Nanjing's “Second Cultural Revolution” of 1974

Abstract

China experienced extensive civil strife in 1974, as elite factionalism during the “criticize Lin Biao and Confucius” campaign revived popular contention in the provinces. Past research has characterized these conflicts as a “second Cultural Revolution” – an offensive by resurgent red guards and rebels to resist the restoration of purged civilian officials to powerful posts. In Nanjing, however, the conflicts were of an entirely different nature. Civilian cadres directed the campaign against army officers who still dominated civilian government throughout the province. Popular protests in Nanjing were not led by former rebels, whose ranks had been decimated by unusually harsh military suppression campaigns, but were instead protests by ordinary citizens who had suffered in the purges and rustication campaigns of the late 1960s. While the campaign in cities like Hangzhou and Wuhan was an offensive by resurgent rebels against civilian officials, in Nanjing civilian officials used the campaign to ensure their victory over military rivals. The Hangzhou and Wuhan pattern revived the politics of the 1960s, while the Nanjing pattern anticipated the protests against Cultural Revolution abuses characteristic of the end of the Mao era.

The Poster Child of the “Second” Cultural Revolution: Huang Shuai and Shifts in Age Consciousness, 1973–1979

“…These Politburo radicals vied with conservative “rightists,” such as Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping, for reasons beyond just the implementation of their agenda. Taking advantage of Mao’s new position in mid-1973, the radicals launched a “second Cultural Revolution,” a major aim of which was to rollback Zhou’s curbing of the revolution’s earlier education policies (Teiwes and Sun, 2007: 118; Dong and Walder, 2012: 894). With Mao’s backing, the radicals achieved this in part by extolling a “go-against-the-tide spirit” 反潮流精神.…”

Foreshocks: Local Origins of Nanjing's Qingming Demonstrations of 1976

“…Wen Fenglai 文凤来, a young instructor from Nanjing University, was the most famous leader of one 11 Dong andWalder 2012b. 12 Dong andWalder 2012a. 13 Shi Zhaoxiang's handwritten notebooks from this period are one of the sources that we draw upon and will be cited below; he copied internal documents verbatim and kept notes on internal Party meetings. 14 Shi, Zhaoxiang 1974, entries for November 19-26. of Nanjing's rebel factions.…”

Forces of Disorder: The Army in Xuzhou’s Factional Warfare, 1967–1969

“…Xuzhou’s troubles reverberated to the end of the Mao era. The factional animosities finally suppressed in Xuzhou in late 1969 resurfaced after the withdrawal of army officers from civilian administration in 1973, leading to the reemergence of conflict between the two civilian factions in 1974 and 1975 (Dong and Walder, 2012b; Dong and Walder, 2014). These conflicts so thoroughly disrupted the important railway hub centered on Xuzhou that it required the direct intervention by a central work team under Deng Xiaoping’s direction to suppress resurgent rebel forces—an action for which Deng would shortly be criticized when he came under fire and lost his leading position once again in early 1976 (Dong and Walder, 2014; Teiwes and Sun 2007: 382–461; Vogel, 2011: 103–9).…”