Ger Vang
Geography 361
Book Review
Heaven Crack, Earth
Shake: The Tangshan Earthquake and the Death of Mao’s China. By James Palmer. New York: Perseus Books
Group, 2012. ISBN978-0456-04178-1.
In Heaven Cracks, Earth Shakes Palmer James
relates the power struggles of the Chinese government to the disaster of the
Tangshan earthquake. The political
history of China during the 1900’s can be seen as a power struggle yo-yoing to
build allies to only kill them off after they have been used. Like a chess game many political figures in
the Chinese government were nothing, but pawns, readily to be disposed of by
whoever is in command. This slow
effective process of gaining power can be seen as the energy that is slowly
accumulating ready to burst and attack the foe preemptively. In theory government structures and their
actions towards the people usually result in either the people supporting the
government or opposing it. If a
government wants to exist, there must be some sort of support from the
government when intervening or mitigating with disasters such as earthquakes
before and after the event. In this book
Palmer James allows for one to see how the government structure looked like
before the Tangshan earthquake and after the Tangshan earthquake. This book took more of a historic view with
the interviews conducted with various interviewees and the references to
specific individuals and time. Overall,
the book focused more on the political aspect rather than the Tangshan
earthquake itself. Although, other
disasters such as famine, floods, and technological disasters during the Great
Leap Forward were mentioned as well as a way to show what China had been going
through during that time.
Overall
I thought the book was readable if you are fascinated with government
structures and politics. If you want a
book that tells the sentimental accounts of individuals as they cope with the
disaster before and after, then this book would not be for you. As for the amount of description on the
earthquake itself; it was limited to statistics (which the author states as
unreliable) and a few pictures. There
seemed to be no specific in depth account of individuals and their experiences
except for the generalization of the aftermath and what people had to
face. The first few chapters are kind of
boring, but are necessary to understand the political effects towards and from
the Tangshan earthquake. The language
used seems to be appropriate as it allows for the reader to feel how it
might’ve been in the situations that were mentioned. Words in Chinese often had English
translations, this made it easier to understand the context of what was said or
done in certain situations. The suspense can be absorbed from many parts of the
story. For example, in the case where
officials were being purged due to their political and social affiliation or
the paranoia of higher officials, the suspense of having factions exposed and
executed creates a similar effect like the Salem Witch Hunt. If you hate the individual just say bad
things that are not true about them to dispose them. Kind of like a mafia movie, in this case with
government officials. Three main things that I got from the book
were 1) Chinese government is corrupt, 2) Individuals in high government
positions must employ some sort of publicity stunt at the correct time in order
to increase their chances of being elected or reelected, 3) Government systems
can crumble in times when the people are the most vulnerable to nature and
society.
In
chapter one, the author puts the reader in the position of a Chinese student
prior to the Tangshan earthquake. Her
encounters along the way are provided with a brief history about the rule of
Mao and his new policy the Great Leap Forward.
The hard truth about high powered officials are shared and the reader is
introduced to the lethal and persuasive group known as the “Gang of Four”,
political officials appointed by Mao Zedong in which they held the most
prestigious positions. The terrorizing
fear due to acts under the rule of Mao creep through the veins of the people as
they give recollections of the Red Guard (teenage militia) causing havoc and
mayhem in cities and rural areas. With
many officials corrupted, there still existed the officials who were not
entirely corrupt that allowed for people to feel safe, in this case Zhou Enlai,
a government official that saved many other officials and Chinese aesthetics by
offering physical protection. In chapter
two, the scene moves from the personal encounters to individual provinces and
areas such as the coal mines of Tangshan.
Don’t expect the political aspect to disappear quite so soon
though. In this chapter the comparison
of class standards and norms are explained.
For example, individuals who had once been wealthy prior to Mao’s rule
are now seen as “black marks” or bad people, traitors, and hoarders. These different classes in itself show the
inability to move up in a social class due to the Communist government
structure of China during that time. In
chapter 3 this transition from feeling unsafe moves into a feeling of death and
a feeling that the end for others has come due to the news of Zhou Enlai’s
death. In response to Mao’s top
officials lack of respect for Zhou’s death there is a shift in belief in the
people of China. Mao is very aware of
this situation and masterminds his own plot to move the chess pieces where
necessary, including the imprisonment of individuals who possess a threat to
him and his beliefs. As this continues,
other leaders such as Deng Xiaoping and Hua Guofeng emerge, both of which play
a crucial role in the development of China’s progression in exposure to foreign
affairs. With Mao slowly dying, top
officials try to edge each other off of the cliff in order to be next in line
for the Premier title. Hua Guofeng has a
slight hint that Mao will appoint him as the next predecessor. In chapter 4 preparations and warning systems
for the prior mini earthquakes set off a panic frenzy, but were shown to be
effective as it was able to minimize deaths due to proper planning. In the heat of this frenzy at 3:42 a.m. on
July 27th, the Tangshan earthquake equivalent to 400 Hiroshima bombs
destroys Tangshan leaving 3% of the building standing and the death of at least
600,000 people. This chapter acts as the start and triggering of the “new
China”. In chapter 5, there is a sense
of relief from the disaster. Government
officials and townspeople work hand in hand to rescue any surviving victims. This too was used as propaganda by government
officials to win the hearts of victims who have been struck with this
tragedy. This chapter seemed to allow
readers to touch into their “sympathetic” side and calm themselves down to a
sense that even though the disaster occurred, the progression and unity of the
people will overcome the tragedies. In
chapter 6, Mao Zedong is dead and the ruler in charge has been appointed to Huo
Guofeng. Although he gets the position,
he stands in the shadow of Mao’s success and is unable to unify and progress
the country towards a more prosperous state.
He then develops a plot to get rid of the “Gang of Four” while promoting
individuals who he trusts into office.
As this goes on, China’s people feel more at ease, but urge for the
progression of the country. In chapter
7, Deng Xiaoping is reinstated back to his high official position and creates a
movement himself. The effects of Deng
Xiaoping’s policies were beneficial to the Chinese population as the population
felt like they were not targets of the government. This chapter sums up the effects of the Tangshan
earthquake and the timeliness of how plans were executed after the event in
order for the plans to go as accordingly.
It seems like the Tangshan
earthquake was a conspiracy by the Chinese government to cover up any
information that has leaked or as a way to change the political direction of
the government. In the book the author
mentioned that the Seismology department had detected the earthquake prior to
it destroying Tangshan. It makes you
question yourself, with that many people under your rule; does the death of
600,000 people make a difference to a tyrant, dictator, or ruler? Or as in history, is every man on the
battlefield a pawn used to set up bigger attacks? At the cost of 600,000 lives, it does seem
that way due to the way the government officials handled the earthquake. Not once was there a mention of high
officials helping out other earthquake victims or creating a monument to
remember them. In this case the Tangshan
earthquake is the only disaster in China that has a monument listing the names
of individuals who died during the earthquake.
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