In the Lap of Tigers The Communist Labor University of Jiangxi Province

by Cleverley, John

• ISBN13: 9780847699360
• ISBN10: 0847699366
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-03-01
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Summary

Founded in the forested mountains of China'¬"s remote Jiangxi Province in 1958, the Communist Labor University, along with some 100 branch campuses, introduced uneducated farmers and peasants to basic agricultural science and farming techniques through an innovative work-study program until 1980. Drawing on a wealth of archival materials, John Cleverley here explores the inner workings of this unique Chinese institution and the direct personal involvement in its affairs by the nation'¬"s key communist leaders, including Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, and Deng Xiaoping. The community would survive the dictates of political agriculture, famine and pestilence, and the Cultural Revolution, thus mirroring higher education's own cycle of expansion, contraction, and division. Yet the university could not avoid the bitter factional politics and deadly power plays of the 1970s. Open to the charge that it was a utopian experiment, another of Mao's great follies, its undoing was part of the larger canvas of China'¬"s shift from a Maoist vision to Deng'¬"s philosophy of pragmatic socialism. This fascinating story illuminates the internal and external politics of an innovative educational enterprise from both an institutional and personal perspective. In the process, the book underscores the larger issues of educational reform and political and social change in China.

Author Biography

John Cleverley is an honorary professor in the School of Social, Policy, and Curriculum Studies at the University of Sydney. He is an honorary professor of South China Normal University and of Jiangxi Agricultural University and is a member of the Advisory Committee for Chinese Education and Society.

Table of Contents

List of Photographs	ix
Abbreviations and Terms	xiii
Preface	xv
Map	xvii
Introduction: Setting the Scene	xix
Part I: Establishment
Great Expectations	3	(12)
The Founding	15	(10)
Branches of Gongda	25	(16)
A Dark Side	41	(10)
Part II: Educational Work
Classroom and Farm	51	(12)
``Staffers, Laborers, and Researchers''	63	(12)
Part III: On Politics
Guidance from the Chairman	75	(12)
A Role for Ideology	87	(8)
On Political Movements	95	(12)
Part IV: Steps Back and Forward
Famine and Fortitude	107	(10)
A Letter from Mao Zedong	117	(8)
Good Friends Rally	125	(10)
``The Golden Years''	135	(10)
Part V: Cycle of Revolution
Cultural Wars	145	(16)
An Open Door	161	(12)
Trial by Media	173	(10)
Attacked by Left and Right	183	(12)
Part VI Life and Legend
Decision Point	195	(8)
Life after Death	203	(10)
Afterword	213	(2)
Notes	215	(18)
Select Bibliography	233	(4)
Index	237	(12)
About the Author	249