Coercion and Utopianism in the Great Chinese Famine

This paper explores the causes of the Great Chinese Famine of 1959-1961, specifically the role of coercion and utopianism. It discusses Mao Zedong's policies and their impact on the famine, as well as natural disasters and poor government management.

Running head: WAS IT COERCION OR UTOPIANISM THAT CAUSED THE GREAT CHINESE FAMINE
WAS IT COERCION OR UTOPIANISM THAT CAUSED THE GREAT CHINESE FAMINE
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WAS IT COERCION OR UTOPIANISM THAT CAUSED THE GREAT CHINESE FAMINE
Introduction
China is the greatest budding economy in today's world and it is considered one of the
supreme powers in the globe. The country has caused danger to other powers of the world such
as the UK, the US, and other European countries by its rapidly developing economy. 1 October
1949 marked the inception of the People's Republic of China but it came with a price and it was
the millions of lives lost. The nation was under the chains of brutal communism particularly
under the rule of the dictator Mao Zedong who ruled the nation for almost thirty years.
It was at the time of Mao's regime when the Chinese people specifically the peasant and
farming community confronted one of their worst dreams. The policies of Mao Zedong's were
amongst the primary causes for the famine, which claimed millions of lives. Apart from Mao's
policies of farming, elements like drought and poor weather also added to the Great Chinese
Famine that took place between the years of 1959 and 1961 (Hsiung and Wang 2018).
The chief purpose of the paper is to explain the causes of the Great Famine of 1959-1961
in China and find out the role coercion and utopianism played in it. In trying to prove the
argument, the essay will initially provide a general idea of the famine. Further, the essay will
present a debate on Mao Zedong's policies, which clearly shows the use of coercion and elements
of utopianism. Before that, the essay will elucidate utopianism and coercion both to make it clear
for the readers to understand the connection of both in the great famine of China.
Mao Zedong was unwavering in transforming China into the world's supreme power even
if it led to the deaths of his own fellow citizens or make their lives hell. In the essay, arguments
both in favor and against coercion and utopianism as creators of the great China famine will be
presented. This will provide a better view of the prime reason behind China's deadliest famine.

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Discussion
Utopianism
Utopianism has its inception from the Utopia concept that means the ideal country where
everything is in abundance and society flourishes with everyone possessing equal rights. The
term was coined first in 1516 in the book titled Utopia. Utopianism was initially associated with
the ideal society that was better than the society in England, especially during that time. The
communist philosophers took hold of this concept and turned it into their weapon to exceed the
development of the UK. Nonetheless, Busky (2002) disagreed with the view that the crumble of
Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, the concept of utopianism ended. Daucé (2015) on
the other hand, is of the view that the crumbling down of the previously Soviet Union, led to the
disbelief within the communist followers and the common public regarding utopianism.
Nevertheless, the concept continued to be used and stirred the later communist thinkers'
generation. According to Bell (2014), utopianism is "depended upon the supposition that motive
only – not a tradition, or custom, or discrimination – can be the only principle in human affairs".
The author then explains the distinction between utopianism and politics. In the views of the
author, the chief apprehension of politics is the "cautious exploitation of tangible data of
experience". In contrast to this view, Schutz (2018) explained that utopianism presumes a
precise objective or predictable conclusion to history that might be accomplished by forging and
casting all aspects of society and life in accord with some specific principle.
Coercion
On the contrary, Coercion relates to the vigorous use of authority and power to compel
the people to work with a view to attaining certain objectives or goals. Coercion could be

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described as a factor, which is needed to bring about utopianism as the communists had
anticipated. The autocratic rules especially have utilized coercion against the will of the public to
beat others in the race for superiority in all areas. Coercive diplomacy, nonetheless, has been
described as something, which the administrations use to aim non-state players for offensive
behavior utilizing threat or force. Poznansky and Scroggs (2016) nevertheless notice that the
communist regimes have made use of coercive diplomacy to set up ultimate power with which
they could threaten or punish the people who speak or act against the policies they propose.
Bjarnegård and Melander (2013) observe that using coercion means the use of violence to fulfill
objectives and requirements, which is just the opposite of cooperation and communication. In
contrast to this view, Guo (2003) argued that coercion is necessary for states to ensure border
control. The author states that coercion does not invade autonomy as most sociologists argue and
that coercion is not negative.
The Great China Famine was amongst the most devastating chapters in China's history,
which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) termed as the "Three Years of Natural Disasters"
(Fan and Qian 2015). Flooding in the Huang Ho River, also called the Yellow River sparked the
famine that resulted in the loss of a massive amount of lives and crops. The government reports
indicated that around 40 million hectares of agricultural lands were destroyed in the floods. In
the months that followed, numerous other disasters hit and China was under the wrap of drought,
typhoons, more flood, and insect infestations and so on. The 1959 drought especially had a
visible effect as the worst decrease in grain production was registered. The reduction continued
in the 2 years that followed with other regions of Henan, Shandong, Hebei and the provinces of
the North being particularly affected by drought.
Reasons for famine

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Other than the natural reasons mentioned above, the government's poor management,
severe policy changes that were preceded by the Great Leap Forward Campaign further
worsened the situation. Yang Jisheng, a journalist who was a witness to the great famine from
close, reveals the way by which the Maoist party affected the "utmost manmade tragedy in
mankind's history" (Mitter 2019). In duration of merely 3 years, more than one-third of the
population was cleaned out by starvation, hunger but above everything, government cruelty. The
famine took not just the lives of people from starvation or hunger but it also exterminated the
public from the tedious laws and policies that the government coerced on them to win the race
for supremacy. Branigan (2019) however states that the coercion from the government was a
result of the utopian dream to put China at the top of the list amongst industrially and
agriculturally most developed nations.
In the 1950s era, the period following the Second World War, nations across the world
were in a state of reemergence, in particular, the nations coming from the East (Meng, Qian and
Yared 2015). The Chinese dictator, Mao Zedong introduced major changes in farming policy
that stopped farm possession amongst others. As Ollman (2013) observe, it was the communist
version of utopianism that Mao was adamant to achieve. This zeal to construct a utopian paradise
in China led to the creation of the Great Leap Forward policy. Mao fueled the Great China
Famine when he gave birth to the Great Leap Forward Campaign that spanned over four years
from 1958 to 1962. The demands and dreams of the campaign included industrialization and
collectivization rapidly, their propagation and implementation to convert China from an agrarian
society into a socialist society. However, Callahan (2015) contested this argument stating that the
utopian dream was perfectly alright but the way Mao and his team executed the dream through
coercion was unacceptable because it made the already starving population face famine.

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In contrast, several evidences indicated that the main objective of the Great Leap Forward
campaign was to outdo England in industrial and agricultural regions, which clearly indicated
connection to utopianism. As found by Bernstein (2014), this goal was inspired by Comrade
Khrushchev's slogan of outshining the UK and the US in all departments, be it agricultural or
industrial. Mao tried to inspire and motivate the youth of the country into giving their
commitment in achieving this goal but it backfired because Mao had failed to acknowledge the
ground reality.
Mao was of the view that grain and steel production had the potential to be the two
primary supports of economic progress. To meet the objectives of the next fifteen years, Mao's
regime made the decision that production of steel would twofold within one year and to achieve
that, massive changes were introduced inside the industry. According to Landsberger (2015), to
achieve the set target of steel production, the appointed officials had to use coercion because the
population was under huge constraints due to the natural calamities that had destroyed most of
their productions.
However, Zhao (2014) argued that the changes were brought about to make China a
socialist economy and achieve the utopian dream by surpassing England and most other
European nations. Nonetheless, when accused of the famine, the Communist party straightly
denies it even today that the famine was a result of their government's mindless policies and acts
of brutalities against the common people. The officials call the famine as causes of the natural
calamities. In order to construct a strong and effective campaign, the communists made use of
rigorous propaganda showing the "great jump off the East causing stress and worry for the
West". In the views of Rummel (2017), because of the growing pressure to execute and
overshadow the achievement of other local officials especially in terms of steel production, the

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"fervent local officials elevated demands of manufacture in their localities" that led to the
dislocation of both the transport and production sectors severely. This was a clear case of
coercion being used by the local officials against the common masses that further escalated the
famine situation.
Gooch (2017) provided the debate that the awareness of famine in China in the years
from 1959 and 1961 was based on figures from the different regions. The author took up
readings with survivors of the famine as participants to expose whether the larger population
regarded the famine as the fault of the government. The study found that survivors of the famine
from areas where climatic factors and rainfall were normal blamed the government's policies for
the deaths due to starvation. Here, the author does not associate either coercion or utopianism as
the cause of famine but the inability of the people to understand the need of the hour and work
accordingly.
Kim et al. (2014) contests this view stating that the Great Leap Forward was just a
strategy of the government to force the common people into considering that it was implemented
to achieve the goal of making China a country abundant in everything. In the campaign period
during 1959 and 1961, the government in collaboration with the military used all its might to
force the farmers to give up their rights and go by the demands of the government. Wacquant
(2013) however argues that the plan of the Great Leap Forward would have worked had there
been enough irrigation facilities to deal with the negative "weather shocks". The author states
that the plan in itself was not bad at all but the execution that caused it to fail. As per the author,
before the collectivization policy was introduced, worse climatic conditions had already caused
the decollectivization and made the need for collectivization stronger. Chung (2015) on the other
hand, openly recognizes that the Great Leap Forward was a failure because members within the

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communist party itself opposed it. The author detailed the contribution of Peng Zhen and stated
that his role as the leader in the anti-Mao campaign was underestimated and misunderstood. The
findings of the studies reveal that even the nearest comrades of Mao's party had challenged the
campaign. The dissatisfaction amongst these leaders concerning the extreme brutality of the
campaign reached new heights and Peng was the first to attack it by sending a personal letter to
Mao Zedong. In July 1959 At the Lushan Plenum, Mao revealed Peng's letter amid other party
associates who were loyal to him and made Peng expelled from his post. This opened a new
chapter in the famine history and new course in the fight to stop the brutalities and deaths of
blameless people. The fight now became between the supporters and opponents of Mao rather
than defeating the famine.
According to King, Pan, and Roberts (2013), the introduction of the Great Leap Forward
was made before the natural disasters occurred and that eventually led to the deadliest famine.
The government hence had complete knowledge of the dangers that the natural calamities had
posed and yet, it went on with its forceful plan. In the views of Brugger (2018), the imposition of
the Great Leap Forward policy in the midst of the natural calamities that led to the famine,
resulted in a conflict amongst the peasants and the state. The author claimed that there was
already massive pressure on the peasant population to fulfill the government's campaign
requirements and the natural disasters worsened the conditions. The peasants were dragged away
off their property, their land and their home, forced to toil under the cruelest conditions, and
tortured if they did not oblige to the demands. In his book on the greatest famine caused by Mao,
Frank Dikotter mentions that Mao's Communist Party perceived the ruling peasant community
people as just "numbers or a nameless labor force" (Dikötter 2013). A historian based in Hong
Kong, Dikotter did widespread research on the Great China Famine and found the Public

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Security Bureau reports as concrete evidence of government's atrocities. One of his most
shocking revelations was that Mao was completely aware of the situation in his country, the way
the farmers and peasants were tortured and killed. Despite knowing that, Mao went ahead with
his plan, stated Dikotter. Although Mao did show some leniency in his plans in 1958 and 1959,
he was still "steadfast in his hunt of utopia". Walker (2013) observed that during the closing
months of 1959, the official newspaper of the government published nutritional directives for the
common people thus demonstrating the "frantically utopian Great Leap Forward campaign". The
government asked the laborers to eat 2 meals in a day and in those two days, a single day's meals
must be "soft and liquid" (Walker 2013).
On the contrary, Jia (2014) praises the policy of Great Leap and states that the goals that
Mao had envisaged did become a reality because China managed to equal the English in matters
of steel manufacture and its accomplishment of a utopian nation. According to reports, the
production of coal in China saw a hike of up to 36% whereas the textiles industry witnessed a
hike of 30% (Wang and Li 2016). To add to that, 10 biggest reservoirs of China have constructed
during that era also. The author also proclaims that the tanks constructed during that era proved a
blessing for both urban and rural population because apart from providing dirt-free water to the
people, it also generated enough electricity to power development in both rural and urban areas.
Song (2013) further encourages this view although with some soft criticisms as well. The author
claims that the campaign was a massively successful campaign that resulted in China's
unparalleled growth. The author further argues that the mismanagement by the local authorities
was the prime reason for the famine. He then states that the overdramatic local authorities made
it difficult for the farmers to work who could have otherwise worked better had they been

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managed properly. The author clearly asserts that Mao was successful in achieving the utopian
objective.
In contrast to that, Teiwes and Sun (2016) argued that the excessive coercive policies that
overshadowed even the fellow citizens of Mao, whom he was supposed to protect, were clear to
result in the famine. The scholars suggest that Mao Zedong should have initially looked for ways
to cope with the natural catastrophes to make sure that the farmers and peasants especially had
sufficient resources. However, Fu and Turvey (2018) hold that the incapability of the farmers to
handle the utopian dream of Mao for which, he intended to risk the lives of his own people led to
the worsening of the famine. The authors attempt to emphasize, it was not coercion but
utopianism that had caused the great famine; the famine that resulted in one of history's worst
"genocides". Later studies on the famine revealed that the total deaths caused by the famine
equaled or even crossed the total fatalities of the combined Second World War casualties. These
deaths were the outcome of the coercive policies introduced by the Mao administration.
To establish the fact that coercion was the actual reason behind the famine, the tangible
objective of utopianism should be revisited. As stated earlier, utopianism could be stated as the
idea to create a society based on peace and harmony. In China's case, hardly any sign was there
related harmony. The only thing that was visible was the threat, force, and brutality. Mao Zedong
had promised his people of a developed society where everyone will have a comfortable life but
he did not reveal his methods for attaining that utopian dream. As noted by Nell (2014),
utopianism is in itself not a bad dream to follow and if governments desire to create a utopian
society, it reflects food intentions. Nonetheless, if the utopian dream involves coercion of the
degree to what has been seen in China in the years from 1959-1961, it must be not be pursued.
The destruction created by the famine was so devastating that those born during the three years

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had incurred bone disorder known as Kashin-Beck. The disease resulted in the naming of an
entire village as ‘Dwarf village ', reports the South China Morning Post. The report further
mentioned that the village has a population of over 70% who are born with the Kashin-Beck
diseases that blunt their growth (Yu 2019)
Conclusion
Mao Zedong's brutal policies implemented in the years starting from 1959 to 1962
resulted in more mortalities than the catastrophes of natural had caused. In particular, The Great
Leap Forward campaign had been amongst the most horrible policies by any regimes when it
comes to lives lost and damages to the property caused. Although it was introduced for the
attainment of the utopian dreams, the execution was completely opposed to those dreams as
expected. The techniques were ruthlessly coercive in character and local and national
government officials inflicted mayhem on the farming community. In this essay, an effort was
attempted to argue whether coercion or utopianism led to one of the worst famines from 1959 to
1961. It was revealed that both coercion and utopianism had led to the famine. Points of view
from both sides have been brought forth in the paper to reveal a better elucidation of the
occurrence. The paper first presented a systematic explanation of the two notions of coercion and
utopianism and then gave a general idea of the 1959 and 1961 famine. The essay found that
utopianism meant a perfect nation where people existed with peace and harmony. In general,
utopianism was revealed as that notion of a society, which exceeded English civilization. On the
contrary, coercion related to the persuasive use of threat and power to force the common people
into giving in to the government's way of working even if it went against their motivation. The
paper revealed that the government of Mao had made use of coercion in huge amount to
accomplish its insanely utopian dream.

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