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The Provincial Revolutionary Committee in the People's Republic of China, 196–1979: An Obituary

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2009

David S. G. Goodman
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Extract

On 26 June 1979 Peng Zhen, in a report to the Second Session of the Fifth National People's Congress, announced that as from 1 January 1980 Local Revolutionary Committees are to be replaced by local people's governments and the posts of provincial governors, mayors, chairmen of the autonomous regions, prefects of the autonomous prefectures and county heads restored accordingly.

Type
Research Article
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 85 , March 1981 , pp. 49 - 79
Copyright
Copyright © The China Quarterly 1981

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References

1. “Explanation on the seven draft laws” in Main Documents of the Second Session of the Fifth National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (Foreign Languages Press, Beijing, 1979), pp. 194 and 213.Google Scholar

2. For example: Editorial, Renmin ribao, 22 January 1967, “ Proletarian revolutionaries form a great alliance to seize power from those in authority who are taking the capitalist road.”

3. Survey of the China Mainland Press (SCMP) No. 4190 (4 June 1968), p. 15. Article by Shangwulian, Honan Provincial Proletarian Revolutionary Great Alliance Committee.

4. For example, Renmin ribao, 28 October 1977, “ Build leading bodies which enjoy public confidence,” by Deng Chunsheng.

5. For example: Bridgham, P., “ Mao's Cultural Revolution in 1967 – the struggle to seize power,” in The China Quarterly (CQ) No. 34 (April 1968), p. 7, emphasizes Mao's loss of control during 1967;Google ScholarDomes, J., “The role of the military in the formation of revolutionary committees, 1967–68,” in CQ, No. 44 (December 1970), p. 112,CrossRefGoogle Scholar stresses the extent of military involvement; A, Donnithorne, , “China's cellular economy: some economic trends since the Cultural Revolution,” in CQ, No. 52 (December 1972), p. 605,CrossRefGoogle Scholar discusses the decentralized aspects of the new administrative system; and Sims, S. A. “The new role of the military,” in Problems of Communism Vol. 181, No. 6 (November/December 1967), p. 26, even suggests that the revolutionary committee represented both decentralized political power and military control.Google Scholar

6. For the sake of convenience, throughout all provincial–level units (i.e. provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions) will be referred to as provinces.

7. See “Chairman Mao's September 7th directive” which was circulated with the“ Central Committee's ‘four point decision’ of September 11th,” in CCP Documents of the GPCR (Union Research Institute, Hong Kong, 1967), p. 76.Google Scholar

8. For example, in Harbin, there were the Harbin Red Rebels Headquarters (later designated as “ Maoist ”) and the Red Flag Army, the Combat Preparedness Army, and the Honourably Demobilized Army (all later classified as “ anti–Maoist ”). See Peking Review, No. 8 (1967), p. 15, “ Basic experience of Heilungkiang Red Rebels in the struggle to seize power.”

9. Philip Bridgham, “ Mao's Cultural Revolution,” p. 7.

10. Peking Review, No. 1 (1967), p. 13.

11. CCP Documents of the GPCR, p. 157, “ Message of greetings to revolutionary rebel organizations in Shanghai.”

12. Peking Review, No. 4 (1967), p. 5.

13. Editorial: “ Proletarian revolutionaries, form a great alliance to seize power from those in authority who are taking the capitalist road.”

14. CCP Documents of the GPCR, pp. 49–50, Section 9, “ Cultural revolution groups, committees and congresses.” This quotation from Mao's “ Speech at the meeting sponsored by all circles in Yanan to celebrate Stalin's 60th birthday ” (21 December 1939) was resurrected during the GPCR in Renmin ribao, 24 August 1966, p. 2. A translation of the original may be found in Schram, S., The Political Thought of Mao Tse–tung, (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1969), p. 427–28.Google Scholar

15. Peking Review, No. 7 (1967), p. 16, “ Tsingtao commune formed January 22nd.”

16. Ibid.. p. 14, “Proclamation of Kweichow Proletarian Revolutionary Rebels, GHQ, 25 January 1976.”

17. Peking Review, No. 6 (1967), p. 17, “ Shansi Revolutionary Rebels’ GHQ public notice No. 1, 14 January 1967.”

18. SCMP, No. 4078, p. 4, “ Worker–peasant combat news.”

19. CCP Documents of the GPCR, p. 186, “ Document of the Central Committee of the CCP, the State Council and the Military Affairs Committee of the Central Committee,” 19 January 1967.

20. Ibid.. p. 195. “ Decision of the Central Committee of the CCP, the State Council, the Military Committee of the Central Committee, and the Cultural Revolution Group of the Central Committee, concerning the resolute support of the PLA for the revolutionary masses of the left,” 23 January 1967.

21. Peking Review, No. 5 (1967), p. 10, “ The PLA firmly backs the proletarian revolutionaries.”

22. Peking Review, No. 6 (1967), p. 10, from Hongqi, No. 3 (1967).

23. CCP Documents of the GPCR, p. 326.

24. Renmin ribao, 10 February 1967, editorial, “On the revolutionary ‘three–in–one’ combination.”

25. Renmin ribao, 2 March 1967, editorial, “The Revolutionary ‘three–in–one’ combination is the guarantee for success in the struggle to seize power.”

26. BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, Part III, The Far East, SWB/FE3281, Shanghai City Service (11 January 1970): “Under the leadership of the party we should promote the spirit of the ‘January Revolution,’” by the Shanghai Workers’ Revolutionary Rebel GHQ.

27. Taken from Geming weiyuanhui hao. (Revolutionary Committees are Fine!) published by the Party Committee of the Management Bureau of the Foreign Languages Publishing House (30 November 1968), p. 285.

28. Peking Review, No. 6 (1967), p. 17 – “Shansi Revolutionary Rebels GHQ public notice No. 1,” 14 January 1967.Google Scholar

29. Renmin ribao, 22 January 1967, editorial, “Proletarian revolutionaries form a great alliance to seize power from those in authority who are taking the capitalist road! ”

30. SWB/FE 2451, broadcast of article from Hongqi No. 6 (1967), by Pan Fusheng, “Resolutely stand together with the proletarian revolutionary faction.”

31. Renmin ribao, 13 February 1967, “Consolidate the victory of the Revolutionary Rebels‘ power–seizing struggle – report on the Revolutionary Rebels’ power–seizing struggle in Shanxi.”

32. CCP Documents of the GPCR, p. 605, “Decision of the Central Committee of the CCP, the State Council, the Central Military Commission and the Cultural Revolution Group under the Central Committee, concerning the question of Kwangsi,” 18 November 1967.

33. Ibid.. p. 392, “Decision of the Central Committee of the CCP concerning the question of Anhwei.”

34. Ibid.. p. 385, “Decision of the Central Committee, the State Council, the Central Military Commission and the Cultural Revolution Group under the Central Committee concerning the question of Tsinghai,” 24 March 1967.

35. CCP Documents of the GPCR, p. 393,27 March 1967.

36. CCP Documents of the GPCR, p. 419, “Decision of the CCP Central Committee concerning the handling of the Inner Mongolia question.” 13 April 1967, para. 3.

37. Renmin ribao editorial, 15 April 1967, “Held high the revolutionary banner of criticism, and ensure a revolutionary great alliance.”

38. For example, in Henan its formation only came after several days of street fighting, and only after the three groups involved had been promised equal representation although it was heavily emphasized that they could not expect similar treatment when the revolutionary committee was established: Radio Zhengzhou, 12 January 1968.

39. SWB/FE 2500, 24 June 1967, Sining Radio reported that a preparatory group for Qinghai Revolutionary Committee had been established on 20 June, with the approval of the Central Committee.

40. For example, SCMP, No. 4069, The East is Red (Canton, 21 September 1967) when Jiang Qing addressed a delegation from Anhui; CCP Documents of the GPCR, p. 466, “Circular of the CCP Central Committee, 24 June 1967,” addressed to delegations from Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Hunan, and Henan; and SCMP (Supplement), No. 225, Jinggangshan (Peking, 21 March 1968), which contains a report of the conversation between Zhou Enlai and a delegation from Sichuan.

41. CCP Documents of the GPCR, p. 409, “Order of the Central Military Commission,” 6 April 1967. Para. 3 states “It is forbidden to arbitrarily declare a mass organization a reactionary organization and repress it … when it is absolutely necessary to declare them reactionary organizations and repress them, approval must first be obtained from the centre.”

42. SWB/FE 2388, “Heilungkiang Revolutionary Committee No. 2 notice.”

43. Guangming ribao, 23 March 1967, “Shanxi provincial revolutionary committee inaugurated.”

44. Ch'in Ti, “The government system in Mainland China in 1967,” in Communist China 1967(Union Research Institute, Hong Kong, 1968), p. 132.Google Scholar

45. See Table 1, p. 56.

46. Peking Review, No. 14 (1968), p. 6, “Revolutionary committees are fine!”.Google Scholar

47. Peking Review, No. 37 (1968), p. 3, “Long live the all–round victory in the GPCR!”.Google Scholar

48. “ Heilungkiang Revolutionary Committee No. 2 Notice.”

49. Current Scene, Vol. VI, No. 9, p. 7.

50. New China News Agency (NCNA), 20 April 1967.

51. SWB/FE 2663, Nanchang Radio.

52. Current Scene, Vol. VI, No. 9, p. 8.

53. NCNA, 22 March 1967.

54. Interestingly, the “enlarged ”meeting – where those not officially entitled to attend were invited – appears to have been an important characteristic of Mao's work–style from 1955, and of the centre's in general from the 11 th plenum of the Eighth Central Committee of 1966.

55. SWB/FE3024.

56. Peking Review, No. 14 (1968), pp. 6–7, “Revolutionary committees are fine! ”.

57. See Table 2, p. 58.

58. SWB/FE 2743. Emphasis added.

59. CCP Documents of the GPCR, p. 211 and p. 216.

60. For example, SWB/FE 3006.

61. For example, Peking Review, No. 32 (1968), p. 17.

62. For example, SWB/FE 2855, Kwangtung PBS, 9 August 1968.

63. SWB/FE 3180, report of 11 September 1969.

64. That was certainly the case in Guangdong (SWB/FE 3062) and seems a general and likely phenomenon.

65. SCMP, No. 3877, p. 15, “Kweichow Revolutionary Rebels GHQ's ten–point order calling for united action to recapture state powers of the south–west.”

66. “ Heilungkiang Revolutionary Committee No. 2. Notice.”

67. For one account of this period and its problems see, Domes, J.China After the Cultural Revolution (London: Hurst, 1976), pp. 77–135.Google Scholar

68. See Table 3, p. 69. Identification of individuals as either a cadre, PLA member, or representative of a mass organization before the establishment of the appropriate provincial revolutionary committee is undeniably a contentious matter. Throughout, the first two have been distinguished by the apparat in which an individual worked for the majority of the period after 1952. “Representatives of mass organizations ”are those who were either so designated during the GPCR in the PRC media, or who were so selfevidently, e.g. “Comrade XXX of X province revolutionary rebel GHQ,” etc.

69. SWB/FE3410.

70. There were 158 provincial party secretaries, when provincial party committees were re–established.

71. For details see Beijing Review, No. 5 (1980), p. 5.

72. For example, see SWB/FE 4739 (Heilongjiang) and SWB/FE 4773 (Hunan).

73. SWB/FE 4794.

74. The Constitution of the People's Republic of China (Peking: Foreign Languages Press, 1975), p. 30/1.Google Scholar

75. For details see CQ, No. 57, Quarterly Chronicle and Documentation, pp. 206–207.

76. Beijing Review, No. 10 (1980), p. 10.Google Scholar

77. Frank Ching, “The current political scene in China,” in CQ, No. 80 (December 1979), p. 699.

78. Renmin ribao, 28 October 1977, Deng Chunsheng “Build leading bodies which enjoy public confidence.”

79. For example, see Peking Review, No. 13, 1977, “Failure of the gang of four's scheme to set up a 'second armed force’.”Google Scholar

80. Peking Review, No. 46 (1968), p. 11.Google Scholar

81. Given the political functions of military regions and districts and their political connections with provincial administrations, PLA cadres from the military regions and districts (but not the PLA centre or centrally directed units) have been included in the definition of the provincial party–state system utilized here.

82. Beijing Review, No. 5 (1980), p. 5 provides information on the 24 provinces that had replaced the revolutionary committee by mid January 1980. Of the remaining five provinces, three held sessions of their people's congress before the end of February: Guizhou (SWB/FE 6333); Liaoning (FE/6339); and Hebei (FE/6352). Jilin replaced its revolutionary committee in April (FE/6400); and Tianjin in June (FE/6457), both 1980. In most cases it was the second session of the fifth provincial people's congress.Google Scholar

83. It is not known who became the chairman of Hubei provincial people's congress, or the vice–chairmen of Ningxia's provincial people's congress or government, at the time of their re–establishment. Otherwise, there is complete information for the 29 provincial–level units.

84. A category which ranges from secretaries of the provincial party committee, through leading members of the provincial people's political consultative conference, to non–leadership members of provincial people's congresses and governments.