policy of "Building the Country with Diligence and Frugality and Diligence and Frugality Housekeeping",and set off a nationwide upsurge of diligence and frugality housekeeping with women as the mainstay,Shijiazhuang responded to the call actively and launched a vigorous campaign of diligence and frugality housekeeping in both urban and rural areas.By analyzing archives,newspapers and other documents,and based on historical materials,this paper provides a comprehensive overview of the multifaceted aspects of diligence and frugality housekeeping campaign in Shijiazhuang from 1957 to 1959,and clarifies the development of the campaign in the local region.The campaign is roughly divided into three stages.At the stage of initial development stage,the diligence and frugality housekeeping campaign was influenced by the activities of the "Five Good Civilized Families" and centered on the family,the main contents were diligence and frugality housekeeping,family and neighborhood solidarity,education of children and the promotion of open and democratic management of the family economy,and then gradually established a new type of family with democracy,harmony,unity,production,diligence and thrift.At the stage of the comprehensive development,on the basis of propaganda and promotion of diligent and thrifty families,women were further educated on the ideology of loving the country,loving the society and loving the family,with the characteristic of emphasizing the overall interests at the early stage of socialist construction.At the stage of consolidation and completion,the campaign was once marginalized because of the "Great Leap Forward",but later,under the call of the Women’s Federation,the conditions of the Red Flag Unit and Red Flag Individuals of diligence and frugality housekeeping were clearly put forward,and the craze of everyone striving to be a Red Flag Individual was set off to promote the work of diligence and frugality housekeeping and consolidated the achievements of the campaign.In implementing the campaign,Shijiazhuang took various measures: using various forms of propaganda such as newspapers,audio broadcasting,holding exhibitions and conferences to expand the influence of the campaign,making the masses aware of the importance of being diligent and thrifty and raising their ideological consciousness;training cadres,raising the ideological awareness of the working backbone and correctly grasping the direction of the campaign;conducting ideological education in response to the ideological situation among the masses,meantime,mobilizing the masses to make family plans and exploring the potential of diligence and frugality by calculating detailed accounts and finding loopholes;organizing evaluation competitions,thus set off a fervor to learn from and catch up with the advanced deeds.At the end of the 1950 s,diligence and frugality housekeeping campaign in Shijiazhuang consolidated the achievements of socialist education and further raised the consciousness of the masses.The masses became more aware of the close relationship between the country,the collective and the family,understood that diligence and frugality was good for the family,the collective and the country,realized that housework was also an honorable position,and inspired women to work creatively in production and life.By being diligence and frugality household,a large amount of materials were saved,promoted the development of savings,gathered a large amount of loose funds for the country to invest in construction,and strongly supported the socialist construction of the country.Diligence and frugality housekeeping are not only of great significance to national construction,but also have changed people’s way of family life.A new atmosphere of diligence and frugality has emerged,and a new social fashion of honorable of diligence and frugality and shame of waste and laziness has established gradually.It also plays an important and positive role in improving family life,promoting family harmony and unity,and cultivating the habit of diligence and frugality and loving labor working among children.Many valuable experiences have been accumulated in the campaign for diligence and frugality household,which are still of great significance for family building in the new era today.