Moderately prosperous society

Moderately prosperous society or Xiaokang society (), is a Chinese term, originally of Confucianism, used to describe a society composed of a functional middle-class. In December 1979, Deng Xiaoping, then paramount leader of China, first proposed the idea of "Xiaokang" based on the " Four Modernizations".

The term is best known in recent years through its use by Hu Jintao, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party between 2002 and 2012, when referring to economic policies intended to realize a more equal distribution of wealth. In the usages (''Tifa'') of current General Secretary Xi Jinping, the term Chinese Dream has gained somewhat greater prominence. In 2015, Xi unveiled a set of political slogans called the Four Comprehensives, 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'' written as early as 3,000 years ago. ''Xiaokang'' also appears in the ''Book of Rites''.

Modern political discourse

The vision of a ''xiaokang'' society is one in which most people are moderately well off and middle class, 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.

Deng Xiaoping described a ''xiaokang'' society as a goal of the Four Modernizations. In a 1979 discussion with Japanese Prime Minister Masayoshi Ōhira, Deng used the concept to distinguish China's path of development from other approaches, stating, "The Four Modernizations we hope to realize are a Chinese Four Modernizations. Our conceptualization of the Four Modernizations is not like your conception of modernization, but it is a ''xiaokang'' family."

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, in which many in China felt was focusing too much on the newly rich and not enough on mainland China's rural poor. At the 16th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in 2002, Jiang, set a goal of achieving comprehensive ''xiaokang'' by 2020. Hu Jintao reiterated this goal at the 17th Party Congress and the 18th Party Congress. At the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party on 1 July 2021, Xi Jinping declared that China achieved its goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects.

''Xiaokang'' is also a name for a semi-monthly magazine that is affiliated to the ''Qiushi'' Magazine, the party-run magazine in Beijing. Started in 2004, it mainly focuses on the political and economic development in China.

Chinese state media has used the term "''Xiaokang'' villages" to describe structures built by the People's Liberation Army near the Line of Actual Control in its ongoing border dispute with India.

See also

* Buddhist economics
* Harmonious Society
* Real socialism
* Sufficiency economy

References

{{China topics, state=collapsed

Politics of the People's Republic of China
Society of the People's Republic of China
Deng Xiaoping
Political ideologies
Confucianism in China
Ideology of the Chinese Communist Party