Shadian incident

Muslim Hui uprising and killing

Shadian Incident

Part of Cultural Revolution in China

Photo of bodies of ethnic minority Hui Muslims, taken in the aftermath of the killing.

Native name| 沙甸事件
Location| Gejiu City, Yunnan, China
Date| 1974–1975 (50 years ago)

Attack type

| Ethnic conflict, Civil unrest
Deaths| 1,600 civilians, including 300 children
Victims| Hui
Perpetrators| People's Liberation Army, Chinese Communist Party, Militia etc.

The Shadian incident (Chinese: 沙甸事件; pinyin: Shādiàn shìjiàn) was an uprising of Muslim Hui people against the rule of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) during the Cultural Revolution, which was eventually suppressed by the People's Liberation Army in a massacre.[1][2][3][4][5] In July and August, 1975, the uprising and the subsequent military suppression took place in several villages of Yunnan Province in southwest China, especially at the Shadian Town of Gejiu City.[1][6] The estimated death toll was around 1,600 (with half deaths from Shadian alone) including 300 children, and 4,400 houses were destroyed.[1][3][4][6][7][8]

The conflict between the CCP and local religious Hui people began in 1974, during the Cultural Revolution, when a group of Hui people went to Kunming, the capital city of Yunnan province, demanding the freedom of religion granted by the Constitution of China.[1][2] However, local government deemed the behavior of the hundreds of protesters as "causing a disturbance" and "opposing the leadership of the Communist Party".[1][2] In 1975, local Hui people attempted to forcefully re-open the mosques shut down by the government during the Cultural Revolution, escalating the conflict and attracting the attention of Beijing.[1][2][4] On 29 July, 1975, with approval from Chairman Mao Zedong, some 10,000 People's Liberation Army soldiers received a direct order from Deng Xiaoping to crack down on the uprising (some sources state that this order came from Wang Hongwen[9][10]), resulting in a mass killing of Hui people.[1][2][6]

## Historical background

[edit]

Yunnan Province (in red)

Shadian Town in Yunnan Province in southwest China had one of China's largest Hui populations, with a total of about 7,200 residents.[8] During the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), as part of the campaign to destroy the "Four Olds", the People's Liberation Army had shut down mosques and burned religious books.[11][12] Many Muslims set up their own factions to preserve their rights as stated in the Constitution of China.[7][11] Serious ethnic conflicts erupted there in 1968 and continued, on and off, through the early 1970s.[2]

## History of the incident

[edit]

### Initial conflicts

[edit]

See also: Violent Struggle

The Grand Mosque of Shadian in Yunnan, China prior to its 2024 sinicization.

In September 1974, an official notice from the Communist Party provincial committee in Yunnan was issued, ordering closure of all mosques within Yunnan province, which angered the local Hui population.[8] More than 1,000 people went to Kunming (the capital city of Yunnan) to protest, and some even boarded a train to Beijing to complain.[8] In particular, a group of more than 800 Muslims from Shadian Town went to Kunming, demanding the government honor the freedom of religion granted by the Constitution of China.[1][2] However, the delegation was accused by government officials of creating a disturbance and opposing the leadership of the Communist Party.[1][2]

Subsequently, violence erupted between a "Muslim Militia Regiment" and the non-Muslim county administration's command.[2] In early 1975, representatives of both sides were called to a meeting in Beijing, where truce was brokered, only to be broken immediately on the ground in Shadian when confusion arose regarding how to handle the illegal weapons possessed by the local villagers.[2] The situation further deteriorated when villagers tried to forcefully re-open the mosques and refused to pay grain tax to the state as a form of protest.[1][2]

### Military suppression and massacre

[edit]

See also: Massacres during the Cultural Revolution

On 5 July 1975, the Central Committee of the CCP issued a directive signed by Chairman Mao Zedong, ordering the People's Liberation Army (PLA) to bring the situation under control if all other attempts to end the tense standoff failed.[2] A string of conflicts ensued, and at the direct request of the provincial authorities, some 10,000 PLA soldiers were called in to settle the conflict.[2][6][8] Within a week, hundreds of Hui people were killed and at least 4,400 houses destroyed in Shadian and nearby villages.[1][6]

Government officials later stated that only around 130 people (or 800[13]) were killed,[8] whereas most sources estimated that 1,600 Chinese Muslims, including 300 children, had lost their lives (some source claimed the death toll to be as high as 5,000[13]).[1][3][4][6][8][14] The PLA used guns, howitzers, flamethrowers, as well as bombardment from air during the suppression.[8][7]

## Aftermath of the incident

[edit]

### Rehabilitation of victims

[edit]

See also: Boluan Fanzheng

The dome of the Grand Mosque of Shadian prior to its 2024 sinicization

After the Cultural Revolution ended in 1976, the Communist Party provincial committee in Yunnan reviewed and investigated the Shadian Incident during the "Boluan Fanzheng" period, subsequently rehabilitating the victims and offering official apologies in February 1979.[7][8][11] The local Hui people then received certain amount of reparations from the government for the damages suffered.[7][15] The Communist Party under Deng Xiaoping blamed the worst and most violent parts of the Cultural Revolution on Lin Biao (who had been made a scapegoat by the Party after his death in 1971) and the Gang of Four.[16][17]

### Later government policies

[edit]

See also: Chinese economic reform

After the launch of "Reform and Opening" by Deng Xiaoping and his allies, such as Hu Yaobang, in 1978, the Malaysian and Middle East markets were granted more access and special treatment by the government. This was beneficial to Shadian merchants and to religious and educational exchange, as more and more Hui students got the opportunity for Islamic education abroad. As part of the reparations scheme, the government also erected a Martyr's Memorial in Shadian, to honor the 800 officially recognized 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 now serves as the town center and a source of pride for the local Muslim community.[13]

After Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, religious conflicts re-emerged, and the Shadian problem continues to be an example of discord between the CCP and Islamic religious groups in China.[15][16]

In 2022, the government began renovations to remove any features of Islamic architecture from the Grand Mosque of Shadian and replace them with architecture typical for Chinese-style pagodas. These renovations were completed in 2024.[18]

## See also

[edit]

* Mass killings under communist regimes
* List of massacres in China
* Zhao Jianmin Spy Case
* Boluan Fanzheng
* Xunhua Incident

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Gladney, Dru C. (1996). Muslim Chinese: Ethnic Nationalism in the People's Republic. Harvard University Press. pp. 137–140\. ISBN 978-0-674-59497-5.
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m MacFarquhar, Roderick; Schoenhals, Michael (2006). Mao's Last Revolution. Harvard University Press. pp. 387–388\. ISBN 978-0-674-02332-1.
3. ^ a b c Zhou, Yongming (1999). Anti-drug Crusades in Twentieth-century China: Nationalism, History, and State Building. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 162–163\. ISBN 978-0-8476-9598-0.
4. ^ a b c d "China's Puzzling Islam Policy". Stanford Politics. 26 November 2018. Archived from the original on 6 August 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
5. ^ Su, Alice (6 June 2016). "Harmony and Martyrdom Among China's Hui Muslims". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 13 March 2024. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
6. ^ a b c d e f Song, Yongyi (25 August 2011). "Chronology of Mass Killings during the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-1976)". Sciences Po. Archived from the original on 14 January 2024. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
7. ^ a b c d e Israeli, Raphael (2002). Islam in China: Religion, Ethnicity, Culture, and Politics. Lexington Books. pp. 263–266\. ISBN 978-0-7391-0375-3.
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i "神祕檔案﹕雲南沙甸事件 逾千回民死亡" [Mystery Archive: in the Shadian Incident of Yunnan, over 1,000 Hui People were killed]. Ming Pao. 14 September 2009. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011.
9. ^ Qi, Zhi (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.
10. ^ 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.
11. ^ a b c Zhou, Kang. "骇人听闻的云南沙甸惨案" [The horrific Shadian Incident in Yunnan]. Yanhuang Chunqiu (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 18 December 2019.
12. ^ Wei, Dedong (27 March 2012). "中国宗教30年 从"文革禁止"到"信仰自由"" [30 years of religion in China: from religious ban in Cultural Revolution to religious freedom]. Phoenix New Media (in Chinese). 中国民族报. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
13. ^ a b c Jeong, Hyeju Janice (2016). "Shadian's Muslim communities and trans-local connectivities: observations from the field". International Institute for Asian Studies. Archived from the original on 7 December 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
14. ^ "China: the Cultural Revolution". Tufts University. 14 December 2016. Archived from the original on 25 February 2024. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
15. ^ a b Chitwood, Matthew (18 March 2024). "China's Crackdown on Islam Brings Back Memories of 1975 Massacre". Foreign Policy. Archived from the original on 14 March 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
16. ^ a b Wang, Xian (2023). "Justice for Whom? Redressing the "1975 Shadian Incident" in the Post-Mao Era, 1978–2019". Modern China. 49 (1): 93–132\. doi:10.1177/00977004221121073.
17. ^ Cook, Alexander C. (2017), Pendas, Devin O.; Meierhenrich, Jens (eds.), "China's Gang of Four Trial: The Law v. The Laws of History", Political Trials in Theory and History, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 263–294, ISBN 978-1-107-07946-5, retrieved 15 March 2024
18. ^ Hawkins, Amy; Morresi, Elena (25 May 2024). "Last major Arabic-style mosque in China loses its domes". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 May 2024.

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