ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses reviews major studies concerning China's food security and points out deficiencies in existing studies. Examples of studies that examine food shortages and famines over Chinese history include Mallory, Lang, Feng, Xu, Yang, and Yi. China was referred to as the land of famine. Studies have shown that the people's commune movement under the Great Leap Forward campaign laid the necessary organisational foundation for the famine to take place. The government attributed the Great Famine to the so-called three-year natural disasters or three-year difficult times explanation. The "three-year natural disasters" claim is used to suggest that the food shortage was due to severe natural disasters. The mandatory unified grain procurement policy also played a major damaging role in the famine. The lack of freedom of speech and lack of free media also contributed to the persistence of the famine.
