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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2014

Dong Guoqiang  and
Andrew G. Walder
Dong Guoqiang
Affiliation:
Nanjing University. Email: [email protected].
Andrew G. Walder*
Affiliation:
Stanford University.
*
Email: [email protected] (corresponding author).
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Abstract

The Nanjing Incident of late March 1976 was a precursor of, and according to some analysts a trigger for, the more famous Tiananmen Square demonstrations of 4–5 April. The two protests have widely been interpreted as spontaneous outpourings of dissent from Cultural Revolution radicalism, expressed through mourning for the recently deceased premier, Zhou Enlai. A closer look at the background to these demonstrations in Nanjing reveals that the protests there occurred in the midst of, and in response to, a vigorous public offensive by former leaders of rebel factions to overthrow civilian cadres for reversing Cultural Revolution policies. The outpouring of respect for Zhou – and criticism of Politburo radicals – mobilized enormous numbers of ordinary citizens onto the city streets, far larger numbers than the rebel leaders were able to muster. This demonstrated the disappearance of the popular support rebel leaders had briefly enjoyed a decade before. While the Nanjing protests were unanticipated by either the rebel leaders or the Party officials they sought to overthrow, they were only the latest in a series of local political confrontations.

摘要

1976 年 3月末的 “南京事件”, 是 4 月 4 至 5 日更为著名的天安门抗议示威运动的先声 — 或者如一些分析人士所言, 是那场著名运动的触媒。一种广为流传的解释是, 这两起抗议示威行动表面看来是群众自发悼念不久前去世的周恩来总理, 实际上却宣泄了人们对 “文化大革命” 激进路线的普遍不满。然而通过对南京抗议示威运动背景的进一步深入考察, 我们不难发现这场抗议示威运动的发生, 与前造反派头头们为复活 “文化大革命” 各项政策而公开抨击并试图打倒地方党政干部的斗争有关, 是社会公众对上述斗争的一个反应。对周恩来的敬仰 — 以及对政治局内激进派的公愤 — 促使大量普通市民走上街头,其数量大大超过那些前造反派头头的追随者。 这与十年前造反派头头获得广泛支持的情况形成鲜明反差。虽然南京的抗议示威活动出乎那些前造反派头头以及他们试图打倒的地方党政官员们的预料, 其实这不过是当地一系列持续不断的政治对抗的最新发展。同时, 这些抗议示威活动也对全国政治图景产生了决定性的影响。

Keywords

Cultural RevolutionTiananmen IncidentNanjing IncidentChinese protest文化大革命天安门事件南京事件中国人民的抗议行动
Type
Articles
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 220 , December 2014 , pp. 1092 - 1110
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Copyright
Copyright © The China Quarterly 2014 

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Footnotes

*

This article is a product of the Jiangsu Cultural Revolution Research Project, supported by the Nanjing University Humanities Fund.

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