William A. Joseph

A Tragedy of Good Intentions Post-Mao Views of the Great Leap Forward

In the post-Mao reconstruction of the history of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), two periods-the Great Leap Forward (1958-1960) and the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (1966-1976)-are identified as times when extreme Leftism dominated the Chinese Communist Party and brought the country to the brink of political and economic ruin. These episodes, often referred to in such terms as the &dquo;two comprehensive Leftist mistakes,&dquo; the &dquo;two grave setbacks,&dquo; and the &dquo;two declines,&dquo; are viewed as sharing many characteristics as expressions of ultraLeftist ideology (Deng Liqun,1982: 123; Laio Gailong,1982: 211; Du Wenzhen and Zhang Yongtao, 1979: 1). Yet they are also differentiated in several important aspects, not the least of which is in the severity of the damage that each is said to have brought to

China briefing, 1994

Political developments since the 14th Chinese Communist Party Congress, Joseph Fewsmith the changing economic climate, Christine P.W. Wong foreign trade and investment in China - boom and friction, Margaret M. Pearson the state of Chinese education, Lynn W. Paine Muslims and other minorities in China, Dru Gladney rural life - a historical context and contemporary views, Huang Shu-min Chinas environment - nature conservation, pollution control and resource management in the 1990s, Richard Louis Edmonds.