Read Mao's Great Famine Online
Authors: Frank Dikötter
| 19 | Gansu, 1 Nov. 1961, 91-9-215, p. 72. |
| 20 | Guangdong, 7 Aug. 1961, 219-2-319, pp. 56–68. |
| 21 | Gansu, 12 and 16 Jan. 1961, 91-18-200, pp. 32 and 84. |
Chapter 32: Disease
| 1 | Li, Private Life of Chairman Mao , pp. 339–40. |
| 2 | Nanjing, 7–10 Oct. 1961, 5065-3-467, pp. 33–7 and 58–61. |
| 3 | Wuhan, 11 Sept. 1959, 30-1-124, pp. 40–2; 22 June 1959, 28-1-650, pp. 27–8. |
| 4 | Sichuan, 18 Jan. 1961, JC1-2418, p. 2; also JC1-2419, p. 43. |
| 5 | Sichuan, 1961, JC1-2419, p. 46. |
| 6 | Sichuan, 1960, JC133-220, p. 137. |
| 7 | Guangdong, 30 Oct. 1961, 235-1-255, pp. 170 and 179; Shanghai, 28 July and 24 Aug. 1961, B242-1-1285, pp. 28–37 and 46–9. |
| 8 | Sichuan, 1960, JC1-2007, pp. 38–9. |
| 9 | A systematic analysis of all county gazetteers appears in Cao Shuji, Da jihuang: 1959–1961 nian de Zhongguo renkou (The Great Famine: China’s population in 1959–1961), Hong Kong: Shidai guoji chuban youxian gongsi, 2005, and a good example is p. 128. |
| 10 | Hunan, 5 Jan. 1959, 141-1-1220, pp. 2–3; 1962, 265-1-309, pp. 4–5. |
| 11 | Nanjing, 6 April 1959, 4003-1-171, p. 138. |
| 12 | Nanjing, 25 Oct. 1959, 5003-3-727, pp. 19–21. |
| 13 | Hubei, 1961, SZ1-2-898, pp. 18–45. |
| 14 | Shanghai, 18 Oct. 1959, B242-1-1157, pp. 23–6. |
| 15 | Wuxi, 1961, B1-2-164, pp. 58–66. |
| 16 | Hubei, 25 Feb. and 7 July 1961, SZ1-2-898, pp. 7–11 and 45–9. |
| 17 | Hunan, 25 Nov. 1960, 265-1-260, p. 85; 8 Dec. 1960, 212-1-508, p. 163. |
| 18 | Nanjing, 27 Aug. 1959, 5003-3-727, p. 88. |
| 19 | Hubei, 6 June 1961, SZ1-2-906, p. 29; 21 July 1961, SZ1-2-898, pp. 49–52. |
| 20 | Nanjing, 3 April 1959, 5003-3-727, p. 67. |
| 21 | Wuhan, 19 Feb. 1962, 71-1-1400, pp. 18–21. |
| 22 | Guangdong, 1960, 217-1-645, pp. 60–4. |
| 23 | Guangdong, 1959, 217-1-69, pp. 95–100. |
| 24 | Zhejiang, 10 May 1960, J165-10-66, pp. 1–5. |
| 25 | Sichuan, 9 July 1960, JC133-219, p. 106. |
| 26 | Wuhan, 16 Aug. 1961, 71-1-1400, pp. 9–10. |
| 27 | Interview with Li Dajun, born 1947, Xixian county, Henan, Oct. 2006. |
| 28 | Nanjing, 1961, 5065-3-381, pp. 53–4. |
| 29 | Shanghai, 11 May 1961, B242-1-1285, pp. 1–3. |
| 30 | Wuhan, 30 June 1959, 30-1-124, pp. 31–3. |
| 31 | Wuhan, 1 July 1960, 28-1-650, p. 31. |
| 32 | Wuhan, 30 June 1959, 30-1-124, pp. 31–3. |
| 33 | Sichuan, 16 May 1960, JC1-2115, pp. 57–8. |
| 34 | Sichuan, 1960, JC1-2114, p. 8. |
| 35 | Sichuan, 1959, JC9-448, pp. 46–7. |
| 36 | Sichuan, 1959, all of JC44-2786. |
| 37 | Report from the Ministry of Health, Hubei, 24 April 1960, SZ115-2-355, pp. 10–13. |
| 38 | Hunan, 11 May 1960, 163-1-1082, pp. 26–8. |
| 39 | A good description appears in Jung Chang, Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China , Clearwater, FL: Touchstone, 2003, p. 232. |
| 40 | Warren Belasco, ‘Algae Burgers for a Hungry World? The Rise and Fall of Chlorella Cuisine’, Technology and Culture , vol. 38, no. 3 (July 1997), pp. 608–34. |
| 41 | Jean Pasqualini, Prisoner of Mao , Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1973, pp. 216–19. |
| 42 | Beijing, 1 Feb. 1961, 1-14-790, p. 109. |
| 43 | Barna Talás, ‘China in the Early 1950s’, in Näth, Communist China in Retrospect , pp. 58–9. |
| 44 | Interview with Yan Shifu, born 1948, Zhiyang, Sichuan, April 2007. |
| 45 | Interview with Zhu Erge, born 1950, Jianyang, Sichuan, April 2007. |
| 46 | Hebei, 30 April and Aug. 1960, 855-18-777, pp. 167–8; 855-18-778, pp. 124–5. |
| 47 | Reports from the Ministry of Health, Hubei, March and Dec. 1960, SZ115-2-355, pp. 12–15. |
| 48 | Beijing, 14 April 1961, 2-13-135, pp. 5–6. |
| 49 | Interview with Meng Xiaoli, born 1943, Qianjiang county, Hubei, Aug. 2006. |
| 50 | Interview with Zhao Xiaobai, born 1948, Lushan county, Henan, May and Dec. 2006. |
| 51 | Interview with Zhu Erge, born 1950, Jianyang, Sichuan, April 2007. |
| 52 | Beijing, 3 July 1961, 2-1-136, pp. 23–4. |
| 53 | Sichuan, 1960, JC133-219, p. 154. |
| 54 | Sichuan, Oct. 1961, JC1-2418, p. 168; 1962, JC44-1441, p. 27. |
| 55 | Sichuan, 31 Aug. 1961, JC1-2620, pp. 177–8. |
| 56 | Interview with He Guanghua, born 1940, Pingdingshan, Henan, Oct. 2006. |
| 57 | How hunger works is ably analysed in Sharman Apt Russell, Hunger: An Unnatural History , New York: Basic Books, 2005. |
| 58 | Wu Ningkun and Li Yikai, A Single Tear: A Family’s Persecution, Love, and Endurance in Communist China , New York: Back Bay Books, 1994, p. 130. |
| 59 | Guangdong, 23 March 1961, 217-1-643, pp. 10–13. |
| 60 | Shanghai, Jan.–Feb. 1961, B242-1-1285, pp. 1–3 and 17–27. |
| 61 | Hebei, 1961, 878-1-7, pp. 12–14. |
| 62 | Hebei, 21 Jan. 1961, 855-19-855, p. 103. |
Chapter 33: The Gulag
| 1 | ‘Shanghai shi dongjiaoqu renmin fayuan xingshi panjueshu: 983 hao’, private collection, Frank Dikötter. |
| 2 | Forty per cent were sentenced to a term of one to five years, 25 per cent were put under supervision; Nanjing, 8 June 1959, 5003-3-722, p. 83. |
| 3 | See Frank Dikötter, ‘Crime and Punishment in Post-Liberation China: The Prisoners of a Beijing Gaol in the 1950s’, China Quarterly , no. 149 (March 1997), pp. 147–59. |
| 4 | Papers from the tenth national conference on national security, Gansu, 8 April 1960, zhongfa (60) 318, 91-18-179, pp. 11–12. |
| 5 | Hebei, 1962, 884-1-223, p. 149. |
| 6 | Hebei, 23 Oct. 1960, 884-1-183, p. 4. |
| 7 | Guangdong, 1961, 216-1-252, pp. 5–7 and 20. |
| 8 | Gansu, 3 Feb. 1961, 91-18-200, pp. 291–2; the novelist Yang Xianhui vividly described the conditions in the camp on the basis of interviews with survivors, and estimated that 1,300 out of 2,400 prisoners perished, which is confirmed by the Gansu archives; Yang Xianhui, Jiabiangou jishi: Yang Xianhui zhong-duan pian xiaoshuo jingxuan (A record of Jiabian Valley: A selection of stories by Yang Xianhui), Tianjin: Tianjin guji chubanshe, 2002, p. 356. |
| 9 | Report from the provincial Public Security Bureau, Gansu, 26 June 1960, 91-9-63, pp. 1–4. |
| 10 | Gansu, 15 Jan. 1961, 91-18-200, p. 62. |
| 11 | Hebei, 1962, 884-1-223, p. 150. |
| 12 | Papers from the tenth national conference on national security, Gansu, 8 April 1960, zhongfa (60) 318, 91-18-179, p. 26. |
| 13 | Ibid. |
| 14 | Ibid., pp. 11–12. |
| 15 | Speech on 21 Aug. 1958, Hunan, 141-1-1036, p. 29. |
| 16 | Hebei, 27 June 1959, 884-1-183, p. 128. |
| 17 | Papers from the tenth national conference on national security, Gansu, 8 April 1960, zhongfa (60) 318, 91-18-179, p. 26. |
| 18 | Hebei, 16 April 1961, 884-1-202, pp. 35–47. |
| 19 | Yunnan, 22 May 1959, 2-1-3700, pp. 93–8. |
| 20 | Guangdong, 2 Jan. 1961, 217-1-643, pp. 61–6. |
| 21 | Kaiping, 22 Sept. 1960, 3-A10-31, p. 10. |
| 22 | Neibu cankao , 30 Nov. 1960, p. 16. |
| 23 | Guangdong, 15 Aug. 1961, 219-2-318, p. 120. |
| 24 | Beijing, 11 Jan. 1961, 1-14-790, p. 17. |
| 25 | This is also the estimate of Jean-Luc Domenach, who has written what remains the most detailed and reliable history of the camp system in China; Jean-Luc Domenach, L’Archipel oublié , Paris: Fayard, 1992, p. 242. |