Grains of Conflict

The Struggle for Food in China's Total War, 1937–1945

Jennifer Yip

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2025
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9781009601337
• Subtopic: Asian History
• Index: History

China's war against Japan was, at its heart, a struggle for food. As the Nationalists, Chinese Communist Party, and Japanese vied for a dwindling pool of sustenance, grain emerged as the lynchpin of their strategies for a long-term war effort. In the first in-depth examination of how the Nationalists fed their armies, Jennifer Yip demonstrates how the Chinese government relied on mass civilian mobilization to carry out all stages of provisioning, from procurement to transportation and storage. The intensive use of civilian labor and assets–a distinctly preindustrial resource base– shaped China's own conception of its total war effort, and distinguished China's experience as unique among World War Two combatants. Yip challenges the predominant image of World War II as one of technological prowess, and the tendency to conflate total war with industrialized warfare. Ultimately, China sustained total war against the odds with premodern means: by ruthlessly extracting civilian resources.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title
• Title page
• Imprints page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Acknowledgments
• Notes on the Text
• List of Abbreviations
• Introduction: China’s Total War
• 1 The Militarization of a River: The Yangzi’s Cardinal Role in Grain Provisioning
• 2 The Institutions and Individuals behind Wartime Grain Management and Military Supply
• 3 Wartime Granary Networks and the ‘‘Science’’ of Storing Grain
• 4 Carrying ‘‘The Nation’s Thousand-Jin Burden’’: Yiyun, China’s Wartime Relay Transport System
• 5 The Three-Way Tussle for Food: Blockades, Guerrilla Warfare, and the Everyday Struggle for Survival
• Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Index