The Great Chinese Famine, which occurred between 1959 and 1961, is one of modern history’s most devastating and tragic events. It was a period marked by extreme food shortages, resulting in the deaths of millions of people. The famine was largely a consequence of misguided policies, natural disasters, and political turmoil, which together created a perfect storm of suffering and deprivation.
The gruesomeness of the famine was evident in the widespread reports of starvation, disease, and even instances of cannibalism. Its impact was felt for decades, influencing China’s policies and approach to agriculture and food security.
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10 Lasting Impact on Health
Prenatal and early-life exposure to the Great Chinese Famine significantly increased the risk of developing tuberculosis (TB) in adulthood. This affected not only those directly exposed but also subsequent generations. A groundbreaking study in 2020 highlighted the long-term health impacts of severe malnutrition during critical developmental periods. Researchers observed a higher prevalence of TB among those who experienced the famine in utero or during early childhood, suggesting that malnutrition’s effects can transcend generations through epigenetic mechanisms.
The study involved a comprehensive analysis of health data from individuals born before, during, and after the famine, as well as their offspring. It revealed that those exposed to the famine had a higher incidence of TB compared to those born in non-famine periods. This increased risk persisted even when controlling for factors like socioeconomic status and access to healthcare.
Additionally, the research indicates that the adverse health effects of famine exposure are not limited to TB. There is evidence of increased susceptibility to other infectious diseases and chronic conditions among the famine-exposed populations, highlighting the broader implications of early-life malnutrition on long-term health.[1]
9 Rural-Urban Impact
Mao Zedong aimed to rapidly transform China from an agrarian society into an industrialized socialist state. His aggressive program involved the collectivization of agriculture and the establishment of communal living, where large groups of households worked and lived together to increase production efficiency. Unfortunately, these policies led to widespread agricultural failures, as unrealistic production targets and poor planning resulted in reduced crop yields and severe food shortages.
The impact of these policies was particularly devastating in rural areas, where most of China’s population lived. Rural communities were forced to adopt inefficient farming practices and build backyard furnaces to produce steel, diverting labor from agriculture and worsening food shortages. The combination of reduced food production and increased grain exports to meet state quotas left rural populations starving.
Urban areas were also affected but to a lesser extent. While urban residents experienced food rationing and malnutrition, the government’s focus on maintaining industrial production in cities meant that urban populations generally fared better than their rural counterparts. However, the overall economic strain and resource misallocation impacted both urban and rural areas, leading to widespread suffering.[2]
8 Four Pests Catastrophe
One of the major factors contributing to the Great Chinese Famine was the “Four Pests Campaign” launched by Mao Zedong in 1958. This campaign targeted rats, flies, mosquitoes, and sparrows to improve public health and agriculture. The focus on eradicating sparrows, seen as crop pests, led to an ecological imbalance. Sparrows play a crucial role in controlling insect populations, and their mass elimination caused a surge in crop-eating insects. Without natural predators, these insects thrived, resulting in widespread agricultural damage.
The loss of crop yields due to unchecked insect populations intensified the famine’s severity. In a desperate attempt to restore ecological balance, the People’s Republic of China had to import 250,000 sparrows from the Soviet Union. Once reintroduced, the sparrows helped control the insect populations, preventing further crop devastation. However, the ecological damage had already been done. The campaign against sparrows was subsequently shifted to targeting bed bugs, but the impact of this ecological disruption was felt for years.[3]
7 Abandonment of Infants
During the famine, thousands of children from Shanghai were evacuated to Inner Mongolia to escape starvation. This effort, initiated by the central government, aimed to provide these children with refuge and sustenance in a region less affected by the famine. The relocation process was chaotic, with many children losing their identities and records during transit.
Upon arrival, the children faced a harsh and unfamiliar environment, with several dying shortly after. Local authorities established nurseries to help them adapt before placing them with local families. One notable caretaker took in 28 children, showing remarkable dedication despite her lack of experience. Over time, many children were adopted by local families. However, the adoption process was fraught with difficulties and, in some cases, mistreatment.
Decades later, the children, known as “Shanghai dolls,” began to reconnect with their past and each other. The government eventually acknowledged their plight, leading to increased recognition of their unique history.[4]
6 Inflated Grain Production Reports
Local leaders inflated the grain production figures on which taxes were based, leading the state to appropriate a much higher percentage of the grain. The more exaggerated the figures, the more taxes were taken; in some regions, nearly the entire crop was forwarded to the state as tax, leaving nothing for the farmers who grew the food. When some fell short in their tax obligations, leaders who had falsified reports refused to admit their errors and sometimes accused the farmers of hiding grain. This led to farmers being hunted, beaten, and tortured by their own neighbors.
The appropriated grain often sat in state warehouses or was sent to the cities where rations were cut (Mao supposedly went without meat for seven months). Undernourishment grew among the urban population, resulting in cases of edema and other maladies. As food reserves in the countryside diminished, peasants began dying in droves by the summer of 1960. They collapsed in fields, on roadsides, and even at home, where family members watched their corpses rot, lacking the energy for burial or to shoo away flies and rats.
In a horrific practice, some families hid the remains of relatives to collect the food rations of the deceased. Hunger drove the starving to forage for seeds, grasses, leaves, and tree bark. When even these became scarce, they resorted to boiling leather or eating soil to fill their stomachs despite the damage it caused to their digestive tracts.[5]
5 Forced Labor
During the Great Leap Forward, a campaign initiated by China in the late 1950s to rapidly transform the country from an agrarian society into an industrialized one, the Communist Party implemented drastic measures that had devastating effects. One of the most significant aspects was the use of forced labor. Millions of laborers were forcibly relocated from farms to steel production facilities, disrupting families and leaving collective farms primarily staffed by women, children, and the elderly.
The Communist Party also forced rural farmers into collective farms and abolished private plot farming. On these communal farms, all production, resource allocation, and food distribution were centrally controlled by the Party. This centralization led to a sharp decline in grain production. Additionally, hundreds of thousands of people died due to forced labor and exposure to the elements while working on irrigation construction projects and communal farming tasks. The combination of forced relocations, harsh working conditions, and ineffective central control of agriculture resulted in widespread suffering and loss of life during this period.[6]
4 Graves Turned into Farmland
During the Great Leap Forward, cemeteries, like all other units and institutions, were forced to demonstrate their value by converting their land into productive use. This initiative was part of a broader effort to maximize agricultural output and contribute to the country’s economic goals. Available land in cemeteries was repurposed for cultivating vegetables and raising animals, mainly pigs.
Official reports documented the transformation, with cemetery land yielding abundant carrots, cabbages, and hundreds of pigs reared in straw sheds. These reports highlighted the efficiency and productivity achieved by repurposing these previously non-productive lands. The success stories from these cemeteries were often used to exemplify the potential for agricultural expansion in unconventional areas.
Burial spaces were subsequently limited to narrow alleys or small areas between existing graves, allowing for maximum utilization of available land. In many cases, less significant cemeteries were completely leveled and turned into farmland. Official records noted that 54,000 graves were exhumed, but there was no information on the fate of the remains. There is no evidence to suggest that authorities took measures to relocate the graves; instead, they seemingly erased the cemeteries from the landscape, repurposing the land for agricultural use.[7]
3 Delayed Admission of Mao’s Errors
In a rare admission in 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping acknowledged that Mao Zedong made significant mistakes during his leadership, particularly during the Cultural Revolution and the Great Leap Forward. Xi emphasized that while Mao played a crucial role in establishing the People’s Republic of China and unifying the nation under one government, his policies led to severe hardships, including widespread economic turmoil and profound social upheaval.
Xi noted that the Great Leap Forward resulted in disastrous agricultural policies and a catastrophic famine that claimed millions of lives. Despite these grievous errors, Xi highlighted that Mao’s contributions to the Chinese revolution, his leadership in the fight against imperialism and feudalism, and his impact on the country’s development and modernization should not be overlooked.
It is quite surprising that it took until 2013 for such an admission to be made, considering the magnitude of the suffering and devastation caused by Mao’s policies. The delay in acknowledging these significant mistakes raises questions about the transparency and accountability of historical narratives within the Chinese leadership.[8]
2 Massive Death Toll
The true death toll of China’s Great Famine, with estimates ranging from 15 to 45 million, remains a highly contentious and debated topic among historians and researchers. The task of achieving accurate historical accounting is significantly hindered by the scarcity of detailed records and the Chinese government’s tight control over historical data, which limits access to crucial information. Researchers try to find out the exact number of victims using different sources like local records, survivor stories, and population studies but face challenges because some records are incomplete or biased.
During the famine, China’s isolationist policies severely limited international awareness of the crisis. As a result, the full extent of the disaster was not revealed until many years later, making it difficult for the global community to grasp the severity of the situation in real time. The secrecy that shrouded this period complicates efforts to fully understand and acknowledge the magnitude of the tragedy. Scholars continue to piece together fragments of information to construct a more comprehensive picture of the events and their devastating impact on the Chinese population.[9]
1 Cannibalism
China’s people witnessed horrific acts of violence, including instances of cannibalism, particularly in Guangxi province. Mao Zedong’s radical policies triggered societal chaos and brutal acts. Local officials, driven by ideological zeal, promoted public violence against perceived enemies, leading to gruesome executions and instances of cannibalism. These acts were part of a broader pattern of terror and dehumanization. Victims, labeled as “class enemies,” faced barbaric public executions, and their bodies were sometimes cannibalized in horrifying displays of political fervor.
In the 2000s, the head of the Anhui police department reported 1,289 cases of cannibalism in 1960, referred to as “special cases.” A survivor recounted that graves were exhumed and internal organs removed for consumption by starving individuals. Due to the extreme emaciation of the bodies, consuming flesh was not feasible, so people resorted to eating organs like the liver and heart. There were also reports of individuals whose job it was to sell dead bodies to starving people for consumption.[10]