再谈毛泽东与计划生育

Mao Zedong and Family Planning Revisited

适度人口是现代社会追求的目标。新中国成立初期,面对快速增长的人口形势,以毛泽东为核心的第一代中央领导集体支持计划生育,并为此做出了不懈的努力。但是从1957年毛泽东对他在最高国务会议上的讲话稿的反复修改以及在此前后他的一系列谈话的精神来看,20世纪50年代,毛泽东对计划生育是有保留的,至少是紧迫感不强。三年困难时期结束以后,毛泽东对计划生育转持积极态度,遵照他的指示,我国的计划生育60年代工作力度明显加大,70年代向城乡全面推开,在一个很短的时间内就取得了相当的成就。

A proper population is the aim a modern society. Facing the rapid expansion of population soon after the PRC was founded, the first generation of leaders with Mao Zedong as the core supported the family planning policy and made unremitting efforts. But the revisions of Mao＇s speech at the highest conference on state affairs and others in 1957 show that he was reserved, or at least not pressed, towards family planning policy in the 1950s. After the three successive difficult years, he be- came positive towards family planning policy. In accordance with his instruction, more efforts were made to implement family planning policy in the 1960s, and 1970s saw that family planning policy was carried out in the countryside as well as the cities, begetting remarkable results in a very short time.