Because of Mao Zedong's economic policies of the late 1950s, 30 million Chinese died of starvation. Most of Mao's policies were reversed after his death in1976, and by the early 1980s the Chinese economy had taken off. Some villages took the opportunity in China to set on various economic ventures. Bruce Gilley's "Model Rebels" is the story of Daqiu (pronounced "Da-chew"), which became the richest villages in China.While his prose style can be better, Gilley has written a very enjoyable book that reads more like a novel and less like social or economic history. Before 1978, Daqiu was the poorest villages in its province. In fact, Gilley includes a common joke from the period:
Question: What's the best way to kill someone in Daqiu without getting caught?
Answer: Bash in his head with a brick. No Judge will ever believe that a person from Daqiu has enough money to own a brick. You are sure to be set free.
But in 10 years, Daqiu was producing 3 percent of China's steel. The villagers owned imported cars, had their own television cable system, and the village treasury held hundreds of millions of dollars.
Gilley doesn't just tell a story of economic growth, but also narrates many of the developments that occurred in the village alongside. The local village leader, Yu Zuomin, a visionary, who leads Daqiu through this economic miracle becomes a dictator and tries to take on the Chinese government. There is everything in this story from greed, corruption, and bribery to murders and cover-ups.
