MAO: CONCENTRATION CAMPS BY MATTEO GUASONE

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS What were Laogai? How did Mao use Laogai in order to consolidate his power?

VOCAB Laogai Reform through labor Harry Wu

LAOGAI: REFORM THROUGH LABOR Laogai were prison camps in which people that were labelled by the Chinese criminal justice system, as counter-revolutionaries were held. 50% Of world slavery

“ Our economic theory hold the human being is the most fundamental productive force. Except for those who must be exterminated physically out of political consideration, human beings must be utilized as productive forces, with submissiveness as the prerequisite. The Laogai system's fundamental policy is 'Forced Labor as a means, while Thought Reform is our basic aim.” Wu, Harry, "The Other Gulag"], National Review, 4/5/1999, Vol. 51, Issue 6

LIVING CONDITIONS: CLOTHING The quality of the clothing varied significantly depending on the different regions of China. Uniforms which varied in color (usually dark one and sometimes red) On this uniform there were stamped different Chinese characters for fan (Criminal) and Lao Gai (Reform through Labor) Plastic Shoes

LIVING CONDITIONS: FOOD Due to famine during The Great Leap Forward, food available was scarce Prisoners would scavenge anything they came across: field mice, crickets, locusts, toads, grapevine worms, grasshoppers, insect larvae and eggs, and poisonous snakes. Stealing from fields Cannibalism

JIABIANGOU GANSU Around 2,500 out of 3,000 prisoners died of starvation between 1960 and 1962, with some survivors resorting to cannibalism.

LIVING CONDITIONS: WORKING CONDITIONS Prisoners often worked more than 12 hours per day, working at farms, mines and different types of prison factories that manufacture a wide array of products for foreign and domestic markets.

LIVING CONDITIONS: “FREE TIME” After completing the workday, prisoners had a two-hour study period where they must read and listen to communist teachings. The camps were often overcrowded and it was common for two prisoners to sleep in the same bed and for 200 prisoners to share six showers within a half-hour period of clean-up time.

SOURCE “Prisoners are roused from bed at 5:30 am, and at 6:00 the zhiban from the kitchen wheels in a cart with tubs of corn gruel and cornbread … at 7:00 the company public security cadre (captain) comes in, gathers all the prisoners together, and authorizes any sick prisoners to remain in the barracks. Once at the worksite, the captain delegates production responsibilities … At lunchtime the zhiban arrives pulling a handcart with a large tub of vegetable soup, two hunks of cornbread for each prisoner, and a large tube of drinking water … after about thirty minutes, work is resumed until the company chief announces quitting time in the evening. Generally the prisoners return to the barracks at about 6:30 pm. Upon return it is once again a dinner of cornbread, corn gruel, and vegetable soup. At 7:30, the two-hour study period begins… At 9:30, no matter what the weather, all prisoners gather together outside the barracks for roll call and a speech from the captain. At around 10:00 everyone goes to bed. During the night no lights are allowed and no one is allowed to move about. One must remain in one’s assigned sleeping place and wait until 5:30 the next morning before getting up, when the whole cycle begins again.” Wu, Harry. Laogai – The Chinese Gulag. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, Inc., Print.

LAOJIAO Re-Education through labor Minor crimes Similar Conditions Less Years Of Detention Laojiao and Laogai still present today

LAOGAI VS GULAGS

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THE END Now can you answer the essential questions?