Four Pests campaign

The Four Evils campaign (Chinese: 除四害; pinyin: Chú Sì Hài) was one of the first campaigns of the Great Leap Forward in Maoist China from 1958 to 1962. Authorities targeted four "pests" for elimination: rats, flies, mosquitoes, and sparrows. The extermination of sparrows – also known as the smash sparrows campaign^[1] (Chinese: 打麻雀运动; pinyin: dǎ máquè yùndòng) or the eliminate sparrows campaign (Chinese: 消灭麻雀运动; pinyin: xiāomiè máquè yùndòng) – resulted in severe ecological imbalance, and was one of the causes of the Great Chinese Famine which lasted from 1959 to 1961, with an estimated death toll due to starvation ranging in the tens of millions (15 to 55 million).^{[note 1]} The most stricken provinces were Anhui (18% dead), Chongqing (15%), Sichuan (13%), Guizhou (11%) and Hunan (8%).^{[citation needed]} In 1960, the campaign against sparrows ended, and bed bugs became an official target.

Chinese poster reading "Exterminate The Four Pests", 1958.

Background

Among other factors, the failure of food production during the Great Leap Forward was caused by newly mandated agricultural practices imposed by the state. The mismanagement in agriculture can be attributed to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In December 1958, Mao Zedong created the Eight Elements Constitution [zh], eight pieces of agricultural advice purportedly based on science, which were then adopted throughout China. Contrary to expectations, most of the elements decreased agricultural production.^[11]

One of the eight elements, "pest control", identified sparrows as a pest. Local governments across China mobilized people to exterminate sparrows. This led to rapid increases in insect populations, who had fewer predators. By the end of the campaign against sparrows in April 1960, the proliferation of insects had caused significant crop damage.^[11]

Significance

"Man must conquer nature"

The Four Pests Campaign is representative of many of the overarching themes of Mao's Great Leap Forward. In order to expedite China's industrialization, and to achieve a socialist utopia, Mao sought to utilize China's natural and human resources. In this future utopia, cleanliness and hygiene would be critical.^[12] For the Four Pests Campaign, ridding the country of rats, mosquitos, flies, and sparrows required mass mobilization of the Chinese population in order to change the natural world. Mao's slogan, ren ding sheng tian, meaning "man must conquer nature", became the rallying cry for the campaign.^[12] This new ideology was a departure from the Daoist philosophy of finding a harmonious balance between mankind and nature. Under the campaign, the new philosophy was utilizing China's massive supply of manpower to subdue nature for the benefit of the country and its people.^{[citation needed]}

"Eradicate pests and diseases and build happiness for ten thousand generations" (1960). A poster used during the Four Pests Campaign

Mass mobilization through propaganda

In an attempt to accomplish the significant task of changing the ecological order, Mao mobilized the entire Chinese population above the age of 5. Eye-catching propaganda, in which children featured prominently, were employed to encourage the population to contribute towards the socialist transformation. A firsthand account from a former Sichuan schoolchild at the time of the campaign recounted, "It was fun to 'Wipe out the Four Pests'. The whole school went to kill sparrows. We made ladders to knock down their nests, and beat gongs in the evenings, when they were coming home to roost."^[13]

The propaganda posters offered no scientific explanation for why the campaign was necessary. Instead, they featured dramatic depictions of children heroically exterminating the pests, and hence playing their role in the Great Leap Forward. The propaganda served to frame the campaign as more than an effort to improve hygiene. The campaign was militaristic in nature, drawing on Chinese patriotism.^[14] Similar to a coordinated military campaign, schoolchildren would disperse into the countryside at a specific hour to hunt sparrows.^[13] On a particular poster it reads, "eradicate pests and diseases and build happiness for ten thousand generations".^[15] Therefore, the potential result of this campaign was framed as grandiose, and with potential benefits that would last for millions of generations.

Campaign

The Eurasian tree sparrow was the most notable target of the campaign.

The "Four Pests" campaign was introduced in 1958 as a hygiene campaign aimed to eradicate the pests responsible for the transmission of pestilence and disease:

• the mosquitos responsible for malaria
• the rodents that spread the plague
• the pervasive airborne flies
• the sparrows—specifically the Eurasian tree sparrow—which ate grain, seed, and fruit^[16]

Sparrows

Sparrows were suspected of consuming approximately 2 kg (4 pounds) of grain per sparrow per year.^[17] Sparrow nests were destroyed, eggs were broken, and chicks were killed. Millions of people organized into groups, and hit noisy pots and pans to prevent sparrows from resting in their nests, with the goal of causing them to drop dead from exhaustion.^[17][18] In addition to these tactics, citizens also simply shot the birds down from the sky with slings or guns.^[19][20] The campaign depleted the sparrow population, pushing it to near extinction within China.^[19]

Some sparrows found a refuge in the extraterritorial premises of various diplomatic missions in China. The personnel of the Polish embassy in Beijing denied the Chinese request of entering the premises of the embassy to scare away the sparrows who were hiding there and as a result the embassy was surrounded by people with drums. After two days of constant drumming, the Poles had to use shovels to clear the embassy of dead sparrows.^[21]

Millions of sparrows were killed.^[22] By April 1960, Chinese communist leaders changed their opinion in part due to the influence of ornithologist Tso-hsin Cheng^[23] who pointed out that sparrows ate a large number of insects, as well as grains.^[24][25] While the campaign was meant to increase yields, concurrent droughts and floods as well as the lacking sparrow population decreased rice yields.^[25][26] In the same month, Mao Zedong ordered the campaign against sparrows to end. Sparrows were replaced with bed bugs, as the extermination of sparrows had upset the ecological balance, which subsequently resulted in surging locust and insect populations that destroyed crops due to a lack of a natural predator.^[27][28]

With no sparrows to eat them, locust populations ballooned, swarming the country and compounding the ecological problems already caused by the Great Leap Forward, including widespread deforestation and misuse of poisons and pesticides.^[26] Ecological imbalance is credited with exacerbating the Great Chinese Famine.^[29][30]

Purpose

During the Great Leap Forward, a socio-economic campaign initiated by the Chinese government in the late 1950s with the ambitious goal of rapidly transforming the country from an agrarian society to an industrialized socialist nation, a key focus was placed on increasing agricultural production.^[31] In an attempt to safeguard grain crops and boost food output, the government identified sparrows as a perceived threat to the harvest. Believing that these birds were responsible for significant grain losses, a nationwide campaign to exterminate sparrows was launched. Unfortunately, this approach proved to be a misguided endeavor as it disrupted the ecological balance. Sparrows played a crucial role in pest control by feeding on insects harmful to crops. The unintended consequences of the sparrow extermination contributed to ecological imbalances and exacerbated the challenges faced by Chinese agriculture during this period, ultimately highlighting the complexities involved in agricultural improvement initiatives.^{[citation needed]}

In the realm of public health, government initiatives often aim to enhance overall population well-being. One such initiative has historically focused on the extermination of flies and mosquitoes as a means of improving public health.^[32] This strategy is particularly crucial in regions where these insects serve as carriers of diseases, with a primary emphasis on combating malaria. By targeting and reducing the populations of flies and mosquitoes, the government seeks to minimize the transmission of diseases and subsequently improve the health of the population. Malaria, a mosquito-borne infectious disease, poses a significant threat to public health in many parts of the world. Government-led efforts to control and eradicate disease-carrying vectors, such as mosquitoes, contribute to the prevention and mitigation of health risks.^{[citation needed]}

Social mobilization during the Great Leap Forward in China was marked by a dual approach of encouragement and coercion, with the government endeavoring to instigate widespread citizen participation in ambitious socio-economic endeavors. Aligned with the central tenets of the Great Leap Forward, this mobilization sought to reinforce mass engagement and collective effort towards rapid economic transformation.^[33] Citizens were both urged and compelled to take part in extensive projects such as communal farming and backyard steel production through propaganda campaigns promoting allegiance to the state's vision. However, the this mobilization led to unintended consequences such as resource mismanagement and unrealistic expectations.

The political ideology during the specified period in China was characterized by the use of extensive campaigns to promote a proactive government under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). This era, notably associated with Mao Zedong's leadership, witnessed an assertive stance on the part of the CCP, emphasizing the centralization of power and the consolidation of authority.^[34] Propaganda campaigns played a crucial role in shaping the political landscape, promoting the idea of a proactive government as the driving force behind the nation's progress. Furthermore, the political ideology of the time saw a strengthening of Mao's cult of personality, where he was portrayed as the visionary leader guiding the country towards prosperity. The combination of proactive governance, assertive authority, and the cult of personality contributed to the shaping of China's political landscape during this period. In this sense, the Four Pests campaign didn't only seek to protect agricultural production and improve public health, but also served a political purpose.

Consequences

While the campaign achieved its immediate goal of reducing disease transmission via the killing of rats, flies, and mosquitoes, the mass extermination of sparrows disrupted the delicate ecological balance. With the sparrow population devastated, locust populations soared uncontrollably, leading to devastating crop losses.^[15]

The ecological repercussions translated into a humanitarian crisis of unprecedented proportions. The absence of sparrows, which traditionally kept locust populations in check, allowed swarms to ravage fields of grain and rice. The resulting agricultural failures, compounded by misguided policies of the Great Leap Forward, triggered a severe famine from 1958 to 1962. The death toll from starvation during this period reached 20 to 30 million people,^[15] underscoring the high human cost of the ecological mismanagement inherent in the "Four Pests" campaign.

Although the sparrow campaign ended in disaster, the other three anti-pest campaigns may have contributed to the improvement in the health statistics in the 1950s.^[35]

Notes

1. According to various sources.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]}