[Narration: THIS WAS NO LITTLE LEAP , BUT A GREAT LEAP FORWARD . WE HAD GREAT GOALS . FIRST AMONG THEM WAS FOR OUR STEEL PRODUCTION TO " BEAT THE BRITS AND PULL ABREAST OF THE AMERICANS . "]

[THOSE WITH ORE SMELTED ORE , AND THOSE WITHOUT STILL FOUND SOMETHING TO MELT : WE SET ABOUT SMELTING ANYTHING WITH THE SLIGHTEST TRACE OF METAL IN IT .]

[Narration: TO THAT END , WE BUILT COUNTLESS BLAST FURNACES , SO MANY THAT THE COUNTRY WAS TRANSFORMED INTO AN ENORMOUS STEELWORKS . NO SPOT WAS SPARED , AND EACH , TO HIS ABILITY , WAS MADE TO BEAR HIS PEBBLE TO THE GROWING TOWER .]

Child: MAMA , THE KINDERGARTEN HAS ITS OWN FURNACE TOO ! i HAVE TO BRING SOME COAL TOMORROW .

Teacher: COME , CHILDREN ! LET'S ALL CHIP IN AND FEED THE FIRE WITH OUR OWN HANDS !

Child: MAMA , OUR TEACHER WANTS MORE COAL

Teacher: IF WE TRY TWICE AS HARD , WE'LL SOON BE MIGHTIER THAN ENGLAND AND AMERICA !

Child: MAMA , I NEED EVEN MORE COAL FOR TOMORROW .

Mother: WE DON'T HAVE ANYMORE , ASK YOUR TEACHER IF THERE ISN'T SOMETHING ELSE TO BURN .

COMRADES ! WE'RE RUNNING OUT OF COAL FOR THE BLAST FURNACES !

BUT NEVER FEAR ! THERE'S STILL SO MUCH LEFT TO BURN !

Comrade: DISTRICT CHIEF Li , WE'VE CLEARED OUT THIS AREA . SHOULD WE MOVE ON ?

DISTRICT CHIEF Li: HMM ... LET ME THINK , COMRADE .

Comrade: DISTRICT CHIEF Li ! WHAT SHOULD WE DO NOW ?

DISTRICT CHIEF Li: HMM .. i - i ...

[Caption: (FENFA TUQIANG ) " LET US EXERT OURSELVES TO MAKE THE COUNTRY STRONGER .]

The people (in union): DISTRICT CHIEF LI , WE AWAIT YOUR ORDERS ! TELL US WHAT TO DO , AND WE'LL DO IT !

DISTRICT CHIEF Li: CHAIRMAN MAO ONCE SAID : " THE MASSES ARE THE REAL HEROES . " SO ! NOW I AM LISTENING TO YOU .

Person in the crowd: EVER SINCE ALL THE TREES WERE CUT DOWN , THE SOIL HAS BEEN BARREN !

Person in the crowd: ALL YOU NEED IS SOME FERTILIZER ! OR MANURE !

Person in the crowd: FERTILIZER ? WE'VE NEVER HAD THAT !

Person in the crowd: AND THE MANURE'S ALL GONE !

Person in the crowd: IN KUNMING , THEY SAY YOU CAN MAKE MANURE WITH COB FROM OLD WALLS . PICKAXES , EVERYONE !

Person in the crowd: STEP TO IT , MEN ! LET'S LOOK LIVELY

Person in the crowd: AFTER THE PAGODA , WHERE -

Person in the crowd: TO THE ANCESTRAL TEMPLES ! AND THE CLOCK TOWER !

Woman: I HEARD HAIR MAKES AN EXCELLENT NATURAL FERTILIZER !

Woman: LOOK AT THE MILITIA LEADER'S HEAD !

Man: OH , THIS IS NOTHING . LOOK AT THE PEOPLE'S COMMUNE CHIEF'S WIFE ! NOW THERE'S A HAIRCUT !

People's Commune Chief's Wife: COME , CAPTAIN , I'VE DONE SO LITTLE . SUST TAKEN A FEW GRAMS OFF MY HEAD !

LEADERS MUST SET AN EXAMPLE FOR THE MASSES !

[Narration: HARD , INDEED , TO UNDERSTAND HOW WE'D WOUND UP HERE , HOW WE'D MANAGED TO MAKE SO UTOPIAN A WORLD FROM WHOLE CLOTH ...]

[Narration: THE ENTHUSIASM REACHED ITS CLIMAX IN THE SUMMER OF '58 WHEN THE NEWS REACHED US , A YEAR LATE , THAT THE SOVIETS HAD PUT A SATELLITE IN ORBIT . FEW OF US KNEW EXACTLY WHAT THAT WAS , BUT NEVERTHELESS , A KIND OF COLLECTIVE EUPHORIA FLOODED EVERY LAST CORNER OF THE LAND . AND SO IT WAS THAT LOCAL OFFICIALS CAME , FLOCKED ABOUT BY DANCERS AND MUSICIANS , TO SEE MY FATHER AND SUBMIT THEIR REPORTS ON THE HARVEST , WHICH THEY DECLARED - WHAT CHOICE DID THEY HAVE ? WERE EXCEPTIONAL]

[Caption: SPUTNIK , IN 1957 .]

[Narration: WHILE WE KILLED INSECTS AND RODENTS , THE MISSION OF OUR OLDER COMRADES WAS TO EXTERMINATE SPARROWS . APPLYING THE MAXIM OF " STRENGTH IN NUMBERS " , FOR DAYS AND NIGHTS , MILLIONS OF CHILDREN THUS KEPT THE BIRDS FROM EVER LANDING ...]

Children of the village: HO ! Ho ! Ho ! HO ! Ho ! HO ! HO ! HO ! HO !

[Narration:UNTIL - TERRORIZED , FAMISHED , EXHAUSTED - THE BIRDS BEGAN TO FALL FROM THE SKY AND RIGHT INTO OUR STOMACHS .

OUR VICTORY WAS COMPLETE .]

Woman: GREAT - AUNT ? WHY , WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN KUNMING ?

Great - Aunt: i - i CAME SEEKING HELP . IN THE VILLAGE , EVEN THE ROACHES ARE DYING OF HUNGER ...

Woman: SIT DOWN . TAKE A MOMENT TO RECOVER , AND TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE VILLAGE .

Great - Aunt: IT'S HORRIBLE ! REMEMBER YOUR COUSIN ZHANG , WHO LIVED BY THE WEST GATE ?

Great - Aunt: WELL , A WEEK AGO , COUSIN ZHANG SET OUT EARLY ONE MORNING IN SEARCH OF A FEW ROOTS OR WEEDS TO EAT .

Great - Aunt: HE'D BARELY FOUND HALF A BOWL OF WILD BEANS BY NIGHTFALL HE FELT SO WEAK THAT ON THE WAY BACK , HE COLLAPSED BY THE SIDE OF THE ROAD .

Great - Aunt: WHEN HIS WIFE FOUND HIM THE NEXT DAY , SHE WAS SO RAVENOUS THAT SHE HAD ONLY ONE THOUGHT : COOKING THE HANDFUL OF BEANS YOUR COUSIN HAD GATHERED .

Great - Aunt: AS FOR HER HUSBAND'S LIFELESS BODY - WELL , SHE JUST LEFT IT THERE , BY THE SIDE OF THE ROAD .

Child: YOU MEAN COUSIN ZHANG IS DEAD ?

Great - Aunt: NOT ONLY HIM HIS WIFE TOO ! SHE DIED OF HUNGER BEFORE SHE'D EVEN FINISHED COOKING THOSE HATEFUL BEANS .

THAT'S HOW THINGS ARE THERE ! IF THIS KEEPS UP , WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE .

[Narration: AND SO IT WAS . WE HAD TURNED CHINA INTO A BARREN LAND : A LAND WITHOUT TREES , INSECTS , RODENTS , OR BIRDS ...

THERE WERE FEWER HUMAN BEINGS , TOO : IN THE THREE YEARS FROM 1959 TO 1961 , CHINA SUFFERED ONE OF THE WORST FAMINES IN ITS LONG HISTORY .

IN MY IMMEDIATE FAMILY , ONE UNCLE WAS GORED TO DEATH WHILE TRYING TO STEAL FORAGE FROM A BUFFALO . ANOTHER , WHO TRIED TO SURVIVE BY EATING DIRT , ALMOST DIED FROM CONSTIPATION . HE OWED HIS LIFE TO MY GREAT - GRANDMOTHER , WHO SPENT DAYS AND DAYS CLEANING OUT HIS ANUS WITH HER FINGER . TO SAVE HER GREAT - GRANDSON , SHE SCRAPED AND PICKED UNTIL , EXHAUSTED AND STARVING , SHE DIED SHORTLY THEREAFTER .

HOW MANY MILLIONS PERISHED ? EVEN TODAY , HISTORIANS AREN'T IN AGREEMENT ON A NUMBER: 5 , 8 , 10 MILLION DEAD ? OR EVEN MORE ? NOR DID THEY KNOW WHAT NAME TO GIVE THIS DARK ERA " THE DEBILITATION AFTER THE WITHDRAWAL OF SOVIET AID " ? " THE THREE YEARS OF NATURAL DISASTERS " ? OR , MORE PROSAICALLY , " THE ERA OF THE GREAT LEAP FORWARD OF 1958 " ?

THE ONLY SURE THING WAS THAT IN 1962 , THE GREAT LEAP FORWARD CAME TO AN END .

BY THE SAME TOKEN , THE " NATURAL DISASTERS " STOPPED .]


[Caption: SAN NIAN ZIRAN ZAIHAI]