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China's Minority Nationalities in the Cultural Revolution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2009

June Dreyer
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Extract

Initialy, the Chinese Communist Government held high hopes for a speedy solution to “the nationalities question.” Recent events, however, show that this question is still much in evidence and has been causing considerable anxiety in Peking. Since the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, Red Guard exposures of “black bandits in power who are following a capitalist path” have revealed the existence of minorities problems which cast doubt on the régime's previous claims of progress. The Cultural Revolution has also revealed a split between those in the top leadership who favour concessions to the customs and traditions of the minorities and those who favour immediate and total assimilation. Since the former are generally experienced administrators while the latter are ideological zealots, this split may also be seen as yet another manifestation of the continuing “Red” versus “Expert” controversy.

Type
Research Article
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 35 , September 1968 , pp. 96 - 109
Copyright
Copyright © The China Quarterly 1968

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References

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2 Now officially known as Yi. According to present propaganda “Lolo” was a derogatory term employed by the KMT and other repressive régimes purposely to demean the Yi and therefore much resented by them. Its use by Hsü here does little to substantiate the Communists' claim that immediately on entering an area they first learned the local people's customs, then became fast friends with them.

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36 Most probably the Tulung Valley area of south-western Yunnan. An NCNA release of 5 May 1968 mentions the visit of “a certain person from higher levels” to this area after “the bad years of 1959–61” and his capitalist conclusion that private ownership here would have to last a long time.

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