Book Review: Tombstone, by Yang Jisheng.

Memorial to the victims of the worst man made disaster

As the name suggests, Tombstone is a heavy book, both in subject matter and in sheer physical size. It's a labour of love, and a memorial to the author's parents, who both starved to death in the great 1960s famine, created by Mao. The author also dedicates the book to the 36 million other victims, and hopes to mark the end of the totalitarian regime which caused the famine
The author has dug from the archives a wealth of detail about this tragic, man-made disaster, and it makes for depressing reading. Confiscating too much grain from farmers was bad enough, but did they have to be beaten to death for hiding grain? Did they have to be herded into concentration camps when they tried to escape? Did their letters have to be confiscated when they wrote pleading for help to their relatives? Did they have to be tracked down and punished when they told their friends about the famine?
After reading just a bit of this book, I became overwhelmed by a sadness and anger which I have only felt when reading about the Holocaust. How can human beings do this to each other? Mao must bear a major responsibility, for the Great Leap Forward was largely his idea. His hair brained schemes marked him out from more sensible comrades at the time. He frequently expressed his disregard for human life, saying it did not matter if a few hundred million Chinese were killed. But the totalitarian system which allowed Mao's evil acts still exists with the support of millions. Even some westerners suspend their standards, arguing that democracy is unsuitable in Asia. I myself used to believe that the Great Leap Forward was an unfortunate accident, due to over eagerness to escape poverty.
Mao has never been repudiated in the way that the Germans and Russians have repudiated their 20th century mass murdering leaders. He lies embalmed at the heart of the Chinese capital, and his face adorns every bank note issued by the Bank of China.
This was a pirate copy bought in the street. The seller says the Party has clamped down recently and such books are no longer available.
2011-03-29, China

On the inside jacket, a bio of the author, journalist and editor Yang Jisheng. He was a journalist for Xinhua for many years, which is why he was able to gain access to the archives, when others might have been refused.

The contents page: There is chapter on the origins of the disaster, followed by chapters in several provinces, including Gansu, Anhui, Zhejiang,etc. Volume Two starts by refuting the official government explanation which claims that admits that the famine was man made but claims that bad weather also played a part. The famine years were normal years, and the disaster was entirely the work of the government.

In the preface, the author says the working title of the book was The Road to Heaven. Later in the preface, he describes how foreigners were fooled by government propaganda.