Temporary Struggle, Faith Potter Blog4

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.