Learn from Dazhai in agriculture

The "Learn from Dazhai in agriculture" Campaign (Chinese: 农业学大寨; pinyin: nóngyè xué Dàzhài, or in Wade-Giles Romanization Tachai) was a campaign organized by Mao Zedong in 1963. The campaign encouraged peasants from all over China to follow from the example of the farmers of Dazhai village, Shanxi, by practicing self-sacrifice and upright political activity.

Propaganda poster. The text says, "Let the whole Party mobilize its membership to practice agriculture on a large scale; let them fight to popularize Dazhai County!"
Learn from Dazhai in agriculture
Simplified Chinese农业学大寨
Traditional Chinese農業學大寨

It grew in importance after the introduction of the Cultural Revolution, but Chen Yonggui and its other proponents were eventually eased out of power by Deng Xiaoping following the removal of the Gang of Four.

History

Dazhai became famous for its agricultural production in the early 1960s.[1]: 4  Mao promoted Dazhai as a national model for agricultural production.[1]: 4 

The Learn from Dazhai movement heavily emphasized self-reliance in rural development.[2] This success of Dazhai peasants in building "socialist agriculture"—including overcoming difficult conditions to terrace the land and build an irrigation system—served as the inspiration for the movement.[3] It was significant in Mao Zedong's model of development, which placed agriculture at the foundation of the economy because China had to be self-sufficient at feeding its people.[2] Slogans associated with Dazhai included: "Move the mountains to make farm fields," "Change the sky and alter the land," "Work bitterly, diligently, and with extra energy, and build our village into a Dazhai-like one in three years." The movement boosted rural agricultural construction countrywide.[4]

The commitment of Dazhai women to agricultural work led to the origination of the term Iron Girls to refer to model workers from the Dazhai Young Women Pioneer's Team for agricultural production.[5]

During the years until the downfall of the Gang of Four in 1976, particularly the Cultural Revolution, farmers from all over the country were organized to visit Dazhai, and well-trained tour guides took posts at important scenes to explain to visitors how the villagers in Daizhai made such achievements with their own hands. One of such scenes was the top of the Tiger Head Mountain where visitors could have a panoramic view of the farm fields, the major irrigation projects as well as the residential area of the villagers. Perhaps hundreds of millions of farmers visited the place during the period and the expenses on their trips were paid by the government.

At this time, farmers throughout China were expected to show their political zeal in following Mao Zedong's directive "Learn from Dazhai in agriculture" ("农业学大寨"). They not only worked during the day, but at night as well, not only in the warm season, but in the depth of winter—a dramatic deviation from their age-old practice. In many places, the farmers literally—and blindly—moved hills (sometimes proclaimed as "mountains"), built reservoirs, tunnels, canals, and so on. As mental motivation, loudspeakers were installed at work sites to broadcast music and songs and films were shown at night on the scene while the farmers took a break.

Meanwhile, a number of leaders of the village made dramatic advances in their political careers. Chen Yonggui, the patriarchal leader of the village, was elected to the Politburo in 1973, reelected in 1977, and named a vice premier of the central government.[2] Guo Fenglian, the Dazhai party secretary, was a favorite of Jiang Qing (the wife of Mao Zedong) and played a significant part in the Chinese political scene.

This campaign was as much political as it was agricultural, and it came to an abrupt end upon Mao's death in 1976. After the victory of Deng Xiaoping over Hua Guofeng, Chen Yonggui, and others following the removal of the Gang of Four from power, Deng's economic reforms caused Dazhai to become a figure of ridicule, since it was so closely linked to Maoist communal agriculture and socialist propaganda.[6][7] Chen was removed from the State Council in 1980.[2] Claims of great success for Dazhai methods were never confirmed at other farms, and the productivity statistics may have been fraudulent or erroneous.

Today, Dazhai is a regional attraction[8] for red tourism.[9]: 174 

See also

References
  1. Rodenbiker, Jesse (2023). Ecological States: Politics of Science and Nature in Urbanizing China. Environments of East Asia. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-1-5017-6900-9.
  2. Ching, Pao-Yu (2021). Revolution and counterrevolution : China's continuing class struggle since liberation (2nd ed.). Paris: Foreign languages press. p. 51. ISBN 978-2-491182-89-2. OCLC 1325647379.
  3. Ching, Pao-Yu (2021). Revolution and counterrevolution : China's continuing class struggle since liberation (2nd ed.). Paris: Foreign languages press. p. 94. ISBN 978-2-491182-89-2. OCLC 1325647379.
  4. Ching, Pao-Yu (2021). Revolution and counterrevolution : China's continuing class struggle since liberation (2nd ed.). Paris: Foreign languages press. p. 52. ISBN 978-2-491182-89-2. OCLC 1325647379.
  5. Hou, Li (2021). Building for oil: Daqing and the formation of the Chinese socialist state. Harvard-Yenching Institute monograph series. Cambridge, Massachussetts: Published by the Harvard University Asia Center. p. 140. ISBN 978-0-674-26022-1.
  6. Hinton, William (1999-09-27). "Visions of China: Dazhai Mao's Beloved Model Village". Vol. 154, no. 12. TIME Asia. Archived from the original on January 29, 2001.
  7. "Learn from Dazhai". Archived from the original on 2017-01-26. Retrieved 2015-04-29.
  8. Tone, Sixth. "The Village Where Chairman Mao's Legacy Lives On". #SixthTone. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  9. Marquis, Christopher; Qiao, Kunyuan (2022). Mao and markets the communist roots of Chinese enterprise. Kunyuan Qiao. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-26883-6. OCLC 1348572572.
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