1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910984631903321

Autore

Walder Andrew G

Titolo

Civil War in Guangxi : The Cultural Revolution on China's Southern Periphery

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Piraí : , : Stanford University Press, , 2023

©2023

ISBN

9781503635234

1503635236

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (260 pages)

Disciplina

951.2/805

Soggetti

Insurgency - China - Guangxi Zhuangzu Zizhiqu - History - 20th century

Massacres - China - Guangxi Zhuangzu Zizhiqu - History - 20th century

Political violence - China - Guangxi Zhuangzu Zizhiqu - History - 20th century

HISTORY / Asia / China

Guangxi Zhuangzu Zizhiqu (China) Politics and government 20th century

China History Cultural Revolution, 1966-1976

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Illustrations and Tables -- Author’s Statement -- Acknowledgments -- Prologue -- 1. Puzzles -- 2. Origins -- 3. Spread -- 4. Stalemate -- 5. Escalation -- 6. Suppression -- 7. Narratives -- 8. Analysis -- Epilogue -- Appendix. The Sources and Data Set -- Chronology -- Glossary of Names -- Notes -- References -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

Guangxi, a region on China's southern border with Vietnam, has a large population of ethnic minorities and a history of rebellion and intergroup conflict. In the summer of 1968, during the high tide of the Cultural Revolution, it became notorious as the site of the most severe and extensive violence observed anywhere in China during that period of upheaval. Several cities saw urban combat resembling civil war, while waves of mass killings in rural communities generated enormous death



tolls. More than one hundred thousand died in a few short months. These events have been chronicled in sensational accounts that include horrific descriptions of gruesome murders, sexual violence, and even cannibalism. Only recently have scholars tried to explain why Guangxi was so much more violent than other regions. With evidence from a vast collection of classified materials compiled during an investigation by the Chinese government in the 1980s, this book reconsiders explanations that draw parallels with ethnic cleansing in Rwanda, Bosnia, and other settings. It reveals mass killings as the byproduct of an intense top-down mobilization of rural militia against a stubborn factional insurgency, resembling brutal counterinsurgency campaigns in a variety of settings. Moving methodically through the evidence, Andrew Walder provides a groundbreaking new analysis of one the most shocking chapters of the Cultural Revolution.