Hangzhou incident

1975 industrial actions and violent conflicts in mainland China

Hangzhou incident

Part of the Cultural Revolution
Date| 1974 (1974) \- 1975 (1975)
Location|

Hangzhou, Zhejiang,
China

Goals| Seizure of power
Methods|

* Industrial action
* Violent struggle

Resulted in| Suppression of the uprising

* Martial law imposed
* Military occupation of factories
* Local officials replaced

Parties

Rebels

* Zhejiang Provincial Revolutionary Rebel United Headquarters [zh]
* Red Storm [zh]

People's Republic of China

* Chinese Communist Party
* People's Liberation Army
* Public Security Corps

|

Lead figures

Zhang Yongsheng
Weng Senhe
He Xianchun

Mao Zedong
Wang Hongwen
Deng Xiaoping
Tan Qilong

The Hangzhou incident of July 1975 was a series of industrial actions and violent struggles among the industrial workers in the city of Hangzhou, Zhejiang during the Cultural Revolution, which ended with a massive deployment of People's Liberation Army troops into the city and factories in July 1975.

## Background

[edit]

In January 1967 during the "power seizure phase" of the Cultural Revolution in Zhejiang, the officially sanctioned Maoist rebel organization, the Zhejiang Provincial Revolutionary Rebel United Headquarters [zh] (Chinese: 浙江省革命造反联合总指挥部; pinyin: Zhèjiāng shěng gémìng zàofǎn liánhé zǒng zhǐhūibù, subsequently United Headquarters) organized a rally to humiliate and attack Jiang Hua, then the first secretary of the Communist Party Zhejiang Provincial Committee.[1] But another rebel organization, the Red Storm [zh] (Chinese: 红色暴动派; pinyin: Hóngsè bàodòngpài) broke up its rally, allegedly backed by provincial party elites, allowing Jiang to fly to safety in Beijing. This started a row between the two rebel groups, which lasted during the next few years during the Cultural Revolution in Zhejiang.[2] Many armed struggles and political struggle occurred throughout major cities in the province.[3] In 1969, when the tide of "leftism" subsided, both organizations formally disbanded, but the core members retained some sort of underground organization.[4]

In early 1974, the Anti-Lin Anti-Confucius campaign took place, and some activists associated with the old United Headquarters seized opportunity to resume activism to try to take power from the local party elites.[5] The most notable rebel leaders on the United Headquarters side were Zhang Yongsheng, Weng Senhe, and He Xianchun. The rebel leaders controlled the Trade Union Council,[6] which in turn mobilized workers into urban militia who substituted the military and public security forces in keeping social order. The rebel leaders used these urban militia to carry out raids and intimidation against their political opponents. Combined with their allies in the party bureaucracy, they paralyzed the local administration. Many workers feared the violence at their workplaces and this paralyzed production.[7]

In late 1974, both Wang Hongwen and Deng Xiaoping made trips to Hangzhou to try to quell the factional fighting.[8][9]

## Incident

[edit]

In July 1975, Zhejiang radio reported that more than 10,000 PLA troops were ordered into 13 factories of Hangzhou to "help with production". Three important officials were replaced, as well as a commander in the provincial military district. Tan Qilong who was previously purged was rehabilitated as the military commander.[10] This was the first time since the ascendancy of Lin Biao that the party ordered troops into factories.[9]

## Related event

[edit]

Beside Hangzhou, there were similar dispatch of troops into other areas with factional fighting, for example in Fujian.[11]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Forster 1985, pp. xiv–xv.
2. ^ Forster 1985, p. xv.
3. ^ Forster 1985, pp. xv–xviii.
4. ^ Forster 1985, p. xviii.
5. ^ Forster 1985, pp. xx–xxi.
6. ^ Forster 1985, pp. xix–xx.
7. ^ Forster 1985, pp. xxi–xxii.
8. ^ Forster 1985, pp. xxii–xxiii.
9. ^ a b Butterfield, Fox (1975-07-29). "China Sends Troops To Troubled Plants In Major Coast City". The New York Times. Retrieved 2021-08-02.
10. ^ 中共中央、国务院关于浙江省问题的决定. Central Committee, State Council. 1975-07-24.
11. ^ Butterfield, Fox (1976-11-26). "Peking Sends Army to Area of Clash". The New York Times. Retrieved 2021-08-02.

## Bibliography

[edit]

* Forster, Keith (1985). The Hangzhou incident of 1975: the impact of factionalism on a Chinese provincial administration (PhD thesis). Adelaide: University of Adelaide. hdl:2440/21447. OCLC 220299984. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
* Harris, Nigel (2015) [1978]. The Mandate of Heaven. Chicago: Haymarket Books. pp. 140–143\. ISBN 9781608464654. OCLC 915662854.

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* t
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Cultural Revolution

Prelude|

* Anti-Rightist Campaign
* Great Chinese Famine
* Great Leap Forward
* Lushan Conference
* Seven Thousand Cadres Conference
* Socialist Education Movement
* Fengqiao experience
* Taoyuan Experience

Major events|

* Down to the Countryside Movement
* Cleansing the Class Ranks
* 12-3 incident
* January Storm
* February Countercurrent
* Great Exchange of Revolutionary Experience
* Wuhan incident
* Smashing gong-jian-fa
* 9th Party Congress
* One Strike-Three Anti Campaign
* Abolition of the presidency in China
* Project 571
* Lin Biao incident
* 10th Party Congress
* Black Painting incident
* Criticize Lin, Criticize Confucius
* Snail Incident
* Hangzhou incident
* 1975 Banqiao Dam failure
* Counterattack the Right-Deviationist Reversal-of-Verdicts Trend
* 1976 Nanjing incident
* 1976 Tiananmen Incident
* Smashing the Gang of Four

Massacres|

* Red August
* Daxing Massacre
* Guangxi Massacre
* Inner Mongolia incident
* Guangdong Massacre
* Yangjiang Massacre
* Hunan Massacres
* Daoxian massacre
* Shaoyang County Massacre
* Yunnan Massacres
* Zhao Jianmin spy case
* Shadian incident
* Ruijin Massacre
* Qinghai 223 Incident

Key figures|

* Mao Zedong
* Liu Shaoqi
* Zhou Enlai
* Lin Biao
* Deng Xiaoping
* Gang of Four (Jiang Qing
* Zhang Chunqiao
* Yao Wenyuan
* Wang Hongwen)
* Peng Dehuai
* Wu Han
* Peng Zhen
* Tao Zhu
* Chen Boda
* Wang Dongxing
* Xie Fuzhi
* Ji Dengkui
* Wang Li
* Qi Benyu
* Wu Faxian
* Qiu Huizuo
* Yang Chengwu
* Chen Zaidao
* Kang Sheng
* Mao Yuanxin
* Hua Guofeng
* Ye Jianying

Documents|

* 1970 Draft Constitution
* A List of Cadres to Be Protected
* Bombard the Headquarters
* Quotations from Chairman Mao
* Hai Rui Dismissed from Office
* May 16 Notification
* Six Articles of Public Security
* Sweep Away All Cow Demons and Snake Spirits
* On Class Origins
* "With you in charge, I'm at ease"

Concepts|

* Four Olds
* Newborn socialist things
* Struggle session
* Feudal fascism
* Big-character poster
* Cow demons and snake spirits
* Bloodline theory
* Continuous Revolution Theory
* Seizure of power
* Violent Struggle
* One Divides into Two
* Democracy Wall
* Eight model plays
* Loyalty dance
* Capitalist roader
* Yiku sitian
* Learn from Daqing in industry
* Learn from Dazhai in agriculture
* Stinking Old Ninth
* Five Black Categories
* Five Red Categories
* Two Newspapers and One Journal

Groups|

* Red Guards
* Conservative Faction
* Little Red Guards
* Rebel Faction
* Scarlet Guards
* Ultra-Left Faction
* Xiaoyao Faction
* May Sixteenth elements
* Five Man Group
* Cultural Revolution Group
* Central Case Examination Group
* Central Organization and Propaganda Leading Group
* Hunan Provincial Proletarian Revolutionary Great Alliance Committee
* Revolutionary committee
* in Beijing
* in Fujian
* in Heilongjiang
* in Shanghai
* 8341 Special Regiment
* Sent-down youth
* 61 Renegades
* Barefoot doctor
* Worker-Peasant-Soldier student
* May Seventh Cadre School
* Xiang River Storm and Thunder

Related topics|

* Maoism
* Mao Zedong's cult of personality
* Mango cult
* List of campaigns of the Chinese Communist Party
* Class struggle
* Sino-Soviet split
* Two Whatevers
* Morning Sun (film)
* Third Plenum of the 11th Central Committee
* Boluan Fanzheng
* New Enlightenment
* Scar literature
* Evaluation of the Cultural Revolution

* Category

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