An egalitarian society is a society where people are supposed to have more equal rights, status, and access to resources. In History of Modern China, the term usually points to Mao-era efforts, especially the Great Leap Forward, to erase class divisions through collective living and production.
In History of Modern China, an egalitarian society is Mao’s idea of a more equal social order, where class distinctions are reduced and people share resources, labor, and political purpose. The goal was not just fairness in the abstract. It was a revolutionary vision of how people should live, work, and even eat together under socialism.
This idea became especially visible during the Great Leap Forward, launched in 1958. Mao and the Chinese government tried to move China quickly from an agricultural society toward a modern socialist industrial power. To do that, they pushed communal living, collective ownership, and mass participation in production, all meant to show that the old social hierarchy was being wiped away.
In practice, egalitarian society during this period often meant fewer visible differences between rich and poor peasants, and between managers and workers. Communal kitchens, shared tools, and collective farms were supposed to replace private household-based life. The message was that everyone would contribute to the socialist project and benefit from it together, rather than individuals gaining advantage over others.
That said, the term can sound more fair than the policy actually was. The state still made the decisions, and people were expected to follow political goals set from above. So even though the language was about equality, the system could be highly coercive, with pressure to conform and little room to question policy.
The Great Leap Forward shows why this term matters. Mao linked equality to rapid transformation, believing that socialist consciousness and shared labor could build a new society faster than gradual economic planning. The result was far more complicated, because the drive for egalitarianism collided with unrealistic production targets, weak incentives, and disastrous famine.
So when you see egalitarian society in this unit, think less about a general idea of fairness and more about a Maoist attempt to remake Chinese society through collectivism, ideological unity, and the elimination of class distinctions.
This term matters because it captures one of the central promises of Maoist rule: that political revolution could reshape daily life, not just government. In the Great Leap Forward, egalitarian society was part of the argument for why communal kitchens, collective farming, and shared production were supposed to work. If you understand the term, you can explain why those policies sounded persuasive to revolutionaries even when they produced disaster.
It also helps you read Mao-era policy as ideology, not just economics. The point was not simply to raise output. It was to create a new socialist person and a new social order with fewer class boundaries. That is why the term connects directly to Maoist Ideology, collectivization, and self-reliance.
For essays and short answers, this term gives you a clean way to describe the gap between revolutionary goals and real outcomes. China’s leaders claimed they were building equality, but the campaign often brought hardship, coercion, and famine. That tension is one of the best lenses for interpreting the Great Leap Forward and Mao’s broader project.
Keep studying History of Modern China Unit 13
Visual cheatsheet
view galleryCollectivization
Collectivization is the policy tool that made egalitarian society look concrete in the countryside. Instead of families farming their own plots, land and labor were organized collectively, which was supposed to reduce class differences and increase output. In the Great Leap Forward, this went beyond farming and into shared kitchens, communal living, and group labor campaigns.
Maoist Ideology
Maoist Ideology gives the political logic behind egalitarian society. Mao believed class struggle, mass participation, and ideological commitment could transform China faster than slow economic development. The idea of equality was therefore tied to revolutionary zeal, not just social fairness, and it justified pushing people into collective systems.
Socialism
Socialism is the broader framework that made egalitarian society sound achievable. In this course, socialism refers to a system where production and resources are organized for collective benefit rather than private profit. Maoism tried to make that ideal visible in everyday life through shared labor, public ownership, and the weakening of class hierarchy.
self-reliance
Self-reliance connects to egalitarian society because Mao wanted China to depend less on foreign models and more on its own people. Backyard furnaces and local production campaigns were supposed to show that ordinary Chinese could help build the nation together. This fits the egalitarian ideal, but it also exposed how unrealistic the campaign could be.
A quiz or essay prompt may ask you to explain how the Great Leap Forward tried to build a more equal society, so use the term to connect ideology with policy. Define egalitarian society in Mao’s terms, then point to specific examples like collective ownership, communal kitchens, and mass labor campaigns. If the question asks why the policy failed, show the tension between the promise of equality and the reality of famine, coercion, and bad production planning.
For source analysis, watch for language about classless living, shared resources, or eliminating old social differences. Those clues usually point to an egalitarian goal. A strong answer does not stop at “equality,” it explains how the state tried to enforce it and what consequences followed.
Communism is the broader political and economic system, while egalitarian society is the social ideal of reducing hierarchy and inequality. In Mao-era China, egalitarian society was one goal inside a communist project, especially during the Great Leap Forward. If a question is about the overall system, use communism. If it is about equalizing daily life, class distinctions, or communal living, use egalitarian society.
An egalitarian society in Modern China means a social order meant to reduce class distinctions and distribute resources more equally.
The Great Leap Forward turned this idea into policy through communes, communal kitchens, collective ownership, and mass labor.
Maoist equality was political as well as economic, because it was tied to revolutionary identity and class struggle.
The term sounds fair, but in practice it could involve heavy state control, pressure to conform, and serious hardship.
Use this term to explain the gap between Mao’s promise of social equality and the disaster that followed.
It is Mao’s vision of a more equal socialist society where class distinctions are reduced and people share labor and resources more collectively. In the Great Leap Forward, that idea showed up in communes, shared meals, and public ownership. The term is about both equality and the attempt to remake everyday life.
The Great Leap Forward tried to make Chinese society more equal by replacing private family-based life with collective systems. Communal kitchens, shared tools, and pooled labor were supposed to erase class divisions and speed up socialism. The problem was that these reforms were imposed too quickly and helped produce famine.
Not exactly. Communism is the larger political and economic system, while egalitarian society is the ideal of making people more equal in status and access to resources. In Maoist China, egalitarian society was one part of the communist project, especially in the Great Leap Forward.
A strong example is the commune system during the Great Leap Forward. People ate in communal kitchens, worked in collective units, and shared resources rather than relying on private household production. That setup was meant to reduce inequality, even though it ended up creating major problems.