Famine in the Great Leap Forward

The years 1958-1962 were marked by unprecedented changes in centuries old wisdom regarding agricultural policy and traditional familial rituals regarding food consumption.

The tearing down of these pillars of Chinese society in the name of modernization would have dramatic repercussions in regard to food production and consumption, ultimately leaving by some estimates, upwards of 20 to 30 million people dead, in what would become history’s most devastating famine.

The causes of this famine, almost entirely manmade were directly related to new and often disastrous agricultural changes, implementation of communal living and eating spaces, as well as general neglect on the part of local officials to the plight of those living under their rule. Famine was endemic irrespective of geography, yet China’s rural areas, such as Henan, Anhui, and Tibet were among those most deeply affected due to their remote locations and the vigorous nature of its party cadres to please Mao Zedong with their adherence to his agricultural vision.

When the Great Leap Forward ended in 1962, its legacy then and well into the future was that of a people and a landscape degradated at such an astonishing rate, that it would not be until years after Mao’s death in 1976, that some areas would begin to recover.

I. Agricultural Policy

A. 8 principles of agriculture

a. Deep Ploughing

b. Close Cropping

c. 4 Pests

B. Three Thirds System

a. Falsified Grain Yields

b. Reduction of Farming Acreage

C. Lushan Conference

II. Communal Living

A. Workers Communes

a. “Golden Bridge to Communism”

b. Dissolution of Family Units

B. Community Kitchens and Disruption to Family Structure

C. Steel Smelting

c. Destruction of Farming Tools

d. Loss of Competent Manpower for Harvesting

III. Life in the Villages

A. Henan and Anhui

B. Tibet

C. Internal Passports

IV. Aftermath

A. 1961: Liu Shaoqi and San Zi Yi Bao (Three Freedoms and One Guarantee)

B. Environmental Legacy

C. Human Costs