Catastrophe and Contention in Rural China : Mao's Great Leap Forward Famine and the Origins of Righteous Resistance in Da Fo Village, Paperback by Thaxton, Ralph A., Jr., ISBN 0521722306, ISBN-13 9780521722308, Brand New, Free shipping in the USIn 1959 the Chinese government took a "Great Leap Forward," collectivizing rural farms for greater productivity. It was meant to provide food for both the farmers and the growing number of people working in industry. However, the project backfired. Officials overstated production amounts in order to make quotas or to impress their superiors. Collectivization went against thousands of years of family-centered life. Respectful protests went unheeded and strident ones were firmly suppressed. The result was a famine in which some thirty million people died. Thaxton, who is chairman of the East Asian Studies Program at Brandeis University, spent several years studying this glitch in Chairman Mao's program. This book, the first of two on the subject, focuses on one town, Da Fo. Thaxton interviewed inhabitants along with researching documentary evidence. He spoke with people who had endured the famine years and those born afterwards in order to understand how the experience had entered into the town's sense of itself and its feeling toward the government. Relating the experiences of one small town personalizes the suffering and also the way in which people coped. While Thaxton is interested in the politics of the situation, this work encompasses all areas of life for the citizens of Da Fo. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR ()
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