This compelling book provides a meticulously documented account of officially sanctioned cannibalism in the southwestern province of Guangxi during the Cultural Revolution. Drawing on his unique access to local archives of the Chinese Communist Party and on extensive interviews with party officials, the victims’ relatives, and the murderers themselves, Zheng Yi paints a disturbing picture of official compliance in the systematic killing and cannibalization of individuals in the name of political revolution and “class struggle.”The treasure-trove of evidence Zheng Yi has unearthed offers unprecedented insights into the way the internecine, factional struggles of the Cultural Revolution reached a horrifying level of insanity and frenzy among the ethnic Zhuang people of Guangxi. Profoundly moving, acutely observed, and unflinchingly graphic, Scarlet Memorial is a shining example of a genre of investigative reporting that courageously and independently records obscure and officially censored historical events, revealing hidden dimensions of modern Chinese history and politics.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Library Journal
A Chinese journalist who recently emigrated to the United States details over 100 incidents of cannibalism that allegedly occurred in Guangxi Province during the Great Proletariat Cultural Revolution (1966-76). Zheng Yi examined official documents and interviewed officials and relatives of the victims. Aside from the specific incidents, which he describes in gruesome detail, he also writes of his personal anguish in being part of a nation and culture that would allow such incidents to occur. Unfortunately, his book is too detailed in its description of the acts of cannibalism to be suitable for a general audience: it provides raw material that could only be useful to human rights organizations and scholars with strong stomachs. For a classic example of how violent acts are rendered to a wider audience, see Robert J. Lifton's Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism (Univ. of North Carolina, 1989. reprint). Not recommended.?Peggy Spitzer Christoff, Oak Park, Ill
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Chinese --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Original Language: Chinese --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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44 of 51 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Communism & Cannibalism,
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This review is from: Scarlet Memorial: Tales Of Cannibalism In Modern China (Paperback)
The author aptly details the results of government sanctioned murder and cannabalism. The cannabalism was partly a result of the artificially created famine that swept China between 1958-1963. The Chinese Communist Party, despite warnings from Moscow, engaged in exactly the same type of agricultural policies favored by Stalin in the late 1920s and 1930s. The results mirrored the conditions that existed in Russia and especially the Ukraine. Massive famine, starvation, malnutrition, the extermination of entire groups of people, rampant government corruption and incompetence, and finally cannabalism followed in each other in a grim parade. Cannabalism became the norm as entire villages were destroyed silently by the famine. The author highlights the cultural attributes towards cannabalism that are unique to Chinese society and history, apart from the results of the famine. For those who believe (incorrectly) that this work lacks scholarly rigor, or is simply Western race-baiting, I would recommend the following works: "Harvest of Sorrow", "The Black Book of Communism", "The Gulag Archipelago", and "Hungry Ghosts". These works, and their authors, demonstrate the barbarism that was and is communism, and the use of famine as an instrument of social policy. Ad hominem attacks cannot refute the indesputable fact that Communist parties around the world have murdered over 100 million people.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must read!,
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This review is from: Scarlet Memorial: Tales Of Cannibalism In Modern China (Paperback)
This book is very well written and very informative. A must read for anyone who is interested in history and how we can learn from it. Never again!
5 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Chinese cannibalism,
This review is from: Scarlet Memorial: Tales Of Cannibalism In Modern China (Paperback)
Cannibalism exists everywhere in the world.
But Chinese cannibalism is unique and different from other cannibalism. "They enjoyed eating." The feasts of human flesh during the cultural revolution had the cultural background.
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