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I was watching a documentary about The Great Leap Forward of the People's Republic of China (PRC) led by the Chinese Communist Party from 1958 to 1962.
I was shocked when the documentary stated: "Of course there was cannibalism. A case of a mother and a daughter, the malnourished mother told her daughter: I have nothing in my body but my heart, you can eat my heart when I die. The daughter did so. A couple of weeks after, the daughter died and she was eaten by others".
I thought there was hunger in this period, caused mainly by weather conditions and natural disasters in countryside, but this account seems overly exagerated. Also, I couldn't find an agreement as for the number of deaths as officially Chinese authorities admit 10 million deaths, but other researchers claim to be higher.
What's the truth behind History? I try to think about similar historical events of the past. Famines have existed since ancient times but cannibalism...
I was watching a documentary about The Great Leap Forward of the People's Republic of China (PRC) led by the Chinese Communist Party from 1958 to 1962.
I was shocked when the documentary stated: "Of course there was cannibalism. A case of a mother and a daughter, the malnourished mother told her daughter: I have nothing in my body but my heart, you can eat my heart when I die. The daughter did so. A couple of weeks after, the daughter died and she was eaten by others".
I thought there was hunger in this period, caused mainly by weather conditions and natural disasters in countryside, but this account seems overly exagerated. Also, I couldn't find an agreement as for the number of deaths as officially Chinese authorities admit 10 million deaths, but other researchers claim to be higher.
What's the truth behind History? I try to think about similar historical events of the past. Famines have existed since ancient times but cannibalism...
Cannibalism occured yeah, the thing is it's not as much of a taboo in eastern culture and has more of a cultural ritualistic aspect to it.
During the cultural revolution millions died from executions,starvation, disease, mistreatment, suicides. Simply another one of Communism's gifts to the world. Cannibalism was not always involved of course. However it does appear that thousands were murdered and, yeah, eaten as part of some strange political/cultural ritual.
Look up the Guangxi Massacre.
In Jamestown, VA, they resorted to cannibalism during what is known as "the starving time" - the winter of 1609-1610. There were several written accounts which were looked at with some skepticism until they looked at the bones and cut marks of who has become known as "Jane" whose remains were discovered in 2012 After she died, she was professionally butchered. They ate their horses, dogs, cats, mice and eventually they ate Jane.
There is are five separate mentions of another instance of cannibalism during the starving time. George Percy who served as Council president during that time wrote that one man "murdered his wyfe Ripped the Childe outt of her woambe and threw itt into the River and after Chopped the Mother in pieces and sallted her for his foode."
The "A Breife Declaration of the Plantation of Virginia" (1624) has a description of English settlers digging up a Native American grave during the starving time and eating the body:
"...and weare driven through unsufferable hunger unnaturallie to eat those thinges which nature most abhorred, the flesh and excrements of man, as well of our owne nation as of an Indian, digged by some out of his grave after he had laien buried three daies & wholly devoured him..."
It appears that Jane died a natural death, though she could have been strangled. The cut marks don't show that she was murdered, only eaten after she died.
I guess in the final analysis it was the great leap backward destroying thousands of lives. Another fine example of an authoritarian state centered around a cult leader and his followers. Mao was probably one of the greatest mass murderers of all times rivaling Hitler and Stalin.
I guess in the final analysis it was the great leap backward destroying thousands of lives. Another fine example of an authoritarian state centered around a cult leader and his followers. Mao was probably one of the greatest mass murderers of all times rivaling Hitler and Stalin.
I don't defend Mao. But context is critical.
China always was an authoritarian state. It was that way under the emperors. It was that way under Chiang Kai Shek and it was that way under the communists. Anthropologists have studied both China and Egypt and the conclusions that they have reached are interesting. Both societies depended upon being able to control floods along rivers like the Yangtze and the Nile. These efforts required great organization. Great organization can generally only be achieved through the mechanism of an authoritarian state. I seriously doubt Mao was much worse than anyone who came before him.
Your characterization of Mao as a "cult leader" is correct. The Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution are the acts of someone who was obsessed with himself. Mao's idea with the Great Leap Forward was that he could industrialize China (a poor agrarian nation) in a few years by pouring all the country's resources into this effort. In the process, over the short term he devastated much of China's agriculture and touched off a huge famine. Later during the Cultural Revolution, Mao and his followers sought to destroy anyone or group that didn't entire accept the notion that Mao's crazy ideas weren't 100% correct. At one point in time, Mao's followers even threatened a very pragmatic Chinese leader, Chou En Lai.
I'm not sure those of us in the West really understand how these events occurred or their exact meaning. I've talked to Chinese people who lived in China during the Cultural Revolution and about the only thing they say that makes any sense is that Mao was afraid he was losing power and saw the Cultural Revolution as a way to maintain it.
I'm grateful its something we never had to experience in this country.
The famines of the period in China, were greatly exacerbated by Mao's deal with the Soviet Union. He got them to build infrastructure, warehouses, transportations, etc., and send tons of farming and manufacturing equipment into China to help the "Great leap forward" happen, in exchange for promising future payment in the form of foodstuffs, money etc. Then when the Chinese farmers couldn't produce enough to make the payments and stay alive, Mao shipped most of their supplies to Russia to make the payments. As a result, millions starved.
The famines of the period in China, were greatly exacerbated by Mao's deal with the Soviet Union. He got them to build infrastructure, warehouses, transportations, etc., and send tons of farming and manufacturing equipment into China to help the "Great leap forward" happen, in exchange for promising future payment in the form of foodstuffs, money etc. Then when the Chinese farmers couldn't produce enough to make the payments and stay alive, Mao shipped most of their supplies to Russia to make the payments. As a result, millions starved.
That's the first time I've heard of this as the cause. Do you have any sources?
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