Mao era

Campaign to Suppress Counterrevolutionaries

According to Chinese historians, between January and October 1950, there were over 800 counter-revolutionary riots nationwide, and that more than 40,000 political activists and masses of cadres were killed as a result. The government alleged that in Guangxi Province alone, counter-revolutionaries burned and destroyed more than 25,000 buildings and robbed over 200,000 head of cattle.^[18][19]

In July and October 1950, instructions were issued to emphasize the policy of "Combining Suppression with Leniency" (镇压与宽大相结合). This strategy followed the principle: "The chief criminals must be punished, those who were coerced shall go unpunished, and those who perform meritorious service shall be rewarded". On February 21, 1951, the government officially promulgated the "Regulations of the People's Republic of China on the Punishment of Counter-revolutionaries. The campaign focused primarily on eliminating underground KMT agents, and also on eliminating secret societies, criminal gangs, and religious sects.^[20]: 203

By the time the large-scale movement concluded in late 1951, the authorities had solved over 600 major spy cases and brought to justice the executioners responsible for the deaths of famous revolutionaries like Li Dazhao and Zhao Yiman.

Economic and social reforms

At the time of the PRC's founding in 1949, land reform had not yet been carried out in areas comprising about two-thirds of the national territory, home to a rural population of approximately 290 million people.^[21] Poor peasants and farm laborers, who accounted for over 57% of rural households, owned only about 14% of the arable land.^[21] In June 1950, Liu Shaoqi presented a report on land reform issues at the 3rd Plenary Session of the 7th CPC Central Committee. Subsequently, on June 30, 1950, Chairman Mao Zedong signed the Land Reform Law of the People's Republic of China.^[22] By 1953, land reform had been completed in mainland China with the exception of Xinjiang, Tibet, Qinghai, and Sichuan. The campaign resulted in hundreds of millions of peasants receiving a plot of land for the first time.^[23] Approximately 300 million peasants who had little or no land received about 700 million mu (approx. 47 million hectares) of land, along with other means of production such as draft animals and tools confiscated from landlords.^[24]

The state confiscated enterprises owned by the "four big families" (Chiang, Soong, Kung, and Chen). By 1952, the state economy controlled vital sectors, including 80% of heavy industry (power, coal, steel), 100% of railways, and the entire banking system.^[25] By 1952, China's state-owned enterprises accounted for more than 40% of industrial production.^[26]: 36 By 1952 price stability had been established, commerce had been restored, and industry and agriculture had regained their previous peak levels of production. By 1953, China had rapidly recovered its economy.^[27]: 45

The new Marriage Law was passed on April 13, 1950, being the first basic law enacted by the People's Republic of China.^[28] It strictly prohibited arranged or forced marriages, the superiority of men over women, and the neglect of children's interests.^[28] The law also banned bigamy, concubinage, and child brides (the practice of raising a young girl in the home of her future husband).^[28]

The government took drastic measures to shut down brothels and ban opium and gambling. On 21 November 1949, all 224 of Beijing's establishments were shut down; 1286 prostitutes and 434 owners, procurers, and pimps were arrested in the space of 12 hours by an estimated 2400 cadres.^[29] Nationwide, more than 8,400 brothels were shutdown.^[30] By 1952, the drug problem—a scourge for a century—was essentially eradicated through a combination of strict enforcement and rehabilitation.^[30][31]

The Thought Reform Movement began in September 1951, following a speech by premier Zhou Enlai calling for intellectuals to reform their thought. The People's Daily called for teachers and college staff to "arm oneself with the thought of Marxism–Leninism" and to "throw away the vulgar perspectives of individualism and liberalism, and the cultural thought of European-American reactionary bourgeoisie".^[32] Mao Zedong officially endorsed the movement in October 1951, stating that "ideological remolding, especially of all types of intellectuals, is one of the important conditions for our country to realize democratic reform and industrialization".^[33] By the end of 1952, the movement had spread from Beijing and Tianjin to the entire country, involving the fields of culture, art, and science. Intellectuals were organized into various forms of study activities to learn political theories and the new state's policies, they were also required to examine their past actions and thoughts publicly, admitting to "incorrect" class stances or "bourgeois" tendencies.^[33]

The Three-Anti campaign officially began in December 1951,^[34] emerging from the broader "Increase Production and Practice Economy" movement that had been initiated to support the national effort in the Korean War. As the government pushed for austerity, they discovered widespread malpractice within the state apparatus. This campaign specifically targeted members of the Communist Party, government officials, and workers in state factories. Its primary goals were to oppose corruption (贪污), waste (浪费), and bureaucracy (官僚主义).^[35] By the time the movement concluded in October 1952, approximately 1.2 million people had been investigated, and over 100,000 were disciplined for varying degrees of corruption.^[36] Building directly on the revelations of the Three-Anti campaign, the government launched the Five-Anti campaign in January 1952.^[37] Investigations into corrupt officials had frequently exposed illegal dealings with private business owners, prompting a need to regulate the "national bourgeoisie". This second movement targeted private industrial and commercial sectors to eliminate five specific "poisons": bribery (行贿), tax evasion (偷税漏税), theft of state property (盗骗国家财产), cheating on government contracts (偷工减料), and the theft of state economic information (盗窃国家经济情报).^[38] The government mobilized the working class to supervise their employers, uniting with law-abiding capitalists while isolating and punishing the "law-breaking" elements who had exploited the state's resources during the war effort.

New Democracy

After 1949, China operated under the "Common Program," which established New Democracy as the political basis for building the country.^[10] This stage aimed to complete the first step of the revolution: transforming a backward agricultural, semi-colonial, and semi-feudal country into an independent industrial one, creating the necessary material and cultural prerequisites before advancing to socialism.^[39] The New Democratic economy was characterized by the simultaneous coexistence of five economic sectors: the state-owned economy (socialist nature), the cooperative economy (semi-socialist nature), the private capitalist economy, the individual economy (peasants and handicraftsmen), and the state-capitalist economy.^[39]

Originally, Chinese leaders anticipated that the New Democracy period would last a long time to build national strength. The overall strategy was summarized by the slogan "three years of preparation, ten years of construction". Mao Zedong remarked in 1949 that the transition to socialism might require 20 to 30 years. Liu Shaoqi, in reports from 1951, emphasized the task was to "struggle for the consolidation of the New Democratic system" and viewed the transition to socialism as a matter for the distant future, at least after ten years of industrial construction.^[40]

Despite the initial plan to maintain New Democracy for the long term, Mao Zedong changed his mind starting in the autumn of 1952. Mao feared that a prolonged New Democratic system would allow the private capitalist economy and the "spontaneous tendencies" of peasants toward capitalism to grow too strong, making later socialist transformation more difficult. As a result, he decided to begin the transition to socialism immediately rather than waiting 10–15 years.^[40]

Socialist transformation

Initially, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) anticipated that the New Democracy period—with its multi-sector economy—would last 10 to 15 years, or even 20 to 30 years, to prepare the material prerequisites for socialism. However, in the autumn of 1952, Mao Zedong shifted this policy, deciding to begin the transition to socialism immediately rather than waiting. Lin Yunhui identifies this as a strategic pivot from an "indirect transition" (allowing capitalism to develop to a certain extent to build a foundation) to a "direct transition" (abolishing private ownership to build public ownership immediately).^[40]

The transition was formalized by the formula "One body, two wings": the "body" was socialist industrialization, and the "two wings" were the three major transformations (targeting agriculture, handicrafts, and capitalist industry and commerce).^[40] The core objective was to make socialist ownership the sole economic foundation of the nation.

By June 1952, Mao asserted that the contradiction between the working class and the national bourgeoisie had become the primary internal contradiction of the country.^[40]

Diplomatic policy

China explicitly declared its alignment with the Soviet-led socialist camp amidst the global bipolar confrontation of that era. Mao Zedong asserted that this conclusion was drawn from "the 40 years of experience of Sun Yat-sen and the 28 years of experience of the Communist Party of China".^[46] He argued that China had only two choices: to lean either toward the side of imperialism or toward the side of socialism, and that there was no "third road."^[47]

The Soviet Union was the first nation to recognize the PRC on October 2, 1949, and this partnership was solidified on February 14, 1950, with the signing of the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance, and Mutual Assistance during Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai's visit to Moscow. This treaty provided China with a security guarantee and a $300 million loan to support economic recovery and industrialization.^[48][49] It also included agreements for the Soviet Union to transfer its rights over the Changchun Railway and the naval base at Lüshun back to China. Simultaneously, China established diplomatic relations with other communist nations and several neutral countries, including India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Burma, Sweden, and Switzerland.^[46]

A major objective of this era was the recovery of national sovereignty and the elimination of imperialist vestiges. The government successfully reclaimed control over customs management, recovered rights over inland navigation, and abolished the rights of foreign powers to station troops on Chinese soil. Furthermore, China took over or transformed foreign-subsidized missionary schools and cultural organizations to ensure educational and ideological independence. When Western powers, led by the United States, imposed economic blockades, the PRC responded by seizing or controlling foreign-owned assets within its borders.^[50]

First five-year plan

Having restored a viable economic base, the leadership under Chairman Mao Zedong, Premier Zhou Enlai, and other revolutionary veterans sought to implement what they termed a socialist transformation of China. The First Five-Year Plan was deeply influenced by Soviet methodologies and assistance from Soviet planners.^[62]

At the heart of the plan were the "156 key projects" assisted by the Soviet Union, which provided both technical designs and equipment. To implement these projects, the Soviet Union sent more than 3,000 technical experts to provide direct guidance on everything from geological surveys and design to machinery installation and plant operation.^[40] During implementation, fierce debates arose within the Chinese leadership regarding the speed of development. Mao Zedong advocated criticizing right-deviationist conservatism, pushing for high speed with the slogan "More, faster, better, cheaper" (duo, kuai, hao, sheng), while economic leaders such as Zhou Enlai, Chen Yun, and Li Xiannian, recognizing serious imbalances (material shortages, financial tension), proposed the policy of "Opposing Rash Advance" (fan maojin) to maintain stability through comprehensive balance.^[40]

Gao-Rao affair

The Gao Gang and Rao Shushi Incident (often referred to as the Gao-Rao Case) was the first major internal power struggle within the high-level leadership of the CCP after the founding of the People's Republic. The conflict originated in 1949 regarding policies toward the bourgeoisie and rich peasants, when Gao Gang viewed Liu Shaoqi as holding "rightist" views for advocating the protection of the private economy and delaying collectivization. In contrast, Gao supported Mao Zedong's stance on rapidly advancing toward socialism.^[40]

In the early 1950s, Mao placed great trust in Gao Gang, appointing him Chairman of the State Planning Commission (often called the "Economic Cabinet"). At that time, Mao expressed private dissatisfaction with Liu Shaoqi to Gao, leading Gao to believe he had Mao's support to replace Liu. Gao leaked a list of Politburo members drafted by An Ziwen, the vice chief of the CCP Personnel Department, making Mao suspicious of Gao's intentions before the upcoming CCP Eighth Congress. While sources disagree on the reason for An's creation of the list, Gao mentioned and referred to the confidential document during meetings, believing that it was Liu's ploy to leverage his own position in the party.^[63] Gao had spoken to several other cadres about the matter including Chen Yun and Deng Xiaoping, who saw Gao's plan as an effort to overthrow Liu Shaoqi entirely.

When Gao Gang's lobbying activities were reported to Mao by Chen Yun and Deng Xiaoping, Mao recognized the threat to CCP unity.^[64] Despite having shared policy views with Gao, Mao chose to prioritize the unity of the CCP and sided with Liu Shaoqi.^[65] The 4th Plenary Session of the 7th CCP Central Committee (February 1954) passed the "Resolution on Strengthening Party Unity," which officially condemned the actions of Gao and Rao, though they were not named in the public communique.^[66] Feeling wronged, Gao Gang committed suicide in August 1954 after failed attempts to clear his name.^[67] In 1955, the National Party Congress officially concluded the existence of the "Gao-Rao Anti-Party Alliance" and expelled both from the CCP.^[40]

1954 constitution and the social control system

The emergence of the National People's Congress (NPC) and the first Constitution in 1954 was not only the result of internal requirements but was also influenced by the international context, particularly Stalin's advice regarding the necessity of a formal constitution and public elections to consolidate the legitimacy of the government.^[68] Mao Zedong personally spent a significant amount of time in Hangzhou presiding over the drafting of this Constitution based on two core principles: Socialism and People's Democracy.

On December 1, 1952, the CCP Central Committee issued the "Notice on Convening a National Party Conference," which deemed that the conditions for convening the National People's Congress and formulating a constitution were already met, signaling the preparation for constitution-making. On December 24, 1952, at the 43rd meeting of the Standing Committee of the First National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Zhou Enlai, representing the CCP, proposed the drafting of a constitution; the CPPCC adopted this proposal. More than 150 million citizens participated in discussing the draft Constitution over a period of three months, providing over 1.18 million suggestions for modification and supplementation.^[69] Subsequently, on September 20, 1954, at the first session of the First National People's Congress, delegates cast a total of 1,197 votes, all of which were affirmative, unanimously adopting the "Constitution of the People's Republic of China".^[70]

By March 1953, 47 autonomous areas at or above the county level had been established nationwide. In addition to the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, preparations were underway to establish provincial-level autonomous regions such as Xinjiang and Ningxia, alongside the formation of the Preparatory Committee for the Tibet Autonomous Region in March 1955. By September 1956, two provincial-level autonomous regions (Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang), 27 autonomous prefectures, and 43 autonomous counties had been established nationwide.^[71] The state also prioritized investment in the construction of arterial railways and highways, such as the Sikang-Tibet and Qinghai-Tibet routes. Regarding social reforms in ethnic minority areas, the Party Central Committee emphasized a "cautious and steady" approach, allowing for more peaceful and moderate measures compared to Han-populated areas.^[72]

The nature of the ruling apparatus underwent a profound transformation, shifting from a coalition of democratic classes to a Proletarian Dictatorship. Concurrently, the CCP's leadership mechanism was adjusted toward centralized power through the abolition of intermediate levels such as the Party Group of the Government Administration Council, allowing the CCP Central Committee to provide more direct and close guidance to government departments. Notably, state control did not stop at the political superstructure but extended widely across society through a sophisticated management system designed to build a "Totalistic Society," where the state controlled nearly all scarce resources. This system operated based on key pillars such as the Danwei (Unit) system, which bound the lives of workers and staff to their workplace;^[73] the Hukou (Household Registration) system to control population movement and link individuals to the state food distribution system; and a confidential personnel dossier system to strictly manage each individual's political history.^[40]

Diplomatic policy

Following the Korean War, China focused its diplomatic efforts on breaking the US encirclement and isolation.^[74] The core of this strategic adjustment was Zhou Enlai's initial proposal of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence in late 1953 during negotiations with India regarding Tibet; these principles included mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence.^[75] These principles were subsequently reaffirmed in joint statements with India and Burma in 1954.^[76]

The 1954 Geneva Conference marked the first time the People's Republic of China participated as one of the five major powers, where the Chinese delegation implemented a flexible strategy to promote an armistice agreement in Indochina, thereby isolating the pro-war faction of the US and securing the southern border.^[77]

At the Bandung Conference in 1955, despite facing an assassination plot involving the bombing of the "Kashmir Princess" aircraft, Zhou Enlai turned the tide with the guiding principle of "seeking common ground while reserving differences." (qiu tong cun yi)^[78] This approach successfully eased tensions and gained the trust of many neutral and pro-Western nations. Furthermore, China began promoting civil relations with Japan under the motto "people-to-people diplomacy leading the way to promote official relations," while also striving to improve ties with Western nations such as the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.^[40] Regarding the Taiwan issue, following military tensions in the strait and the signing of a mutual defense treaty between the US and Chiang Kai-shek, China took the initiative to declare its readiness to negotiate with the US to reduce conflict. This led to the establishment of the Sino-US Ambassadorial Talks in Geneva in August 1955.^[79]

China maintained that the liberation of Taiwan was an internal affair.^[40] Notable conflicts between the two sides during this period included the shelling of Kinmen and the Battle of Yijiangshan Islands.^[80]

When the crisis in Poland broke out in 1956, China supported Poland's demand for autonomy and opposed the Soviet Union's intention to use military measures to intervene in the country's internal affairs.^[81][82] Unlike Poland, the event in Hungary shifted from political demands to an uprising against the regime. Initially, China maintained a cautious attitude; however, upon recognizing the risk of Hungary breaking away from the socialist camp, they changed their stance and decisively urged the Soviet Union to deploy troops to suppress the uprising in order to safeguard the socialist system.^[83][84][85]

Military development

Mao Zedong emphasized that the nation needed a strong Air Force and Navy to prevent future "imperialist invasions". The military goal was to transition from a low-level, single-arm force (primarily infantry with basic equipment) to a high-level force featuring advanced weaponry and coordinated operations between multiple branches.^[40]: 565

Mao Zedong issued a directive that total state expenditures for administration and defense should not exceed 30% of the national budget.^[40]: 572 To resolve this, Peng Dehuai and other military leaders implemented a strategy to prioritize the development of heavy industry (which serves as the foundation for defense) while simultaneously downsizing the regular army. The military performed deep personnel cuts, reducing the total force (including public security forces) to a steady level of 3.5 million personnel.^[86] The "Military Service Law" was officially passed by the National People's Congress in July 1955, replacing the previous volunteer-based service model.^[87] On January 1, 1955, the PLA officially adopted a formal wage structure, replacing the decades-old "provision system" (供给制), where the state had simply provided soldiers with basic necessities.^[40]: 578 A military rank system was also established through the "Regulations on the Service of Officers" and the "Regulations on Medals and Awards," both passed in February 1955.^[88]

A conferment ceremony was held in Beijing on September 27, 1955. During this event, Chairman Mao Zedong personally conferred the rank of Marshal of the People's Republic of China upon ten military leaders: Zhu De, Peng Dehuai, Lin Biao, Liu Bocheng, He Long, Chen Yi, Luo Ronghuan, Xu Xiangqian, Nie Rongzhen, and Ye Jianying.^[88]

The PLA established over 100 military colleges by 1953, including the Military Academy in Nanjing headed by Liu Bocheng. The modernization relied heavily on Soviet assistance. Between 1951 and 1954, the USSR provided equipment for 60 Chinese infantry divisions, along with thousands of aircraft (including MiG-15 fighters) and naval vessels.^{[40]: 477–481} Soviet experts were also deeply involved in training Chinese personnel and establishing defense industries.

Language reform

The process of simplifying Chinese characters began in earnest in January 1955 when the China Writing Reform Committee released a draft proposal for public comment. Following this, the State Council officially promulgated the "Scheme for Simplifying Chinese Characters" in January 1956, which initially transformed 544 traditional characters into 515 simplified versions.^[89][90] Parallel to simplification, there were also initiatives aimed at eliminating the use of characters entirely and replacing them with pinyin as an official Chinese alphabet, but this possibility was abandoned, confirmed by a speech given by Zhou Enlai in 1958.^[91]

In tandem with written reforms, the government sought to unify the nation's diverse dialects by promoting putonghua (common speech).^[92][93] Following a State Council directive in February 1956, a massive pedagogical effort was launched to train educators; by the end of 1957, over 720,000 language teachers had been trained in the standardized dialect, and more than 2 million people had engaged with Putonghua lessons through national radio broadcasts. To support both literacy and standardized pronunciation, the Hanyu Pinyin Scheme was drafted in late 1957 and formally approved by the National People's Congress in 1958. Pinyin was then introduced to primary schools as a way to teach Standard Chinese pronunciation and used to improve the literacy rate among adults.^[94]

Hundred Flowers campaign

The "Hundred Flowers" policy was initially introduced in early 1956 as part of a broader effort to mobilize China's intellectual elite for the "march toward science".^[95][96] The original intent was to foster a more relaxed environment for scientific research and artistic creativity by reducing dogmatic adherence to Soviet models. This policy gained momentum after Khrushchev's secret speech criticizing Stalin at the XX Congress of the CPSU.^[97] Mao famously described the critique of Stalin as "opening the lid" (揭了盖子), which he saw as a positive step toward breaking the "superstition" of Soviet infallibility.^[98]

Following the 1956 crises in Poland and Hungary, the policy underwent a significant strategic shift. Mao became concerned that if the Party did not address internal social frustrations, a "Hungarian-style" uprising could occur in China. He transformed the "Hundred Flowers" from a cultural policy into a political one, launching the "Da Ming Da Fang" (Great Contending and Great Blooming). He explicitly invited non-Party members and intellectuals to criticize the Party's "three evils": bureaucracy, sectarianism, and subjectivism.^[98]

Critics began to question the one-party system, the absolute leadership of the CCP, and the basic tenets of the socialist state.^[98][99] Sensing a threat to his authority and the stability of the regime, Mao pivoted toward a strategy he later called "drawing the snakes out of their caves", and the Hundred Flowers movement was shut down in favor of the Anti-Rightist Movement by mid-1957.^[100]

Anti-Rightist campaign

As the "Da Ming Da Fang" movement progressed in the spring of 1957, the level of criticism surpassed what the CCP leadership had anticipated. Consequently, Mao Zedong decided to break his promise and launch a counterattack. In 1957, the CCP began its retaliatory actions, which later became known as the "Anti-Rightist Movement". Those labeled as "Rightists" faced severe consequences, including public humiliation, loss of employment, imprisonment, or being sent to re-education through labor (laogai) in remote rural areas.^[101] A number of people were executed.^[102] This campaign completely extinguished the atmosphere of free thought, forced intellectuals into a state of submission, and pushed China back toward an era of radical class struggle.^[98]

Three Red Banners

In 1958, the Chinese leadership launched three sweeping policy directives known as the "Three Red Banners" to accelerate the transition to communism and overtake the leading industrial powers in economic output. These policies consisted of the General Line for Socialist Construction, the Great Leap Forward, and the People's Commune Movement.^{[104][105][106]}

Great Leap Forward

The Great Leap Forward campaign began during the period of the Second Five Year Plan which was scheduled to run from 1958 to 1963, though the campaign itself was discontinued by 1961.^[112][113]

The centerpiece of the Great Leap Forward was the nationwide drive to boost industrial production, specifically steel.^[114]: 234 At the Beidaihe Meeting in August 1958, the leadership officially set the steel production target for that year at 10.7 million tons, which was double the output of 1957. To meet this unrealistic goal, tens of millions of people—including peasants, workers, and students—were mobilized to build and operate "backyard furnaces" (small, primitive smelting sites). By October 1958, approximately 60 million people were involved in steel-making. This led to a massive waste of labor and resources, as much of the steel produced in these crude furnaces was of such low quality that it was industrially useless.^[115]: 69 Huge numbers of agricultural workers were pulled away from farming to work on steel production or large-scale water conservancy projects, leaving crops to rot in the fields.^[116]: 112 Under pressure to show revolutionary success, local officials reported wildly exaggerated crop yields, a phenomenon known as "launching satellites" (放卫星). Despite these glowing reports, actual grain production plummeted. The government, believing there was a surplus based on the false reports, continued high grain procurement, leading to severe famine in the countryside. By 1960, national grain production had fallen to 2,870 billion jin, a 15.6% decrease from the already low levels of 1959.^[116]: 112

People's Commune Movement

In August 1958, during an inspection tour of Henan and Shandong, Mao Zedong declared, "It is good to set up people's communes" (renmin gongshe hao), which triggered a rapid nationwide surge in their establishment.^[117] The movement was formally adopted during the Beidaihe Meeting in August 1958 with the "Resolution on the Establishment of People's Communes in the Countryside".^[118] By the end of 1958, approximately 740,000 cooperatives had been merged into 26,000 communes, involving 99% of all rural households.^[116]: 113

The People’s Communes were defined by the slogan "One: Large, Two: Public" (Yi da, er gong). Communes typically merged dozens of cooperatives, averaging about 5,000 households and sometimes reaching tens of thousands, far exceeding traditional administrative boundaries.^[119]: 123 Private plots, livestock, and even household tools and trees around homes were confiscated and turned into communal property.^[120]

The movement implemented a philosophy of "military-style organization, combat-style action, and collective living".^[121] Workers were organized into divisions, regiments, and platoons, moving to the fields in military formation to the sound of bugles and whistles. Many communes replaced wages with a "supply system" (gōngjī zhì, 供给制), providing free food, clothing, housing, and even services like haircuts and theater tickets.^[122] A central feature was the establishment of public mess halls where commune members "ate from one big pot" (chī dà guō fàn, 吃大锅饭) free of charge.^[116]: 114

The radical haste of the movement led to the "Communist Wind" (Gongchan feng), a wave of forced egalitarianism and the arbitrary requisitioning of grain, tools, and property from peasants and lower-level communes.^{[116]: 127–131} The "free meal" policy and egalitarian distribution destroyed the peasants' motivation to work, leading to a sharp decline in productivity.^[108] Labor was diverted from harvests to build "backyard furnaces" for steel, causing crops to rot in the fields even as communes continued to report record-breaking yields. By late 1958, signs of famine, including widespread edema, had already begun to appear.^[108]

Lushan Conference

As the "Communist Wind" swept the country, signs of disaster appeared by early 1959. In the summer of 1959, Defense Minister Peng Dehuai wrote a letter to Mao expressing concern about the "wind of exaggeration" and the damage to the peasantry.^[123][124] Mao viewed this as a challenge to his authority and labeled Peng an "anti-party" right-opportunist.^{[125]: 431 [126]} Instead of correcting course, the CCP launched a nationwide Anti-Right Deviation Campaign, which silenced critics and intensified the radical policies, driving the economy into a deeper abyss.^[127] In total, over 3 million CCP members were purged or penalized during the campaign.^[128]

Great Famine

The Great Famine (1959–1961), often referred to as the "Three Years of Great Difficulty",^{[129][130][131][132]} is a catastrophic humanitarian disaster that directly resulted from the political and economic errors of the Great Leap Forward and the People's Commune Movement.^[133][134] It is widely regarded as the deadliest famine and one of the greatest man-made disasters in human history, with an estimated death toll due to starvation that ranges in the tens of millions (15 to 55 million),^[a] with newer estimates concentrated around 30 to 46 million excess famine deaths.^[b] Between November 1959 and October 1960, more than 1.07 million people died in Xinyang alone, accounting for 13.2% of the total population of the region.^[143] Peasants were forced to eat "substitute foods" such as tree bark, grass roots, and "Goddess of Mercy" earth (a type of indigestible clay). Cannibalism was documented in provinces such as Gansu, Ningxia, Guizhou, and Sichuan.^{[144][145][146]}

Faced with total economic collapse, the Chinese leadership was forced to retreat and implement corrective measures. In late 1960, the CCP adopted the guiding principle: "Adjustment, Consolidation, Enrichment, and Improvement" (Eight-Character Policy). Significant adjustments were made through documents like the "Sixty Articles on Agriculture" (1961), which abolished communal kitchens, restored private plots to farmers, and established the production team as the basic accounting unit.^{[116]: 124–125} In a major policy shift, China broke the taboo of importing food from capitalist nations, bringing in millions of tons of grain from Australia and Canada to stabilize the cities.^[147] Through these efforts, the national economy began to recover starting in 1962, and by the end of 1965, agricultural and industrial production had returned to or exceeded pre-crisis levels.^{[116]: 131–137}

Tibetan uprising

The 1959 Tibetan uprising (also known as the Lhasa uprising) was a pivotal conflict that began on March 10, 1959, in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet.^[148] The uprising was primarily fueled by fears among the Tibetan population that the Chinese government planned to arrest or abduct the 14th Dalai Lama.^[149] On March 10, thousands of Tibetans surrounded the Norbulingka (the Dalai Lama's summer palace) to protect him. What began as a demonstration to protect the Dalai Lama quickly evolved into a broader movement demanding Tibetan independence and the reversal of the 1951 Chinese annexation. Following the landing of two artillery shells near his palace on March 17, the Dalai Lama concluded that the situation was too unstable and secretly fled Lhasa. He eventually reached India, where he was granted asylum and established a government-in-exile.^[150][151] Between March 20 and March 23, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) launched a heavy crackdown. The uprising was effectively suppressed after the PLA captured the Jokhang temple, the final center of resistance, on March 23. The Tibetan Government in Exile estimates that 87,000 Tibetans were killed during the 1959 uprising, though this is not widely accepted by Western nor Chinese scholars.^[152][153]

Education

During the Great Leap Forward, the number of universities in China increased to 1,289 by 1960 and nationwide enrollment more than doubled to 962,000 in 1960.^[154]: 92 Educational reforms during the Great Leap Forward sought to increase student and staff participation in the administration process, to favor students from worker, peasant, or soldier backgrounds in admissions, and to increase the role of the Communist Party and of politics in schools.^[155]: 59 The policy of combining education with labor was often implemented to an extreme degree. Students were required to spend excessive amounts of time participating in manual labor, such as steel making or agricultural work, which significantly disrupted the normal teaching order. Beginning in 1961, universities rolled back these policy initiatives, and increase meritocratic university policies instead of egalitarian ones.^[155]: 59

Towards the end of this period, the educational environment began to shift again under the influence of the Socialist Education Movement.^[156] This movement, also known as the "Four Cleansings" (四清), began to create new political divisions within schools, viewing academic focus as a potential deviation toward capitalism.^[157][158] These tensions served as a localized precursor to the much larger disruptions of the Cultural Revolution that would begin in 1966.^[159][160]

Culture

Despite the political pressures of the time, the cultural sphere saw a surge in the creation of works. During this decade, Chinese writers produced a series of highly influential novels that focused on revolutionary history and the transformation of rural society. These works were widely read and had a profound impact on the public's consciousness. Notable titles included Red Crag, Tracks in the Snowy Forest, The Song of Youth, Defend Yan'an, and The Red Sun.^[161]: 189

On 9 March 1958, the Ministry of Culture held a meeting to introduce a Great Leap Forward in cinema.^{[162]: 149–150} During the Great Leap Forward, the film industry rapidly expanded, with documentary films being the genre that experienced the greatest growth.^[162]: 150. To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the People's Republic of China, the grand musical and dance epic The East is Red (Dongfang Hong) was staged in Beijing. This massive production involved over 3,000 performers and utilized music, dance, and poetry to narrate the history of the Chinese revolution.^{[163][164][165][166][167]}

Efforts were also made to reform traditional Peking Opera to reflect modern life and revolutionary history.^[168] This movement resulted in a set of popular "model" works, including The Legend of the Red Lantern, The Red Detachment of Women, and Spark Amid the Reeds (later known as Shajiabang).^[169][170]

By 1965, book publishing had reached 2.17 billion copies, and broadcasting networks were expanded to cover more of the rural population. The number of cultural units, such as museums and libraries, grew from 14,408 in 1956 to 27,210 by 1965. China's first experimental television broadcasts began in Beijing in May 1958, laying the groundwork for a national network that would include 78 stations by the mid-1960s.^[116]: 166

Science and technology

Between 1959 and 1963, the discovery and development of the Daqing Oil Field transformed China from an oil-poor country into one that was basically self-sufficient in petroleum.^[171]: 26

The most significant achievements of this era occurred in national defense, specifically within the program known as "Two Bombs, One Satellite".^[172] Driven by a 1955 strategic decision, China concentrated its resources on nuclear energy, with leading scientists like Qian Sanqiang played a pivotal role in establishing the Institute of Atomic Energy.^[173][174] In 1956, following a proposal by Qian Xuesen, the Fifth Academy of the Ministry of Defense was established to focus on missile research. On October 16, 1964, China successfully detonated its first atomic bomb.^[175][176]

Diplomatic policy

The most significant shift in this period was the deterioration of relations with the Soviet Union. In July 1960, the Soviet government decided to recall all 1,390 specialists working in China, canceled hundreds of contracts, and stopped the supply of key equipment.^[177] By the early 1960s, the conflict moved into a phase of public ideological warfare. Between September 1963 and July 1964, the CPC published a series of nine open letters, known as the "Nine Commentaries" (九评), which systematically criticized the Soviet leadership as "revisionist" and "social-imperialist".^{[178][179][180]} The Soviet Union retaliated by pressuring other socialist countries and communist parties to isolate China. By March 1966, when the CPC refused to attend the 23rd Congress of the CPSU, diplomatic and party-to-party relations were essentially broken.^[116]: 152

On August 23, 1958, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) launched a massive artillery bombardment against the island of Quemoy (Jinmen).^[181] The U.S. responded with the largest naval concentration since World War II, tasking the Seventh Fleet to escort Nationalist transport ships.^[182] Beyond the Taiwan Strait, China also strongly condemned the US military intervention in Vietnam. From 1964 onwards, China provided substantial non-refundable military aid, equipment, and personnel to help North Vietnam build infrastructure and resist US attacks.^{[183]: 217 [184]: 30}

Between 1960 and 1963, China successfully signed border agreements with Burma, Nepal, Mongolia, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.^[116]: 157 Tensions with India escalated into a brief armed conflict in October 1962 due to unresolved territorial disputes.^[185] Between 1963-1964, Premier Zhou Enlai made a visit to 13 countries in Asia and Africa to strengthen solidarity and support national liberation movements.^[186]

In a move described as a "diplomatic nuclear explosion," China and France established ambassadorial relations on January 27, 1964.^[116] France became the first major Western power to break through the blockade and recognize the People's Republic of China.^[187] Relations with Japan, meanwhile, progressed through so-called "people-to-people" diplomacy. In 1962, the signing of the L-T Trade Memorandum established semi-official trade ties and laid the groundwork for the eventual normalization of Sino-Japanese relations in 1972.^{[116]: 158–159}

Historiography

• Harding, Harry. "The study of Chinese politics: toward a third generation of scholarship." World Politics 36.2 (1984): 284–307.
• Wu, Guo. "Recalling bitterness: Historiography, memory, and myth in Maoist China." Twentieth-Century China 39.3 (2014): 245–268. online
• Yu, Bin. "The Study of Chinese Foreign Policy: Problems and Prospect." World Politics 46.2 (1994): 235–261.
• Zhang, Chunman. "Review Essay: How to Merge Western Theories and Chinese Indigenous Theories to Study Chinese Politics?." Journal of Chinese Political Science 22.2 (2017): 283–294. online