---
title: "Great Chinese Famine — Definition & Meaning | Model Diplomat"
description: "The Great Chinese Famine was a devastating starvation in China from 1959 to 1961, resulting in tens of millions of deaths due to Mao's policies."
url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/glossary/great-chinese-famine"
---

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Model Diplomat Research Team · Last reviewed June 22, 2026

TL;DR

- The Great Chinese Famine was a mass starvation across China from 1959 to 1961, triggered by Mao Zedong's Great Leap Forward, causing tens of millions of deaths.
- What caused the Great Chinese Famine?
- How does Amartya Sen's famine theory apply to the Great Chinese Famine?
- What was the political fallout of the famine?
- How many people died in the Great Chinese Famine?

[Civil Service & Diplomatic Exams](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/civil-services/glossary)Updated June 22, 2026

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In 1959, Defence Minister Peng Dehuai privately wrote to Mao Zedong criticising the Great Leap Forward's failures; at the Lushan Conference he was purged, and grain requisitioning continued as the famine peaked.

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