Chinese Famines In China

Famine is one of the major sources of China's problem. The problem with the constant famines that China is always facing is that they are always facing the deprivation of food production and the lasting effects of this. The Chinese has always had a rapidly expanding population that food production had never been able to keep up with. It has stemmed multiple problems within the country. It has caused the major distrust of the government, as the government did nothing to help the populace. The famine was a major factor in the reason why the Chinese people did not start to fully modernize and industrialize till now. People have judged the former dynasties of China by their ability to meet and conquer great tragedies, China's current one being that of the ongoing famines that have continued to plague the country for centuries ever since early 19th Century. The role of Mao and the communist government, the ethics that effected the people and the last effects it has had on the country of China.

The first major famines that occurred in China were the known as the "four famines" that occurred in the early 19th century1 . These four famines had a death toll estimated at 45 million dead. The Qing Dynasty was a dynasty of much chaos, the multiple opium wars and the Taping Rebellion. The insuring famine that occurred during the conflict caused over 60 million dead. The Great North China Famine led to the death of 13 million people due to an ongoing drought that the Chinese people were not prepared to handle2. The constant failure of the current government has led to the deaths of millions, which has led the lower class peasant class of China to always have this sense of distrust with the current government, as they are never able to react...

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...how the Soviets they were successful. Motivated by this reasoning, Mao choose to do nothing about the famine, claiming that his plan could never go wrong, that the Chinese Communist way was the only correct way. The inflexible Mao and his policies caused a decline in Chinas morality, that is apart of the continued cycle for each generation of the Chinese people. Each time the Chinese go into a major famine, we can see the change in government, this decline in a dynasty, that we have seen repeat itself throughout Chinas history. With Mao's death and the rise of western ideals in China, we can see that China has moved away from its Maoist ideals and moved towards a western model of government. No matter how long it takes the Chinese, I don't think they will ever forget these events in this history, always encouraging the new generation for change of a corrupt system.