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Moderately prosperous society or Xiaokang society (), is a Chinese term, originally of
Confucianism Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a Religious Confucianism, religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, ...
, used to describe a society composed of a functional
middle-class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Com ...
. In December 1979,
Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. Aft ...
, then
paramount leader of China Paramount leader () is an informal term for the most important political figure in the People's Republic of China (PRC). The paramount leader typically controls the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Liberation Army (PLA), often ho ...
, first proposed the idea of "Xiaokang" based on the "
Four Modernizations The Four Modernizations (simplified Chinese: 四个现代化; traditional Chinese: 四個現代化) were goals first set forth by Deng Xiaoping to strengthen the fields of agriculture, industry, defense, and science and technology in China. T ...
". The term is best known in recent years through its use by
Hu Jintao Hu Jintao (born 21 December 1942) is a Chinese politician who served as the 16–17th general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 2002 to 2012, the 6th president of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from 2003 to 2013, and ...
,
General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party The general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party () is the head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Since 1989, the CCP general secretary has been the paramount lead ...
between 2002 and 2012, when referring to economic policies intended to realise a more equal distribution of wealth. In the usages (''Tifa'') of current General Secretary
Xi Jinping Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, ...
, the term " Chinese Dream" has gained somewhat greater prominence. During the annual National Party Congress meeting of 2015, Xi unveiled a set of political slogans called the
Four Comprehensives The Four Comprehensives, or the Four-pronged Comprehensive Strategy () is a list of political goals for China, put forward by Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 2014. They are: # Comprehensively build a mo ...
, which include "Comprehensively build a moderately prosperous society."


Origins

It has been loosely translated as a "basically well-off" society in which the people are able to live relatively comfortably, albeit ordinarily. The term was first used in ''
Classic of Poetry The ''Classic of Poetry'', also ''Shijing'' or ''Shih-ching'', translated variously as the ''Book of Songs'', ''Book of Odes'', or simply known as the ''Odes'' or ''Poetry'' (; ''Shī''), is the oldest existing collection of Chinese poetry, c ...
'' written as early as 3,000 years ago. ''Xiaokang'' may be associated with an Engel's coefficient of 40-50 percent.


Modern political discourse

Chinese leader
Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. Aft ...
used the terms ''Xiaokang society'' in 1979 as the eventual goal of Chinese modernization. The vision of a ''xiaokang'' society is one in which most people are moderately well off and
middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. C ...
, and in which economic prosperity is sufficient to move most of the population in mainland China into comfortable means, but in which economic advancement is not the sole focus of society. Explicitly incorporated into the concept of a ''Xiaokang'' society is the idea that economic growth needs to be balanced with sometimes conflicting goals of social equality and environmental protection. The revival of the concept of a ''Xiaokang'' Society was in part a criticism of social trends in mainland China in the 1990s under
Jiang Zemin Jiang Zemin (17 August 1926 – 30 November 2022) was a Chinese politician who served as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1989 to 2002, as chairman of the Central Military Commission from 1989 to 2004, and as p ...
, in which many in China felt was focusing too much on the newly rich and not enough on mainland China's rural poor. Furthermore, there has been a fear in some circles that Chinese society has become too materialistic placing material wealth above all other social needs. In contrast to previous concepts such as the spiritual civilization and the campaigns against
bourgeois liberalization Bourgeois liberalization () is a term used by the Chinese Communist Party to refer to either the prevalent political orientation of Western representative democracy or mainstream Western popular culture. The late 1980s saw the first major usage o ...
in the 1980s, the concept of the ''Xiaokang'' society does not involve heroic self-sacrifice and does not place the material and the spiritual in opposition. The vision of a ''Xiaokang'' society sees the need for economic growth to provide prosperity, but it sees the need for this prosperity to be broadly distributed. In addition, the concept of a ''Xiaokang'' society is the first time in which the
Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Ci ...
has used a
classical Chinese Classical Chinese, also known as Literary Chinese (古文 ''gǔwén'' "ancient text", or 文言 ''wényán'' "text speak", meaning "literary language/speech"; modern vernacular: 文言文 ''wényánwén'' "text speak text", meaning "literar ...
concept to legitimize its vision for the future of China. Its recent use has been associated with
Hu Jintao Hu Jintao (born 21 December 1942) is a Chinese politician who served as the 16–17th general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 2002 to 2012, the 6th president of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from 2003 to 2013, and ...
and
Wen Jiabao Wen Jiabao (born 15 September 1942) is a retired Chinese politician who served as the Premier of the State Council from 2003 to 2013. In his capacity as head of government, Wen was regarded as the leading figure behind China's economic polic ...
as a goal for
mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the China, People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming Island, Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territorie ...
to reach by the year 2020. ''Xiaokang'' is also a name for a semi-monthly magazine that is affiliated to the
Qiushi ''Qiushi'' () is the leading official theoretical journal of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), published bi-monthly by the Central Party School and the Central Committee. The journal is headquartered in Beijing. The publication aims to publi ...
Magazine, the party-run magazine in Beijing. Started in 2004, it mainly focuses on the political and economic development in China. Referring to itself as "Insight China", ''Xiaokang'' defines itself as a magazine that voices public opinions and discuss the current affairs regarding the Chinese Politics and social cultures.


Common prosperity

Common prosperity is also focused on prosperity of society, a fundamental issue in Chinese politics, but its not related to MPS despite the focus on
prosperity Prosperity is the flourishing, thriving, good fortune and successful social status. Prosperity often produces profuse wealth including other factors which can be profusely wealthy in all degrees, such as happiness and health. Competing notions ...
.


See also

*
Buddhist economics Buddhist economics is a spiritual and philosophical approach to the study of economics. It examines the psychology of the human mind and the emotions that direct economic activity, in particular concepts such as anxiety, aspirations and self-a ...
*
Harmonious Society The Harmonious Society (; also known as Socialist Harmonious Society) is a socioeconomic concept in China that is recognized as a response to the increasing alleged social injustice and inequality emerging in mainland Chinese society as a result ...
* Real socialism *
Sufficiency economy Sufficiency economy () is the name of a Thai development approach attributed to the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej's "sufficiency economy philosophy" (SEP). It has been elaborated upon by Thai academics and agencies, promoted by the Government of T ...


References

{{China topics, state=collapsed Politics of China Society of China Deng Xiaoping Political ideologies Confucianism Ideology of the Chinese Communist Party