The "Learn from Dazhai in agriculture" Campaign (, or in Wade-Giles

Romanization In linguistics, romanization is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Latin script, Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and tra ...

Tachai) was a campaign organized by

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...

in 1963. The campaign encouraged peasants from all over China to follow from the example of the farmers of the village

Dazhai Dazhai () is a village and former commune of several hundred farmers in Xiyang County in eastern Shanxi province, chiefly known for Mao Zedong's directive, " Learn from Dazhai in agriculture", which set up Dazhai as the model for agricultural pro ...

Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...

by practicing self-sacrifice and upright political activity. It grew in importance after the introduction of the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

, but

Chen Yonggui Chen Yonggui (; circa 1914 – 26 March 1986) was a Chinese politician. Though he was an illiterate peasant, he became a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party and Vice Premier of China because of Mao Zedong's recognition of Chen' ...

and its other proponents were eventually eased out of power by

Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping also Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Teng Hsiao-p'ing; born Xiansheng (). (22 August 190419 February 1997) was a Chinese statesman, revolutionary, and political theorist who served as the paramount leader of the People's R ...

following the removal of the

Gang of Four The Gang of Four () was a Maoist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and were later charged with a series of treasonous crimes due to th ...

History

Dazhai became famous for its agricultural production in the early 1960s. Mao promoted Dazhai as a national model for agricultural production. From 1964 to 1978, Dazhai's model of rural self-reliance was the frequent subject of news reels. The Learn from Dazhai movement heavily emphasized self-reliance in rural development. 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. It was significant in

's model of development, which placed agriculture at the foundation of the economy because China had to be self-sufficient at feeding its people. 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. The commitment of Dazhai women to agricultural work led to the origination of the term

Iron Girls Iron Girls (sometimes translated as Iron Women) is a term that was popularized in China during the 1950s through the 1970s. It was used to define a new idealized emerging group of working women who were strong and capable of performing highly dema ...

to refer to model workers from the Dazhai Young Women Pioneer's Team for agricultural production. During the years until the downfall of the

in 1976, particularly the

, 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

's directive "Learn from Dazhai in agriculture" (""). 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.

, the patriarchal leader of the village, was elected to the

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

in 1973, reelected in 1977, and named a

vice premier A vice is a practice, behaviour, habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhealthy habit. Vices a ...

of the central government.

Guo Fenglian "Guo", written in Chinese: 郭, is one of the most common Chinese surnames and means "the wall that surrounds a city" in Chinese. It can also be transliterated as Cok, Gou, Quo, Quach, Quek, Que, Keh, Kuo, Kwo, Kuoch, Kok, Koc, Kwee, Kwek, ...

, the Dazhai

party secretary In politics, a party secretary is a senior official within a political party with responsibility for the organizational and daily political work. In most parties, the party secretary is second in rank to the party leader (or party chairman). In s ...

, was a favorite of

Jiang Qing Jiang Qing (March 191414 May 1991), also known as Madame Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary, actress, and political figure. She was the fourth wife of Mao Zedong, the Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, Chairman of the Communis ...

(the wife of

) 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

over

Hua Guofeng Hua Guofeng (born Su Zhu (); 16 February 1921 – 20 August 2008) was a Chinese politician who served as chairman of the Chinese Communist Party and the 2nd premier of China. The designated successor of Mao Zedong, Hua held the top offices of t ...

, and others following the removal of the

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. Chen was removed from the State Council in 1980. 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 for

red tourism Red tourism (, ) is tourism at locations significant to communism. It is a subset of domestic and international tourism in current or former communist countries such as China and Russia, in which people visit locations with historical significan ...

References

External links

Lu, "Dazhai: Imagistic Rhetoric as a Cultural Instrument Xin-An Lu"

Posters about Dazhai

Poster showing the slogan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Learn From Dazhai In Agriculture Campaigns of the Chinese Communist Party Slogans Maoist China propaganda 1960s in China History of agriculture in China History of Jinzhong

History

See also

References

External links