The peasant leader of the model village behind “In agriculture, learn from Dazhai”, who rose to vice-premier
The symbol of Mao-era self-reliance: after Mao's 1964 “In agriculture, learn from Dazhai” his brigade became the national model, and he rose to the Politburo and vice-premiership before the reforms sidelined him in 1980.
A barely literate peasant from Dazhai in Xiyang County, Shanxi, he terraced hillsides as brigade secretary and rebuilt the village after the 1963 floods without state aid. When Mao said in 1964 “In agriculture, learn from Dazhai” the village became the national model, and Chen became a Central Committee member in 1969, a Politburo member in 1973 and vice-premier for agriculture in 1975. The Dazhai model preached collective labour and self-reliance, but inflated statistics and coercion came to light; after the reforms began he left the vice-premiership in 1980, lived on a farm outside Beijing and died of lung cancer.
Career Timeline
- 1975–1980Vice-Premier for agriculture