Current Events > Do Historians Lie without thinking

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China Grand Canal --- I never knew about this so I start reading up. Britannica has been one of my better sources. I read

"
It was built to enable successive Chinese regimes to transport surplus grain from the agriculturally rich Yangtze (Chang) and Huai river valleys to feed the capital cities and large standing armies in northern China.
"

and I have a brain choke on the "surplus" because I recently read how Churchill fed the army during WWII with surplus grain. There is not even a reason to lie so why?

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Grand-Canal-China

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bengal_famine_of_1943

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What would the purpose of a canal in literally BCE have to do with a 20th century famine?

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What exactly do those two things have to do with one another?

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Tyranthraxus posted...

What would the purpose of a canal in literally BCE have to do with a 20th century famine?

UnholyMudcrab posted...

What exactly do those two things have to do with one another?

Britannica article says surplus grain. WWII sources said surplus grain. Surplus means what you have to spare. Haven't you heard that Churchill seized rice from Bengal to feed the army? Do you have to be told that regimes are going to take what they need?

Just so you know

Is Rice considered a grain?
What foods are in the Grains Group? Any food made from wheat, rice, oats, cornmeal, barley, or another cereal grain is a grain product. Bread, pasta, breakfast cereals, grits, and tortillas are examples of grain products. Foods such as popcorn, rice, and oatmeal are also included in the Grains Group.

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CobraGT posted...

Britannica article says surplus grain. WWII sources said surplus grain. Surplus means what you have to spare. Haven't you heard that Churchill seized rice? Do you have to be told that regimes are going to take what they need?

Just so you know

Is Rice considered a grain?
What foods are in the Grains Group? Any food made from wheat, rice, oats, cornmeal, barley, or another cereal grain is a grain product. Bread, pasta, breakfast cereals, grits, and tortillas are examples of grain products. Foods such as popcorn, rice, and oatmeal are also included in the Grains Group.

I have food IDK why people in Bengal are starving they should just go to Publix or Olive Garden.

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Tyranthraxus posted...

I have food IDK why people in Bengal are starving they should just go to Publix or Olive Garden.

and in Chicago just call 911 and the city will rescue you.

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Wait, your post isn't clear: what do you consider to be the lie?

That the famine was the result of British policy?

Or that the canal was used to transport surplus grain?

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Xavier_On_High posted...

Wait, your post isn't clear: what do you consider to be the lie?

That the famine was the result of British policy?

Or that the canal was used to transport surplus grain?

I am sorry. I thought it would be obvious that the regime used the canal to take whatever grain they wanted and that "surplus" is a lie because taking surplus means that you allow the grain producers to live.

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CobraGT posted...

I am sorry. I thought it would be obvious that the regime used the canal to take whatever grain they wanted and that "surplus" is a lie because taking surplus means that you allow the grain producers to live.

Ah, I get it now.

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CobraGT posted...

I am sorry. I thought it would be obvious that the regime used the canal to take whatever grain they wanted and that "surplus" is a lie because taking surplus means that you allow the grain producers to live.

What Churchill did doesn't change the canal's purpose which had been a work by the Chinese for centuries before Churchill was ever born.

Also that's not really what surplus means. Surplus is always local. The British army had a surplus. The indian peasants got robbed.

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https://winstonchurchill.hillsdale.edu/did-churchill-cause-the-bengal-famine/

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