The Unconventional Path of Chen Yun (Second Printing, March 2004)

Author: Sun Yeli
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2001-07-01
Features: From January to May 1961, production of coal, iron, and steel, among others, was significantly reduced. Despite great efforts, production could not improve. Chen Yun spent nearly two months conducting extensive investigations to identify the reasons. One important reason was that the "Great Leap Forward" had exhausted equipment and resources, urgently requiring maintenance and restructuring, which would take several years to recover. Relatedly, the overall scale of construction could not be expanded, inevitably leading to the idling of a large number of workers. From May 21 to June 12, 1961, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held a working conference in Beijing, primarily discussing rural work, commercial work, and urban handicraft work. At the conference, Chen Yun delivered a speech on reducing the number of workers and transferring urban population to the countryside. Chen Yun first addressed the severe situation facing grain production. He said that due to the resolution of some policy issues, farmers' enthusiasm had been restored, and the rural situation was gradually improving. The next year would likely be better than this year. However, it was now clear that the grain supply the country controlled would be even tighter next year, as inventories had decreased. If grain deliveries from provinces and regions this year were 11.6 billion jin, next year they might drop to 8.4 billion jin. Why? This year's grain deliveries reached 11.6 billion jin because some inventories were dug up, but next year there would be little inventory left to draw from. To address the grain shortage, Chen Yun listed four measures to be taken, with the last one being the mobilization of urban population to the countryside to reduce urban grain consumption. Chen Yun proposed that there were two options before them: one was to continue to reduce farmers' grain rations, and the other was to mobilize urban population to the countryside. Chen Yun did not advocate further reductions in farmers' grain rations. At the time, farmers' grain rations had already been severely reduced, and further cuts would have made it impossible to restore agriculture. The path of squeezing farmers' grain rations was not viable, so the only option was to make the decision to mobilize urban population to the countryside. However, this decision was indeed very difficult to make. Urban life was much better than rural life, and mobilizing people back was not easy. But compared to the difficulties of maintaining an excessive population in cities, the problem of an excessive urban population was more severe. Workers going to the countryside also had to eat. If they didn't eat here, they would eat there. From a consumption perspective, the grain problem still could not be. Chen Yun pointed out that in fact, eating in the city was very different from eating in the countryside. The difference was quite significant. The first year a worker went to the countryside, they could generally receive 150 jin less grain per person annually. If 10 million people went, that would be 1.5 billion jin, and if 20 million went, that would be 3 billion jin. This was the difference for one year. The more significant difference would be in the second year. Workers originally from rural areas returned to their hometowns, while those originally from urban areas settled in the countryside, participating in collective production and distribution, and with the harvest from their private plots, they would no longer need state grain supplies. In this way, if 10 million people went to the countryside, grain supplies could be reduced by 4.5 billion jin, and if 20 million went, by 9 billion jin. There were many things to be done in the countryside. After workers went to the countryside, they could do a little of this and a little of that, and they would always produce something. It was also possible to produce something that could be exported. There were many things to be done in the basic construction of agriculture, such as leveling land, digging canals and ditches, and practicing intensive farming, which could always increase grain and other agricultural products. Chen Yun's proposal was in complete agreement with the central leaders Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping, and others. The Central Committee quickly adopted this proposal. On June 16, the Central Committee approved and issued on the 18th the "Nine Measures for Reducing Urban Population and Compressing Grain Consumption," formulated by the working conference, proposing to reduce the urban population by more than 20 million within three years based on the end-of-1960 level. On the same day, the Central Committee also issued the "Urgent Notice on Verifying Urban Population and Grain Supply." On May 27, 1962, the Central Committee and the State Council issued the "Decision on Further Reducing the Number of Workers and the Urban Population." After the Central Committee made the decision to reduce the urban population, local governments quickly took action. More than 20 million urban people, understanding the country's difficulties and responding to the Party's call, packed their belongings, supported the elderly and carried the young, and returned to the land where their ancestors had lived and thrived, once again picking up their hoes and sickles. They made great sacrifices and contributions to the restoration and development of the national economy.