Story of Ink and Wash - Pull Bread Out of Thin Air

November Issue of Hi Art, 2009

The essential skills for crosstalk comedians are speech, mimicry, comedy and singing. They can “pull bread out of thin air”, and “catch a thief right on the spot”, which means, they are able to support their family, buy cars and houses, pay mortgage, and even travel to Southeastern Asia in their spare time by simply talking. After all, crosstalk comedians are very small part of the total population, if all people in a country are lying through their teeth, it can only be called a wonder, or a historical miracle. Then have that ever happened? Yes. However, in countries like China which has a history of civilization for 5000 years, all people should have had their own point of view, and elites should have been found in every area, so how could the entire Chinese people are telling a lie together? It’s a strange thing.

On December 2nd, 1957, People’s Daily released an editorial, putting forward the slogan of “realizing the full and great Leap of national economy”. On April 15th, 1958, with his ambition, Mao Zedong wrote, “After 10 years, China will catch up with England in steel output, and will catch come up with America after another 10 years.” A month later, he further proposed, “We can catch up with England using 7 years, and come up with America using another 8 or 10 years.” Consequently, Chinese people had produced 10.7 million tons of waste steel with various absurd methods. The steel was of no use, but at least it was piled there, which could be seen, while regarding agriculture, all “achievements” were accomplished by “releasing satellites”, namely announcing false news. On December 25th, 1957, People’s Daily reported that Chenghai County in Shantou District, Guangdong Province, announced that local grain yield there had reached 628.5 kilograms per acre; a few days later, Cang County in Hebei Province had raised their grain output to 750 kilos per acre. Then during the summer harvest in 1958, Suiping County in Henan Province announced their per-acre yield of wheat was 1760 kilograms. On June 12th, People’s Daily made another report The Second Satellite Released by Collective Farms: The Satellite Collective Farm in Chaya Mountain, Suiping County had raised their per-acre output to 1760 kilos, and this was the first time that the phrase “releasing a satellite” was applied to high yields. Then, on July 12th, Peace Agricultural Cooperative in Xiping County close to Suiping County announced that their wheat yield was 3660 kilos per acre, which was twice as high as that in Chaya Mountain. Then the news rocked the whole nation; the reporter described the scene vividly, “The crops are so thick that they cannot allow in a mouse.” However, their glory did not last long. On August 1st, People’s Daily reported that the per-acre yield of early rice in Xiaogan County, Hubei Province, had reached 6805 kilos. The news was so amazing that Mao himself wanted to view it. Besides, local leaders in Hebei, Henan and Shandong also reported to Mao that in the past the per-acre yield had only been 100 to 150 kilograms, while then it was 10 thousand kilos, and their goal was to raise it to 20 thousand kilos. Mao was very happy when he heard such reports. He had also examined the farmlands abundant in grain with his straw hat, which was then shown by the famous photo, “Mao Zedong Inspected the Countryside in 1958”. As soon as Mao returned to Beijing, Macheng County in Hubei Province released another “satellite”. According to People’s Daily, a people’s commune in the county created an incredible record: 18478 kilos per acre. What accompanied the report was a photograph, in which 4 children were standing on the large grain mass, with pure smiles on their faces. The photo was so popular then that it has become “the most influential false photo since the foundation of new China”. On August 27th, People’s Daily published an editorial, Grain Yield Just Lies in Our Imagination and Courage, which was the most encouraging slogan then. On September 30th, New China News Agency announced to the world, “By 1958, China’s total grain output has reached 1.75 trillion kilograms, which is ten times as much as that in 1957. China has become the biggest grain producer in the world.”

Where did these fatal figures and lies come from? In order to make up the false news, the commune who released the biggest “satellite” then selected a rice paddy, whose area was 1,016 acre. They at first ploughed the field, with a depth of 1.5 feet, and then a large amount of base fertilizers were applied: 15 thousand kilograms of old-wall soil, 50 kilograms of pond sludge, 1500 kilograms of liquid dung, and 150 kilograms of gesso. After the seedlings had been planted here, 90 kilograms of bean cakes, 75 kilogram of chemical fertilizer, 3000 kilograms of liquid dung and 120 kilograms of plant ash were also applied. On that day, members from 4 production teams were gathered by the commune. They pulled out seedlings in other 8 acres of fields and moved them to the “test field”, with mud on their roots. It was said that the seedlings in the field were so thick that they could support an egg. In order to prevent them from getting rotten, people had thrust bamboo poles into them for airing, with cool water from the well nearby being sprayed on them. They had also borrowed a blower from the local government, supplying fresh breeze to the seedlings around the clock.

No matter what political system a country has adopted, its society is fundamentally composed of following sectors: workers, peasants, merchants, students, soldiers and intellectuals. If we say that it was reasonable that uneducated workers and peasants might do something ridiculous, and what were intellectuals doing then? On the fourth day after Chaya Mountain in Suiping County released their “satellite”, Qian Xuesen, the most famous scientist who had studied abroad, Leader of Institute of Mechanics, CAS (Chinese Academy of Science), published his article, “How Much Grain Will an Acre of Field Produce?” In it he demonstrated in detail and “scientifically”, “Theoretically, the per-acre yield can be 20 times more than what has been announced by some counties, i.e. 1000 kilograms. This is not nonsense.” Then in his Mechanics in Agriculture: 5000 kilos Per Acre Is Possible, which was included in a magazine Knowledge Is Power, he predicted that given appropriate conditions, the average yield per acre would be 19.5 thousand kilos. Ji Xianlin, a professor from Beijing University recalled, “Then I trusted that firmly, with my hidden sneer at those cowards whose minds had not been freed.”

Guo Moruo, a famous writer as well as President of Chinese Academy of Science then, had also said in his Overture Welcoming the Spring, “In 15 years we will catch up with England, and the goal stated in Programme for Agricultural Development can be accomplished in just 7 years! Great Leaps occurs successively, and our courage can bring the world into an enormous change. Just wait! We will level Chomolungma Mountain off one day!” Beijing University, a famous college in China, claimed that they had obtained 3406 scientific achievements in just one month, 119 of which had reached or exceeded the international standards. After that, Czechoslovakia, which was also a Socialist country then, required Beijing University to offer the list of its achievements and relative materials, which proved that the scientific “satellite” in China was nothing but a big joke. The art circles then were unwilling to lag behind, too. In Central Academy of Arts and Design, led by the dean and Party Committee, all teachers and students strained all energy for more than 60 posters in one day and a half. Then Central Academy of Fine Arts had also finished 138 wall paintings taking the Great Leap Movement as the subject matter, with the largest one being 300 square meters.  Having worked 5 days and nights, Twenty-three painters from Beijing Academy of Painting finished 5 giant drawings, each of them being 12 feet in length. Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts had created the magnificent Eastern Grand Dragon collectively, in which workers were handling a machine resembling a steel-dragon, with “foam” at the latter’s mouth. Jiangsu Chinese Painting Institute had also finished a painting with their joint efforts: Food in People’s Commune Is Free. There were also other works, such as Steel Rolling made by Li Fengmian and Great Leap in Countryside by Guan Shanyue. Besides, Wu Hufan had created Bamboo Shoots after a Spring Rain, which was inscribed by him with such words, “Creations and innovations are appearing successively, just like bamboo shoots springing up after a rain.”

What we have mentioned sound so childish and absurd, but these mistakes were made by Chinese people collectively then, and it is natural for people to wonder the reason for their occurrence. Most of Chinese leaders then were born in countryside, and they had carried out military activities in rural areas for years, so is it possible that they knew nothing about the normal per-acre yield? Are intellectuals credible? Is their conscience always with them?

Zhu Wei

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

水墨的故事 平地抠饼

《HI艺术》2009年11月号

相声演员基本功讲究的是说、学、逗、唱，“平地抠饼”“对面拿贼”，意思就是说，站在那儿就凭一张嘴，干白话，就能让老婆孩子过得好好的，还买房买车，付各种按揭，抽空还能去东南亚旅旅游等等。说相声的毕竟在一个国家是占很少很少的数量，如果一个国家全体人民都说瞎话，都拿嘴支着，堪称奇迹，今古奇观。那么，世界上有这种事发生吗？答案是：有。在中国。在一个具有五千年文明史的国家，应当是仁者见仁智者见智、各行各业皆 出精英的国度怎么会混到全国人民都一致说瞎话呢，这就是怪事了。

1957年12月2日，人民日报发表社论，首次提出国民经济全面大跃进的口号。1958年4月15日，毛泽东踌躇满志地写道：“钢产量十年可以赶上英国，再有十年可以赶上美国。”一个月后，又提出，“七年赶上英国，再加上八年到十年时间赶上美国。”于是，全国从上到下用千奇百怪近乎荒唐的方式，炼出了1070万吨废钢铁。如果说1070万吨废钢铁虽然无法使用，但多少还是一堆东西堆在那儿，那么在农业战线呢，基本上就靠“放卫星”、说假话来完成。《人民日报》1957年12月25日报导，广东省汕头区的澄海县宣布实现了亩产1257斤。几天后河北沧县报，他们那里亩产达到1500斤。到了1958年夏收，河南遂平县宣布，小麦亩产2105斤。6月12日，《人民日报》报导，遂平县?岈山卫星集体农庄实现小麦亩产3520斤，新闻的标题为“卫星农业社发出第二颗卫星”。这是第一次出现“放卫星”这个高产专用词。7月12日，与遂平县临近的西平县和平农业生产合作社宣布小麦高产7320斤，足足比?岈山的卫星高出一倍多，一时震惊全国。新华社记者在新闻稿中这样栩栩如生的写道，“密得连老鼠也钻不进去。”和平农业社没有风光多久，8月1日《人民日报》报导，湖北孝感县早稻亩产达到13610斤。卫星放得如此的高，连毛泽东也想前去看个究竟。河北、河南、山东三地的农村负责人向毛主席报告，过去一亩地只能产两三百斤，现在达到亩产两万斤，明年要争取四万斤。毛泽东兴致勃勃地听着这些汇报，还戴上草帽，亲自到丰收的农田察看。这就是那张著名的《一九五八年毛泽东视察农村》照片里的情景。就在毛泽东前脚刚回北京，湖北麻城县又放出了颗卫星，《人民日报》报导，该县一公社创造了平均亩产36956斤的惊人纪录。新华社记者还配发了一张照片：四个孩子站在密密麻麻的稻谷上，脸上洋溢着纯真无邪的笑容。照片广为流传，也就是日后被称为“建国以来最有影响的虚假照片”。8月27日，《人民日报》发表社论《人有多大胆，地有多大产》，成为当时最响亮的一个口号。9月30号，新华社向全世界宣布，“中国1958年粮食总产量达到三点五万亿斤，是1957年的十倍，成为世界第一大产粮国。”

这种致命的数字和假话是怎么产生的？当时放全国最大的卫星的那个公社为了制造这条新闻，选了一块面积为1.016亩的稻田，先深翻了一尺五寸，然后施了大量的底肥：陈墙土三百担，塘泥一千担，水粪三十担，石膏六斤。在禾苗移来时，又施了豆饼一百八十斤，化肥一百五十斤，水粪六十担，草木灰二百四十斤。移栽的当天，公社动员四个生产队的劳动力，将另外八亩地里的禾苗连根带泥拔出，用门板运到这块试验田中，栽到一起。由于禾苗太多，密不透风，据说把鸡蛋放到禾苗上随便滚动也不会掉下去。为了使禾苗不至于沤烂，还用细长的竹竿一垄一垄地分开。又用喷雾器喷射井里的凉水，还派人到县里借了一台鼓风机，日夜不停地给禾苗鼓风。

无论什么样的国家，一个社会基本是以工、农、商、学、兵、知识分子这几大类组成。如果说工人农民做出一些荒唐的事情来，那么知识分子、文化人这个时期又做出了什么呢？就在遂平县?岈山放出卫星的第四天，中国知名度最高的科学家、留学归来的中科院力学所所长钱学森发表了《粮食亩产会有多少？》的文章，详尽而科学地论证了“亩产量不是现在的两三千斤，而是两千多斤的二十多倍！这并不是空谈。”他在另一篇发表在《知识就是力量》杂志里的文章《农业中的力学问题——亩产万斤不是问题》，他预计，如果在条件合适的情况下，平均亩产粮食应该是三点九万斤。北大教授季羡林回忆说，“当时我是坚信的，我在心中还暗暗地嘲笑那一些思想没有解放的胆小鬼。”

著名文人、当时的中科院院长郭沫若创作了一首《迎春序曲》：“赶上英国只需要十五年，农业纲要七年就可实现；一个大跃进连着一个大跃进，英雄气概可以覆地翻天。看吧，要把珠穆朗玛铲平！”著名高校北京大学自称在一个月内完成科研成果3406项，其中达到或超过国际水平的有119项。北大的科研卫星放出之后，还真有不知趣的，当时同在社会主义阵营的捷克斯洛伐克向中国提出，希望中方提供北大已经达到国际水平的清单和相关资料。很快中国的科研卫星成了一个国际笑话。美术界也没闲着，中央工艺美术学院全体师生在该院党委的直接领导下，院长亲自挂帅，日以继夜，苦干了一天半的时间，绘制了宣传画六十余幅。中央美院完成了大跃进壁画一百三十八幅，其中一幅大的三百平米。北京画院二十三位画家苦战五昼夜，完成一丈二尺的大画儿五张。浙江美院集体创作了《东方巨龙》，描写了炼钢工人驾驭钢铁巨龙，钢铁巨龙口吐白沫的壮观场面。江苏中国画院集体创作了《人民公社吃饭不要钱》。林凤眠创作了《轧钢》。关山月画了《山村跃进图》。吴湖帆创作了《雨后春笋》，题跋道：“人创造频频，大革新，如春笋雨后一起伸。”

一个国家集体犯这种幼稚、荒诞的错误堪称空前，人们不禁要问：这是为嘛？中国的领导人绝大多数出身农村，并长期在农村从事军事活动，一亩地能打多少粮食难道不清楚吗；文化人可信吗，知识分子的良知是随时都带着吗？

朱伟

2009年10月22日星期四