API tools faq
paste
Advertisement
jonstond2

The Great Leap Forward and the Famine (Chinese Studies)

jonstond2
Jun 11th, 2018
1,872
0
Never
Add comment
Not a member of Pastebin yet? Sign Up, it unlocks many cool features!
text 60.64 KB | None | 0 0
raw download clone embed print report
  1.  
  2. Introduction
  3. Until the early 1980s, little was known about the Great Leap Famine (1959–1962) that caused the deaths of 15 to 45 million Chinese. Mao Zedong’s campaign called the “Great Leap Forward” (1958–1961) (大跃进) aimed to transform China into a modern industrial nation and to prepare China for communism in the near future. However, the Great Leap resulted in one of the greatest disasters in history. In the three years that followed, a massive famine occurred. Serious academic demographic research started when the population census completed in 1982 became available. In the 1990s, political scientists and economists dominated the field of research. They tried to adopt Western theories of bureaucratic organizations and apply statistical models to understand the causes and progression of the Great Leap. The research in this period was strongly focused on the role of Mao Zedong and elite politics. In the 2000s, a new generation of scholars carried out research regarding the experiences of ordinary people and the famine at the village level. It became possible for foreign scholars to hold oral history interviews with survivors of the famine and get access to county archives. Substantial provincial and local variations regarding death rates and the radicalism of leaders were debated. While some books on the famine were banned on mainland China, memoirs of cadres, new biographies of party leaders, or collections of government documents could be published. In the last few years, the Great Leap Famine has become a hot topic and scholarly research has reached a broader Western audience. New archival histories have been published based on documents from provincial archives.
  4.  
  5. General Overviews
  6. Several general histories of the Great Leap and the famine have been written. The earliest monograph dealing with the horrors of the famine is Becker 1996. Mao’s former secretary wrote Li 1999, which focused on central policies and changing strategies of the chairman. Yang 2008 and Dikötter 2010 are new histories of the famine that are based on files from provincial archives. More facts became known about deadly violence that cadres carried out against peasants and the large degree of human suffering. The edited volumes Manning and Wemheuer 2011 and Ding and Song 2009 include collections of articles written by Western and Chinese scholars on the topic and present an overview of the state of the field.
  7.  
  8. Becker, Jasper. Hungry Ghosts: Mao’s Secret Famine. London: John Murray, 1996.
  9.  
  10. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  11.  
  12. This important pioneer study by journalist Jasper Becker was one of the first monographs on the famine. He interviewed peasants in major disaster areas such as Xinyang (Henan Province) and Fengyang (Anhui Province). Since the publication of this work, better academic introductions on the topic have become available.
  13.  
  14. Find this resource:
  15.  
  16. Dikötter, Frank. Mao’s Great Famine: The History of China’s Most Devastating Catastrophe, 1958–1962. London: Bloomsbury, 2010.
  17.  
  18. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  19.  
  20. This first archival history in a Western language is based on research of numerous provincial archives in China. For critical reviews see: Ó Gráda, Cormac. “Great Leap into Famine: A Review Essay.” Population and Development Review 37.1 (2011): 191–202; Wemheuer, Felix. “Sites of Horror: Mao’s Great Famine,” The China Journal 66 (2011): 155–162; Garnaut, Anthony. “Hard Facts and Half-Truths: The New Archival History of China’s Great Famine.” China Information 27.2 (2013): 223–246.
  21.  
  22. Find this resource:
  23.  
  24. Ding Shu 丁抒 and Song Yongyi 宋永毅, eds. Dayuejin—Da jihuang: Lishi he bijiao shiye xia de shishi he sibian (大跃进—大饑荒: 歷史和比較視野下的史實和思辨). 2 vols. Hong Kong: Tianyuan Shushi Chuban, 2009.
  25.  
  26. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  27.  
  28. This is a rich collection of academic articles that are written mainly by scholars from mainland China.
  29.  
  30. Find this resource:
  31.  
  32. Li Rui 李锐. Dayuejin qinli ji (大跃进亲历记). 2 vols. Haikou, China: Nanfang Chubanshe, 1999.
  33.  
  34. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  35.  
  36. This personal account of Mao Zedong’s former secretary Li Rui deals with the period from the early campaigns of the Great Leap in 1957 to the Lushan Conference in the summer of 1959. It provides valuable information on government policies and on the role of Mao in setting those policies.
  37.  
  38. Find this resource:
  39.  
  40. Manning, Kimberley Ens, and Felix Wemheuer, eds. Eating Bitterness: New Perspectives on China’s Great Leap Forward and the Famine. Vancouver: University Press of British Columbia, 2011.
  41.  
  42. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  43.  
  44. This edited volume focuses on social history and shows how ordinary men and women from the provincial level to the grassroots experienced the famine. It also includes translations of chapters written by scholars from mainland China.
  45.  
  46. Find this resource:
  47.  
  48. Yang Jisheng 杨继绳. Mubei—Zhongguo liushi niandai da jihuang jishi (墓碑—中国六十年代大饥荒纪实). 2 vols. Hong Kong: Tiandi Tushu, 2008.
  49.  
  50. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  51.  
  52. The first volume of this archival study written by the former journalist Yang brings to light many new details of the horror caused by famine in nine provinces. The second volume dealing with elite politics and the role of Mao is less innovative. For scholars who are in command of the Chinese language, the first volume is a must-read because the English and German translations include only a few chapters of the original. Translations into English, French, and German of condensed versions: Yang Jisheng. Tombstone: The Great Chinese Famine 1958–1962 (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2012).
  53.  
  54. Find this resource:
  55.  
  56. Archives
  57. In the PRC, archives are a part of the state bureaucracy. According to Chinese law and in theory, all documents should be open to public after thirty years. However, the state can classify documents with sensitive topics such as starvation, cannibalism, or terror against peasants. Access to archival documents varies at different levels of the state. It is also highly related to the political climate and personal relations. Most easy for scholars to access are archives at the city and county level. County archives should also include materials from the People’s Commune, but documents from the communes were sometimes badly preserved. Some Chinese and Western scholars have successfully carried out research in several provincial archives. However, the archives of major disaster areas such as Henan and Anhui proved extremely difficult to enter. No Chinese or Western scholar of the Great Leap Famine has thus far been allowed to do research in the Central Party Archive in Beijing. An alternative to archival research is to collect “garbage materials” (垃圾资料) in markets for waste paper. In the 1990s, some local archives threw archival documents away that they did not consider worth preserving. At that time, some scholars were able to collect valuable documents such as personal files or court verdicts to carry out research on social history. Later, however, archives and sellers of “waste paper” came to understand the value of archival documents better, and so useful “garbage materials” are harder to get and have become more expensive.
  58.  
  59. Collections of Archival Documents
  60. Collections of archival documents are a useful source not only to study the Great Leap, but also to learn in which ways the state bureaucracy documented and reported events to higher levels. The richest database is Song 2013. Xu 2005 and Zhou 2012 are selected collections of files copied during their respective authors’ own research in archives. The Chinese Academy of Social Science produced a multivolume series of archival documents regarding various aspects of economy and society between 1958 and 1965 (Zhongguo shehui kexue yuan and Zhongyang dang’anguan 2011). In all these cases, the copies of the original files are held by the editors and therefore cannot by checked by the reader.
  61.  
  62. Song Yongyi 宋永毅, ed. The Chinese Great Leap Forward, Great Famine Database 1958–1962. Cambridge, MA: Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, Harvard University, 2013.
  63.  
  64. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  65.  
  66. This database includes over 7,000 primary sources, of which about 3,000 are classified or internal documents. The sources vary from government decisions, newspaper articles, documents from provincial or county archives, and letters written by ordinary citizens to self-criticism of cadres. The full-text search works very well and the collection provides rich material for future generations of scholars. Available for purchase through Chinese University of Hong Kong Press, Zhongguo dayuejin, dajihuang shujuku (中国大跃进, 大饥荒数据库).
  67.  
  68. Find this resource:
  69.  
  70. Xu Xigang 余習廣, ed. Dayuejin. Ku rizi (大躍進. 苦日子). Vol. 1. Hong Kong: Shidai Chaoliu Chuban Youxian Gongsi, 2005.
  71.  
  72. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  73.  
  74. This collection includes documents found in provincial and county archives mostly in Henan Province. It is important to study letters of ordinary people and the so-called Yudong Incident (豫东事件), an early local famine in the east of the province.
  75.  
  76. Find this resource:
  77.  
  78. Zhongguo shehui kexue yuan and Zhongyang dang’anguan 中国社会科学院, 中央档案馆. 1958–1965: Zhonghua renmin gongheguo jingji dang’an ziliao xuanbian. (1958–1965: 中华人民共和国经济档案资料选编). Several vols. Zhongguo Caizheng Jingji Chubanshe, 2011.
  79.  
  80. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  81.  
  82. Several of these volumes comprise archival documents from the central level regarding labor issues, agriculture, foreign trade and so on. Only a few documents deal with the human suffering during the famine, but these collections are still a useful source to study social or economic history of the Great Leap.
  83.  
  84. Find this resource:
  85.  
  86. Zhou, Xun, ed. The Great Famine in China, 1958–1962: A Documentary History. New Haven, CT, and London: Yale University Press, 2012.
  87.  
  88. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  89.  
  90. The book provides 121 extracts from documents collected by the author mainly from provincial archives and includes short introductions to each chapter on topics such as terror, repression, violence, and cannibalism. It is useful for classroom use to study archival documents.
  91.  
  92. Find this resource:
  93.  
  94. Primary Sources
  95. These collections of published sources provide rich material to carry out research on the Great Leap. However, the reader must keep in mind that leading research institutions of the CCP have carefully selected these documents and in some cases have also edited them. The reader cannot be sure that the published versions of these government documents are exact matches of the originals. Documentary collections include material ranging from top-level political decisions down to personal letters. For top-level decisions, Zhonggong zhongyang wenxian yanjiushi 1992–1996 includes the crucial writings and speeches by Mao himself, Li Xiannian zhuan bianxiezu 2011 comes from the perspective of one of China’s leading economic planners, and Zhonggong zhongyang wenxian yanjiushi 1995–1997 includes formal decisions of the Party Central Committee. The broader rural institutional background in terms of collectivization is covered in Zhonggong zhongyang wenxian yanjiushi 1992 and Zhonghua renmin gongheguo 1981. Finally, Asian People’s Anti-Communist League 1962 is a collection of letters from ordinary people to overseas relatives.
  96.  
  97. Asian People’s Anti-Communist League, ed. Famine as Told by Letters from the Chinese Mainland. Taipei: Asian People’s Anti-Communist League, 1962.
  98.  
  99. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  100.  
  101. This collection, published during the high tide of the Cold War, includes letters from the mainland to relatives outside the PRC.
  102.  
  103. Find this resource:
  104.  
  105. Li Xiannian zhuan bianxiezu 李先念传编写组, ed. Jianguo yilai Li Xiannian de wengao, di’er ce: 1954 nian 6 yue-1965 nian 12 yue (建国以来李先念的文稿, 第二册: 1954年6月-1965年12月). Beijing: Zhongyang Wenxian Chubanshe, 2011.
  106.  
  107. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  108.  
  109. This collection of speeches, articles, and notes written by one of China’s leading economic planners provides insights into grain distribution and other topics related to the famine.
  110.  
  111. Find this resource:
  112.  
  113. Zhonggong zhongyang wenxian yanjiushi 中共中央文献研究室, ed. Jianguo yilai Mao Zedong wengao (建国以来毛泽东文稿). Vols. 7–10. Beijing: Zhongyang Wenxian Chubanshe, 1992–1996.
  114.  
  115. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  116.  
  117. This collection of comments, manuscripts, and speeches by Mao is still a major source to study the thought and policies of the Chairman.
  118.  
  119. Find this resource:
  120.  
  121. Zhonggong zhongyang wenxian yanjiushi 中共中央文献研究室, ed. Jianguo yilai nongye hezuohua shiliao huibian (建国以来农业合作化史料汇编). 2 vols. Beijing: Zhonggong Dangshi Chubanshe, 1992.
  122.  
  123. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  124.  
  125. These two volumes regarding the collectivization of agriculture comprise many reports from the provincial level and decisions of the central government related to the People’s Communes and famine.
  126.  
  127. Find this resource:
  128.  
  129. Zhonggong zhongyang wenxian yanjiu shi 中共中央文献研究室, ed. Jianguo yilai zhongyao wenxian xuanbian (建国以来重要文献选编). Vols. 11–15. Beijing: Zhongyang Wenxian Chubanshe, 1995–1997.
  130.  
  131. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  132.  
  133. This collection of decisions by the Central Committee of the CCP can be used to study all kinds of policies in fields varying from education, health care, and economic planning to grain procurement, the People’s Communes, and the militia during the Great Leap. However, it includes only a few documents that deal directly with the famine.
  134.  
  135. Find this resource:
  136.  
  137. Zhonghua renmin gongheguo guojia nongye weiyuanhui bangongting 中华人民共和国国家农业委员会办公厅, ed. Nongye jitihua zhongyao wenjian huibian (农业集体化重要文件汇编). 2 vols. Beijing: Zhongyang Dangxiao Chubanshe, 1981.
  138.  
  139. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  140.  
  141. This is a useful collections of official documents to study collectivization of agriculture and the famine.
  142.  
  143. Find this resource:
  144.  
  145. Provincial and Local Histories
  146. The Great Leap and the famine varied at the provincial level in important ways, as Chen 2011 has shown based on the cases of Anhui and Jiangxi. Written by a political scientist, Yang 1996 tried to explain different provincial death rates in the context of radicalism of leaders. Provincial histories written on major disaster areas such as Henan and Sichuan Province include Domenach 1995 and Dong 2008, respectively. Local events such as the terrible famine in Xinyang (信阳事件) in the South of Henan played an important role in national politics in 1961 and it therefore received attention in later academic research; for example, see Qiao 2009. The memoirs of local cadres such as Zhang 1998 and She 2003 provide horrible details on the famine in Xinyang. We still know very little about the development of the famine in provinces with relatively low death rates.
  147.  
  148. Chen, Yixin. “Under the Same Maoist Sky: Accounting for Death Rate Discrepancies in Anhui and Jiangxi.” In New Perspectives on China’s Great Leap Forward and the Famine. Edited by Kimberley Manning and Felix Wemheuer, 197–225. Vancouver: University Press of British Columbia, 2011.
  149.  
  150. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  151.  
  152. This chapter compares the famine in Anhui and Jiangxi Provinces and explains the different death rates, taking into consideration the factors of geographic stetting, agricultural production, taxation, the numbers of state farms, and the role of provincial leadership.
  153.  
  154. Find this resource:
  155.  
  156. Domenach, Jean-Luc. The Origins of the Great Leap Forward: The Case of One Province. Oxford: Westminster, 1995.
  157.  
  158. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  159.  
  160. The book argues that the power struggle among the party elite of Henan was highly related to contradictions within the central government. It claims that the victory of the radical leader Wu Zhipu over more moderate cadres contributed to the outbreak of the famine.
  161.  
  162. Find this resource:
  163.  
  164. Dong Fu 東夫. Maimiao qingcai huahuang—Da jihuang Chuanxi jishi (麥苗青菜花黃—大饑荒川西紀事). Hong Kong: Tianyuan Shushi Chuban, 2008.
  165.  
  166. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  167.  
  168. Based on impressive archival studies, Dong describes Sichuan’s leap into famine. Sichuan was the province with the highest death toll in China.
  169.  
  170. Find this resource:
  171.  
  172. Qiao Peihua 喬培華. Xinyang shijian (信陽事件). Hong Kong: Kaifang Chubanshe, 2009.
  173.  
  174. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  175.  
  176. Based on her rich studies in the provincial archive in Henan, Qiao explains how and why the so-called “Xinyang Incident” unfolded. The event resulted in an intervention by Mao and the central government. She also discusses in detail the destructive role of the provincial leadership around Wu Zhipu. Unfortunately for the academic reader, footnotes and a detailed bibliography are not provided. The introduction is written by Mao’s former secretary Li Rui.
  177.  
  178. Find this resource:
  179.  
  180. She Dehong 佘德鸿. “Guanyu ‘Xinyang shijian’ de yishu” (关于”信阳事件“的忆述). In Zhongguo nongcun yanjiu. 2002 nian juan. Edited by Zhongguo nongcun yanjiu “bianji weiyuanhui”, 325–355. Beijing: Zhongguo Shehui Kexue Chubanshe, 2003.
  181.  
  182. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  183.  
  184. This memoir of a local cadre from Xinyang constitutes one of the most impressive texts on the famine that has been published in the PRC. She Dehong provides detailed descriptions of mass graves, mountains of corpses, and cannibalism that he witnessed in Xinyang.
  185.  
  186. Find this resource:
  187.  
  188. Wang Gengjin 王耕今. Xiangcun sanshi nian—Fengyang nongcun shehui jingji fazhan shilu, 1949–1983 (乡村三十年—凤阳农村社会经济发展实录, 1949–1983). 2 vols. Beijing: Nongcun Duwu Chubanshe, 1989.
  189.  
  190. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  191.  
  192. This report on Fengyang County in Anhui includes several chapters on the Great Leap Famine. Based on archival documents, the author presents detailed numbers of those people who fled the famine area, were beaten up by cadres, or died of hunger. The report is still the best study of a single county.
  193.  
  194. Find this resource:
  195.  
  196. Yang, Dali L. Calamity and Reform in China: State, Rural Society, and Institutional Change since the Great Leap Famine. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1996.
  197.  
  198. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  199.  
  200. This political science approach tries to demonstrate the importance of several variables as reasons for different death rates at the provincial level.
  201.  
  202. Find this resource:
  203.  
  204. Zhang Shufan 张树藩. “Xinyang shijian: Yige chentong de lishi jiaoxun” (信阳事件：个沉痛的历史教训). Bainian Chao 12.6 (1998): 39–44.
  205.  
  206. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  207.  
  208. This text contains memories of a local cadre who describes his experiences of the famine in Xinyang.
  209.  
  210. Find this resource:
  211.  
  212. Elite Politics
  213. Especially in the 1990s, Western research focused less on the famine than on the campaigns of the Great Leap such as the steel campaign (da lian gangtie 大炼钢铁) and economic planning. It was debated how various actors’ interactions contributed to the famine, as well as whether Mao, his closest colleagues, or various actors in central ministries or provincial bureaucracies were responsible for the failure of the Great Leap. Chinese publications such as the memoires of party leaders focus on the decisions of meetings and the role of Mao. Much less has been written on the intellectual history of the Great Leap.
  214.  
  215. Biographies of Party Leaders
  216. In the late 1990s, official party institutions began to publish biographies of important leaders based on internal documents from the Central Party Archive. The biographies of Mao, Zhou Enlai, and the economic planners Chen Yun and Li Xiannian all include several chapters on the Great Leap and present many new details; for example see Li Xiannian zhuan bianxiezu 2009, Feng and Jin 2003, Jin 1998, etc. However, while the terrible results of the famine are mentioned, the authors emphasize the efforts of the leaders to end the disasters by “readjusting” the national economy starting in late 1960.
  217.  
  218. Feng Xianzhi 逢先知, and Jin Chongji 金冲及. Mao Zedong zhuan, 1949–1976 (毛泽东传, 1949–1976). 2 vols. Beijing: Zhonggong Zhongyang Wenxian Yanjiushi, Zhongyang Wenxian Chubanshe, 2003.
  219.  
  220. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  221.  
  222. This official biography of Mao presents his role during the famine in a relatively uncritical way.
  223.  
  224. Find this resource:
  225.  
  226. Jin Chongji 金冲及. Zhou Enlai zhuan (周恩来传). 4 vols. Beijing: Zhongyang Wenxian Chubanshe, 1998.
  227.  
  228. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  229.  
  230. This official biography of Premier Zhou Enlai is an important source, because he was in charge of grain policies and food exports during the famine.
  231.  
  232. Find this resource:
  233.  
  234. Jin Chongji 金冲及, and Chen Qun 陈群. Chen Yun zhuan (陈云传). Beijing: Zhongyang Wenxian Chubanshe, 2005.
  235.  
  236. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  237.  
  238. The chief planner Chen Yun designed the “readjustment” of the national economy in 1962 and this official biography provides interesting chapters on these policies.
  239.  
  240. Find this resource:
  241.  
  242. Li Xiannian zhuan bianxiezu 李先念传编写组, ed. Li Xiannian zhuan, 1949–1992 (李先念传, 1949–1992). 2 vols. Beijing: Zhongyang Dangshi Chubanshe, 2009.
  243.  
  244. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  245.  
  246. This official biography of one of the most important economic planners provides interesting insights regarding steel and grain production during the famine.
  247.  
  248. Find this resource:
  249.  
  250. Ideology
  251. Despite of the fact that the Great Leap was a period of enormous theoretical production of the CCP, little research has been done on ideological debates. Schoenhals 1987 has outlined the ideology of the Great Leap as whole.
  252.  
  253. Schoenhals, Michael. Saltationist Socialism: Mao Zedong and the Great Leap Forward. Stockholm: University of Stockholm Department of Oriental Languages, 1987.
  254.  
  255. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  256.  
  257. This study reconstructs how Mao developed the idea of the Great Leap including the People’s Commune, the critique of “bourgeois rights,” and the reforms of the supply system. It also discusses the impact of traditional Chinese utopian thought. It is still the only monograph on the intellectual history of that period and is worth reading.
  258.  
  259. Find this resource:
  260.  
  261. Mao Zedong and Elite Politics
  262. Many publications in the 1990s debated the roles of Mao in central leadership and various government bureaucracies. While Bachman 1991 and Chan 2001 argued that bureaucratic agencies played a curtail role, Li Rui 1989, Bo 1991, and Teiwes and Sun 1999 believe that Mao, as the leader of the party, was the architect of the catastrophe. Bernstein 2006 pointed out that Mao did not produce the famine on purpose, but he launched relief measures much too late. Kung and Chen 2011 tried to prove that ambiguous provincial leaders implemented the policies of the Great Leap in radical ways to get promoted. Yang, et al. 2014 used also empirical data to disprove this argument. Gao 2000 pointed out that Mao’s misinterpretation of the reasons for the famine resulted in his attack on local cadres during the Four Clean Up-Movement. MacFarquhar 1974–1997 focused on the impact of the Great Leap on the power struggle between Mao and Liu Shaoqi as the prelude to the Cultural Revolution.
  263.  
  264. Bachman, David. Bureaucracy, Economy, and Leadership in China: The Institutional Origins of the Great Leap Forward. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1991.
  265.  
  266. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511664144Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  267.  
  268. The author tries to explain how the struggle between competing factions of heavy industry and finance within the bureaucracy contributed to the Great Leap. Bachman claims that the coalition of heavy industry was successful in allying with radicalism in the CCP to enforce the Leapist strategy of development.
  269.  
  270. Find this resource:
  271.  
  272. Bernstein, Thomas. “Mao Zedong and the Famine of 1959–1960: A Study in Willfulness.” China Quarterly 186 (June 2006): 421–445.
  273.  
  274. DOI: 10.1017/S0305741006000221Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  275.  
  276. Based on primary sources published in the PRC, the article argues that Mao did not intentionally cause the famine, but reacted much too late to enforce effective relief programs.
  277.  
  278. Find this resource:
  279.  
  280. Bo Yibo 薄一波. Ruogan zhongda juece yu shijian de huigu (若干重大决策与事件的回顾). 2 vols. Beijing: Zhongyang Dangxiao Chubanshe, 1991.
  281.  
  282. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  283.  
  284. This memoir of one of China’s most high-ranking economic cadres includes over 300 pages on the Great Leap. It is written according to the official verdicts on the Great Leap and states that the introduction of the People’s Communes was a “leftist mistake.” Because of the detailed descriptions of Mao’s decisions and government policies, it is still a must-read for all scholars of PRC history.
  285.  
  286. Find this resource:
  287.  
  288. Chan, Alfred. Mao’s Crusade: Politics and Policy Implementation in China’s Great Leap Forward. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.
  289.  
  290. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  291.  
  292. This study of politics and policy implementation explains the interaction between Mao, the ministries of metallurgy and agriculture, and the provincial leadership of Guangdong in the destructive process of economic mass mobilization. Like in the case of Bachman 1991, these political science–based arguments were not influential by the time archival histories of Great Leap were written.
  293.  
  294. Find this resource:
  295.  
  296. Gao Hua 高华. “Da zaihuang yu siqing yundong de qiyuan” (大灾荒与四清运动的起源). Ershiyi shiji 60.8 (2000): 56–68.
  297.  
  298. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  299.  
  300. This article shows how Mao concluded from the famine that “counterrevolutionary elements” had infiltrated rural party organizations and he therefore needed to launch the Four Clean Up-Movement in 1963–1964.
  301.  
  302. Find this resource:
  303.  
  304. Kung, James Kai-sing, and Shuo Chen. “The Tragedy of the Nomenklatura: Career Incentives and Political Radicalism during China’s Great Leap Famine.” American Political Science Review 105.1 (February 2011): 27–45.
  305.  
  306. DOI: 10.1017/S0003055410000626Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  307.  
  308. Based on mathematical models, the authors try to measure radicalism as a reason for the variation in death rates on the provincial level. They conclude that provincial leaders who were only alternate members of the Central Committee of the CCP and desired to become full members had the strongest incentive to prove their loyalty to Mao through ruthless grain procurements.
  309.  
  310. Find this resource:
  311.  
  312. Li Rui 李锐. Lushan huiyi shilu (庐山会议实录). Beijing: Chunqiu Chubanshe, 1989.
  313.  
  314. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  315.  
  316. An important eyewitness account of Mao’s former secretary of the infamous Lushan Conference in the summer of 1959. Li himself was purged in the aftermath.
  317.  
  318. Find this resource:
  319.  
  320. MacFarquhar, Roderick. The Origins of the Cultural Revolution. 3 vols. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1974–1997.
  321.  
  322. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  323.  
  324. MacFarquhar’s three-volume study focuses on the power struggle between Mao and Liu Shaoqi to explain the origins of the Cultural Revolution. While the second volume (1983), which focuses specifically on the Great Leap, is partly outdated, the author reinterprets the famine and its overcoming based on new sources and findings in the third volume (1997).
  325.  
  326. Find this resource:
  327.  
  328. Teiwes, Frederick, and Warren Sun. China’s Road to Disaster: Mao, Central Politicians and Provincial Leaders in the Unfolding of the Great Leap Forward, 1955–1959. London: M. E. Sharpe, 1999.
  329.  
  330. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  331.  
  332. This major study on high elite politics argues that Mao played the major role in putting China on a road to disaster and that the inner circle of the leadership remained loyal to him. As a result of his dominant role, Mao was the only one who had the authority to enforce new policies to stop the famine in 1961.
  333.  
  334. Find this resource:
  335.  
  336. Yang, Dali L., Huayu Xu, and Ran Tao. “A Tragedy of the Nomenklatura? Career incentives, Political Loyalty and Political Radicalism during China’s Great Leap Forward.” Journal of Contemporary China 23.89 (2014): 864–883.
  337.  
  338. DOI: 10.1080/13603116.2014.882560Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  339.  
  340. The authors use mathematical models to disprove the arguments of Kung and Chen 2011 that career incentives of the first provincial secretary would have had a strong impact to explain radicalism and the variation of death rates. Their findings point out the significance of political networks.
  341.  
  342. Find this resource:
  343.  
  344. Society and Economy
  345. While almost nothing was known outside China until the 1990s about the question of how ordinary urban citizens, local cadres, or peasants experienced the famine, in the early 21st century there are many very rich and diverse texts on various topics related to society and economy. Institutions such as the state monopoly for the purchase and sale of grain (tonggou tongxiao 统购统销), the rural public dining halls, and the People’s Communes have received attention, and their role in causing the famine has been debated (see Food Production and Consumption and Roles of the People’s Communes and Public Dining Halls). Furthermore, local cadres at the village level were found to be important actors (see Peasants, Rural Society, and Agriculture). Peasants are no longer seen as only passive victims. The view of state-society relations has become more sophisticated in the early 21st century. Furthermore, demographers are still debating the extent of the population loss and level of excess mortality during the famine.
  346.  
  347. Food Production and Consumption
  348. Food politics and distribution are crucial to understand the famine. Zhao 1988 and Shangyebu dangdai Zhongguo liangshi gongzuo bianjibu 1989 provide a general overview of decisions regarding food policies in post-1949 China. Luo 2008 shows how grain rationing worked in the urban society from its introduction in 1953 to the early 1960s. Furthermore, Xin 2005 discusses the system of food distribution in the rural People’s Communes. Walker 1984 evaluates official statistics regarding grain procurement from the early 1950s to the aftermath of the famine. While Wemheuer 2011 shows how discourses on faking hunger had a negative impact on relief policies, Gao 2011 argues that so-called “food substitutes” increased people’s suffering during the famine.
  349.  
  350. Gao Hua. “Food Augmentation Methods and Food Substitutes during the Great Famine.” In Eating Bitterness: New Perspectives on China’s Great Leap Forward and the Famine. Edited by Kimberley Manning and Felix Wemheuer, 171–196. Vancouver: University Press of British Columbia, 2011.
  351.  
  352. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  353.  
  354. The author argues that the policy of the central government to promote food substitutes to replace grain contributed to starvation to death.
  355.  
  356. Find this resource:
  357.  
  358. Luo Pinghan 罗平汉. Piaozheng niandai: Tonggou tongxiao shi (票证年代： 统购统销史). Fuzhou, China: Fuzhou Renmin Chubanshe, 2008.
  359.  
  360. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  361.  
  362. This important study describes the history of the state monopoly for the sale and purchase of grain from its introduction in 1953 to the end of the famine in 1962.
  363.  
  364. Find this resource:
  365.  
  366. Shangyebu dangdai Zhongguo liangshi gongzuo bianjibu 商业部当代中国粮食工作编辑部, ed. Dangdai Zhongguo liangshi gongzuo shiliao (当代中国粮食工作史料). 2 vols. Baoding, China: Hebei Sheng Gongxiaoshe Baoding Yinshuachang Yinshua, 1989.
  367.  
  368. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  369.  
  370. These two volumes include a very detailed chronology of the government’s decisions and speeches of party leaders regarding food, such as grain purchases, sale, and consumption, between 1949 and the early 1980s. It is an important source for studying the famine from a broader historical perspective.
  371.  
  372. Find this resource:
  373.  
  374. Walker, Kenneth. Food Grain Procurement and Consumption in China. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1984.
  375.  
  376. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  377.  
  378. Walker’s critical evaluation of official statistics regarding grain procurement and consumption shows that the high procurement rates for grain were a primary contributor to the famine. This economic study is a must-read, because no complete statistics at the national level are accessible in the archives so far.
  379.  
  380. Find this resource:
  381.  
  382. Wemheuer, Felix. “‘The Grain Problem Is an Ideological Problem’: Discourses of Hunger in the 1957 Socialist Education Campaign.” In Eating Bitterness: New Perspectives on China’s Great Leap Forward and the Famine. Edited by Kimberley Manning and Felix Wemheuer, 107–129. Vancouver: University Press of British Columbia, 2011.
  383.  
  384. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  385.  
  386. This article argues that hunger became a taboo topic during the Rural Socialist Education Campaign in 1957.
  387.  
  388. Find this resource:
  389.  
  390. Xin Yi 辛逸. Nongcun renmin gongshe fenpei zhidu yanjiu (农村人民公社分配制度研究). Beijing: Zhonggong Dangshi Chubanshe, 2005.
  391.  
  392. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  393.  
  394. This serious academic study discusses the distribution system during the era the People’s Commune as well as the debate on “distribution according to needs” versus “distribution according to labor performance” during the Great Leap. It argues that a system of “distribution according to labor performance” was never realized.
  395.  
  396. Find this resource:
  397.  
  398. Zhao Fasheng 赵发生, ed. Dangdai Zhongguo de liangshi gongzuo (当代中国的粮食工作). Beijing: Zhongguo Shehui Kexue Chubanshe, 1988.
  399.  
  400. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  401.  
  402. This is a useful official history of government policies regarding food production and procurement.
  403.  
  404. Find this resource:
  405.  
  406. Literature and Education
  407. During the Great Leap in 1958, the CCP launched policies to popularize literature and poetry in villages and cities. King 2010 and King 2011 show based on the story of Li Shuangshuang and other examples how fictional heroes of the Leap were promoted. Li 2006 argues that the CCP aimed to reform the education system at all levels in radical ways.
  408.  
  409. King, Richard, ed. Heroes of China’s Great Leap Forward. Two Stories. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2010.
  410.  
  411. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  412.  
  413. After a short introduction by the author, this book provides translations of two short novels: “A Brief Biography of Li Shuangshuang” and “The Story of the Criminal Li Tongzhong.”
  414.  
  415. Find this resource:
  416.  
  417. King, Richard. “Romancing the Leap: Euphoria in the Moment before Disaster.” In Eating Bitterness: New Perspectives on China’s Great Leap Forward and the Famine. Edited by Kimberley Manning and Felix Wemheuer, 51–71. Vancouver: University Press of British Columbia, 2011.
  418.  
  419. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  420.  
  421. This article discusses the production of literature in the context of mass mobilization.
  422.  
  423. Find this resource:
  424.  
  425. Li Qinggang 李庆刚. “Dayuejin” shiqi “jiaoyu geming” yanjiu (“大跃进”时期 “教育革命”研究). Beijing: Zhonggong Zhongyang Dangxiao Chubanshe, 2006.
  426.  
  427. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  428.  
  429. This book gives an overview of the debates and policies in China’s education system during the Great Leap including the unification of production and learning, expansion of rural schooling, and questioning the knowledge of experts versus the wisdom of the masses.
  430.  
  431. Find this resource:
  432.  
  433. Natural Disaster and Relief Policies
  434. Little academic work has been done on the role of the weather, despite the fact that the CCP labeled the period between 1959–1961 as “three years of natural disaster.” Kueh 1996 has studied weather and agricultural instability in a broader historical context of sixty years. Bramall 2011 did research on the impact of disaster in the case of Sichuan Province, which was one of the major disaster areas. Paltemaa 2011 is by one of the few scholars who had worked on the disaster management in urban and rural China, using Tianjin as an example.
  435.  
  436. Bramall, Chris. “Agency and Famine in China’s Sichuan Province, 1958–1962.” The China Quarterly 208 (December 2011): 990–1008.
  437.  
  438. DOI: 10.1017/S030574101100110XSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  439.  
  440. This article is a critique of the “revisionist approach” that shifted the blame for the famine from the local cadres to the central government under Mao. Bramall uses county-level data from Sichuan Province regarding grain production, death tolls, and weather to argue that actions of local cadres explain the variations of the death rates to a great degree.
  441.  
  442. Find this resource:
  443.  
  444. Kueh, Y. Y. Agricultural Instability in China, 1931–1991: Weather, Technology, and Institutions. Oxford: Clarendon, 1996.
  445.  
  446. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  447.  
  448. In one of the few academic studies on the impact of the weather, Kueh argues that natural disasters were the major causal factor for the rapid decline of agricultural production during the Great Leap. However, most peasants would have been able to survive had they not been subject to other destructive policies of the government.
  449.  
  450. Find this resource:
  451.  
  452. Paltemaa, Lauri. “The Maoist Urban State and Crisis: Comparing Disaster Management in the Great Tianjin Flood in 1963 and the Great Leap Forward Famine.” The China Journal 66 (July 2011): 25–51.
  453.  
  454. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  455.  
  456. The article discusses the reasons the Maoist state could use mass mobilization and local resources successfully to resist the Great Tianjin Flood in 1963 in contrast to its poor performance during the Great Leap Famine.
  457.  
  458. Find this resource:
  459.  
  460. Peasants, Rural Society, and Agriculture
  461. Scholarly works such as Gao 2006 and Gao 2013 argue that “counter-actions” of peasants against state polices had an impact on the development of agricultural production. Thaxton 2008 even believes that peasant resistance was the major reason why villagers survived the famine. Chen 2010 questions this narrative of “peasants versus the state” and argued that kinship structures had a strong impact on death or survival. From an economist perspective, Lin and Yang 1998 considers the loss of exit rights from collectives an important reason for the rapid decline of agricultural production.
  462.  
  463. Chen Yixin. “When Food Became Scarce: Life and Death in Chinese Villages during the Great Leap Forward.” Journal of the Historical Society 2 (2010): 117–165.
  464.  
  465. DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-5923.2010.00296.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  466.  
  467. This field study of several villages in Anhui Province highlights the importance of kinship structures.
  468.  
  469. Find this resource:
  470.  
  471. Gao Wangling 高王凌. Renmin gongshe shidai Zhongguo nongmin fan xingwei diaocha (人民公社时代中国农民反行为调查). Beijing: Zhonggong Dangshi Chubanshe, 2006.
  472.  
  473. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  474.  
  475. Gao develops the term “counter-actions” to describe the survival strategies that peasants developed in response to state policies. His study deals with the period from the 1950s to decollectivization in 1980s. It is based on the experiences of Gao as a “sent down youth” (知青) during the Cultural Revolution, his later field studies, and oral history interviews with peasants. The early version that was published in the PRC is careful not to come to political conclusions.
  476.  
  477. Find this resource:
  478.  
  479. Gao Wangling 高王凌. Zhongguo nongmin fan xingwei yanjiu, 1950–1980 (中国农民反行为研究， 1950–1980). Hong Kong: Zhongwen Daxue Chubanshe, 2013.
  480.  
  481. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  482.  
  483. Presents an even richer account of “counter-actions” and a harsh critique of agrarian policies of the CCP starting from the Land Reform. It is one of the best books on Chinese peasants during the Mao era.
  484.  
  485. Find this resource:
  486.  
  487. Lin, Justin Yifu, and Yang, Dennis Tao. “On the Causes of China’s Agricultural Crisis and the Great Leap Famine.” China Economic Review 9.2 (1998): 125–140.
  488.  
  489. DOI: 10.1016/S1043-951X(99)80010-8Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  490.  
  491. The two economists test several hypotheses to explain the famine. Empirical findings suggest that the loss of exit rights from the agricultural collectives explains the dramatic fluctuations in agricultural productivity. They argue that grain availability in relation to the urban-biased food distribution system mainly explains the famine.
  492.  
  493. Find this resource:
  494.  
  495. Thaxton, Ralph. Catastrophe and Contention in Rural China: Mao’s Great Leap Forward Famine and the Origins of Righteous Resistance in Da Fo Village. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
  496.  
  497. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511756085Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  498.  
  499. Based on over twenty years of research, frequent field studies, and oral history interviews in Da Fo Village in Henan Province, Thaxton reconstructs the history of this rural community from the Anti-Japanese War to the Cultural Revolution. The focus is peasant resistance against the local state during the famine and in its aftermath. The book provides highly important insights about rural China and peasants.
  500.  
  501. Find this resource:
  502.  
  503. Population Development and Death Toll
  504. When the official 1982 Chinese census became available, serious academic demographic studies could be carried out. In the 1980s, pioneer studies focused on the questions of the number of excess deaths and larger impact of the famine on population development: such studies include Ashton and Hill 1984, Coale 1984, Peng 1987, and Banister 1987. Later studies also include data from county gazetteers, fertility surveys, and provincial statistics to show regional or other patters (Cai and Wang 2005, Zhao and Reimondos 2012, and Garnaut 2014a). In recent years, authors who question the death of millions by starvation are receiving publicity in China, such as the mathematician author of Yang Songlin 2013. Garnaut 2014b sees the denial of famine in the context of the attempt of the party leadership under Xi Jinping to portray the Mao era in a more positive way.
  505.  
  506. Ashton, Basil, and Kenneth Hill. “Famine in China, 1958–1961.” Population and Development Review 10.4 (1984): 613–645.
  507.  
  508. DOI: 10.2307/1973284Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  509.  
  510. In this early study based on the census of 1982, the authors estimate the demographic impact of the famine on 30 million excess deaths and 33 million lost or postponed births.
  511.  
  512. Find this resource:
  513.  
  514. Banister, Judith. China’s Changing Population. Stanford, CA: Stanford University, 1987.
  515.  
  516. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  517.  
  518. Based on the official census and computer reconstruction of China’s population trend, the author estimates the excess deaths between 1958 and 1961 at 30 million people.
  519.  
  520. Find this resource:
  521.  
  522. Cai, Yong, and Wang Feng. “Famine, Social Disruption, and Involuntary Fetal Loss: Evidence from Chinese Survey Data.” Demography 42.2 (2005): 301–322.
  523.  
  524. DOI: 10.1353/dem.2005.0010Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  525.  
  526. The authors study the impact of the Great Leap Famine and the Cultural Revolution on the risk of miscarriage and stillbirth.
  527.  
  528. Find this resource:
  529.  
  530. Cao Shuji 曹樹基. Da jihuang (大饑荒). Hong Kong: Shidai Guoji Chuban Youxian Gongsi, 2005.
  531.  
  532. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  533.  
  534. Using the population data from official county gazetteers (县志), Cao calculates that over 32 million people died as a result of the famine. The book is highly recommended for readers who are interested in statistics and numbers.
  535.  
  536. Find this resource:
  537.  
  538. Coale, Ansley J. Rapid Population Change in China, 1952–1982. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1984.
  539.  
  540. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  541.  
  542. This early demographic study is based on the 1982 official fertility survey and census of China. It shows the large impact of the famine on the development of population.
  543.  
  544. Find this resource:
  545.  
  546. Garnaut, Anthony. “The Geography of the Great Leap Famine.” Modern China 40 (May 2014a): 315–348.
  547.  
  548. DOI: 10.1177/0097700413507425Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  549.  
  550. This innovative empirical study links the different death tolls at the local and regional level to the economic geography including the transportation system and spatial structures of grain procurement and distribution.
  551.  
  552. Find this resource:
  553.  
  554. Garnaut, Anthony. “The Mass Line on a Massive Famine.” The China Story 8 (2014b).
  555.  
  556. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  557.  
  558. The author contextualizes the increasing denial of the famine in relation to the policies of Mass Line Education of the party leadership of Xi Jinping.
  559.  
  560. Find this resource:
  561.  
  562. Peng, Xizhe. “Demographic Consequences of the Great Leap Forward in China’s Provinces.” Population and Development Review 13.4 (1987): 639–670.
  563.  
  564. DOI: 10.2307/1973026Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  565.  
  566. In this study on grain production, food availability, and population development in fourteen selected provinces, the author estimates the excess mortality for the whole country to be 23 million.
  567.  
  568. Find this resource:
  569.  
  570. Yang Songlin 杨松林. Zongyao youren shuochu zhenxiang—Guanyu “e’si sanqianwan” (总要有人说出真相—关于“饿死三千万”). Haikou, China: Nanhai Chuban Gongsi, 2013.
  571.  
  572. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  573.  
  574. The book is an example of famine denial. The author tries to downplay the number of people that starved to death to just several million. He attacks the “academic authorities” such as Yang Jisheng by accusing them of mathematical errors in their estimations of the death toll.
  575.  
  576. Find this resource:
  577.  
  578. Zhao, Zhongwei, and Anna Reimondos. “The Demography of China’s 1958–61 Famine: A Closer Examination.” Population 67.2 (2012): 281–308.
  579.  
  580. DOI: 10.3917/pope.1202.0281Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  581.  
  582. Based on rich statistical materials from six selected provinces, the authors show how the famine changed marriage patterns, fertility, mortality, and pregnancy outcomes.
  583.  
  584. Find this resource:
  585.  
  586. The Roles of the People’s Communes and Public Dining Halls
  587. The establishment of People’s Communes and public dining halls were major institutional changes in the Chinese countryside. Kang 1998 wrote a monograph on the first People’s Commune in China. Based on the case of Macheng County (Hebei), Wang 2011 showed how houses of peasants and graves were destroyed in order to build the new institutions. Li 2007 and Luo 2001 provide an overview of the research and history of the public dining halls. These institutions and the breakdown of rational food consumption were a major factor that caused the famine, Wen and Chang 1997 argued.
  588.  
  589. Kang Jian 康建. Huihuang de huanmie—Renmin gongshe jingshi lu (辉煌的幻灭—人民公社警示录). Beijing: Zhongguo Shehui Chubanshe, 1998.
  590.  
  591. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  592.  
  593. Addressed to a non-academic readership, Kang describes the founding of the first People’s Commune in China in Suiping County in Henan Province. It is worth reading because it shows the destruction caused by campaigns, violence by local cadres, and the horrors of the famine in great detail.
  594.  
  595. Find this resource:
  596.  
  597. Li Chunfeng 李春峰. “Jinnian lai ‘dayuejin’ shiqi gonggong shitang yanjiu zongshu” (近年来’大跃进’时期公共食堂研究综述). Gaoxiao sheke dongtai 2 (2007): 17–22.
  598.  
  599. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  600.  
  601. This article gives an overview of the debates in Chinese scholarship on the impact of the public dining halls on the famine.
  602.  
  603. Find this resource:
  604.  
  605. Luo Pinghan 罗平汉. Daguofan—Gonggong shitang shimo (大锅饭—公共食堂始末). Nanning, China: Guangxi Renmin Chubanshe, 2001.
  606.  
  607. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  608.  
  609. A history of the rise and fall of the public dining halls. The book is targeted at the general reader, but can be used as background information for further academic research.
  610.  
  611. Find this resource:
  612.  
  613. Wang, Yanni. “An Introduction to the ABC’s of Communization: A Case Study of Macheng County.” In Eating Bitterness: New Perspectives on China’s Great Leap Forward and the Famine. Edited by Kimberley Manning and Felix Wemheuer, 148–170. Vancouver: University Press of British Columbia, 2011.
  614.  
  615. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  616.  
  617. Based on documents from county archives, Wang proves that a huge number of houses and graves were destroyed in order to carry out the policies of the Great Leap.
  618.  
  619. Find this resource:
  620.  
  621. Wen, Guanzhong James, and Gene Chang. “Communal Dining and the Chinese Famine of 1958–1961.” Economic and Cultural Change 46 (1997): 2–34.
  622.  
  623. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  624.  
  625. In this economic study, the authors argue that overconsumption in the free supply system of the public dining halls in the winter of 1958 contributed to the famine. It is presented as a disastrous effect of an institutional failure on the economy. For a critique, see Yang 1996 (cited under Provincial and Local Histories).
  626.  
  627. Find this resource:
  628.  
  629. Rural-Urban Divide
  630. The urban-rural divide is crucial to understanding why most of the people starved to death in the countryside, not in the cities. While Cheng and Selden 1999 points out the general impact of the “hukou” system, Brown 2011 shows how the rural famine affected the city of Tianjin. Luo 2003 demonstrates how the government deported millions of people from the cities to the countryside in order to limit the number of eaters in the urban supply system.
  631.  
  632. Brown, Jeremy. “Great Leap City: Surviving the Famine in Tianjin.” In Eating Bitterness: New Perspectives on China’s Great Leap Forward and the Famine. Edited by Kimberley Manning and Felix Wemheuer, 226–251. Vancouver: University Press of British Columbia, 2011.
  633.  
  634. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  635.  
  636. Based on archival research in Tianjin, the article is one of the few studies of the famine in an urban setting.
  637.  
  638. Find this resource:
  639.  
  640. Cheng, Tiejun, and Mark Selden. “The Construction of Spatial Hierarchies: China’s Hukou and Danwei System.” In New Perspectives on State Socialism in China. Edited by Timothy Cheek and Tony Saich, 23–50. London: M. E. Sharpe, 1999.
  641.  
  642. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  643.  
  644. This chapter analyzes the introduction of the household register system hukou in the 1950s and also explains why it was not strictly enforced during the Great Leap.
  645.  
  646. Find this resource:
  647.  
  648. Luo Pinghan 罗平汉. Da qianxi: 1961–1963 nian de chengzhen renkou jingjian （大迁徙: 1961–1963年的城镇人口精简）. Nanning, China: Guangxi Renmin Chubanshe, 2003.
  649.  
  650. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  651.  
  652. This historical study shows how the Chinese government downsized the urban population by 20 million people between 1961 and 1963 in order to overcome the famine. This rich study is still the only monograph on the topic.
  653.  
  654. Find this resource:
  655.  
  656. Women and Gender
  657. Based on oral history interviews with eyewitnesses, experiences of rural women during the Great Leap and the famine have been reconstructed. Hershatter 2011 shows the many burdens that women had to face, such as grain production in the fields, housework, childcare, and weaving at night. Manning 2005 argues that some of the radical polices of the Great Leap were imposed by female leaders without considering the health and protection of other rural women.
  658.  
  659. Hershatter, Gail. Gender of Memory: Rural Women and China’s Collective Past. Berkeley: University Of California Press, 2011.
  660.  
  661. DOI: 10.1525/california/9780520267701.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  662.  
  663. Based on over a decade of field studies and oral history interviews, the book reconstructs the experiences of rural women in Shaanxi Province during the 1950s. Memories of the famine are included, but it seems that the famine was not very severe in this area.
  664.  
  665. Find this resource:
  666.  
  667. Manning, Kimberley Ens. “Marxist Maternalism, Memory, and the Mobilization of Women in the Great Leap Forward.” The China Review 5.1 (2005): 81–108.
  668.  
  669. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  670.  
  671. This study focused on the female party activists and the different ways in which they participated in, promoted, or resisted the campaigns of the Great Leap.
  672.  
  673. Find this resource:
  674.  
  675. Comparison with the Soviet and Other Famines
  676. China is not the only country that experienced famine in the 20th century. Drèze and Sen 1991 presents a very influential comparison of the Great Leap Famine with the development in India after independence in 1947. The authors claim the Chinese communists had a greater ability to fight rural poverty in the first three decades of rule than the Indian government during the same period of time. However, no large-scale famine on a national level took place in India. Sen explains the Great Leap Famine with the lack of free press and democracy in China. In recent years, scholars have begun to compare the Chinese case with other socialist countries such as the Soviet Union. Under Soviet rule several famines took place. Scholars have raised the question if the Chinese case was unique or if similarities such as collectivization of agriculture, rapid industrialization, or tense peasant-state relations in both countries could help to explain the Great Leap Famine in a large historical and global context; for examples, see Wheatcroft 2012, Bernstein 2012, and Wemheuer 2014. Yang 2008 compares the famines from an economic point of view.
  677.  
  678. Bernstein, Thomas P. “Comments on the Problems and Challenges of Comparison.” In Hunger and Scarcity under State-Socialism. Edited by Matthias Middell and Felix Wemheuer, 369–380. Leipzig: Leipziger Universitätsverlag, 2012.
  679.  
  680. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  681.  
  682. The author compares the role of socialist transformation, rationing, and resistance in Stalin’s Soviet Union and Maoist China. He also discusses the responsibility of the respective governments.
  683.  
  684. Find this resource:
  685.  
  686. Drèze, Jean, and Amartya Sen. Hunger and Public Action. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991.
  687.  
  688. DOI: 10.1093/0198283652.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  689.  
  690. In this book and several other publications, Sen presents the lack of freedom of press and democracy as a reason for the Great Leap Famine. The sources are partly outdated, but the argument is still influential.
  691.  
  692. Find this resource:
  693.  
  694. Wemheuer, Felix. Der Große Hunger: Hungersnöte unter Stalin und Mao. Berlin: Rotbuch, 2012.
  695.  
  696. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  697.  
  698. The German version of Wemheuer 2014 is written for the general reader.
  699.  
  700. Find this resource:
  701.  
  702. Wemheuer, Felix. Famine Politics in Maoist China and the Soviet Union. New Haven, CT, and London: Yale University Press, 2014.
  703.  
  704. DOI: 10.12987/yale/9780300195811.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  705.  
  706. This book systematically compares the Great Leap Famine with the Soviet famine of 1931–1933. It shows also how Tibetan and Ukrainian nationalists used the experiences of hunger to rewrite history. Furthermore, it explains how the socialist regime escaped famine in later decades.
  707.  
  708. Find this resource:
  709.  
  710. Wheatcroft, Stephen G. “Soviet and Chinese Famines in Historical Perspective.” In Hunger and Scarcity under State-Socialism. Edited by Matthias Middell and Felix Wemheuer, 333–368. Leipzig: Leipziger Universitätsverlag, 2012.
  711.  
  712. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  713.  
  714. One of the leading experts in the economic history of Soviet industrialization compares regional disparities in grain production and availability in Russia and China based on rich statistical data. While not denying the failures of the governments, Wheatcroft argues that the famines can only be understood from a broader historical perspective, taking the pressures of rapid development of population, urbanization, and industrialization into account.
  715.  
  716. Find this resource:
  717.  
  718. Yang, Dennis Tao. “China’s Agricultural Crisis and Famine of 1959–1961: A Survey and Comparison to Soviet Famines.” Comparative Economic Studies 50 (2008): 1–29.
  719.  
  720. DOI: 10.1057/ces.2008.4Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  721.  
  722. The economist Yang compares the data of grain production for the Chinese and Soviet cases.
  723.  
  724. Find this resource:
  725.  
  726. Memory and Historiography of the Great Leap Famine
  727. Several scholars have tried to understand how Chinese society and survivors of the famine dealt with such a traumatic experience and how they came to make sense of it. Weigelin-Schwiedrzik 2003, Wemheuer 2007, and Zhou 2013 are studies on how memory of the famine is constructed. The party-state is also an important actor in this process by defining and promoting an official version of the Great Leap as Mao’s “leftist mistake” and “tragedy of good intentions,” as Joseph 1986 has argued. The official version is questioned by some Chinese historians and former local cadres who served as “scapegoats” for the famine.
  728.  
  729. Joseph, William A. “A Tragedy of Good Intentions—Post-Mao Views of the Great Leap Forward.” Modern China 12.4 (1986): 419–457.
  730.  
  731. DOI: 10.1177/009770048601200401Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  732.  
  733. This article gives a useful overview of the official interpretation and historiography of the CCP regarding the Great Leap.
  734.  
  735. Find this resource:
  736.  
  737. Weigelin-Schwiedrzik, Susanne. “Trauma and Memory: The Case of the Great Famine in the People’s Republic of China (1959–1961).” Historiography East and West 1 (2003): 39–67.
  738.  
  739. DOI: 10.1163/157018603763585249Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  740.  
  741. Using the approach of trauma, the article explains why the famine became a taboo topic and remained taboo in the PRC for decades. It also shows that novelists such as Mo Yan and Yu Hua were the first to find a language to describe suffering.
  742.  
  743. Find this resource:
  744.  
  745. Weigelin-Schwiedrzik, Susanne. “Re-imagining the Chinese Peasants: The Historiography on the Great Leap Forward.” In Eating Bitterness: New Perspectives on China’s Great Leap Forward and the Famine. Edited by Kimberley Manning and Felix Wemheuer, 28–50. Vancouver: University Press of British Columbia, 2011.
  746.  
  747. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  748.  
  749. The chapters show how Chinese historians are using the famine to question the official narrative of a “natural alliance” between peasants and the party. By doing so, they are able to rewrite the history of collectivization and agricultural reforms.
  750.  
  751. Find this resource:
  752.  
  753. Wemheuer, Felix. Steinnudeln: Ländliche Erinnerungen und staatliche Vergangenheitsbewältigung der “Groβen Sprung”-Hungersnot in der chinesischen Provinz Henan. Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 2007.
  754.  
  755. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  756.  
  757. In his dissertation, Wemheuer compares the official narrative of the famine at different levels of the state such as the central government, Henan Province, and selected counties. To understand how ordinary villagers remember the famine, oral history interviews with peasants and local cadres were done.
  758.  
  759. Find this resource:
  760.  
  761. Wemheuer, Felix. “Dealing with Responsibility for the Great Leap Famine in the People’s Republic of China.” The China Quarterly 201 (2010): 176–195.
  762.  
  763. DOI: 10.1017/S0305741009991123Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  764.  
  765. The article analyzes how the central government, Henan Province, and local cadres have dealt with the question of responsibility for the famine after 1962.
  766.  
  767. Find this resource:
  768.  
  769. Zhou, Xun. Forgotten Voices of Mao’s Great Famine, 1958–1962: An Oral History. New Haven, CT, and London: Yale University Press, 2013.
  770.  
  771. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  772.  
  773. The book documents memories of survivors regarding famine. An academic research agenda and critical assessment of the accounts are not included. The horrors of the famine are described in a touching and impressive way, but the book is targeted more toward the general reader.
Advertisement
Add Comment
Please, Sign In to add comment
Advertisement
Public Pastes
Advertisement
We use cookies for various purposes including analytics. By continuing to use Pastebin, you agree to our use of cookies as described in the Cookies Policy.  OK, I Understand
Not a member of Pastebin yet?
Sign Up, it unlocks many cool features!