Bloody Lesson Paid for China's Great Leap Forward and Famine - Case Study Example

[07/03 Suffering Mistake: The Bloody Lesson Paid for the China' s Great Leap Forward and Famine: An Overview Eating Bitterness grows out of a workshop being conducted under the same title at the Institute for East Asian Studies at the University of Vienna. At the workshop, Chinese and Western scholars gathered together to analyse and discuss findings on the Great Leap Forward and Feminine in order to question and ascertain the relationship and interaction between the state and society. The book starts with a simple description based on the fact that when Chinese Communist Party assumed power; Mao Zedong declared that not even a single individual will die of hunger. This stated the fact that adequate food will be offered to every single citizen of the country and thus making the country hunger free. However, a decade later; China was amidst the largest Asian feminine affecting the majority of the population. The most devastated feminine in the modern history between the period 1957 and 1962 resulted in the death of some 30 million peasants out of starvation and exhaustion. It needs to be mentioned that the stated years were marked with Great Leap Forward but resulted in severe starvation and thus a backward step rather than a leap forward. Rather than examining the fact why party leaders stumbled so badly in their attempt to modernize China; the book revolves around exploring what exactly the great leap forward meant for ordinary people in the urban and rural areas. The book lifts the curtain of officially images of mass mobilization exposing deeply contested nature of the relationship between the state and society in Maoist China in a critical manner. The book covers vivid images of the concerned issues in a critical manner. In the context of the discussion, three major themes of the book have been covered. Each theme has been covered in a critical and illustrative manner. Theme-1: The Great Leap forward is clearly no longer regarded as a sign of CCP ability to find a successful road to socialism; rather, its regarded as a major mistake When the Chinese Communist Party came in power, the major focus was on taking the economy forward along with making sure that people are not deprived of food in the short as well as in the long run. However, what happened in the following years especially between 1959-61 resulted in huge criticism of CCP as the leap forward was majorly hit by the famine resulting in the death of number of peasants. Two major studies were Jisheng’s and Meiser’s on CCP and its impact on rural and urban China embedded with famines. Contention in Rural China. Both these works focused on drawing conclusions based on previously unavailable sources along with offering new and interesting insights into the famine. These studies reflected the perspective of peasants who struggled to survive in the calamity. These works further introspected Chinas experiment with state socialism in a critical manner. In the book of Meisner, the concept of Great Leap Forward and Famine are symptomatic of a deeply flawed system and practice of the state error signifying the rift between socialism and urban industrialization (Meisner 191) 2. China has been considered as a country of famine and in the past and modern history; no country has been influenced this much by hunger and famine. When the CCP came into the power; China was one of the poorest countries in the world and was marred by a number of famines in the past. China’s Great Leap Forward Famine resulted in the death of large numbers of people and was not the first famine occurring under the state socialism. ____________________________________________________________ 2. Meisner, Maurice. Maos China and After: A History of the Peoples Republic. New York. Free Press.1999. Print. Jeshing further stated that cadres imposed one campaign after the other peasants were severely affected by them. Additionally, disobedience of any kind was subjected to torture and beating that can be considered as forced famine on many (Jeshing, 261) 1. A number of researchers further stated that democracies are more likely to prevent famines compared to dictatorships but few researchers contradicted this statement by saying that the dictatorships prevailing in Soviet Union and Indonesia that time prevented famines by securing food to everyone. In the context of socialism, it can be said that, it is a political theory aimed at establishing social ownerships as a mean of production and cooperative management of the economy. It was further found when the CCP introduced the concept of socialism by involving common people in achieving the growth of the country; it backfired to a great extent. Initially, huge expectations and unrealistic targets of reforming the industries to deal with production issues resulted in chaotic situations. Natural catastrophes followed complete the existing disaster. The entire population exhausted by the fruitless and frenzied efforts began to succumb under the pressure of famines. Food shortage and hunger were common sights while diseases started to affect the health of people. The strategies of Great Leap Forward were becoming mistakes causing harm to common people. There is no doubt that CCP tried to be innovative by revolutionizing the industries through the efforts and cooperation of common people but unreal expectations and poor and side effects of strategies led to the spread of hunger and disease. Later, famines affected the course of the wind initiated by the CCP in line with the concept of socialism. Overall, based on the discussion, it can be said that the Great Leap forward is clearly no longer regarded as a sign of CCP’s ability to find a successful road to socialism; rather, its regarded as a major mistake. _____________________________________________________ 1. Jisheng, Yang. A Report on the Great Famine in the 1960s in China. Hong Kong: Tiandi Tushu, 2008. Print. Theme-2: The Great Leap Forward and its relationship to the Great Famine are part and parcel of re-imagining the relationship between the CCP and the Chinese peasantry. The great Leap Forward and its relationship to the Great Famine are part and parcel of re-imagining the relationship between the CCP and the Chinese peasantry. Of all the disparities that increased and evolved during the Great Famine; one of the striking and concerning was the urban-rural divide. In late 1950s, the CCP raised restrictions on peasants moving from rural to urban areas. The restriction of moving from villages to cities created a boundary between the rural and urban people in a significant manner. Urban and rural societies were divided by the household registration system that further forced peasants to be at villages. As per the findings of Jisheng, it was found that local cadres felt proud in building communism while peasants suffered hardships but were inspired by guaranteed food and clothing (Jisheng, 305) 1. It was also found that a number of peasants found temporary work in urban factories and workshops in the early stages of Great Leap Forward; not many achieved similar benefits and rights compared to the people in state owned system. Furthermore, the gap between the urban and rural people especially in terms of availing equal rights, food, and benefits raised too many questions over the Great Leap Forward (Jisheng, 261) 1. The relationship between the CCP and Chinese peasantry was going through a tough time as majority of their benefits and rights were passed on to the urban people. Additionally, during the famines; rural people working in urban factories and workshops were asked to move to villages in order to decrease the increasing burden of offering food to everyone as a part of the Great Leap Forward. However, during the course, the relationship with peasants was greatly affected. __________________________________________________ 1. Jisheng, Yang. A Report on the Great Famine in the 1960s in China. Hong Kong: Tiandi Tushu, 2008. Print Theme-3: The Politics of Appropriation, Substitution, and Deprivation In the study, it was found that transformation of social relationships is important in the development of productive forces (Meisner 195) 2. However, the study also found that basic needs of many people were not fulfilled. Rather than fulfilling the basic needs of people, the free supply system failed to offer food and other services to peasants. Additionally, the initiative was marked with instability and low pay. The severe dysfunction of the free supply system undermined the social stability and order. It was additionally found that initially, the Great Leap Forward was welcomed and seen as a great initiative with the potential of offering great value to everyone in the society irrespective of the demographic inequality (Jisheng 305) 1. However, the shortcomings of the free supply were in the form of focusing more on urban areas rather than striking the right balance between the urban and rural areas. It was further found that CCP focused on food substitutes to compensate inadequate nutritional sources. While talks on technical development leading to the welfare of the masses yielded little benefits It focused on offering priority to the urban people rather than concentrating on the health and food needs of the masses (Meisner 197) 2 .During the famines of 1959 and 1961, large numbers of people dies in rural areas compared to urban areas. It was quite evident that the CCP was engaged in disparity. A number of rural peasants were deprived of equal rights while rural people enjoyed their rights and better health. The supply of food was not appropriate mainly marred by inequality resulting in severe criticism. Overall, it can be said that the politics of appropriation, substitution, and deprivation truly existed resulting in great disparity. _______________________________________________ 1. Jisheng, Yang. A Report on the Great Famine in the 1960s in China. Hong Kong: Tiandi Tushu, 2008. Print 2. Meisner, Maurice. Maos China and After: A History of the Peoples Republic. New York. Free Press.1999. Print Summary As per Meisner, the Great Leap Forward was one of the highly talked initiatives being taken by the political parties across the world. The major focus of the Great Leap Forward was technical advancement beginning with urban industrialization creating necessary material prerequisites for the society that capitalism failed to offer (Meisner 191) 2. However, the situation changed quickly when the country was hit by famines resulting in severe deprivation of food. While reviewing the book, “Eating Bitterness: New Perspectives on Chinas Great Leap Forward and Famine”, it was found that the government initiatives from sociology point of view was justified initially. However, allocation of food to the masses was severely criticized by many based on inequality. The CCP exploited the efforts of rural people in the quest of creating a happy and content urban society. However, with the contribution of rural people in filling the hungry stomachs of urban people going unnoticed; the shadow of socialism was covered by the mighty shadow of capitalism. Based on the book review, it can be said that CCP started the initiative at the macro level but the benefits were shared by few while hardships were suffered by many. The fate of rural people quickly faded in spite of them putting an effort to shape the industries across the country. Through the book, it is learnt that even through the concept of socialism exist; the power of capitalism and political strategies are hard to understand often expanding the gap between the poor and rich people and thus affecting them and their lives at the emotional, physical, and basic level. Overall, it can be said that the book offered new perspectives on the concept of socialism and utilitarianism along with highlighting the significance and impact of political strategies in shaping the lives of common people in a critical manner. ____________________________________________ 2. Meisner, Maurice. Maos China and After: A History of the Peoples Republic. New York. Free Press.1999. Print. Works Cited [1] Jisheng, Yang. A Report on the Great Famine in the 1960s in China. Hong Kong: Tiandi Tushu, 2008. Print. [2] Meisner, Maurice. Maos China and After: A History of the Peoples Republic. New York. Free Press.1999. Print. Read More