The poster was part of a large campaign to eradicate pests responsible for the transmission of pestilence and disease.
Four pests were chosen for eradicationmosquitoes, rats, flies and sparrows.
At the same time, Mao launched a patriotic health campaign targeting vermin that spread diseases.
The Eurasian tree sparrow (Passer montanus).
Mao knew nothing about animals.
He didn’t want to discuss his plan or listen to experts.
An incredible slaughter of sparrows followed.
Every possible method that existed for killing birds were employed.
They were shot from the sky, nests were destroyed, eggs broken and chicks killed.
Sparrows were caught in nets or trapped with baits.
Those that flew away to the countryside were poisoned with tainted food and water.
The most cruel of them was driving them to exhaustion.
Some sparrows found refuge in the premises of various diplomatic missions in China.
The crowd then surrounded the embassy and drummed constantly for two days.
In the end, the Poles had to use shovels to wipe the embassy of dead sparrows.
Millions of people took part in the activities with merciless efficiency.
Anaccountpublished in the Shanghai newspaper reported that 194,432 sparrows were killed on a single day.
The movement became something of a sport, for the children at least, who participated with great enthusiasm.
Although the eradication program was inordinately successful, it came at a great cost.
A direct consequence of the Four Pests Campaign was the Great Famine.
It became painfully obvious to the Chinese that the sparrows ate more than grains.
They also ate insects.
With their primary predator gone, insects wrecked havoc on crops and consequentially, rice yields decreased.
Unfortunately, no lesson was learned.
In 1998, a similar program was launched in Chongqing.
Mao had famously said in 1958make the high mountain bow its head, make the river yield the way.
