China as depicted in "The 3 Body Problem" on Netflix.

[Kablooie]

After watching "The 3 Body Problem" on TV, I decided to learn some more about China during the period in the show. This is what I've learned about Chairman Mao Zedong.

Mao Zedong’s Great Leap Forward was an economic and social campaign launched by the Chinese Communist Party between 1958 and early 1960.
Its goal was to transform China from an agrarian economy into an industrialized society through the establishment of people’s communes.
They emphasized labor-intensive methods over machines and capital expenditure. The results were catastrophic.

People were forced to live under a commune system with peasants organized into brigade teams, and communal kitchens. Ideological purity was prioritized over expertise.

These communes were required to use new agricultural techniques such as close planting, planting seeds six times closer together and plowing 2 to 3 times deeper than before. These and other techniques resulted in stunted growth and lower yields. There were quotas and punishments for producing under quota so over-reporting of grain production was common.

This resulted in an illusion of superabundance so many lands shifted from grain to economic crops such as cotton and sugarcane. Agricultural laborers were moved into industrial sectors. Millions of farmers were ordered to switch to iron and steel production, which was seen as a key requirement for economic advancement. Backyard steel furnaces were set up in villages and metal tools, cookware, machinery, etc. were melted to make steel Much of this turned out to be useless, low quality pot metal and left people with few implements to work with.

These factors combined with an inefficient distribution system to create "The Great Famine" when over 40 million of people died due to famine, forced labor, and other consequences of the Great Leap Forward.

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The Cultural Revolution, which unfolded in China from 1966 to 1976, and was shown in the beginning of the TV show, was a massive social upheaval initiated by Chairman Mao Zedong. Despite its seemingly benign name, the revolution wreaked devastation upon the Chinese population.

Mao aimed to rejuvenate the spirit of the communist revolution and eliminate perceived “bourgeois” infiltrators within the Chinese Communist Party.
He mobilized the Red Guards, urban youth groups, to identify and persecute those deemed insufficiently revolutionary or suspected of being bourgeois. The Red Guards operated with little oversight, leading to anarchy and terror.

The initial focus was on educational institutions. Traditionalists, teachers, and intellectuals were persecuted.
Public struggle sessions involved humiliating individuals in front of crowds. They were forced to confess their perceived sins against the revolution and suffered beatings and often executions.
Priceless artifacts, ancient texts, and historical monuments were destroyed. Temples, libraries, and art were ravaged. Traditional Chinese culture suffered irreparable losses.

Fear permeated society. People denounced their friends, colleagues, and even family members to avoid being labeled counter-revolutionaries. Trust eroded, and paranoia prevailed.
Many were sent to re-education camps or labor camps. These camps subjected people to grueling physical work, indoctrination sessions, and forced confessions.
The focus on ideology disrupted agricultural production. Food shortages became severe. Millions faced starvation due to mismanagement and the prioritization of political goals over basic needs.
The constant fear of persecution, betrayal, and loss took a toll on mental health. Families fractured, friendships dissolved, and hope dwindled.

Estimates suggest that perhaps 30 million people died due to famine, execution, and forced labor, along with massive economic, historical and environmental destruction.

(A wide range of estimated deaths have been proposed for both the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. The more they are studied the higher they become. The Chinese government reports 15 million for The Great Leap Forward and 500,000 for the Cultural Revolution. They keep all records locked away.)

Chairman Mao is still revered as a great revolutionary leader in China. His embalmed body is on display in the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall in Tiananmen Square.

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Some of this sounds creepily like the world that Trump and his MAGA hoard may want to create. Especially persecuting teachers and intellectuals and instilling unquestioned ideology into the legal system with severe consequences for those with alternate views.

[Karadeniz]

1. Good read...thanks!!!

[Sympthsical]

2. This can be the result of any radical ideology that gains sufficient power

That's why it's always interesting when speech and expression can devolve in places where people are pressured to tell lies or face sanction, make public apologies for insufficient loyalty to the ideology, and endure re-education for minor infractions.

People often say, "Those who don't learn from history . . ." and they're forever citing the Nazis. As if that was the only ideological evil that plagued the twentieth century.

But Mao and Stalin had lessons, too. Lessons that often go ignored, particularly in our modern society.

“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”

[JohnSJ]

3. The cultural revolution was an awful time in China. Their best and brightest were tortured, humiliated,

and jailed.

[mopinko]

4. i read the book 'white boned demon' about madam mao yrs ago.

it was a very popular book. it was chilling as hell.