Section 1: Identification and Evaluation of sources This investigation will explore the question: Was the Great Leap Forward a successful economic development? The years 1951 to 1962 will be the focus of this investigation, as it will give an comprehensive outlook of the Great Leap Forward and its effects on Chinese economy and people, from its initial start to its official end. The first source which will be examined in depth is Frank Dikötter’s book “Mao’s Great Famine”, written in 2010. The origin of this source is valuable, because Dikötter is a Chair Professor of Humanities at the University of Hong Kong, where he specializes and teaches courses of both Mao and Great Chinese Famine, and he is also a Professor of the Modern History …show more content…
This is valuable, as it provides brimful description of conditions in which Chinese economy and its people lied, as well as for many changes and attempts, such as long term plans like “Great Leap Forward”, made initially for stabilizing and boosting Chinese economy, not only for a domestic success, but for a recognition of a broader audience and world acceptance. However, the fact that author’s arguments focused extensively on Mao’s ‘’bad’’ character and leadership and not on the Great Leap Forward and its disastress effects on the economy and people limits the value of the …show more content…
The big push towards industrialization during the Great Leap Forward years (1958–1960) not only failed to raise the GDP growth rate, it also had such disruptive effects on agricultural production that a severe famine occurred when China was hit by adverse weather shocks in 1959 ( Xiaodong 109). The Great Leap Forward became the Great Leap Famine 1959 ( Xiaodong 109). The Great Leap Forward became the Great Leap Famine of 1959 –1961, when the official statistics admit to 15 million deaths and unofficial estimates suggest double that number or more ( Xiaodong
Jonathan Spence tells his readers of how Mao Zedong was a remarkable man to say the very least. He grew up a poor farm boy from a small rural town in Shaoshan, China. Mao was originally fated to be a farmer just as his father was. It was by chance that his young wife passed away and he was permitted to continue his education which he valued so greatly. Mao matured in a China that was undergoing a threat from foreign businesses and an unruly class of young people who wanted modernization. Throughout his school years and beyond Mao watched as the nation he lived in continued to change with the immense number of youth who began to westernize. Yet in classes he learned classical Chinese literature, poems, and history. Mao also attained a thorough knowledge of the modern and Western world. This great struggle between modern and classical Chinese is what can be attributed to most of the unrest in China during this time period. His education, determination and infectious personalit...
Following the Chinese Revolution of 1949, China’s economy was in ruin. The new leader, Mao Zedong, was responsible for pulling the economy out of the economic depression. The problems he faced included the low gross domestic product, high inflation, high unemployment, and high prices on goods. In order to solve these issues, Mao sought to follow a more Marxist model, similar to that of the Soviet Union. This was to use government intervention to develop industry in China. In Jan Wong’s Red China Blues, discusses Maoism and how Mao’s policies changed China’s economy for the worse. While some of Mao’s early domestic policies had some positive effects on China’s economy, many of his later policies caused China’s economy to regress.
News: Politics. Meng, Xin, and Nancy Qian. The Institutional Causes of China's Great Famine, 1959-61. Cambridge, Mass: National Bureau of Economic Research,
The short story “Famine” by Xu Xi is about her trip to New York from Hong Kong after her parents death with flashbacks to her life with controlling, abusive parents. Throughout the story there is a theme of revolt despite her parents having a strong, strict hold on her. From learning English, going on hunger strikes, to an impulsive trip to New York. From beginning to the end of the story, Xu Xi portrays herself as rebellious throughout her life.
Zedong was supported in making the decision of what was known as the “Great Leap Forward”. This wild plan was aimed at making the people of China achieve economic advances in just a few years that would usually take other countries decades to accomplish. Zedong believed that in order to achieve his goals that steel production was necessary in his plans. Instead of working in areas that were not being used such as fields for example, above millions of peasants were forced to work on local deposits of iron ore and limestone, cutting down healthy trees to look for charcoal, and to have metal smelted. The result of this work did not go as planned. Steel was not produced. The only thing that was produced was pieces of brittle. These pieces of brittle were no use for even the simplest of tools. Peasants that were working on these sights were then ordered to abandon all private production in food which resulted in high reductions in
Ever since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, the legitimacy of the revolution of which it was built upon has perennially been in question. For example, in a 1999 issue of the International Herald Tribune, a prestigious scholar claimed that all of China’s tragedies are ‘sustained by a mistaken belief in the correctness of the 1949 revolution’ and that the future progress of China depends on the recognition that the revolution was a failure. However, the CCP government was certainly not perfect and its most significant failures were its political failures such as the Anti-rightist movement and the Cultural Revolution and also economic failures such as the great leap forward. Millions of peoples were falsely accused and persecuted during the political movements of the Mao period as the CCP focused on class struggle instead of economic development during the period and tens of Millions of peoples died due to starvation as there were widespread food shortages during the great leap forward movement.
Gittings, John. The Changing Face of China: From Mao to Market. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2006. Print.
In the outstanding book Mao’s Last Dancer, it tells a life story about a peasant boy named Li Cunxin who’s fate is laid out for him being a labourer in the fields just like his whole family but his determination helps him to escape his destiny. Li was chosen to go to the Beijing Dance Academy to study ballet. He moved away from his home and family to pursue ballet and make his family proud. Li got the chance to go over to America to discover the Western World of ballet. Through hard work, perseverance and dedication, Li was able to escape from his so-called destiny.
Most films captivate the audience’s interest through the main character. This film did just that. Through the main character Li Cunxin, I was able to notice the amount of hard work and dedication which lead Li to become a famous ballet dancer known worldwide. The film, based on the autobiography by Li Cunxin, “Mao’s Last Dancer” directed by Bruce Beresford is about a Chinese boy named Li Cunxin who’s born into a large family of 6 boys. At the age of eleven, Li got chosen from a poverty-stricken Chinese village by Madam Mao’s cultural representatives to leave his family and study ballet in Beijing. This film focussed on his eventual departure from China to U.S.A after being selected by a world leading choreographer, Ben Stevenson including the
Which in order to accelerate his plan he had to turn China into a modern sized industrialized state. Because of this Mao decided to launch what was known as the "Great Leap Forward". “Which began the mass mobilization of the people into collectives and many communities were assigned production of a single “commodity steel”” (Keynes 46). He wanted to increase agriculture by this and only made it worse with bad weather, chaos, and exports of food necessary to secure hard currency (Keynes 32). This resulted in the Great Chinese Famine which made food short and production fell dramatically. This caused the deaths of millions which didn 't make Mao so popular and some began to hate him as a ruler. In 1959, Mao resigned as the State Chairman and this was continued by Liu Shaoqi (Keynes
Mao was under the impression that Communism was so perfect that intellectual criticism would not be hurt, but benefit the attitudes in the country. This was a major chan...
The second major movement began in 1958 and lasted through 1959. It was the "Great Leap Forward." This movement was one of the most destructive to China. It was a movement that w...
... This essay critically analyses and examines the effect of Communism on the Chinese Society during the period of 1946-1964. The overall conclusion that can be drawn is that the Chinese Communist Party managed to defeat the Kuomintang (Nationalist) Party and achieve victory in the Civil War, in spite of alienation by the Soviet Union and opposition from the U.S. This was primarily because of the superior military strategy employed by the Communists and the economic and political reforms introduced by this party which brought more equality to the peasants in the form of land ownership and better public services. This increased China’s production and manufacturing, which not only boosted the country’s economy but also provided a more sustainable supply of food, goods and services for the Chinese people.
“Mao’s Last Dancer” is a book about the life of Li Cunxin. Li Cunxin was born into poverty in China under the rule of Mao Ze dung. The book was first published in 2003 and since then has won several awards including the book of the year award. Throughout the novel the composer chronologically cites the life of Li Cunxin and how he felt and where he belonged at certain points in his life.
Gittings, John. The Changing Face of China: From Mao to market. Oxford University Press, 2005.