Great Leap Forward

China went through several periods of turmoil and instability in the 20th century, among them the Great Leap Forward. Many books and articles have been written on this period. Among them is ‘Black Country to Red China: One girl’s story from war-torn England to Revolutionary China’ by Esther Cheo Ying, originally written in 1980. Esther Cheo Ying was born in China but raised in England, but returned to China in 1949 and stayed for 11 years (Vintage Books, n.d.). Set 30 years prior to 1980, her book detailed her stay in China during its most turbulent times. The chapter ‘Campaigns’ in Black Country to Red China told how the Chinese government of the time used mass propaganda to spread ideology and political ideas as well as some which were aimed at increasing social welfare (Cheo, 2009, pp. 85-98). Campaigns of ideological nature were those aimed at demonising western ideals, while propaganda to discourage feudal practices was also at bay. Even social campaigns such as hygiene campaigns were present. It reflected how back when illiteracy was a major issue, the Chinese government saw fit to use campaigns and mass propaganda as a means of spreading an idea or a movement as …show more content…
This reflects the mass failure of the Great Leap Forward – it did not increase agricultural production enough to sustain the people and the use of ‘backyard steel furnaces’ failed to produce enough high-quality steel. The author herself mentioned how the steel furnace in the radio station she worked in had inefficient steel-making furnaces (Cheo, 2009, p. 96). It came to a point where China’s leader at the time, Mao Zedong, even had his own party members, most notably Peng Dehuai, criticise the Great Leap Forward (Ebrey, 1993, pp. 435-439). Mao however, unwilling to listen to such criticism, purged Peng and carried on with the Great Leap Forward (Best, Hanhimäki, Maiolo & Schulze, 2008, p.