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The Guangxi Massacre (), or Guangxi Cultural Revolution Massacre (), was a series of events involving
lynching Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged transgressor, punish a convicted transgressor, or intimidate people. It can also be an ex ...
and direct
massacre A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...
in
Guangxi Guangxi (; ; alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam ...
during the
Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...
(1966–1976). The official record shows an estimated death toll from 100,000 to 150,000. Methods of slaughter included beheading, beating, live burial, stoning, drowning,
boiling Boiling is the rapid vaporization of a liquid, which occurs when a liquid is heated to its boiling point, the temperature at which the vapour pressure of the liquid is equal to the pressure exerted on the liquid by the surrounding atmosphere. Th ...
and disemboweling. In certain areas including Wuxuan County and Wuming District, massive
human cannibalism Human cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh or internal organs of other human beings. A person who practices cannibalism is called a cannibal. The meaning of "cannibalism" has been extended into zoology to describe an in ...
occurred even though no
famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompan ...
existed. According to
public records Public records are documents or pieces of information that are not considered confidential and generally pertain to the conduct of government. For example, in California, when a couple fills out a marriage license application, they have the optio ...
available, at least 137 people—perhaps hundreds more—were eaten by others and at least thousands of people participated in the cannibalism. Other researchers have pointed out that 421 victims who could be identified by name were eaten, and there were reports of cannibalism across dozens of counties in Guangxi. After the Cultural Revolution, people who were involved in the massacre or cannibalism received minor punishments during the "
Boluan Fanzheng Boluan Fanzheng () or Poluan Fancheng, was a period in the history of People's Republic of China during which Deng Xiaoping, then paramount leader of China, led a far-reaching program attempting to correct the mistakes of the Cultural Revolut ...
" period; in Wuxuan County where at least 38 people were eaten, fifteen participants were prosecuted, receiving up to 14 years in prison, while ninety-one members of the
Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Ci ...
(CCP) were expelled from the party and thirty-nine non-party officials were either demoted or had a salary cut. Although the cannibalism was sponsored by local offices of the Communist Party and
militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...
, no direct evidence suggests that anyone in the national Communist Party leadership including
Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also Romanization of Chinese, romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the List of national founde ...
endorsed the cannibalism or even knew of it. However, some scholars have pointed out that Wuxuan County, through internal channels, had notified the central leadership about the cannibalism in 1968.


Historical background

In May 1966,
Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also Romanization of Chinese, romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the List of national founde ...
launched the Cultural Revolution. Starting from March 1967, two factions gradually formed among troops and civilians in
Guangxi Guangxi (; ; alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam ...
: one faction (known as "the United Headquarters") unconditionally supported
Wei Guoqing Wei Guoqing (; Zhuang: Veiz Gozcing; 2 September 1913 – 14 June 1989) was a Chinese government official, military officer and political commissar of Zhuang ethnicity. He served as the Chairman of Guangxi from 1958 to 1975 and on the Chin ...
—then Chairman of Guangxi and a high-ranking CCP official—to direct the revolution in Guangxi, while the other faction (known as "4.22") opposed such unconditional support, asking Wei to do self-criticism first. Clashes such as " violent struggles" between the two factions along with massacres soon took place in rural regions of Guangxi. Even though the "4.22 faction" received support from Premier
Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai (; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman and military officer who served as the first premier of the People's Republic of China from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 January 1976. Zhou served under Chairman M ...
in August 1967, it was at a disadvantage throughout Guangxi except in the city of Guilin. In February 1968,
Guangzhou Military Region The Guangzhou Military Region was from 1955 to 2016 one of the People's Liberation Army PLA Military Regions, located in the south of the People's Republic of China. In May 1949, the Central China (Hua Zhong) Military Region (MR) was formed. In Ma ...
ordered the troops which supported "4.22 faction" to move away from the region; in April 1968,
Huang Yongsheng Huang Yongsheng (; 1910–1983) was a general of the China's People's Liberation Army. In 1955 Huang was awarded the position of '' Shang Jiang'' (colonel-general), and Huang continued to rise throughout the 1950s and 1960s, eventually becoming ...
, then head of Guangzhou Military Region, declared that the "4.22 faction" was a " reactionary organization" and started massive suppression (at the same time, the Guangdong Massacre also took place). Since the summer of 1968, the massacre had spread from rural regions to cities of Guangxi.


Methods of killing

In the massacre, methods of slaughter included "beheading, beating, live burial, stoning, drowning,
boiling Boiling is the rapid vaporization of a liquid, which occurs when a liquid is heated to its boiling point, the temperature at which the vapour pressure of the liquid is equal to the pressure exerted on the liquid by the surrounding atmosphere. Th ...
, group slaughters, disemboweling, digging out hearts, livers, genitals, slicing off flesh, blowing up with dynamite, and more". * In one case, according to official records, a person had dynamite bound to the back and was blown up into pieces by other people ("天女散花")—just for fun. *In another case of 1968, "a geography instructor named Wu Shufang () was beaten to death by students at Wuxuan Middle School. Her body was carried to the flat stones of the
Qian River The Qian River () is the name of a short section of the Xi River system and, thus, the greater Pearl River system in Guangxi, China. It is formed by where the Liu Jiang meets the larger Hongshui He east of Laibin, then flows southeast thro ...
where another teacher was forced at gunpoint to rip out the heart and liver. Back at the school the pupils barbecued and consumed the organs."


Death toll


First investigation group

In April 1981, an investigation group of over 20 people was formed under the arrangement of the
Central Commission for Discipline Inspection The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) is the highest internal control institution of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), tasked with enforcing internal rules and regulations and combating corruption and malfeasance in the pa ...
, the
General Office of the Chinese Communist Party The General Office of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, often referred to as the Central Office (), is an office directly under the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in charge of providing support for the C ...
, the Organization Department of the Chinese Communist Party, the Ministry of Public Security, the
Supreme People's Court The Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China (SPC; ) is the highest court of the People's Republic of China. It hears appeals of cases from the high people's courts and is the trial court for cases about matters of nation ...
, and the
Supreme People's Procuratorate The Supreme People's Procuratorate () is the highest national agency responsible for legal prosecution and investigation in the People's Republic of China. Conceived initially in 1949 as the Supreme People's Prosecutor's Office, the agency was r ...
. In June 1981, the investigation concluded that the death toll was over 100,000, while some officials and civilians claimed privately that the death toll was 150,000, 200,000 or even 500,000. In addition,
Qiao Xiaoguang Qiao Xiaoguang () (1918–2003) was a People's Republic of China politician and diplomat. He was the Chinese Ambassador to North Korea (1955–1961). He was born in Guangzong County, Hebei. He was twice Communist Party of China committee secretar ...
reported to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection that the death toll was 70,400.


Second investigation group

In March 1983, another investigation group of 40 people was formed by the
Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, officially the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is a political body that comprises the top leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It is currently composed of 205 fu ...
. In January 1984, the investigation concluded that 89,700 deaths could be identified by names and addresses, over 20,000 people were missing, and over 30,000 deaths could not be identified by names or addresses. In particular, due to the violent struggles between the two opposing factions, 3,700 people died during direct fighting, 7,000 were persecuted to death, while 79,000 were beaten or shot to death in a planned and systematic matter. In
Nanning Nanning (; ; za, Namzningz) is the capital and largest city by population of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in Southern China. It is known as the "Green City" because of its abundance of lush subtropical foliage. Located in the South o ...
, the capital of Guangxi, eight out of fourteen counties saw a death toll of over 1,000, with
Binyang County Binyang County (; Standard Zhuang: ) is a county of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Nanning, the capital of Guangxi, with a permanent population of 782,255 and a hukou pop ...
alone losing 3,777 people.


Academic studies

In 2006, Su Yang () of
University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and p ...
argued that the Guangxi massacre was the most serious massacre during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. He stated that among the 65 accessible official county documents of Guangxi, 43 counties report local massacres with 15 of them recording a death toll of over 1000, while the average death toll was 526 among all the counties which reported massacre. Moreover, Song Yongyi pointed out that there were many differences between published official data and classified official data. For example, the published county
annals Annals ( la, annāles, from , "year") are a concise historical record in which events are arranged chronologically, year by year, although the term is also used loosely for any historical record. Scope The nature of the distinction between ann ...
of Lingshan County shows only eight people died, but in its classified document there were 3,220 victims; for another example, the published document from
Binyang County Binyang County (; Standard Zhuang: ) is a county of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Nanning, the capital of Guangxi, with a permanent population of 782,255 and a hukou pop ...
shows 37 victims only, compared to 3,951 victims in its classified document. In his book ''Massacres during the Cultural Revolution (文革大屠杀)'', Song argued that most Cultural Revolution massacres were the action of "state apparatuses", or the direct slaughter by the regime towards its citizens. On the other hand, in his award-winning book ''Collective Killings in Rural China during the Cultural Revolution'', Su proposed the "community model" to explain the massacre in Guangxi, challenging the prevailing models of genocide and mass killings.


Massive cannibalism


Official investigation

Human cannibalism Human cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh or internal organs of other human beings. A person who practices cannibalism is called a cannibal. The meaning of "cannibalism" has been extended into zoology to describe an in ...
occurred in
Guangxi Guangxi (; ; alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam ...
during the Cultural Revolution. According to Zheng Yi (), a scholar who conducted detailed research on the topic in the late 1980s and later smuggled some copies of official documents to the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
, at least 137 people—perhaps hundreds more—were eaten by others and thousands of people participated in the cannibalism. Documents also record a variety of forms of cannibalism, including eating people as an after-dinner snack, slicing off the meat in big parties, dividing up the flesh so each person could take a large chunk home, barbecuing or roasting the liver, and so on. According to Yan Lebin (), a member of the Ministry of Public Security who joined both of the investigation groups:
In 1968, 38 people in Wuxuan County were eaten, and 113 officials of the county participated in eating human flesh, hearts and livers. Chen Guorong (), a peasant from Guigang County who happened to pass by Wuxuan, was caught and killed by local militia because he was fat; his heart and liver were taken out while his flesh was distributed to 20 people. A female militia leader ate 6 human livers in total, and cut the genitals of 5 men and soaked them in alcohol which she would drink later, claiming that these organs were beneficial to her health. The behavior of eating human flesh, hearts and livers occurred in many counties of Guangxi including Wuxuan, Wuming, Shangsi, Guigang, Qinzhou,
Guiping Guiping () is a county-level city in eastern Guangxi, China. It is under the administration of Guigang City, located at the confluence of the Qian and Yu rivers, which are the Xi River's primary north and south tributaries, respectively. Nam ...
, and Lingyun... After the revolutionary committee was established in Shangsi County, a "killing conference" was held at Pingshan Square () on September 1, 1968, during which more than 10 officials and civilians were beaten to death. After the conference, a committee member, Li Hao (), removed the hearts and livers from the corpses, sauteing them and preparing them as dishes for other representatives who attended the conference.


Academic studies

According to Song Yongyi, a Chinese historian who works at the
California State University, Los Angeles California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) is a public university in Los Angeles, California. It is part of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) system. Cal State LA offers 142 bachelor's degrees, 122 master's degrees, ...
:
Independent researchers in Guangxi counted a total of 421 people who were eaten. There were reports of cannibalism across 27 counties in Guangxi; that's two-thirds of all the counties in Guangxi. There was one man who was said to be in the so-called fifth category, who was beaten to death where he stood. He had two kids, one of 11 and one of 14. The local officials and armed militia said that it was important to eradicate such people, and so they not only killed those two children: they ate them too. This took place in
Pubei county Pubei County (; za, Bujbwz Yen) is a county in the south of Guangxi, China. It is under the administration of Qinzhou City. Administration Pubei's executive, legislature and judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicatu ...
, Guangxi, where 35 people were killed and eaten in total. Most of them were rich landowners and their families. There was one landowner called Liu Zhengjian whose entire family was wiped out. He had a 17-year-old daughter, Liu Xiulan, who was gang-raped by nine people or 19 timeswho then ripped open her belly, and ate her liver and breasts. There were so many incidents like this.
According to Frank Dikötter, Chair Professor of Humanities at the
University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hon ...
, Senior Fellow at Hoover Institution of Stanford, and winner of the 2011
Samuel Johnson Prize The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, formerly the Samuel Johnson Prize, is an annual British book prize for the best non-fiction writing in the English language. It was founded in 1999 following the demise of the NCR Book Award. With its ...
:
Throughout 1967 but also '68, there are factions in the countryside that start not just eliminating each other physically, but literally in a couple of small towns they start ritualistically eating each other. In other words, it is not enough to eliminate your class enemy. You have to eat his heart, so there are very well-documented cases of ritual cannibalism. There was a hierarchy in the consumption of class enemies. Leaders feasted on the heart and liver, mixed with pork, while ordinary villagers were allowed only to peck at the victims' arms and thighs.
Regarding the motive for cannibalism, Ding Xueliang (丁学良), a professor at the
University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thr ...
and the
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) is a public research university in Clear Water Bay Peninsula, New Territories, Hong Kong. Founded in 1991 by the British Hong Kong Government, it was the territory's third institut ...
, pointed out that "this was not cannibalism because of economic difficulties, like during famine. It was not caused by economic reasons, it was caused by political events, political hatred, political ideologies, political rituals."
Qin Hui Qin Hui or Qin Kuai (January 17, 1090 – November 18, 1155) was a Chinese politician. He was a Chancellor of the Song dynasty in Chinese history. He was a contemporary of Yue Fei during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Song. Modern historian ...
also showed with statistics that the cannibalism was not due to the traditions of local ethnic minorities; he argued that the cannibalism was mainly due to: 1) the extreme
class struggle Class conflict, also referred to as class struggle and class warfare, is the political tension and economic antagonism that exists in society because of socio-economic competition among the social classes or between rich and poor. The form ...
during the Cultural Revolution, which led to a modern "
caste Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultur ...
" system (such as the
Five Black Categories The "Five Black Categories" () referred to the following five political identities. These groups were: * Landlords () * Rich farmers () * Counter-revolutionaries () * Bad influencers bad elements"() * Right-wingers () During the period of the ...
) and an extreme massacre towards the lower class from the
upper class Upper class in modern societies is the social class composed of people who hold the highest social status, usually are the wealthiest members of class society, and wield the greatest political power. According to this view, the upper class is gen ...
; 2) the revenge from the local officials and military towards the rebel group who challenged their interests. On the other hand, according Song Yongyi, the motive behind cannibalism was personal desire. Song stated that these people engaged in cannibalistic activities because they "believe that when they eat other people's livers, other people's hearts, it will help them to have a long life". While some research indicates that it was communism that compelled the perpetrators in this area towards cannibalism, on the other hand,
Roderick MacFarquhar Roderick "Rod" Lemonde MacFarquhar (2 December 1930 – 10 February 2019) was a British China scholar, politician, and journalist. MacFarquhar had a varied career. He was founding editor of ''China Quarterly'' in 1959. He served as a Member of ...
and
Michael Schoenhals Michael Schoenhals (born 1953) is a Swedish sinologist, specializing in the society of modern China. He is Professor Emeritus of Chinese Studies at Lund University. The book ''Mao's Last Revolution'' by Roderick MacFarquhar and Michael Schoenhal ...
disputed that communism was to be blamed for this incident, noting that similar incidents occurred under pressure from the Kuomintang secret police in the republican period.Roderick MacFarquhar, and Michael Schoenhals. ''Mao's Last Revolution''.
Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retir ...
, 2006. p. 259


Public responses


Witnesses and investigators

*In 2016, ''
Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse (AFP) is a French international news agency headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 1835 as Havas, it is the world's oldest news agency. AFP has regional headquarters in Nicosia, Montevideo, Hong Kong and Washington, ...
'' (AFP) interviewed a local man with last name Luo who responded, "Cannibalism? I was here then, I went through it. But Wuxuan has developed rapidly in recent years and now. That history 'has no meaning'." *In 2016, a high-ranking member of an early 1980s official investigation told AFP that " l the cannibalism was due to
class struggle Class conflict, also referred to as class struggle and class warfare, is the political tension and economic antagonism that exists in society because of socio-economic competition among the social classes or between rich and poor. The form ...
being whipped up and was used to express a kind of hatred. The murder was ghastly, worse than beasts." *In 2013,
Yang Liping Yang Liping (; born 10 November 1958) is a Chinese dancer and choreographer of Bai ethnicity. She rose to fame for choreographing and performing "The spirit of Peacock" in 1986. She was the first dancer from Mainland China that went to Taiwan to ...
, a notable Chinese dancer, claimed that she had seen cannibalism during the Cultural Revolution, although not necessarily in Guangxi. She stated that "I am pessimistic about humanity and pessimistic about humans. Because we have been through the Cultural Revolution, we have become very alert. I am very alert, alert like a peacock. Be careful, because humans are the most horrible animals, otherwise
Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the " King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over ...
wouldn't have died... I saw people eat people, and people hurt people, just like nowadays. Nowadays people can hurt you anytime, yet they don't even know why they hurt you." *In 1995, Donald S. Sutton, a professor at
Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...
, wrote in his research paper, "Did cannibalism actually take place in Wuxuan?... That the incident truly occurred was independently confirmed by a recent visitor to Wuxuan, the scholar and journalist,
John Gittings John Gittings is a British journalist and author who is mainly known for his works on modern China and the Cold War. From 1983 to 2003, he worked at ''The Guardian'' (UK) as assistant foreign editor and chief foreign leader-writer. He has als ...
. An off-duty local clerk spoke airily of the killings and the cannibalism—obligingly writing down his name and address when asked—and added with a touch of pride, "In Wuxuan... we ate more people than anywhere else in China" (''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
'', November 27, 1993)."


Researchers

* In 2013,
Qin Hui Qin Hui or Qin Kuai (January 17, 1090 – November 18, 1155) was a Chinese politician. He was a Chancellor of the Song dynasty in Chinese history. He was a contemporary of Yue Fei during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Song. Modern historian ...
, a professor at
Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (; abbr. THU) is a national public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. The university is a member of the C9 League, Double First Class University Plan, Projec ...
, discussed the contributions of
Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. Aft ...
with
Ezra Vogel Ezra Feivel Vogel (; July 11, 1930 — December 20, 2020 ) was an American sociologist who wrote prolifically on modern Japan, China, and Korea, and worked both in academia and the public sphere. He was Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Scie ...
, a professor with
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...
, when Qin said "my hometown is in Guangxi, where people were killed in massacres during Mao's era, and some of them were eaten by others! In the bloody summer of 1968, people in
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...
and
Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...
all knew that there were corpses floating down from
Xi River The Xi River (; ) or Si-Kiang is the western tributary of the Pearl River in southern China. It is formed by the confluence of the Gui and Xun Rivers in Wuzhou, Guangxi. It originates from the eastern foot of the Maxiong Mountain in Qujin ...
to
Pearl River The Pearl River, also known by its Chinese name Zhujiang or Zhu Jiang in Mandarin pinyin or Chu Kiang and formerly often known as the , is an extensive river system in southern China. The name "Pearl River" is also often used as a catch-a ...
." * In 2001,
Perry Link Eugene Perry Link, Jr. (; born 1944) is Chancellorial Chair Professor for Innovative Teaching Comparative Literature and Foreign Languages in College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences at the University of California, Riverside and Emeri ...
, a professor of Chinese at
Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
, stated that "I believe Zheng's story f cannibalism He's a writer of integrity, and the rich detail has the ring of authenticity." * In 1999,
sinologist Sinology, or Chinese studies, is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of China primarily through Chinese philosophy, language, literature, culture and history and often refers to Western scholarship. Its origin "may be traced to the ex ...
Gang Yue questioned how "systematic" the cannibalism could have been, given the inherent factionalism of the Cultural Revolution. *In 1997, Key Ray Chong, a professor of history at
Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sy ...
, wrote in his review of Zheng Yi's book of cannibalism that " ring the Cultural Revolution, quite a few Chinese officials knew of this horror, the equivalent of the Nazi Holocaust in the 1940s and the
killing fields The Killing Fields ( km, វាលពិឃាត, ) are a number of sites in Cambodia where collectively more than one million people were killed and buried by the Khmer Rouge regime (the Communist Party of Kampuchea) during its rule of t ...
of
Pol Pot Pol Pot; (born Saloth Sâr;; 19 May 1925 – 15 April 1998) was a Cambodian revolutionary, dictator, and politician who ruled Cambodia as Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea between 1976 and 1979. Ideologically a Marxist–Leninist ...
in the 1970s. But they remained silent about the subject."


Media

*In 2016, ''
The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...
'' stated in its review of Cultural Revolution that " rrible stories abounded. There were tales of cannibalism in Guangxi province where 'bad elements' were publicly butchered and more than 70 victims were eaten in Wuxuan." *In 2016, ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
'' stated in its review of Cultural Revolution that " rhaps the worst affected region was the southern province of Guangxi where there were reports of mass killings and even cannibalism." *In 2013, ''Renmin Wang'', the official media of the Chinese Communist Party, as well as some other Chinese media reprinted an article from ''
China Youth Daily The ''China Youth Daily'' () is the newspaper of the Communist Youth League of China since 1951 with editorial and financial independence in the People's Republic of China. In the 1980s, it was regarded as the best newspaper in mainland China wi ...
,'' which stated that during the Cultural Revolution "in some places such as Guangxi, the hearts and livers of people were eaten after they were beaten to death, and, surprisingly, such cannibalism was prevalent in that region!" The article further stated, "throughout the human history of the 20th century, was there any country that had experienced the Cultural Revolution like ours? The only comparable time was
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
. However, up to this date, we do not even have a decent review or reflection on this period of history... A society that does not reflect on the Cultural Revolution is perhaps still a tribe of cannibalism. Such tribe, no matter how beautiful people look on the outside and how modernized the fruits of civilization are used (in society), is still a tribe of cannibalism without humanity." *In 2001, ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...
'' stated that "Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution was an eruption of ideological fervor, mass hysteria and outright brutality that left an estimated 10 million Chinese dead and ruined the lives of millions more. Now tales of even more horrible excesses from the years between 1966 and 1976 are coming to light: allegations of cannibalism, involving hundreds of men and women who violated mankind's most powerful taboo in the name of revolutionary purity." *In 1996, ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...
'' stated, after Zheng Yi published his book that " e party wants to block any deep-going analysis of the role played by the late Chairman Mao Zedong and numerous party members. Full disclosure of the truth might destroy what little legitimacy the party still clings to." *In 1993, ''
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'' stated that " e accounts were harrowing. Principals killed in schoolyards by students, then cooked and eaten. Government-run cafeterias displaying human bodies hanging from meat hooks and dishing them out to employees... Documents smuggled out of China last week described atrocities of the Cultural Revolution in grotesque detail." *In 1993, ''
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'' stated that " e incidents reported from Guangxi were apparently the most extensive episodes of cannibalism in the world in the last century or more. They were also different from any others in that those who took part were not motivated by hunger or psychopathic illness. Instead, the actions appeared to be ideological: the cannibalism, which the documents say took place in public, was often organized by local Communist Party officials, and people apparently took part together to prove their revolutionary ardor."


See also

* Guangdong Massacre * Violent Struggle *
Boluan Fanzheng Boluan Fanzheng () or Poluan Fancheng, was a period in the history of People's Republic of China during which Deng Xiaoping, then paramount leader of China, led a far-reaching program attempting to correct the mistakes of the Cultural Revolut ...
* Reforms and Opening-up * Mass killings under communist regimes *
List of massacres in China The following is a list of massacres that have occurred in China. The massacres are grouped for different time periods. Imperial China (before 1912) Republic of China (since 1912) 1912–1937 1937–1945 (Sino-Japanese War) 1945� ...
*
Cannibalism in China Human cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh or internal organs of other human beings. A person who practices cannibalism is called a cannibal. The meaning of "cannibalism" has been extended into zoology to describe an ind ...
*'' Scarlet Memorial: Tales of Cannibalism in Modern China''


References


Further reading

* Frank Dikötter. ''The Cultural Revolution: A People’s History, 1962–1976.''
Bloomsbury Publishing Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. It is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index. Bloomsbury's head office is located in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a U ...
, 2016. . * Song Yongyi. ''Chronology of Mass Killings during the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966–1976).'' Online Encyclopedia of Mass Violence, 25 August 2011. . *Joseph W. Esherick (Editor), Paul G. Pickowicz (Editor), and Andrew G. Walder (Editor). ''The Chinese Cultural Revolution as History''.
Stanford University Press Stanford University Press (SUP) is the publishing house of Stanford University. It is one of the oldest academic presses in the United States and the first university press to be established on the West Coast. It was among the presses officially ...
, 2006. . *Zheng Yi. '' Scarlet Memorial: Tales of Cannibalism in Modern China.'' Edited and translated by T. P. Sym.
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, 1998. . *Key Ray Chong. ''Scarlet Memorial: Tales of Cannibalism in Modern China'' ''(review).'' China Review International, Vol. 4, No. 2, Fall 1997. pp. 599–602 *Donald S. Sutton. ''Consuming Counterrevolution: The Ritual and Culture of Cannibalism in Wuxuan, Guangxi, China, May to July 1968.'' Comparative Studies in Society and History'','' Vol. 37, No. 1 (Jan., 1995), pp. 136–172. *
John Gittings John Gittings is a British journalist and author who is mainly known for his works on modern China and the Cold War. From 1983 to 2003, he worked at ''The Guardian'' (UK) as assistant foreign editor and chief foreign leader-writer. He has als ...
. ''The truth behind the fiction''.
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, Vol. 23, 1994. pp. 204–205. {{Cultural Revolution Massacres in the 1960s Massacres in the 1970s Cultural Revolution Massacres in China Man-made disasters in China History of Guangxi Incidents of cannibalism Cannibalism in Asia Massacres committed by the People's Republic of China 1970s murders in China 1960s murders in China 1976 murders in China 1967 murders in China