Conference on the 50th Anniversary of the Chinese Cultural Revolution: New Perspectives on Provincial and Local HistoriesFelix Wemheuer

ASIEN – Nr. 140 (2016) pp. 134–35

University of Cologne, April 22–24, 2016 (Organized: Prof. Felix Wemheuer, Chair for Modern China Studies, Seminar of East Asian Studies)

While most of the existing scholarship on the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) is focused on Beijing and Shanghai, little is known about developments in the provinces and the countryside. The Chinese and English memory literature also has a strong bias toward the urban elites and the Beijing Red Guard Movement in August 1966. However, few academic studies have been published regarding the civil war in 1967 and the role of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). For decades, Western research on Maoist China was dominated by political scientists. But since the early 2000s, a new generation of scholars have gained greater access to archives than previously possible. As a result, doing research on local histories the Mao era is an emerging trend among China historians in the Anglo-American academic community. In mainland China, a limited number of senior university professors, non-professional historians and private collectors are studying local and provincial histories of the Cultural Revolution.