Mao's Great Famine: The History of China's Most Devastating Catastrophe, 1958-1962

by Frank Dikotter

35 Guangdong, 5 Jan. 1961, 217-1-643, pp. 50–60.

  36 Speech by Tan Zhenlin, Oct. 1958, Hunan, 141-2-62, p. 148.

  Chapter 9: Warning Signs

  1 Yunnan, 12 April 1958, zhongfa (58) 295, 120-1-75, pp. 2–4.

  2 Hunan, 25 April 1958, 141-1-1055, pp. 66–7.

  3 Yunnan, 20 Nov. 1958, 2-1-3078, pp. 116–23; 22 Aug. 1958, 2-1-3078, pp. 1–16.

  4 Yunnan, 20 Nov. 1958, 2-1-3078, pp. 116–23.

  5 Yunnan, 12 Sept. 1958, 2-1-3077, pp. 55–77; 12 Sept. 1958, 2-1-3076, pp. 97–105; Sept. 1958, 2-1-3075, pp. 104–22.

  6 Yunnan, 28 Feb. 1959, 2-1-3700, pp. 93–8.

  7 Yunnan, 16 May 1959, 81-4-25, p. 17; for the average death rate in 1957 see Zhongguo tongji nianjian, 1984, Beijing: Zhongguo tongji chubanshe, 1984, p. 83.

  8 Mao, Jianguo yilai, vol. 7, pp. 584–5; the original is in Yunnan, 25 Nov. 1958, 120-1-84, p. 68; see also documents from the Zhengzhou conference, 25 Nov. 1958, Hunan, 141-2-76, pp. 99–103.

  9 Hebei, 16 April 1961, 884-1-202, pp. 35–47.

  10 Hebei, 19 Feb. 1961, 856-1-227, p. 3.

  11 Hebei, 25 Dec. 1958, 855-4-1271, pp. 58–65.

  12 Hebei, 18 Oct. 1958, 855-4-1270, pp. 1–7.

  13 Hebei, 23 Oct. 1958, 855-4-1271, pp. 25–6.

  14 Hebei, 24 Oct. 1958, 855-4-1271, pp. 42–3.

  15 Hunan, 5 Nov. 1958, 141-1-1051, p. 123.

  16 Li Jingquan at provincial party committee, Sichuan, 17 March 1959, JC1-1533, pp. 154–5.

  17 Gansu, 25 Jan. 1959, 91-18-114, p. 113.

  18 For instance an extra 600,000 tonnes was shipped to Beijing and 800,000 to Shanghai; see Shanghai, 12 March 1959, B98-1-439, pp. 9–13.

  19 Yunnan, 18 Dec. 1958, 2-1-3101, pp. 301, 305–12.

  Chapter 10: Shopping Spree

  1 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 6 Sept. 1963, 109-3321-2, pp. 82–5.

  2 K. A. Krutikov, Na Kitaiskom napravlenii: Iz vospominanii diplomata, Moscow: Institut Dal’nego Vostoka, 2003, p. 253; see also T. G. Zazerskaya, Sovetskie spetsialisty i formirovanie voenno-promyshlennogo kompleksa Kitaya (1949–1960 gg.), St Petersburg: Sankt Peterburg Gosudarstvennyi Universitet, 2000.

  3 AVPRF, Moscow, 9 March 1958, 0100-51-6, papka 432, p. 102.

  4 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 10 June 1958, 109-828-30, pp. 176–7.

  5 George Ginsburgs, ‘Trade with the Soviet Union’, in Victor H. Li, Law and Politics in China’s Foreign Trade, Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1977, p. 100.

  6 BArch, Berlin, 2 Dec. 1958, DL2-4037, pp. 31–9.

  7 Jahrbuch 1962, Berlin, 1962, p. 548, and MfAA, Berlin, 25 Nov. 1963, C572-77-2, p. 191.

  8 BArch, Berlin, 7 Jan. 1961, DL2-4039, p. 7; 1959, DL2-VAN-172.

  9 See Zhou Enlai nianpu, vol. 2, pp. 149, 165, 231, 256, quoted in Zhang Shu Guang, Economic Cold War: America’s Embargo against China and the Sino-Soviet Alliance, 1949–1963, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001, pp. 212–13.

  10 See p. 105.

  11 A. Boone, ‘The Foreign Trade of China’, China Quarterly, no. 11 (Sept. 1962), p. 176.

  12 BArch, Berlin, 6 Oct. 1957, DL2-1932, pp. 331–2.

  13 Lawrence C. Reardon, The Reluctant Dragon: Crisis Cycles in Chinese Foreign Economic Policy, Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2002, pp. 91–2.

  14 Martin Kitchen, A History of Modern Germany, 1800–2000, New York: Wiley-Blackwell, 2006, p. 336.

  15 MfAA, Berlin, 27 Sept. 1958, A6861, p. 145.

  16 Ibid., pp. 151–2.

  17 BArch, Berlin, 24 June 1959, DL2-1937, p. 231.

  18 ‘Russia’s trade war’, Time, 5 May 1958; see also see Boone, ‘Foreign Trade of China’.

  19 ‘Squeeze from Peking’, Time, 21 July 1958.

  20 ‘Made well in Japan’, Time, 1 Sept. 1958.

  21 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 8 Nov. 1958, 109-1907-4, p. 49.

  22 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, Jan. 1959, 109-1907-3, pp. 24–5.

  23 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 8 Nov. 1958, 109-1907-4, pp. 46–50.

  24 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 23 Dec. 1958, 109-1907-2, pp. 12–13; for Germany see MfAA, Berlin, 21 Sept. 1959, A9960-2, pp. 183–4.

  25 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 8 Nov. 1958, 109-1907-4, pp. 44–5.

  26 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 23 Nov. 1958, 109-1907-5, p. 56.

  27 Hunan, 22 Jan. 1959, 163-1-1052, p. 237.

  28 Hunan, Jan. 1959, 141-2-104, pp. 10–12.

  29 Gansu, 25 Jan. 1959, 91-18-114, p. 119; Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 23 Dec. 1958, 109-1907-2, pp. 12–13.

  30 Ministry of Foreign Trade, Shanghai, 31 Oct. 1958, B29-2-97, p. 23.

  31 Guangdong, 10 Aug. 1961, 219-2-318, p. 14.

  32 Hunan, 7 Feb. 1959, 163-1-1052, p. 11.

  33 Ibid., p. 12.

  34 Ibid., p. 11.

  35 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 10 April 1959, 109-1907-8, p. 100; also speech on 25 March 1959, Gansu, 19-18-494, p. 46.

  36 For statements of Peng and Zhou, see minutes in Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 10 April 1959, 109-1907-8, p. 101.

  37 The order came by telephone; Hunan, 26 May 1959, 141-1-1252, pp. 39–40.

  38 Hunan, 20 Nov. 1959, 163-1-1052, pp. 25–9.

  39 Hunan, 6 June 1959, 163-1-1052, pp. 119–24.

  40 Gansu, zhongfa (60) 98, 6 Jan. 1960, 91-18-160, pp. 187–90.

  41 Hunan, 6 Jan. 1960, 141-2-126, pp. 14–15.

  42 Gansu, zhongfa (60) 98, 6 Jan. 1960, 91-18-160, pp. 187–90.

  43 Hunan, 24 Nov. 1959, 163-1-1052, pp. 21–4.

  44 Shanghai, 20 Feb. 1960, B29-2-112, pp. 2–5.

  45 Shanghai, 1 Dec. 1959, B29-2-112, pp. 2–5.

  Chapter 11: Dizzy with Success

  1 Lin, Wutuobang yundong, pp. 371–2; Wu, Yi Mao zhuxi, pp. 105–6.

  2 Zhao Ziyang’s report on Leinan county, Kaiping, 27 Jan. 1959, 3-A9-78, pp. 17–20.

  3 Neibu cankao, 5 Feb. 1959, pp. 3–14.

  4 Mao, Jianguo yilai, vol. 8, pp. 52–4.

  5 Ibid., pp. 80–1.

  6 Ibid., pp. 52–4.

  7 Mao’s speech at Zhengzhou on 18 March 1959, Gansu, 91-18-494, pp. 19–20 and 22.

  8 Mao’s speech on 5 March 1959, quoted in Pang and Jin, Mao Zedong zhuan, p. 922.

  9 Mao’s speech on 2 Feb. 1959, Gansu, 91-18-494, pp. 10–11.

  10 Mao’s instructions to Wang Renzhong, Hunan, 13 April 1959, 141-1-1310, p. 75.

  11 Bo, Ruogan zhongda shijian, p. 830.

  12 Mao’s speech in sixteen points on the morning of 5 April 1959, Hunan, 141-2-98, pp. 1–12; see also Lin, Wutuobang yundong, pp. 413–17.

  13 Mao, Jianguo yilai, vol. 8, p. 33.

  14 Minutes of Mao’s talk, Gansu, 18 March 1959, 91-18-494, p. 19.

  15 As quoted by Wu Jinnan, regional party secretary in Guangxi on 14 Feb. 1959; see minutes, Guangxi, X1-25-316, pp. 8–9.

  16 Minutes of Mao’s talk, Gansu, 25 March 1959, 19-18-494, pp. 44–8.

  17 Telephone conference, Gansu, 20 June 1959, 91-18-539, p. 41.

  18 Li, Dayuejin, vol. 2, p. 393.

  19 Telephone conference on 20 Jan. 1959, Gansu, 91-18-513, p. 59.

  20 Telegram from Mao, Gansu, 26 April 1959, 91-8-276, pp. 90–2.

  Chapter 12: The End of Truth

  1 Speech by Mao on 11 Aug. 1959, Gansu, 91-18-494, p. 81.

  2 Li, Private Life of Chairman Mao, pp. 310–11.

  3 Wang Yan et al. (eds), Peng Dehuai nianpu (A chronicle of Peng Dehuai’s life), Beijing: Renmin chubanshe, 1998, p. 738.

  4 Jin, Zhou Enlai zhuan, p. 1326.

  5 Hunan, 31 Aug. 1959, 141-1-1115, pp. 107–9 and 111–13.

  6 Peng Dehuai, Peng Dehuai zishu (The autobiography of Peng Dehuai), Beijing: Renmin chubanshe, 1981, p. 275.

  7 See Peng Dehuai’s conversation with Zhou Xiaozhou, Gansu, 13 Aug. 1959, 91-18-96, p. 518.

  8 The description comes from Kung Chu, an early comrade in arms, in The Case of Peng Teh-huai, 1959–19
68, Hong Kong: Union Research Institute, 1968, p. i.

  9 Gansu, 14 July 1959, 91-18-96, pp. 579–84.

  10 Li, Private Life of Chairman Mao, p. 314.

  11 Mao, Jianguo yilai, vol. 8, p. 356.

  12 Li Rui, Lushan huiyi shilu (A true record of the Lushan plenum), Zhengzhou: Henan renmin chubanshe, 1999, pp. 111–15.

  13 Huang Kecheng’s confession, Gansu, Aug. 1959, 91-18-96, p. 491.

  14 Huang Kecheng, Huang Kecheng zishu (The autobiography of Huang Kecheng), Beijing: Renmin chubanshe, 1994, p. 250.

  15 Mao’s speech on 11 Aug. 1959, Gansu, 91-18-494, p. 78.

  16 Gansu, 21 July 1959, 91-18-96, pp. 532–47.

  17 Peng Dehuai’s confession about his links with Zhang Wentian, Gansu, Aug. 1959, 91-18-96, p. 568.

  18 Gansu, 91-18-488, 15 July 1959, pp. 106–8.

  19 Letter by Zhou Xiaozhou to Mao Zedong, Gansu, 13 Aug. 1959, 91-18-96, p. 518.

  20 Neibu cankao, 26 July 1959, pp. 19–20.

  21 Mao, Jianguo yilai, vol. 8, p. 367; the report is in Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 2 July 1959, 109-870-8, pp. 81–3.

  22 Wu Lengxi’s unpublished memoirs as quoted in Pang and Jin, Mao Zedong zhuan, p. 983.

  23 Gansu, 11 Aug. 1959, 91-18-494, p. 84.

  24 Gansu, 23 July 1959, 91-18-494, pp. 50–66.

  25 Li, Private Life of Chairman Mao, p. 317.

  26 Gansu, 2 Aug. 1959, 91-18-494, pp. 67–70.

  27 Li, Lushan huiyi, pp. 206–7.

  28 Huang Zheng, Wang Guangmei fangtan lu (A record of conversations with Wang Guangmei), Beijing: Zhongyang wenxian chubanshe, 2006, p. 199.

  29 Li, Lushan huiyi, pp. 359–60.

  30 Huang Kecheng’s self-criticism, Gansu, Aug. 1959, 91-18-96, p. 495.

  31 Gansu, Aug. 1959, 91-18-96, p. 559.

  32 Gansu, 11 Aug. 1959, 91-18-494, pp. 82–3.

  33 Gansu, 16 Aug. 1959, 91-18-96, p. 485.

  Chapter 13: Repression

  1 Gao, Zhou Enlai, pp. 187–8.

  2 Gansu, 19 Sept. 1959, 91-18-561, p. 28.

  3 Gansu, zhongfa (60) 28, 8 Jan. 1960, 91-18-164, pp. 109–14.

  4 Gansu, 3 Dec. 1962, 91-4-1028, pp. 8–9.

  5 Mao, Jianguo yilai, vol. 8, p. 529.

  6 Gansu, 1 July 1960, 91-4-705, pp. 1–5.

  7 Yunnan, 28 Oct. 1959, 2-1-3639, pp. 23–31.

  8 Hebei, 1960, 879-1-116, p. 43.

  9 Hebei, 9 Nov. 1959, 855-5-1788, pp. 3–6.

  10 Mao, Jianguo yilai, vol. 8, p. 431.

  11 Hunan, 2–4 Sept. 1959, 141–1–1116, pp. 40–3, 49–50 and 121.

  12 Li, Private Life of Chairman Mao, pp. 299–300; an almost identical conversation took place earlier over the phone, as Zhou ridiculed Wang’s sputnik fields and challenged him to come to Changsha to find out about the local supplies of grain; see Hunan, 1 Sept. 1959, 141-1-1115, pp. 235–7.

  13 Roderick MacFarquhar, The Origins of the Cultural Revolution, vol. 3: The Coming of the Cataclysm, 1961–1966, New York: Columbia University Press, 1999, pp. 61, 179 and 206–7; Lu, Cadres and Corruption, p. 86, quoting from figures provided at the time in the People’s Daily; speaking in September 1959, Peng Zhen put the party membership at 13,900,000 and the number of cadres purged over the two preceeding years at 700,000; see Gansu, 19 Sept. 1959, 91-18-561, p. 28.

  Chapter 14: The Sino-Soviet Rift

  1 Instructions from State Council, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 1 Aug. 1960, 109-927-1, pp. 1–5.

  2 Klochko, Soviet Scientist, p. 171.

  3 Several diplomats see this as the main reason for the rift; see Kapitsa, Na raznykh parallelakh, pp. 61–3; Arkady N. Shevchenko, Breaking with Moscow, New York: Alfred Knopf, 1985, p. 122.

  4 Zubok and Pleshakov, Inside the Kremlin’s Cold War, p. 232.

  5 The original letter of recall, in Russian and Chinese, can be found in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 16 July 1960, 109-924-1, pp. 4–8.

  6 Jung Chang and Jon Halliday, Mao: The Unknown Story, London: Jonathan Cape, 2005, p. 465.

  7 Wu, Shinian lunzhan, p. 337.

  8 Gansu, 5 Aug. 1960, 91-9-91, pp. 7–11.

  9 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 1960–1, 109-2248-1, p. 38.

  10 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 20 Aug. 1963, 109-2541-1, pp. 12–13.

  11 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 28 March 1960, 109-2061-1, p. 3; Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 1962, 109-3191-6, p. 5.

  12 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 109-2541-1, pp. 12–13.

  13 Report from the Bank for Foreign Trade, RGANI, Moscow, 2 June 1961, 5-20-210, p. 34; for the deal see Sbornik osnovnykh deistvuiushchikh dogo-vorokh i sogloshenii mezhdu SSSR i KNR, 1949–1961, Moscow: Ministerstvo Inostrannykh Del, no date, p. 198.

  14 Ginsburgs, ‘Trade with the Soviet Union’, pp. 100 and 106.

  15 BArch, Berlin, 12 Nov. 1960, DL2-1870, p. 34.

  16 RGANI, Moscow, 14 Feb. 1964, 2-1-720, p. 75.

  17 Interview with Mr Chan, born 1946, Hong Kong, July 2006.

  18 Taubman, Khrushchev, p. 471.

  19 Li, Private Life of Chairman Mao, p. 339.

  Chapter 15: Capitalist Grain

  1 Jin, Zhou Enlai zhuan, p. 1398.

  2 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 20 Aug. 1960, 118-1378-13, pp. 32–3.

  3 Oleg Hoeffding, ‘Sino-Soviet Economic Relations, 1959–1962’, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, vol. 349 (Sept. 1963), p. 95.

  4 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 31 Dec. 1960, 110-1316-11, pp. 1–5.

  5 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 18 Jan. 1961, 109-3004-2, p. 8.

  6 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 31 Dec. 1960, 110-1316-11, pp. 1–5.

  7 BArch, Berlin, 12 Nov. 1960, DL2-1870, p. 34.

  8 ‘Famine and bankruptcy’, Time, 2 June 1961.

  9 Jin, Zhou Enlai zhuan, pp. 1414–15.

  10 Colin Garratt, ‘How to Pay for the Grain’, Far Eastern Economic Review, vol. 33, no. 13 (28 Sept. 1961), p. 644.

  11 Jin, Zhou Enlai zhuan, p. 1413.

  12 Report by Zhou Enlai, Hunan, 4 Dec. 1961, 141-1-1931, p. 54.

  13 MfAA, Berlin, 1962, A6792, p. 137.

  14 Report by Zhou Enlai, Hunan, 4 Dec. 1961, 141-1-1931, p. 54.

  15 Boone, ‘Foreign Trade of China’.

  16 Report by Zhou Enlai, Hunan, 4 Dec. 1961, 141-1-1931, pp. 52–3.

  17 ‘Famine and bankruptcy’, Time, 2 June 1961.

  18 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 8 March 1961, 109-3746-1, pp. 17–18.

  19 RGANI, Moscow, 14 Feb. 1964, 2-1-720, pp. 81–2; the contract for the delivery of sugar is in Sbornik osnovnykh deistvuiushchikh dogovorokh i sogloshenii mezhdu SSSR i KNR, 1949–1961, Moscow: Ministerstvo Inostrannykh Del, no date, pp. 196–7.

  20 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 4 April 1961, 109-2264-1, pp. 1–8.

  21 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 22 Aug. 1961, 109-2264-2, p. 38.

  22 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 6 April 1962, 109-2410-3, p. 53.

  23 Ibid.

  24 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 15 Aug. 1962, 109-2410-1, pp. 62–3.

  25 BArch, Berlin, 1962, DL2-VAN-175, p. 15.

  26 Chang and Halliday, Mao, p. 462.

  27 MfAA, Berlin, 11 July 1962, A17334, p. 92.

  28 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 1 July 1960, 102-15-1, pp. 26–39; see also MfAA, Berlin, 11 July 1962, A17334, pp. 89–94.

  29 Shanghai, 1 Dec. 1959, B29-2-112, p. 3.

  30 Report from the Ministry of Finance, Gansu, 1 July 1961, 91-18-211, p. 25.

  31 MfAA, Berlin, 4 Jan. 1962, A6836, p. 33; see also the analysis of the East Germans of the policy of foreign aid, which they identified as one of the main reasons for the famine; MfAA, Berlin, 4 Jan. 1962, A6836, p. 16.

  32 Report from the Ministry of Finance, Gansu, 1 July 1961, 91-18-211, pp. 22–5.

  33 Hunan, 29 March 1960, 163-1-1083, pp. 119–22; by the end of the year, following a resolution at Be
idaihe in September 1960, this was lowered to 310 million, with rice halved to some 144,000 tonnes; see Hunan, 22 Oct. 1960, 163-1-1083, pp. 130–4.

  34 Guangdong, 29 Sept. 1960, 300-1-195, p. 158.

  35 Guangzhou, 5 April 1961, 92-1-275, p. 105.

  36 Gansu, 16 Jan. 1961, 91-18-200, p. 72.

  37 Shanghai, 21 Oct. 1960, B29-2-112, pp. 2–5.

  38 ‘Back to the farm’, Time, 3 Feb. 1961.

  39 ICRC, Geneva, telegrams of 18, 28 and 30 Jan. and 6 Feb. 1961, BAG 209-048-2.

  40 ICRC, Geneva, discussions on 1 and 14 March 1961, BAG 209-048-2.

  41 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, 27 Jan. 1959, 109-1952-3, p. 13.

  Chapter 16: Finding a Way Out

  1 Bo, Ruogan zhongda shijian, p. 892.

  2 Mao, Jianguo yilai, vol. 9, p. 326; Lin, Wutuobang yundong, p. 607.

  3 Zhang Zhong, ‘Xinyang shijian jiemi’ (Revealing the Xinyang incident), Dangshi tiandi, 2004, no. 4, pp. 40–1.

  4 Yang Zhengang, Zhang Jiansheng and Liu Shikai, ‘Guanyu huaifenzi Ma Longshan da gao fanmanchan jiqi houguo deng youguan cailiao de diaocha baogao’, 9 Nov. 1960, p. 7.

  5 Li Zhenhai, Liu Zhengrong and Zhang Chunyuan, ‘Guanyu Xinyang diqu Xincai qu dong jin chun fasheng zhongbing siren he ganbu yanzhong weifa luanji wenti de diaocha baogao’, 30 Nov. 1960, p. 1.

  6 Xinyang diwei zuzhi chuli bangongshi, ‘Guanyu diwei changwu shuji Wang Dafu tongzhifan suo fan cuowu ji shishi cailiao’, 5 Jan. 1962, pp. 1–2.

  7 Zhang, ‘Xinyang shijian jiemi’, p. 42; see also Qiao Peihua, Xinyang shijian (The Xinyang incident), Hong Kong: Kaifang chubanshe, 2009.

  8 Mao, Jianguo yilai, vol. 9, p. 349.

  9 Nongye jitihua zhongyao wenjian huibian (1958–1981) (A compendium of important documents on agricultural collectivisation [1958–1981]), Beijing: Zhongyang dangxiao chubanshe, 1981, vol. 2, pp. 419–30.

  10 Chester J. Cheng (ed.), The Politics of the Chinese Red Army, Stanford: Hoover Institution Publications, 1966, pp. 117–23.

  11 Zhonggong zhongyang wenxian yanjiushi (eds), Jianguo yilai zhongyao wen-xian xuanbian, Beijing: Zhongyang wenxian chubanshe, 1992, vol. 13, pp. 660–76.

  12 Bo, Ruogan zhongda shijian, pp. 893–6.

  13 Li, Private Life of Chairman Mao, p. 339.

  14 Speech by Liu Shaoqi, Gansu, 20 Jan. 1961, 91-6-79, pp. 46–51 and 103–7.

  15 Speech by Mao Zedong, Gansu, 18 Jan. 1961, 91-6-79, p. 4.

  16 Huang, Liu Shaoqi yisheng, pp. 346–8; Huang, Wang Guangmei fangtan lu, pp. 225–6 and 240.