Managing Famine, Flood and Earthquake in China: Tianjin, 1958-85

229 Pages·2015·3.583 MB·English

by  Lauri Paltemaa

Managing Famine, Flood
and Earthquake in China
China suffers frequently from many types of natural disasters, which have affected
the lives of many millions of Chinese. The steps which the Chinese state has taken
to prevent disasters, mitigate their consequences, and reconstruct in the aftermath
of disasters are therefore key issues. This book examines the single metropolis of
Tianjin in northern China, a city which has suffered particularly badly from
natural disasters – the great famine of 1958–61, the great flood of 1963 and the
great earthquake of 1976. It discusses how the city managed these disasters, what
policies and measures were taken to prevent and mitigate disasters, and to promote
reconstruction afterwards. It also explores who suffered from and who benefited
from the disasters. Overall, the book shows how disaster management was erratic,
sometimes managed highly efficiently and in other cases disappointingly delayed
and inept. It concludes that, although the Maoist state possessed formidable
resources, disaster management was always constrained by other political and
economic considerations, and was never an automatic priority.
Lauri Paltemaa is Professor of East Asian Politics and Contemporary History
and Director of the Centre for East Asian Studies, University of Turku, Finland.
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Managing Famine, Flood
and Earthquake in China
Tianjin, 1958–85
Lauri Paltemaa
First published 2016
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa
business
© 2016 Lauri Paltemaa
The right of Lauri Paltemaa to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Paltemaa, Lauri.
Managing famine, flood, and earthquake in China : Tianjin, 1958-1985 /
Lauri Paltemaa.
(Routledge studies in the modern history of Asia ; 112)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Emergency management–China–Tianjin Region–History–20th century.
2. Crisis management–China–Tianjin Region–History–20th century.
3. China–Politics and government–1949- I. Title.
HV551.5.C6P35 2016
363.340951’15409045–dc23
2015016285
ISBN: 978-1-138-83139-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-73659-4 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Cenveo Publisher Services
Contents
List of maps and tables viii
Acknowlegements ix
List of abbreviations x
Introduction 1
1 The Great Leap Forward Famine 18
2 The Great Flood of 1963 92
3 The Great Earthquake of 1976 133
Epilogue: The legacies of Maoist disaster management 180
Bibliography 197
Index 213
Maps and tables
Maps
1.1 Tianjin’s administrative borders and division at the end of 1959 25
2.1 The extent of the 1963 flood in the vicinity of Tianjin 97
2.2 The key rivers and retention areas in the 1963 flood
prevention campaign 99
3.1 Distribution of damage to buildings in the city areas in 1976 149
Tables
1.1 The number of repatriated ‘beggars’ (cases) in Tianjin 1957–63 45
2.1 The composition of flood prevention troops in 1963 106
Acknowledgements
Writing this book began in 2006 as a part of the Modes of Governance in Urban
China research project funded by the Academy of Finland. During this time, many
people have helped in a number of ways, both academic and pragmatic. I would
like to therefore express my gratitude to a number of them: Professor Hou Jie of
the Nankai University History Department deserves special thanks, as does Doctor
Ren Yunlan from the Tianjin Academy of Social Sciences together with my
invaluable local research assistants Liu Wenhui, Zhao Tianlu and Doctor Qin Fang,
who all have made this study possible in the first place. I would also like to thank
the helpful staff of the Tianjin Academy of Social Sciences and the University
Service Centre of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, whose archives I have
been able to use in my work. I have received many useful comments and had help-
ful discussions with many scholars on Chinese disasters including Felix Wemhaeur,
Jeremy Brown, Andrea Janku and Pierre Fuller, as well as numerous commentators
in conferences and workshops I have attended under this topic. Timothy Glogan
has helped me to proofread the final text, for which I owe him my gratitude. All
mistakes in the text are of course entirely my own. The project has been funded not
only by the Academy of Finland, but also the Emil Aaltonen Foundation and the
Kone Foundation, for which I am also thankful. And, finally, I express my grateful-
ness to Professor Klaus Mühlhahn for setting the wheels turning in 2006. As the
Chinese well know, perseverance is the key to victory.
Lauri Paltemaa
Turku, 7 April 2015