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• 1 2019-11-18T15:48:26-05:00 Path 1: Learning in the Sinosphere 25 Introductory page for Path 1 gallery 4801 2020-02-19T12:58:43-05:00 Mitch Aso

  The Korean War (1950-1953) and the First Indochina War (1946-1954) were closely linked. A key event in Asia underlying both wars was the 1949 victory of the communist party, led by Mao Zedong, over the nationalist party and the formation of the People's Republic of China (PRC - See maps held in the Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection at UT Austin here). With that victory, and the subsequent entry of Chinese troops into the Korean War, understandings of the First Indochina War also began to shift. Among United States leaders, the events of 1949 and 1950 recast the fighting on the Indochina peninsula from a colonial war in which the United States opposed the French, to a part of the Cold War in which the two shared common interests. Even though French leaders remained intent on keeping at least some of Indochina (Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam) as part of their empire, they were content to receive American aid that was earmarked as part of the battle against communism.

  Ho Chi Minh and the Việt Minh were likewise careful observers of the Korean War. The Việt Minh quickly understood the implications when the North Koreans and Chinese charged the United Nations military, led by the United States, of using biological weapons. In December 1952 and January 1953, Việt Minh representatives attended a series of lectures and an exhibition where they learned the specifics of biological weapons use in Chinese and North Korea. A simplified version of this information is presented in the pamphlet in Path 1 but the reports collected at this time were extremely detailed and the transcripts and summaries run to over 200 pages.

  Chinese scientists and medical doctors emphasized the need for careful research and laid out three reasons they suspected the US and UN militaries of using germ warfare:

  1. Diseases that broke out were new to area and time of year;
  2. Unusual insects and materials served as vectors;
  3. Outbreaks happened after US airplanes flew by.

  These scientists also pointed to the context of the US biological weapons program and borrowed the term “bacteriology upside down” from Theodore Rosebury, one of the founders of the U.S. biological weapons program, who later published a warning about them. Finally, these reports argue that patriotic hygiene mass movement was a good way to counter effects of biological warfare. All of these themes were picked up by the Việt Minh in their own investigations. This report is contained in the Ministry of Health file 5402 held in the National Archives of Vietnam Center 3 (NAV3).

  Explore the PRC posters shown above and compare them to the Việt Minh images that were used to educate Vietnamese about the use of biological weapons and how to resist them. Both sets of images show the vectors of disease, including rats, flies, and various insects. While these PRC posters emphasize human diseases, pathogens and pests attacking agricultural production were an equal concern for the Chinese, North Koreans, and Việt Minh. Both sets of images also reflected a Manichaean perspective that divided the world into imperialist and non-imperialist camps. By definition, imperialist, capitalist nations caused wars and used biological weapons while non-imperialist, socialist ones fought back and had to defend against biological weapons. This worldview is more clearly displayed in the history of biological weapons narrated in the Vietnamese pamphlet shown next. You can also learn more about the First Indochina War through Christopher Goscha's and Phi Van Nguyen's on-line resource site here.

• 1 2020-08-01T17:04:29-04:00 Chinese Patriotic Hygiene Movement 5 Page 3 of Path A on Patriotic Hygiene Movement plain 2020-08-01T20:44:26-04:00 Michitake Aso Using the pretext of biological warfare, Chinese authorizes launched the patriotic hygiene movement. As the following poster shows, this movement was meant to educate Chinese about the dangers of microbes and germs. The bombs suggest a human source of the microbes but the flies (and rats and various other insects shown in other posters) suggest that peasants need be aware of non-human vectors of disease as well. While these PRC posters emphasize human diseases, pathogens and pests attacking agricultural production were an equal concern for the Chinese and North Koreans (and later Việt Minh).
  
  
  The second poster shows a man with a large nose shedding vectors of disease, including rats and flies. This poster draws on conventions common in Asia, including those used by Japanese illustrators during World War II, to depict Americans (and Westerners in general) as people with big noses and chins and demonic facial features. This poster also advances a Manichaean perspective that divided the world into imperialist and non-imperialist camps. By definition, imperialist, capitalist nations caused wars and used biological weapons while non-imperialist, socialist ones fought back and had to defend against biological weapons. Such a worldview is also displayed in the history of biological weapons narrated in the Việt Minh pamphlet shown in Path C. 
  
  
  The final poster included here shows three men burying the demonic figure above during the patriotic hygiene movement. In addition to the concrete activity of countering biological warfare, this movement sought to accomplish other military and social goals. It was meant to mobilize the peasantry to fight the imperialist as well as accept other programs such as land reform being instituted by the communists. This poster focuses on the medical doctors, soldiers, and hygiene works but other posters show the role farmers could play in such efforts.
  
  
• 1 2019-11-18T15:48:27-05:00 Learning From China and North Korea 1 gallery 2019-11-18T15:48:27-05:00

  The Việt Minh were careful observers of the Korean War (1950-1953). The Việt Minh quickly understood the implications when the North Koreans and Chinese charged the United Nations military, led by the United States, of using biological weapons. In December 1952 and January 1953, Việt Minh representatives attended a series of lectures and an exhibition where they learned the specifics of biological weapons use in Chinese and North Korea. You’ve read a simplified version of this information in the pamphlet in Path 1 but the reports collected at this time were extremely detailed and the transcripts and summaries run to over 200 pages.

  Chinese scientists and medical doctors emphasized the need for careful research and laid out three reasons they suspected the US of using germ warfare:

  1. Diseases that broke out were new to area and time of year;
  2. Unusual insects and materials served as vectors;
  3. Outbreaks happened after US airplanes flew by.

  They also pointed to the context of the US biological weapons program and borrowed the term “bacteriology upside down” from Theodore Rosebury, a key player in start of US biological weapons program and later published a warning about them. Finally, these reports argue that patriotic hygiene mass movement was a good way to counter effects of biological warfare. All of these themes were picked up by the Việt Minh in their own investigations (NAV3 BYT 5402).

  Explore the NIH posters shown above and compare them to the Việt Minh images that were used to educate Vietnamese about the use of biological weapons and how to resist them. While these posters emphasize human diseases, pathogens and pests attacking agricultural production were an equal concern for the Chinese, North Koreans, and Việt Minh.

  Tôn Thất Tùng was again a key player as he traveled to China and North Korea in July 1951 with Hoàng Quốc Việt. Tùng arrived in Peking (Beijing) on 28 July and proceeded to carry out both political and medical exchanges. Tùng next visited the Democratic Republic of Korea. In August 1951, the fighting on the Korean peninsula was intense and Tùng witnessed the regular bombings of Pyongyang. He noted in his diary how the residents of Pyongyang had come to know the schedule of what he called 'American' bombs. Tùng's observations of life in North Korea were eerily similar to later accounts of life in Hanoi during the US bombings of the 1960s. Tùng left at the end of 1951 before the charges of US germ warfare and his training as a surgeon would not have shed much light on biological weapons. He did, however, serve as the chair at the first meeting of the Committee to Prevent Germs (Ban Chống Trùng) held from September 12 through 16, 1952.