249:
critical impact. Zheng Yi uses eyewitness testimony, talks with the murderers and government documents, but also other non-fiction forms such as literary interpretation, political analysis and ethnographic description. Schreiber also objected to the excess of political commentary. Katherine E. Palmer wrote that while Zheng showed that incidents of cannibalism did take place, he resorts to "patronizing depictions of the Zhuang ethnic group" as explanations.
163:, where the most intense factional fighting had taken place. Fighting had broken out in January 1968, but not until April, with the founding of the county Revolutionary Committee, did the victorious groups begin to take extreme revenge on their enemies. Zheng gathered testimony from witnesses and even from those who themselves had taken part in beatings, torture, and murder. He found ample proof of
179:
told him that livers were the prime targets, then hearts, and that all flesh had been taken from more than a dozen corpses. In some cases organs were taken before the victim had died. Investigations in the 1980s sentenced 34 offenders to prison for two to fourteen years, but others received only administrative sanctions. These investigations gave the
27:
200:, in which he took part. He then went into hiding for two years, during which he wrote the book. The scholar Gang Yue suggests that the "time and circumstance" of its writing are "key to understanding the narrative as well as the thesis of the book" and that the tragic events of 1989 convinced Zheng to write the book.
167:. After a "beginning phase", in which organs were secretly taken from corpses, came a "heightening phase", in which it became gradually more acceptable to eat flesh, and then a "phase of massive madness", in which even those who had not been involved in the fighting took part. In July, after reports reached Premier
178:
Official investigations then determined that more than 500 people had been killed in the six months of fighting. Further investigations in the 1980s reported that some 76 cases of cannibalism had taken place, but Zheng's informants told him that there actually had been at least 100 cases. They also
286:
to establish credibility and refers to the text's transition from "investigative journalism" to "political polemic". Schreiber argues against Yue's assumption: polemic is in fact expressed through ethnography and investigative journalism, as both forms were suppressed under Mao's dictatorship and
270:
in its shortened form "does not draw an explicit connection between its writing and the aftermath of the massacre of June 4, 1989, the contemporary reference is inescapable: in crying out against the unleashing of mass slaughter and cannibalism as a political weapon in the 1960s, Zheng Yi is also
248:
Some reviewers took Zheng to task for exaggeration and presenting cannibalism as systematic rather than isolated. Kathleen
Schreiber summed up these criticisms as saying that there was "too much violence, too much speculation, and too many sources", which for some contributed to believability and
290:
Yue and Arthur
Waldron are among the scholars to point out that cannibalism is a theme in both traditional and modern Chinese writing. Waldron said that for the Chinese, "eating people is the representative evil of their civilization". Both he and Gang Yue connect Zheng's use of cannibalism to
187:
Zheng blamed the savagery and cannibalism on "class struggle" and "revolutionary revenge", since members of the losing side were accused of being landlords, "bad elements", "rightists" or supporters of opposing officials. These explanations could not cover all acts of violence, however. A male
282:"can and must be read as a fictional text, despite the author's claim to historical accuracy and scientific truth" and goes on to question how "systematic" the cannibalism could have been, given the inherent factionalism of the Cultural Revolution. Yue sees Zheng as using the conventions of
299:" (1918), in which the writer of the diary becomes convinced that everyone around him is secretly consuming human flesh. Yue argues that Zheng uses many literary techniques that parallel Lu Xun's, and quotes Zheng as saying "Lu Xun's Madman suffered from schizophrenia, I was normal".
218:
said that the
English version is "an entirely new book in the sense that less-substantive chapters or parts have been eliminated, to the extent that the original Chinese narratives are rendered more precise and their impact more powerful for non-Chinese readers".
79:
Zheng blames the savagery and cannibalism on "class struggle" and "revolutionary revenge". The book received praise for revealing the nature of Mao's regime and also criticism for giving the impression that cannibalism was systematic and widespread.
188:
teacher, for instance, accused a female student of being a counter-revolutionary because he had heard that a young woman's heart could cure heart disease, and a group of students ate the flesh of a teacher, among other incidents.
213:
The
Chinese book was first published in Taiwan, translated into English, then French. The Chinese version is 686 pages, while the English version is reduced to only 199 by cutting similar or redundant passages. The reviewer
231:, for instance, called it "vivid and striking and bitterly ironic" and warns that Zheng "bids the reader accompany him, tolerating 'the smell of stinking corpses and the smell of blood, holding back the desire to vomit
183:
an opportunity to suppress or eliminate "ultraleftists", but the results of the investigation were not to be made public, for fear that the image of the Party would be hurt if news leaked to Hong Kong.
255:
and
Michael Schoenhals also question Zheng's assumption that communism was the force that compelled the victors towards cannibalism, noting that similar incidents occurred under pressure from the
121:) literary magazine and embarked on a career as a writer. His short story "Maple" ("Feng"), published in 1979, was among the first to deal frankly with the violence of the Red Guards. His novel
101:, China's leading technical university, which was a center of radical student activity when the Cultural Revolution broke out in 1966. Zhang became a leader in the Rebel Faction of the
52:
by the
Chinese novelist Zheng Yi (郑义; born 1947). Zheng and a group of writers under the joint pseudonym "T. P. Sym" translated and abridged it from the Chinese work 红色纪念碑
155:
in 1968, when he was a Red Guard, and heard rumours of mass killings and cannibalism. He returned to do first-hand research in 1986, partly at the urging of his friend
928:
Sutton, Donald S. (January 1995). "Consuming
Counterrevolution: The Ritual and Culture of Cannibalism in Wuxuan, Guangxi, China, May to July 1968".
215:
1114:
64:: Huashi, 1993). Zheng uses local government documents, eye-witness accounts and confessions to describe the factional violence and even
930:
271:
decrying the incumbent regime's failure, yet again, to take anything but a despotic and adversarial stance vis-a-vis its own people".
143:
of 1989. He escaped and hid for several years until he was able to get to Hong Kong in March 1993. He then went to the United States.
256:
113:. He was a student at Yucai Teachers' Training College when he returned to Beijing in 1978. After graduation, he was editor of
159:, an investigative journalist. His initial talks with local officials and journalists led him to center his investigation on
1067:
1042:
831:
1119:
375:
197:
136:
1086:
Williams, Philip F. (1997). "Chinese
Cannibalism's Literary Portrayal: From Cultural Myth to Literary Reportage".
1109:
260:
227:
Many China specialists reviewed the book favorably, though often noting that its descriptions were hard to bear.
1003:
172:
296:
140:
895:
Schreiber, Holly E (2014). "Cannibalized
Evidence: The Problem of over-Incorporation in Zheng Yi's
196:
Although his research in
Guangxi was finished in 1986, Zheng did not begin writing until after the
49:
624:
180:
365:
245:
that it is "plainly written, utterly convincing, meticulously documented and terrible to read".
822:
Leung, Laifong (1994). "Zheng Yi: Well digging and root searching". In Leung, Laifong (ed.).
266:
Alice Cheang pointed out Zheng's possible political motives for writing the book. Although
252:
106:
8:
1088:
Tamkang Review: A Quarterly of Comparative Studies Between Chinese and Foreign Literature
313:
308:
98:
73:
987:
955:
947:
916:
883:
810:
781:
773:
731:
693:
685:
656:
611:
102:
1063:
1038:
991:
959:
920:
887:
827:
785:
735:
697:
660:
615:
371:
164:
65:
1016:
The Mouth That Begs: Hunger, Cannibalism, and the Politics of Eating in Modern China
276:
The Mouth That Begs: Hunger, Cannibalism, and the Politics of Eating in Modern China
979:
939:
908:
875:
802:
765:
721:
677:
648:
603:
318:
69:
1053:
1023:
854:
236:
123:
97:, Sichuan, in 1947, and went to Beijing to attend the middle school attached to
999:
967:
879:
228:
26:
983:
943:
726:
709:
652:
607:
278:
to the book. Yue writes that incidents of cannibalism clearly took place, but
1103:
705:
636:
160:
131:) was a realistic portrayal of peasant struggle, and was made into a film by
1026:(Guangxi chiren kuangchao zhenxiang) 阿波罗新闻网 (Aboluo xinwen wang) 2007-01-29.
1059:
912:
681:
283:
132:
689:
814:
777:
168:
156:
951:
287:
Zheng Yi's use of them cannot be divorced from his political claims.
241:
94:
806:
769:
824:
Morning Sun: Interviews with Chinese Writers of the Lost Generation
532:(Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2006), p. 259
152:
292:
110:
61:
594:
Bramall, Chris (2008). "Reversing the Verdict on Maoism?".
500:
498:
364:
Leung, Laifong (2009). "Zheng Yi". In Davis, Edward (ed.).
105:
and then in 1969 volunteered to go to the countryside, the
1058:. edited and translated by T. P. Sym. With a Foreword by
347:
345:
970:(1998). "Cultural Revolution Conflict in the Villages".
495:
20:
Scarlet Memorial: Tales of Cannibalism in Modern China
1055:
Scarlet Memorial: Tales of Cannibalism in Modern China
756:
Hooper, Beverly (1998). "'Real' Chinas in the 1990s".
571:
547:
473:
471:
342:
330:
45:
Scarlet Memorial: Tales of Cannibalism in Modern China
432:
408:
596:
Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics
456:
468:
384:
559:
535:
510:
483:
420:
274:The literary critic Gang Yue devoted a section of
135:. Zheng was arrested for his participation in the
586:
444:
396:
1101:
843:Journal of Modern Literature in Chinese 現代中文文學學報
1079:Stèles rouges: du totalitarisme au cannibalisme
866:Palmer, Katherine E (1997). "(Book Review)".
857:(10 April 1999). "A Political Hunger Sated".
528:Roderick MacFarquhar and Michael Schoenhals.
367:Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture
931:Comparative Studies in Society and History
841:Lyell, William A (1999). "(Book Review)".
25:
894:
725:
504:
222:
146:
1085:
998:
793:King, Richard (1997). "(Book Review)".
743:Gong, Xiaoxia (1997). "(Book Review)".
477:
1102:
927:
865:
853:
622:
541:
516:
489:
1051:
821:
667:
462:
426:
414:
402:
390:
351:
336:
1004:"'Eat People' – A Chinese Reckoning"
370:. Taylor and Francis. p. 2016.
175:was dispatched to end the violence.
1115:Books about the Cultural Revolution
1013:
668:Chong, Key Ray (1997). "(Review)".
577:
565:
553:
450:
438:
13:
14:
1131:
623:Cheang, Alice W. (July 1, 1999).
198:Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
1062:. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
522:
1037:. Taipei: 华视文化 Huashi wenhua.
710:"The Truth Behind the Fiction"
587:References and further reading
357:
208:
83:
1:
826:. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe.
88:
625:"Inscribing the Unspeakable"
7:
302:
10:
1136:
880:10.1177/0920203X9701200138
670:China Review International
203:
191:
141:Chinese democracy movement
984:10.1017/S030574100000299X
944:10.1017/S0010417500019575
727:10.1080/03064229408535671
653:10.1017/S0305741000052577
639:(1997). "(Book Review)".
608:10.1080/13523270802510644
257:Nationalist secret police
33:
24:
1120:Incidents of cannibalism
1018:. Duke University Press.
324:
173:People's Liberation Army
137:Tiananmen demonstrations
1081:. Paris: Bleu de Chine.
1077:—— (1999).
1052:—— (1996).
1030:—— (1993).
151:Zheng Yi first visited
1110:1993 non-fiction books
223:Reception and analysis
147:Fieldwork and research
913:10.1353/com.2014.0019
682:10.1353/cri.1997.0150
530:Mao's Last Revolution
181:reform-era government
93:Zheng Yi was born in
68:that occurred in the
253:Roderick MacFarquhar
50:reportage literature
972:The China Quarterly
714:Index on Censorship
641:The China Quarterly
580:, pp. 338–340.
441:, pp. 234–235.
314:Cultural Revolution
309:Cannibalism in Asia
74:Cultural Revolution
21:
1014:Yue, Gang (1999).
556:, p. 228–230.
354:, pp. 44, 71.
339:, pp. 259–69.
239:warned readers in
99:Qinghua University
19:
868:China Information
758:The China Journal
745:The China Journal
417:, pp. 90–93.
297:Diary of a Madman
261:Republican period
107:Lüliang Mountains
41:
40:
1127:
1095:
1082:
1073:
1048:
1035:Hongse Jinianbei
1019:
1010:
1002:(July 1, 1997),
995:
963:
924:
897:Scarlet Memorial
891:
874:(1–2): 298–299.
862:
855:Mirsky, Jonathan
850:
837:
818:
789:
752:
739:
729:
720:(1–2): 204–205.
701:
664:
632:
619:
581:
575:
569:
563:
557:
551:
545:
539:
533:
526:
520:
514:
508:
505:Schreiber (2014)
502:
493:
487:
481:
475:
466:
460:
454:
448:
442:
436:
430:
424:
418:
412:
406:
400:
394:
388:
382:
381:
361:
355:
349:
340:
334:
319:Guangxi Massacre
295:'s short story "
280:Scarlet Memorial
268:Scarlet Memorial
234:
70:Guangxi Massacre
54:Hongse jinianbei
29:
22:
18:
16:Book by Zheng Yi
1135:
1134:
1130:
1129:
1128:
1126:
1125:
1124:
1100:
1099:
1098:
1076:
1070:
1045:
1029:
1022:郑义 (Zheng Yi),
1000:Waldron, Arthur
968:Unger, Jonathan
966:
901:The Comparatist
840:
834:
807:10.2307/2761044
795:Pacific Affairs
792:
770:10.2307/2667695
755:
742:
704:
635:
593:
589:
584:
576:
572:
564:
560:
552:
548:
540:
536:
527:
523:
515:
511:
503:
496:
488:
484:
476:
469:
461:
457:
449:
445:
437:
433:
425:
421:
413:
409:
401:
397:
393:, pp. 1–2.
389:
385:
378:
363:
362:
358:
350:
343:
335:
331:
327:
305:
237:Jonathan Mirsky
232:
225:
211:
206:
194:
149:
91:
86:
17:
12:
11:
5:
1133:
1123:
1122:
1117:
1112:
1097:
1096:
1083:
1074:
1069:978-0813326153
1068:
1049:
1044:978-9575720483
1043:
1027:
1020:
1011:
996:
964:
938:(1): 136–172.
925:
892:
863:
851:
838:
833:978-1563240935
832:
819:
801:(3): 435–436.
790:
753:
740:
706:Gittings, John
702:
676:(2): 599–602.
665:
637:Becker, Jasper
633:
620:
602:(4): 657–667.
590:
588:
585:
583:
582:
570:
568:, p. 246.
558:
546:
534:
521:
509:
507:, p. 251.
494:
482:
478:Waldron (1997)
467:
465:, p. 599.
455:
453:, p. 238.
443:
431:
419:
407:
395:
383:
376:
356:
341:
328:
326:
323:
322:
321:
316:
311:
304:
301:
229:Arthur Waldron
224:
221:
210:
207:
205:
202:
193:
190:
148:
145:
90:
87:
85:
82:
39:
38:
35:
31:
30:
15:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
1132:
1121:
1118:
1116:
1113:
1111:
1108:
1107:
1105:
1094:(4): 421–442.
1093:
1089:
1084:
1080:
1075:
1071:
1065:
1061:
1057:
1056:
1050:
1046:
1040:
1036:
1032:
1028:
1025:
1021:
1017:
1012:
1009:
1005:
1001:
997:
993:
989:
985:
981:
977:
973:
969:
965:
961:
957:
953:
949:
945:
941:
937:
933:
932:
926:
922:
918:
914:
910:
906:
902:
898:
893:
889:
885:
881:
877:
873:
869:
864:
860:
856:
852:
848:
844:
839:
835:
829:
825:
820:
816:
812:
808:
804:
800:
796:
791:
787:
783:
779:
775:
771:
767:
764:(39): 83–91.
763:
759:
754:
750:
746:
741:
737:
733:
728:
723:
719:
715:
711:
707:
703:
699:
695:
691:
687:
683:
679:
675:
671:
666:
662:
658:
654:
650:
646:
642:
638:
634:
630:
629:Taiwan Review
626:
621:
617:
613:
609:
605:
601:
597:
592:
591:
579:
574:
567:
562:
555:
550:
543:
542:Cheang (1999)
538:
531:
525:
518:
517:Palmer (1997)
513:
506:
501:
499:
491:
490:Mirsky (1999)
486:
479:
474:
472:
464:
459:
452:
447:
440:
435:
429:, p. 98.
428:
423:
416:
411:
404:
399:
392:
387:
379:
377:9780415777162
373:
369:
368:
360:
353:
348:
346:
338:
333:
329:
320:
317:
315:
312:
310:
307:
306:
300:
298:
294:
288:
285:
281:
277:
272:
269:
264:
262:
258:
254:
250:
246:
244:
243:
238:
230:
220:
217:
216:Key Ray Chong
201:
199:
189:
185:
182:
176:
174:
170:
166:
162:
161:Wuxuan County
158:
154:
144:
142:
138:
134:
130:
126:
125:
120:
116:
112:
108:
104:
100:
96:
81:
77:
76:(1966–1976).
75:
71:
67:
63:
59:
55:
51:
48:is a book of
47:
46:
36:
32:
28:
23:
1091:
1087:
1078:
1060:Ross Terrill
1054:
1034:
1031:
1015:
1007:
975:
971:
935:
929:
907:(1): 70–82.
904:
900:
896:
871:
867:
858:
846:
842:
823:
798:
794:
761:
757:
748:
744:
717:
713:
673:
669:
644:
640:
628:
599:
595:
573:
561:
549:
537:
529:
524:
512:
485:
463:Chong (1997)
458:
446:
434:
427:Zheng (1996)
422:
415:Zheng (1996)
410:
405:, p. 8.
403:Zheng (1996)
398:
391:Zheng (1996)
386:
366:
359:
352:Zheng (1996)
337:Leung (1994)
332:
289:
279:
275:
273:
267:
265:
251:
247:
240:
226:
212:
195:
186:
177:
150:
128:
122:
118:
115:Yellow River
114:
92:
78:
58:Red monument
57:
53:
44:
43:
42:
647:: 462–463.
284:ethnography
209:Publication
165:cannibalism
133:Wu Tianming
84:Development
72:during the
66:cannibalism
1104:Categories
1008:Commentary
978:: 82–106.
578:Yue (1999)
566:Yue (1999)
554:Yue (1999)
451:Yue (1999)
439:Yue (1999)
169:Zhou Enlai
157:Liu Binyan
103:Red Guards
89:Background
992:154997463
960:145660553
921:155010589
888:144448142
786:146993684
736:147146639
698:143919445
661:155086964
616:153378169
242:The Times
95:Chongqing
1024:广西吃人狂潮真相
708:(1994).
690:23729145
303:See also
139:and the
124:Old Well
37:Zheng Yi
849:(1): 7.
815:2761044
778:2667695
259:in the
204:Release
192:Writing
153:Guangxi
129:Laojing
119:Huanghe
1066:
1041:
1033:红色 纪念碑
990:
958:
952:179381
950:
919:
886:
859:Times
830:
813:
784:
776:
734:
696:
688:
659:
614:
374:
293:Lu Xun
171:, the
111:Shanxi
62:Taipei
34:Author
1092:XXVII
988:S2CID
956:S2CID
948:JSTOR
917:S2CID
884:S2CID
861:: 36.
811:JSTOR
782:S2CID
774:JSTOR
732:S2CID
694:S2CID
686:JSTOR
657:S2CID
612:S2CID
325:Notes
1064:ISBN
1039:ISBN
828:ISBN
372:ISBN
980:doi
976:153
940:doi
909:doi
899:".
876:doi
803:doi
766:doi
722:doi
678:doi
649:doi
645:150
604:doi
235:".
109:in
1106::
1090:.
1006:,
986:.
974:.
954:.
946:.
936:37
934:.
915:.
905:38
903:.
882:.
872:12
870:.
845:.
809:.
799:70
797:.
780:.
772:.
762:39
760:.
749:37
747:.
730:.
718:23
716:.
712:.
692:.
684:.
672:.
655:.
643:.
627:.
610:.
600:24
598:.
497:^
470:^
344:^
263:.
60:;
1072:.
1047:.
994:.
982::
962:.
942::
923:.
911::
890:.
878::
847:3
836:.
817:.
805::
788:.
768::
751:.
738:.
724::
700:.
680::
674:4
663:.
651::
631:.
618:.
606::
544:.
519:.
492:.
480:.
380:.
233:'
127:(
117:(
56:(
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
