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Yang Jisheng (journalist)

Yang Jisheng (born November 1940)[1][2] is a Chinese journalist and author. His work include Tombstone (墓碑), a comprehensive account of the Great Chinese Famine during the Great Leap Forward, and The World Turned Upside Down (天地翻覆), a history of the Cultural Revolution. Yang joined the Communist Party in 1964 and graduated from Tsinghua University in 1966. He promptly joined Xinhua News Agency, where he worked until his retirement in 2001. His loyalty to the party was destroyed by the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.[3]

Yang Jisheng
Yang Jisheng in 2010
Traditional Chinese楊繼繩
Simplified Chinese杨继绳
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinYáng Jìshéng

Although he continued working for the Xinhua News Agency, he spent much of his time researching for Tombstone. As of 2008, he was the deputy editor of the journal Yanhuang Chunqiu in Beijing.[1][4] Yang is also listed as a Fellow of China Media Project, a department under Hong Kong University.[4]

Work edit

Tombstone: The Great Famine edit

Beginning in the early 1990s, Yang began interviewing people and collecting records of the Great Chinese Famine of 1959–1961, in which his own foster father had died, eventually accumulating ten million words of records. He published a two-volume 1,208-page account of the period, in which he aimed to produce an account that is authoritative and can stand up to the challenge of official denial by the Chinese government. He begins the book, "I call this book Tombstone. It is a tombstone for my [foster] father who died of hunger in 1959, for the 36 million Chinese who also died of hunger, for the system that caused their death, and perhaps for myself for writing this book."[1] The book was published in Hong Kong and is banned in mainland China.[5][6] In 2012 translations into French, German, and English[7] (which has been condensed almost by 50%)[8] have been published.[9][10] He was reported to be banned from leaving China to receive the award in a ceremony in Harvard University to be held in March 2016.[11]

Reception edit

Journalist Anne Applebaum praised the book as being the definitive account of the Great Famine.[1][5]

Yang was awarded The Stieg Larsson prize 2015 for his 'stubborn and courageous work in mapping and describing the consequences' of The Great Leap Forward.[12] Yang was awarded the 2016 Louis M. Lyons Award for Conscience and Integrity in Journalism, selected by the Nieman Fellows at Harvard University. In the award citation, the fellows stated: "Through the determination and commitment required for this project, Mr. Yang clearly demonstrates the qualities of conscience and integrity. He provides inspiration to all who seek to document the truth in the face of influences, forces and regimes that may push against such transparency."[13]

Sun Jingxian, a Chinese mathematician, saw in the book a direct attack of China's political system asserting that Yang had done that by committing a distorted historical investigation.[14] He argued that Yang made serious methodological errors in his assumption that starvation deaths could be calculated by looking at the difference between the average number of deaths for a given period and the actual number of deaths for that same year.[14] Sun believed that this was an absurd mathematical formula and he called the book "extremely deceptive", characterizing it as faulty, inadequate and even fraudulent.[14] In an academic paper, Sun wrote:[14]

As a professional mathematician [...] we must seriously point out that from an academic point of view, [Yang's methodology] completely violates the basic principles that modern mathematics must follow when dealing with such problems.[14]

Additionally, political scientist and historian Yang Songlin disputes several of Yang Jisheng's claims, such as that the Chinese government under-reported deaths or manipulated data.[15]

Economic historian Cormac Ó Gráda, reviewing the book, stated that: "Yang tends to neglect the famine historical context and China's economic vulnerability". He notes that China was the "land of famine" because it was extremely poor and, in the 1950s, China was still extremely poor.[16] Ó Gráda also asserts that Yang's estimate of 40 million fewer births is excessive.[16]

Yang strongly dismissed related criticisms, especially from Sun Jingxian. He argued that the sources about population loss were reliable and Sun's claims were baseless and Sun himself seemed to be the case. Yang accused Sun of lacking basic knowledge about the Chinese household registration system at that time and frequently using ad hominem attacks. [17][18][19]

Awards edit

"for his stubborn and courageous work in mapping and describing the consequences of The Three Years of Great Chinese Famine"
  • 2015 Award from the Independent Chinese PEN Center (for the Chinese language version)[13]
  • 2016 Louis M. Lyons Award for Conscience and Integrity in Journalism[13]

Published works edit

  • 墓碑 --中國六十年代大饑荒紀實 (Mubei – - Zhongguo Liushi Niandai Da Jihuang Jishi) ("Tombstone: An Account of Chinese Famine in the 1960s"), Hong Kong: Cosmos Books (Tiandi Tushu), 2008, ISBN 978-988-211-909-3 (in Chinese). By 2010, it was appearing under the title: 墓碑: 一九五八-一九六二年中國大饑荒紀實 (Mubei: Yi Jiu Wu Ba – Yi Jiu Liu Er Nian Zhongguo Da Jihuang Shiji) ("Tombstone: An Account of Chinese Famine From 1958–1962").
    • Tombstone: The Untold Story of Mao's Great Famine, trans. Stacy Mosher and Guo Jian, Publisher: Allen Lane (2012), ISBN 978-184-614-518-6 (English Translation of the above work)
  • 天地翻覆——中国文化大革命史, ISBN 9789888258369
    • The World Turned Upside Down: A History of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, English translation of above book, translated and edited by Stacy Mosher and Guo Jian, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (2021), ISBN 9780374293130.
    • "Renverser ciel et terre - La tragédie de la Révolution culturelle, 1966–1976, French translation of 天地翻覆 by Louis Vincenolles, Éditions du Seuil, 2020, ISBN 978-2-02-133118-9

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d "A hunger for the truth: A new book, banned on the mainland, is becoming the definitive account of the Great Famine." 27 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine, chinaelections.org, 7 July 2008
  2. ^ "Chinese author of book on famine braves risks to inform new generations" by Verna Yu, International Herald Tribune, 18 December 2008
  3. ^ Johnson, Ian (22 November 2012). "China: Worse Than You Ever Imagined". New York Review of Books. ISSN 0028-7504. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  4. ^ a b "Yang Jisheng" 27 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine at the China Media Project, Hong Kong University, October 2007 (accessed 9 March 2008)
  5. ^ a b "When China Starved" by Anne Applebaum, The Washington Post, 12 August 2008
  6. ^ Yang, Jisheng (2010). "The Fatal Politics of the PRC's Great Leap Famine: The Preface to Tombstone". Journal of Contemporary China. 19 (66): 755–776. doi:10.1080/10670564.2010.485408. S2CID 144899172.
  7. ^ Mirsky, Jonathan (9 December 2012). "Unnatural Disaster: 'Tombstone: The Great Chinese Famine, 1958-1962,' by Yang Jisheng". The New York Times Sunday Book Review. pp. BR22. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  8. ^ "Millennial madness". The Economist. 27 October 2012.
  9. ^ "Stèles, Jisheng Yang, Documents - Seuil". seuil.com (in French). Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  10. ^ value, active. "Grabstein - Mùbei". S. Fischer Verlage (in German). Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  11. ^ Phillips, Tom (15 February 2016). "Chinese journalist banned from flying to US to accept a prize for his work". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  12. ^ a b Stieg Larsson Foundation. "Stieg Larsson prize 2015". Stieg Larsson Foundation. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  13. ^ a b c Nieman Foundation News (7 December 2015). "Chinese author Yang Jisheng wins Louis M. Lyons Award for Conscience and Integrity in Journalism". Harvard University. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  14. ^ a b c d e Blanchette, Jude (2 May 2019). China's New Red Guards: The Return of Radicalism and the Rebirth of Mao Zedong. Oxford University Press. p. 138. ISBN 978-0-19-060585-8.
  15. ^ Yang, Songlin (2021). Telling the Truth: China's Great Leap Forward, Household Registration and the Famine Death Tally. Springer Nature. pp. 51–54. ISBN 978-981-16-1661-7.
  16. ^ a b Gráda, Cormac Ó (2013). "Great Leap, Great Famine: A Review Essay". Population and Development Review. 39 (2): 333–346. doi:10.1111/j.1728-4457.2013.00595.x. ISSN 0098-7921. JSTOR 41857599. S2CID 154275320.
  17. ^ 杨继绳 (24 September 2012). "脱离实际必然走向谬误". 爱思想. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  18. ^ 杨继绳 (2013). . 炎黄春秋 (12). Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  19. ^ 杨继绳 (2014). . 炎黄春秋 (9). Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  20. ^ Reading Hayek in Beijing, Wall Street Journal.

External links edit

yang, jisheng, journalist, yang, jisheng, born, november, 1940, chinese, journalist, author, work, include, tombstone, 墓碑, comprehensive, account, great, chinese, famine, during, great, leap, forward, world, turned, upside, down, 天地翻覆, history, cultural, revol. Yang Jisheng born November 1940 1 2 is a Chinese journalist and author His work include Tombstone 墓碑 a comprehensive account of the Great Chinese Famine during the Great Leap Forward and The World Turned Upside Down 天地翻覆 a history of the Cultural Revolution Yang joined the Communist Party in 1964 and graduated from Tsinghua University in 1966 He promptly joined Xinhua News Agency where he worked until his retirement in 2001 His loyalty to the party was destroyed by the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre 3 Yang JishengYang Jisheng in 2010Traditional Chinese楊繼繩Simplified Chinese杨继绳TranscriptionsStandard MandarinHanyu PinyinYang JishengIn this Chinese name the family name is Yang Although he continued working for the Xinhua News Agency he spent much of his time researching for Tombstone As of 2008 he was the deputy editor of the journal Yanhuang Chunqiu in Beijing 1 4 Yang is also listed as a Fellow of China Media Project a department under Hong Kong University 4 Contents 1 Work 1 1 Tombstone The Great Famine 1 1 1 Reception 2 Awards 3 Published works 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksWork editTombstone The Great Famine edit Beginning in the early 1990s Yang began interviewing people and collecting records of the Great Chinese Famine of 1959 1961 in which his own foster father had died eventually accumulating ten million words of records He published a two volume 1 208 page account of the period in which he aimed to produce an account that is authoritative and can stand up to the challenge of official denial by the Chinese government He begins the book I call this book Tombstone It is a tombstone for my foster father who died of hunger in 1959 for the 36 million Chinese who also died of hunger for the system that caused their death and perhaps for myself for writing this book 1 The book was published in Hong Kong and is banned in mainland China 5 6 In 2012 translations into French German and English 7 which has been condensed almost by 50 8 have been published 9 10 He was reported to be banned from leaving China to receive the award in a ceremony in Harvard University to be held in March 2016 11 Reception edit Journalist Anne Applebaum praised the book as being the definitive account of the Great Famine 1 5 Yang was awarded The Stieg Larsson prize 2015 for his stubborn and courageous work in mapping and describing the consequences of The Great Leap Forward 12 Yang was awarded the 2016 Louis M Lyons Award for Conscience and Integrity in Journalism selected by the Nieman Fellows at Harvard University In the award citation the fellows stated Through the determination and commitment required for this project Mr Yang clearly demonstrates the qualities of conscience and integrity He provides inspiration to all who seek to document the truth in the face of influences forces and regimes that may push against such transparency 13 Sun Jingxian a Chinese mathematician saw in the book a direct attack of China s political system asserting that Yang had done that by committing a distorted historical investigation 14 He argued that Yang made serious methodological errors in his assumption that starvation deaths could be calculated by looking at the difference between the average number of deaths for a given period and the actual number of deaths for that same year 14 Sun believed that this was an absurd mathematical formula and he called the book extremely deceptive characterizing it as faulty inadequate and even fraudulent 14 In an academic paper Sun wrote 14 As a professional mathematician we must seriously point out that from an academic point of view Yang s methodology completely violates the basic principles that modern mathematics must follow when dealing with such problems 14 Additionally political scientist and historian Yang Songlin disputes several of Yang Jisheng s claims such as that the Chinese government under reported deaths or manipulated data 15 Economic historian Cormac o Grada reviewing the book stated that Yang tends to neglect the famine historical context and China s economic vulnerability He notes that China was the land of famine because it was extremely poor and in the 1950s China was still extremely poor 16 o Grada also asserts that Yang s estimate of 40 million fewer births is excessive 16 Yang strongly dismissed related criticisms especially from Sun Jingxian He argued that the sources about population loss were reliable and Sun s claims were baseless and Sun himself seemed to be the case Yang accused Sun of lacking basic knowledge about the Chinese household registration system at that time and frequently using ad hominem attacks 17 18 19 Awards edit2013 Hayek Book Prize and Lecture by the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research 20 2015 Stieg Larsson Prize 12 for his stubborn and courageous work in mapping and describing the consequences of The Three Years of Great Chinese Famine 2015 Award from the Independent Chinese PEN Center for the Chinese language version 13 2016 Louis M Lyons Award for Conscience and Integrity in Journalism 13 Published works edit墓碑 中國六十年代大饑荒紀實 Mubei Zhongguo Liushi Niandai Da Jihuang Jishi Tombstone An Account of Chinese Famine in the 1960s Hong Kong Cosmos Books Tiandi Tushu 2008 ISBN 978 988 211 909 3 in Chinese By 2010 it was appearing under the title 墓碑 一九五八 一九六二年中國大饑荒紀實 Mubei Yi Jiu Wu Ba Yi Jiu Liu Er Nian Zhongguo Da Jihuang Shiji Tombstone An Account of Chinese Famine From 1958 1962 Tombstone The Untold Story of Mao s Great Famine trans Stacy Mosher and Guo Jian Publisher Allen Lane 2012 ISBN 978 184 614 518 6 English Translation of the above work 天地翻覆 中国文化大革命史 ISBN 9789888258369 The World Turned Upside Down A History of the Chinese Cultural Revolution English translation of above book translated and edited by Stacy Mosher and Guo Jian New York Farrar Straus and Giroux 2021 ISBN 9780374293130 Renverser ciel et terre La tragedie de la Revolution culturelle 1966 1976 French translation of 天地翻覆 by Louis Vincenolles Editions du Seuil 2020 ISBN 978 2 02 133118 9See also editHungry Ghosts Mao s Secret Famine Mao s Great FamineReferences edit a b c d A hunger for the truth A new book banned on the mainland is becoming the definitive account of the Great Famine Archived 27 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine chinaelections org 7 July 2008 Chinese author of book on famine braves risks to inform new generations by Verna Yu International Herald Tribune 18 December 2008 Johnson Ian 22 November 2012 China Worse Than You Ever Imagined New York Review of Books ISSN 0028 7504 Retrieved 16 September 2020 a b Yang Jisheng Archived 27 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine at the China Media Project Hong Kong University October 2007 accessed 9 March 2008 a b When China Starved by Anne Applebaum The Washington Post 12 August 2008 Yang Jisheng 2010 The Fatal Politics of the PRC s Great Leap Famine The Preface to Tombstone Journal of Contemporary China 19 66 755 776 doi 10 1080 10670564 2010 485408 S2CID 144899172 Mirsky Jonathan 9 December 2012 Unnatural Disaster Tombstone The Great Chinese Famine 1958 1962 by Yang Jisheng The New York Times Sunday Book Review pp BR22 Retrieved 7 December 2012 Millennial madness The Economist 27 October 2012 Steles Jisheng Yang Documents Seuil seuil com in French Retrieved 16 September 2020 value active Grabstein Mubei S Fischer Verlage in German Retrieved 16 September 2020 Phillips Tom 15 February 2016 Chinese journalist banned from flying to US to accept a prize for his work The Guardian Retrieved 15 February 2016 a b Stieg Larsson Foundation Stieg Larsson prize 2015 Stieg Larsson Foundation Retrieved 15 February 2016 a b c Nieman Foundation News 7 December 2015 Chinese author Yang Jisheng wins Louis M Lyons Award for Conscience and Integrity in Journalism Harvard University Retrieved 15 February 2016 a b c d e Blanchette Jude 2 May 2019 China s New Red Guards The Return of Radicalism and the Rebirth of Mao Zedong Oxford University Press p 138 ISBN 978 0 19 060585 8 Yang Songlin 2021 Telling the Truth China s Great Leap Forward Household Registration and the Famine Death Tally Springer Nature pp 51 54 ISBN 978 981 16 1661 7 a b Grada Cormac o 2013 Great Leap Great Famine A Review Essay Population and Development Review 39 2 333 346 doi 10 1111 j 1728 4457 2013 00595 x ISSN 0098 7921 JSTOR 41857599 S2CID 154275320 杨继绳 24 September 2012 脱离实际必然走向谬误 爱思想 Retrieved 26 April 2019 杨继绳 2013 驳 饿死三千万是谣言 再答孙经先对 墓碑 的指责 炎黄春秋 12 Archived from the original on 13 May 2018 Retrieved 26 April 2019 杨继绳 2014 关于大饥荒人口损失的讨论 炎黄春秋 9 Archived from the original on 13 May 2018 Retrieved 30 April 2019 Reading Hayek in Beijing Wall Street Journal External links editRichard McGregor The man who exposed Mao s secret famine The Financial Times 12 June 2010 Ian Johnson Finding the Facts About Mao s Victims The New York Review of Books Blog 20 December 2010 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Yang Jisheng journalist amp oldid 1194308349, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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