Day: October 16, 2023

My Friends, since I have last written a great many calamities have befallen our nation. The promise of collectivization which promised so much has been struck with a run of such poor luck as has not been seen in this country since the era following the collapse of the Qing. These are evil days. A few years ago, the Party, headed by Chairman Mao, began pushing for the rapid and total collectivization of the Agricultural sector and for the revolution of techniques vital to raising the output of our farms and our industry. I am no longer of an age where I can easily go out into the countryside to see for myself the progress being made in these endeavors, but I have asked my son to go in my stead; the things he has told me I do not find heartening. I must preface my following statements by saying that I know that collectivization is successful in other parts of the country, I have seen for myself the success of the new methods and measures. I have seen the trucks bring grain in from the country, place it into the large silos before moving it to trains bound for the Soviet Union or beyond. My son, however, has told me that the villages he has visited are racked with famine and drought or else flooding, and everywhere the stench of starvation and disease. He told me of an Incident where he happened upon a pack of creatures, he at first believed to be wild dogs scrounging in the ditch on the side of the road, upon further investigation he found them to be children, collecting the grasses and wildflowers they could. When he spoke to them, they told him they came from an orphanage in the nearby village and that they had snuck out to find something to supplement the small grain ration they were allotted. In another village, he encountered a family which was so desperate that when he shared a loaf of bread, he had been carrying for the road they attempted to offer him one of their children in compensation. The family had been on the road for some weeks following the total collapse of their harvest, trying to reach the place where the trucks had taken their food but were now too weak to continue. I am an old man. I remember such times when people placed great stock in the Mandate of Heaven. That certain regions of this country have failed so drastically in meeting the projections and promises of the collectivization that has seemed so successful across the board, perhaps there is some truth to the old superstitions.  Perhaps those local leaders that have clearly so poorly implemented the practices and policies of the Party have brought down the wrath of the heavens on the regions under their control. If this country is ever going to have the universal growth in wealth that has been shown to be possible, then we must ensure that the lowest levels of the government are loyal to the revolution and to the will of the people. We must apply more pressure on them to better emulate the Chairman and his confidants in being a guiding light, a beacon around which the people can rally rather than stealing grain and terrorizing the people.

 

Comrades, I expect we shall hear in the future of atrocities being committed by the cadres in the countryside which have lost sight of the revolution, but we must not allow these naysayers and traitors to the revolution dissuade us from our ultimate goals. Be well, I shall write more when I have the time.

Dear Tongzhimen, 

Once again, my correspondence is infrequent, but take it as a sign of the prosperity of the People’s Republic of China and the Party! The last you heard from me, I moved back to my beloved city of Beijing, where I started writing all those years ago. It is almost unbelievable to imagine the immense change our great nation has gone through in the past thirty years. Of course, anyone can see that the last three years have been hard, for some more than others. I have immense faith in the Party, especially Chairman Mao, and their efforts to get everything back on track! However, society will forever be changed if my observations in the countryside are accurate. 

I truly believe the worst is behind us. Unfortunately, the combination of natural disasters and Mao’s great campaigns, such as collectivization, the Four Pests, and the mass steel melting movements in the countryside, have had detrimental effects on the health and wellness of our country and people. Until 1959, I had no idea anything was wrong until millions of people rushed into Beijing looking for food. This caused me immense worry. As you know, my family is located in the countryside in Anyang. I was eager to return home and investigate other areas to see why this mass exodus was occurring. What I found in 1959 was horrific. All around me, there were almost too many problems to report on in my village, and others I passed through on my way back to Beijing to write this. 

First, I noticed the lack of housing and basic necessities. In 1958, my village, like many others, collectivized all private property, and communal housing was developed. However, many were left homeless and left to survive in the elements if they were not fit for agricultural production in the eyes of the greedy cadres who do not reflect the values of our beloved Party. When I arrived, I learned my elderly father was cast out of the village commune in 1958 by the cadres due to his inability to work. There was no reason to do this because I have been told the Henan province is now completely infertile and unworkable due to over-irrigation. After visiting other villages, I heard many of the same cruel and tragic tales. Furthermore, many families lack clothing, blankets, and other essentials. I have witnessed women working fields with no tops and orphans running around entirely naked. Much of the melted steel that these people donated for the backyard steel furnace campaign has been rendered useless. Just years earlier, I was teaching these same cadres and communes how to implement policies that have so deeply strained the countryside. The Great Leap Forward did not aim to cause these issues, and I believe our great Chairman Mao had no knowledge that these greedy cadres and a lack of revolutionary spirit would convolute his policies. Little did I know that homelessness was the least pressing problem I would soon find.

I quickly came to understand why so many peasants were rushing into urban areas, a total lack of food, and utter inhumanity. Unfortunately, it seems repeated years of bad weather and the quick transitions to CCP collectivization campaigns have rendered the countryside with barely enough grain to feed themselves, let alone export it to the cities and debt-collecting countries such as the USSR. This is not because Mao is ignoring their plight. I have visited numerous towns in which the cadres over-report their grain production to placate the leaders with false numbers that leave their village with no leftover grain and even more problems. In every village I went to, there were starved bodies piling up, some even being eaten for food or dug up and boiled for ineffective fertilizer. The makeup of our nation will forever be changed as children, and the elderly have become the most likely to die in these horrible times. Besides the constant visage of death, there is a health crisis among the living. In the countryside and in the cities, the healthcare system has collapsed. People are suffering en masse from edema, babies are developing rickets, and women have a multitude of gynecological problems, including infertility! My sister-in-law can no longer produce milk for her 2-week-old baby. These are dire times indeed.

Fortunately, the Party seems to be making moves towards recovery after these three years of struggle. No thanks are needed to our former ally, the USSR, who have shown they would rather exacerbate our plight than help us in our time of need. We are incredibly fortunate to have such thoughtful leadership, and it is exciting to see we will soon be able to resume the work we had started all those years ago in Yenan. Although our nation will not be as it was before due to immense population loss, economic decline, and agricultural problems, I am sure we will come back stronger from these Three Hard Years. 

To Future Prosperity,

Cui Shuli

Hello tongzhimen, 

 

I write to you again at a difficult time. After returning to headquarters in Beijing and following the mass collectivization in the countryside, those of us in the city began to notice shortages of rice and the like. It had not affected us so greatly that we could not go on, as I recall my father telling me of famines past in our hometown, but I was curious to investigate as the targets for grain this year had been high. Not hearing much awry in the papers, I took it upon myself to venture into the countryside and hear from those producing the crops.

It was a staggering scene in the Gaoguanzhai township. While locals said that the harvest had been prosperous in the warmer seasons, they did not have enough food to eat as the year went on. Even emergency rations were not enough, and the scene became desperate, with those sowing corn eating the kernels as they did so. Every family I spoke to had at least two members who had passed, almost always from starvation. Even those alive were unseemly, emaciated or with swollen legs. Women suffered greatly, as the nutrients that they needed to menstruate, carry children, and breastfeed were not available. This affected their children in turn, and many babies had bowed legs. Families suffered, and divorces grew out of necessity. 

While natural disasters and bad crops have commonly led to famines in our history, I believe there are more reasons for what we see now. The Soviets did not want the Chinese people to surpass them in strength and prosperity, so they gave misguided instructions on engineering and agriculture and asked for too much in return for grain and loans. If the Soviets truly supported China, they would have backed our struggle against the Nationalists, but they did not. Our farming techniques are superior to the Russian’s, and Lysenko’s lies led us to ruin, hindering seed growth. Lysenko’s false promises gave collectives great ambition, leading them to compete with higher and higher projections of grain output that never came.

 

Although Mao’s guidance is infallible, there are many in our nation who infect and undermine the Great Leap Forward: rightists. We know this as Mao said himself that ten percent of our citizens are rightists, and from what I have heard it seems that they are, in part, responsible for these famines. One man told me that a party official representing his village reported the grain output as higher than it really was in order to bolster his image in the party. This had devastating consequences for the rest in the village, however, as so much was taken from them that they had no food left for themselves. Hoarding by these rightist party members is also an issue, and a woman from another village that I visited confided in me that her local official had taken surplus grain for himself then acted as if others had done so. Families accused of hoarding were subsequently threatened and even beaten for grain that they did not have. This corruption must be rooted out.

 

Chairman Mao has shown great understanding as always and is dialing back the speed of The Great Leap Forward. He, the General Line, and the Rural People’s Communes have done no wrong, but are flexible as always to the changing conditions of the times and the needs of the people. China will surely achieve the grand targets in the future set out by the party.

In the wake of the Great Leap Forward, China finds itself at a critical juncture, facing the repercussions of ambitious policies gone awry. As a reporter stationed in Beijing, I aim to shed light on the most significant consequences of this period, offering insights into the challenges that lie ahead.

The Great Leap Forward’s goal for rapid industrialization led to a misallocation of resources, disrupting agricultural practices. Communes and backyard furnaces diverted labor and resources away from farming, causing a severe decline in agricultural output. This crisis has left millions hungry and struggling, with widespread food shortages amplifying the suffering of the rural people. Tragically, the consequences of the Great Leap Forward are written in the faces of the people. Famine has claimed the lives of millions, making this period one of the deadliest in human history. Families have been torn apart, communities decimated, and the nation’s social fabric strained to its limits. The toll on human life and dignity is immeasurable. I have seen sights that I thought I would never see. I have experienced people eating the deceased in order to get proper nourishment. I’ve seen babies left deformed from a lack of nourishment.  People are even eating dirt to fill their bellies with something. 

The social fabric of our society is unraveling. Once bound by shared traditions and mutual support, communities are now torn apart by hunger and desperation. The dispossessed roam the land, searching for sustenance and hope. Refugee camps spring up on the outskirts of cities, housing those who have been driven from their homes by famine. The sense of belonging that once defined our communities is replaced by a haunting emptiness.

Internationally, the repercussions of the Great Leap Forward have not gone unnoticed. China’s image as a rising power has been tarnished, and diplomatic challenges loom large. Rebuilding trust and credibility on the global stage will be daunting, requiring a careful and strategic approach to international relations.

Where decisions shaping the fate of millions are made, Mao’s advisors had reportedly advised a more cautious approach. They argued that the ambitious targets set for agricultural and industrial growth were unrealistic, warning that the hurried pace risked the stability of our society. These advisors, seasoned veterans of the revolution, saw the potential for disaster, urging Mao to consider the well-being of the people before racing ahead.

In conclusion, the aftermath of the Great Leap Forward paints a portrait of a nation at a crossroads. The mistakes made during this time were extreme, profoundly shaping China’s future. As the nation grapples with the aftermath, the Chinese people have a sense of resilience and determination. It is a moment of reckoning, a time for introspection, and a call for transformative change. 

-Miao Bing Rong