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Book
AB Corps and the Futian Incident
In 1930, a mutiny erupted in the Red Army in the town of Futian. In the ensuring purge, more than 700 officers were executed. After this, the campaign to root out Anti-Bolshevik (AB) groups spread to various parts of China, with 70,000 executed. Occurring just nine years after the founding of the CCP, it is one of the earliest and most significant purges in the party's early history.
The first person to pay attention to the Futian Incident was Professor Dai Xiangqing of the Jiangxi Provincial Party School. Starting in late 1979, he and other colleagues went to southern Jiangxi to collect materials, conduct interviews and investigate, and found that this was an unjust and wrong case, and began to publish articles on the matter.
In the early 1980s, Dai Xiangqing sent his article to a senior general in the PLA, Xiao Ke. After that, the research on the Futian Incident attracted the attention of senior central officials. The CCP's party history research agency sent people to Hunan and Jiangxi to investigate and collect materials. The Organization Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China sent a review team for the Futian Incident and reported the vindication documents to the central government, but even today there is currently no official conclusion on the matter.
This book is an important study of the early history of the Communist Party of China, often mentioned by prominent independent historians, such as Yang Kuisong. As an officially recognized research project, this book does not make ideological breakthroughs, but its detailed historical materials, and its data index make it particularly valuable for understanding this historical event.
This book was published by Henan People's Publishing House in 1994.
Film and Video
Care and Love
This film records the story of Liu Xianhong, a woman from rural Xingtai, Hebei, who contracted AIDS through a blood transfusion in the hospital and decided to publicly disclose her identity and sue the hospital. After fighting in the courts, she finally received compensation. This documentary demonstrates the surging awareness of civil rights in rural China at the grassroot level through depicting the experiences of several families and the concerted efforts of patients to form “care” groups to collectively defend their civil rights. Due to public awareness, media intervention, and legal aid, the government also introduced new policies to improve the situations of patients and their families.
This film is in Chinese with both English and Chinese subtitles.
Book
China on the Edge: The Crisis of Ecology and Development
Published in China in 1989, this book caused a sensation, reportedly selling as many as 300,000 copies. Described as the first "descriptive study" of the reality of China. In order to raise national awareness of the need for environmental protection, it examines the agricultural, environmental, and resource problems that China was likely to encounter in the course of modernization and predicts that the future would likely be even worse. The book was banned immediately after publication.
Book
China's "Left Scourge"
The author of this book, Lu Jianhua (pen name Wen Lu), was a former member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences who published this book in 1993. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2005 for "allegedly leaking state secrets" in connection with the "espionage case" involving journalist Cheng Xiang.
Periodicals
Examination of the Great Famine of the 1960s in China
This book documents the situation of people during the Great Famine, reflects on the causes of this tragedy, and candidly criticizes the practices of the time, which ignored the laws of the economy and put class struggle above all else. As a *de facto* party organ, Lanzhou Municipal Political Consultative Conference’s publication of this book bears special significance.
This book is the 22nd volume of a 23-volume series called the "Lanzhou Literary and Historical Materials" compiled by the Literary and Historical Materials and Study Committee of the Lanzhou Municipal Political Consultative Conference, a body directly under CCP control.
Taking Gansu, Qinghai and Henan Province as examples, the book describes the situation of people during the Great Famine and analyzes the causes of the disaster; it also documents a series of phenomena at that time, such as the irrational construction of mega hydraulic projects, the operation of communal canteens that caused huge waste, and the mass exodus of people fleeing the famine. In chapters 10 to 15, the book summarizes the lessons learned in detail, pointing out that the Anti-Rightist Campaign and the Great Leap Forward led to the tragedy of the Great Famine.
Published in 2002, the book was edited by Wu Wenjun Wang Jialuo. Wu Wenjun and Wang Jialuo also worked together on the 20th volume of the *Lanzhou Literary and Historical Materials*, *Examination of the Great Famine of the 1960s in Gansu Province* (which is also held by the archive). All but the 20th and 22nd series are available on the website ((https://www.gslzzx.gov.cn/col/col11760/index.html) ) of the Lanzhou Municipal Political Consultative Conference.
Periodicals
Examination of the Great Famine of the 1960s in Gansu Province
This book is a series of studies on the socio-economic situation in Gansu Province during the Great Famine of 1958 to 1961. The book is, divided into two parts.
The first part consists of five research articles, which document the miserable situation of the people of Gansu during the Great Famine. According to the book, the Gansu Provincial Party Committee admitted in a report that there were incidents of cannibalism in the area during the Great Famine. The articles also expose a series of activities by local authorities during the Great Leap Forward Campaign, such as the irrational construction of mega hydraulic projects, the false reporting of grain output, the operation of communal canteens that caused huge waste, and misleading the hungry people to eat bark and mud. The articles also analyze the reasons behind the disaster.
The second part of the book contains important historical documents reflecting the situation at that time, which are the evidence to support the author's research and analysis, including Gansu Provincial Party Committee's directives on the People's Commune, as well as a number of reports on the Committee’s work submitted to the Central Party Committee. In addition, the book contains news, propaganda posters and photographs published in newspapers at the time.
This book is the 20th series of the Lanzhou Literary and Historical Materials (there is a total 23 series) compiled by the Literary and Historical Materials and Study Committee of the Lanzhou Municipal Political Consultative Conference, an advisory body to the CCP (which is actually directly directed and supervised by CCP). This gives the book special value, as it reflects a semi-authoritative voice that supports independent historians' contention that the famine was far deeper and widespread than official historiography admits.
The book was published in 2002, written by Wu Wenjun and edited by Wang Jialuo. Wu Wenjun and Wang Jialuo also worked together on the 22nd series of the Lanzhou Literary and Historical Materials *Examination of the Great Famine of the 1960s in China* (which is also held by the archive). All but the 20th and 22nd series are available on the website of the Lanzhou Municipal Political Consultative Conference (https://www.gslzzx.gov.cn/col/col11760/index.html) .
Article
Facts of the 1958-1962 Disaster in Fengyang County, Anhui Province
The author of this book, Luo Pinghan, is a native of Anhua County, Hunan Province. He graduated from the Party History Department of Renmin University of China and served as director and professor of the Party History Teaching and Research Department of the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. This book was published by Fujian People's Publishing House in 2003.
With Mao Zedong's affirmation, the system of people's communes was rapidly promoted across the country in 1958. At that time, the people's commune was both a production organization and a grassroots political power. Its rise and fanatical development are closely related to the subsequent Great Famine.
As a scholar within the system, the author’s view of history also belongs to orthodox ideology. Although this book is narrated from the official ideology of the CCP, it uses rich and detailed historical materials to comprehensively and systematically introduce the history of the People's Communes, giving it a reference value for a comprehensive understanding of this movement.
Article
Famine and Village: Who Starved Them to Death?
The author of this article, Chen Feng, was born in 1962. His hometown is Huang Sichong, Sanjia Brigade, Bainong Commune, Feidong County, Anhui Province. According to his records, in the winter of 1959 to the spring of 1960 during the Great Famine, his grandfather, grandmother, grandfather, grandmother's relatives and relatives, and countless members of his extended family and village, 57 people died of starvation.
Article
Famine in one County: Zhenyuan's Wrongful Case during the Great Leap Forward
The population in Zhenyuan County in Gansu was starving to death as early as 1957. However, the authorities believed that the food problem was due to "counter-revolutionaries" and created a huge case of injustice in which at least 1,650 people in the county were implicated. This article was published by the Zhenyuan Party History Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in *Hundred year tide* magazine. This article is reprinted from the "Famine Archives" website.
Book
Fifty Years of the Chinese Communist Party
The author Wang Ming was an early member of the Communist Party of China (CCP) and the first of the "28 and a half Bolsheviks," who lost power after the Yan'an Rectification and were gradually marginalized by Mao. After the Yan'an Rectification, the Internationalists, led by him, lost power in the party. He was gradually ostracized by Mao Zedong, who expatriated him to the Soviet Union in 1956. In his book, Wang Ming recounts his decades-long feud with Mao. It provides a fascinating insight into the early history of the CCP.
Book
Free Zhang Zhan
Zhang Zhan, born in 1983, is a Chinese lawyer and a dissident of the Communist Party system. In early February 2020, she rushed from Shanghai to Wuhan, which was under lockdown due to the COVID-19 epidemic, to conduct on-the-spot interviews and released a series of video reports on Wuhan's lockdown. More than three months later, she was arrested by Chinese police for "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" and taken to Shanghai for detention.
In December 2020, she was sentenced to four years in prison for picking quarrels and provoking trouble. Zhang Zhan went on hunger strike in the detention center and prison, and there were reports that he was critically ill several times. Her courage and resistance attracted the attention of the international community.
The book *Free Zhang Zhan* was edited and created by Wang Jianhong, the head of the "Zhang Zhan Concern Group" on the Internet. It brings together Zhang Zhan's articles and self-media posts published on the Internet, as well as interviews of Zhang Zhan before she lost her freedom, and interviews, as well as poems and articles from outsiders supporting Zhang Zhan. The book reviews the course of Zhang Zhan's case, Zhang Zhan's struggle in prison and the repercussions it aroused at home and abroad. It was published on May 13, 2024 when Zhang Zhan was released from prison after serving her sentence.
This book preserves and records the history of Wuhan's lockdown in China due to the COVID-19 epidemic. Nowadays, Zhang Zhan's articles and words of support for her have been censored and blocked in China, which makes the book even more precious.
Article
Historical Examination of the Purge of the "AB" Regiment
More than 70 years ago, a massive wave of revolutionary terror swept through the CCP-led Jiangxi Soviet Union. Thousands of Red Army officers and soldiers, as well as members of the Party and the general public in the base area, were brutally murdered in a purge called the "Purging of the AB Troupe." Gao Hua's article examines why Mao Zedong initiated the "purge of the AB Group" in the Red Army and the base areas. What was Mao's rationale for the Great Purge? What is the relationship between the Great Terror and the establishment of a new society? Why did Mao stop using the "Fighting the AB Groups" as a means of resolving internal conflicts in the Party after he assumed real power in the CCP?
Book
How the Red Sun Rose
Originally published in Hong Kong in Chinese in 2000, Gao Hua’s epic description of an early Communist Party campaign against dissent describes a pattern of thought reform and control that would hold true for decades to come. Written despite official harassment and Gao’s failing health, How the Red Sun Rose is a touchstone for China’s unofficial history movement. It was translated into English in 2019 and published by Columbia University Press. Purchase here: https://cup.columbia.edu/book/how-the-red-sun-rose/9789629968229.
Book
Long Memories after the Hijacking -- Chronicle of Ten Years of Turmoil
The author of this book, Mu Xin, was an early member of the CPC and served as chief editor of "Guangming Daily" in the 1950s. At the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, he was a member of the Central Committee's Cultural Revolutionary Group. In 1967, he was defeated and imprisoned in the Imperial Prison (Qincheng Prison). This book was published in Hong Kong in 1997. Because of the author's status, this book is helpful for understanding high-level circumstances during the pre-Cultural Revolution and early Cultural Revolution period.
Book
Lushan meeting factual record
This book is a historical record of the 1959 Lushan Conference written by Li Rui. Based on the author's personal experience and the literature of the relevant departments of the Communist Party of China, the author has recorded the important points and events before and after the meeting. The first edition of this book was published in April 1989 by the Spring and Autumn Publishing House and Hunan Education Publishing House in mainland China; the updated edition was published in June 1994 by Henan People's Publishing House.
Book
Man-Made Disasters: The Great Leap Forward and the Great Famine.
The author of this book, Ding Shu, is a Chinese scholar living in the United States. Published in 1991 by the Hong Kong-based "Nineties Magazine", this book is the first monograph on the Great Famine in China. It has been described by some scholars as the cornerstone of the study of the Great Famine in China. The book was later updated and reprinted. The book starts from the cooperative movement and moves on to the Great Leap Forward, the Great Iron and Steel Refining, the People's Commune, the Satellite Release and the Great Communist Wind; then, it turns to the Lushan Conference against right-leaning as well as the 7,000 People's Congress in 1962. The author collected almost all the information that could be collected at that time and summarized it to describe the situation of this great famine and its causes and consequences. The content of this book is from the website of the Chinese blog "Bianchengsuixiang" (编程随想).
Book
Mao: The Unknown Story
This book presents the dramatic life of Mao Zedong, revealing a wealth of unheard-of facts: why Mao joined the Communist Party, how he came to sit at the top of the Chinese Communist Party, and how he seized China step by step. Writers Jung Chang and her husband Jon Halliday took ten years to complete this book, interviewing hundreds of Mao's relatives and friends, Chinese and foreign informants and witnesses who worked and interacted with Mao as well as dignitaries from various countries.
Purchase link：https://www.amazon.com/Mao-Story-Jung-Chang/dp/0679746323.
Book
Memoirs of Sima Lu: A Witness to the History of the Chinese Communist Party, The
Sima Lu (1919-2021) was an expert on the history of the Chinese Communist Party. He joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1937, then was politically persecuted in Yan'an, left it, and was expelled from the Party in 1941. In 1952, Sima Lu published “Eighteen Years of Struggle” in Hong Kong, writing about his tortuous journey from defecting to the Communist Party to his awakening and eventual choice of freedom. It became a sensation. He has made in-depth special studies on several leading figures of the CCP, such as Qu Qubai and Zhang Guotao. His memoir, “Witness to the History of the CCP”, is divided into three chapters according to its contents: the first is about his personal experience, the second about the first generation of CCP figures, and the third is devoted to the struggle between Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai.
Book
My Mother ：Gao Yaojie
Author Eva writes about her relationship with Gao Yaojie, a Chinese doctor. Dr. Gao Yaojie, who was severely repressed by the Chinese government for exposing the mass infection of Chinese farmers in Henan Province, China, by selling their blood, had no choice but to leave China at the age of 78 and go into exile in the United States. The dissemination of her story is strictly forbidden in China. In this book, author Eva describes Gao Yaojie's noble heart, her story, and her experiences.
Book
Newly Discovered Mao, The: Volume I
Author Wang Ruoshui spent his early years studying philosophy at Peking University. He served as deputy editor-in-chief of the Communist Party newspaper “People's Daily” and was able to participate in high-level ideological discussions, gaining a deep understanding of Mao Zedong as a person and of his thought. He was one of the rare intellectuals within the CCP system who had an independent personality as well as the ability to think for himself. After his death from cancer, his wife, Feng Yuan, helped put together this posthumous book. Published by Ming Pao Press in 2002, it has been described as "the first and most comprehensive and in-depth discussion of Mao Zedong and his thought."