Rebels and Revolutionaries in North China, 1845-1945

B́a trước
Stanford University Press, 1980 - 340 trang

Why do peasants rebel? In particular, why do some peasants rebel and not others? Starting from the fact that only in certain geographical areas does rebellion seem to recur persistently, the author examines three notable rebel movements in one such area in China: Huaipei, a region of poor soil and unstable weather bounded by the Huai and Yellow (Huang He) rivers.

The Nien rebels of the 1850s and 1860s and the Red Spear Society of the Republican era are described as representing traditional forms of violent competition for scarce economic resources. The Nien were essentially "predatory," using violence as a way of obtaining food and other necessities; the Red Spears essentially "protective," concerned to defend peasant homes and property against bandits, warlord armies, and state efforts at taxation. The communist movement of the 1930s and 1940s, by contrast, looked beyond these traditional patterns to a national social revolution that would render local rebellions unnecessary.

The author throws new light on the role of secret societies in peasant protest, and offers a new interpretation of the relationship between rebellion and revolution.

 

Nội dung

The Huaipei Environment
10
Strategies of Peasant Survival in Huaipei
48
The Case of the Nien
96
The Case of the Red Spears
152
Conclusion
248
Appendixes
265
Notes
274
Bibliography
294
Character List
312
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