Shadian incident

The Shadian incident (Chinese: 沙甸事件; pinyin: Shādiàn shìjiàn) was a major uprising of religious Hui people during the Chinese Cultural Revolution which ended in a military-led massacre.[1][2][3][4][5] The massacre took place in seven villages of Yunnan Province, especially at the Shadian Town of Gejiu City, in July and August 1975, causing the deaths of more than 1,600 civilians (866 from Shadian alone), including 300 children, and destroying 4,400 homes.[1][3][4][6][7][8][9]

The conflict between the Communist Party of China (CPC) and local religious Hui people began in 1974, when the latter went to Kunming, the capital of Yunnan, to demand the freedom of religion granted by the Chinese constitution.[1][2] However, the local government deemed the behavior of the hundreds of protesters as "causing a disturbance" and "opposing the leadership of the Party".[1][2] In 1975, the villagers attempted to forcefully re-open the mosques closed during the Cultural Revolution, escalating the conflict and catching the attention of Beijing.[1][2][4] Eventually, on 29 July, 10,000 soldiers of the People's Liberation Army were ordered by Deng Xiaoping (some sources claim it was Wang Hongwen[10][11]) to settle the conflict, resulting in a massacre that lasted for about a week.[1][2]

Historical background

Shadian Town at the time had one of the largest Hui people populations totaling about 7,200 people.[12]As part of the Four Olds, the People's Liberation Army closed down mosques and burned religious books. Many Muslims set up their own factions[13] to preserve their rights as guaranteed under the PRC constitution. The statements of the Gang of Four, especially Jiang Qing, encouraged violence against all religious believers.

The incident

Conflicts

Shadian was not being allowed to reopen its mosque as a result of the aforementioned earlier incident in January. In 1974 a notice was issued ordering closure of mosques in the town. More than 1,000 people boarded a train to Beijing to complain.[12]

Massacre

This ultimately let the central government conclude that the movement had become militarily rebellious. A string of incidents ensued, culminating in a military attack by a 10,000 strong force of PLA soldiers (upon the approval of Mao Zedong[2]) against the Hui people living in seven villages in July 1975. One week later, more than 1,000 Huis lay dead with 4,400 houses destroyed. The PLA used guns, cannons and also aerial bombardment in the campaign.[12][13]

Rehabilitation
See also: Boluan Fanzheng

After the Cultural Revolution, the Communist Party branch in Yunnan reviewed and investigated the Shadian Incident in February 1979 during the "Boluan Fanzheng" period, subsequently rehabilitating the victims and offering official apologies.[14] The Communist Party under Deng Xiaoping blamed the worst and most violent parts of the Cultural Revolution which were directed at minorities upon the Gang of Four, especially Jiang Qing. After the Gang of Four were toppled by Hua Guofeng, the Communist Party ended the Cultural Revolution and issued apologies and reparations to survivors. The Gang of Four variously received death sentences or long prison terms, commuted to life imprisonment.

The local people received certain amount of reparations from the government for the damages suffered, and after Deng Xiaoping's Gaige kaifang policy, the Malaysian and Middle East markets have been granted more access and special treatment by the government specifically for Shadian merchants, which has increased prosperity, and also increased religious and educational exchange, as more and more Hui students left for Islamic education abroad, and brought back Arabic speaking skills, religious ideas and practices from these countries. As part of the reparations scheme, the government has also erected a Martyr's Memorial in Shadian to honor the 800 officially recognised victims, whose graves surround the pathway that leads up to the memorial. The government also partially financed the building of the Great Mosque in Shadian which was completed in 2009. It is designed in an Arab style, and now serves as the town centre and a source of pride for the local Muslim community.[15]

See also

References
  1. Gladney, Dru C. (1996). Muslim Chinese: Ethnic Nationalism in the People's Republic. Harvard Univ Asia Center. ISBN 978-0-674-59497-5.
  2. MacFarquhar, Roderick; Schoenhals, Michael (2006). Mao's Last Revolution. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-02332-1.
  3. Zhou, Yongming (1999). Anti-drug Crusades in Twentieth-century China: Nationalism, History, and State Building. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-0-8476-9598-0.
  4. "China's Puzzling Islam Policy". Stanford Politics. 26 November 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
  5. Su, Alice. "Harmony and Martyrdom Among China's Hui Muslims". The New Yorker. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
  6. Foundation, World Peace. "China: the Cultural Revolution | Mass Atrocity Endings". Retrieved 27 December 2019.
  7. "Shadian's Muslim communities and trans-local connectivities: observations from the field | IIAS". www.iias.asia. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
  8. Song, Yongyi (25 August 2011). "Chronology of Mass Killings during the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-1976)". Sciences Po. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
  9. Khalid, Zainab (1 April 2011). Rise of the Veil: Islamic Modernity and the Hui Woman. SIT Graduate Institute - Study Abroad.
  10. 启之 (26 November 2019). 中华学人论文集——文化大革命50年（1-4）: 学校和地方（三） (in Chinese). Remembering Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-1-951135-09-6.
  11. 文革反思回忆史料之八: 云南'文化大革命'运动大事纪实 (in Chinese). Zhong wen chu ban wu fu wu zhong xin. 2007.
  12. Mystery Archive: More than 1,000 Hui People (i.e. Muslims) killed in Cultural Revolution; popular armed conflicts turn into military suppression (神祕檔案﹕雲南沙甸事件 逾千回民死亡文革武鬥變成軍事鎮壓) Archived 20 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 7 February 2010.
  13. Israeli Raphael, (2002) Islam in China: religion, ethnicity, culture, and politics. Lexington Books. ISBN 0-7391-0375-X, 9780739103753.
  14. Mystery Archive: More than 1,000 Hui People (i.e. Muslims) killed in Cultural Revolution; popular armed conflicts turn into military suppression (神祕檔案﹕雲南沙甸事件 逾千回民死亡文革武鬥變成軍事鎮壓) Archived 20 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 7 February 2010.
  15. Khalid, Zainab (4 January 2011). "Rise of the Veil: Islamic Modernity and the Hui Woman". SIT Graduate Institute - Study Abroad: 8, 11. Retrieved 25 July 2014. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
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