The Chinese Communist Party During the Cultural Revolution: The Case of the Sixty-One Renegades (St Antony's Series)

In 1936 a group of Chinese communists were released from jail after a humiliating renunciation of communism. The Chinese Communist Party then secretly employed them to galvanize support in nationalist areas of the country. The Party later condemned the members of this group as renegades before finally rehabilitating them in 1978. Pamela Lubell uncovers the fascinating history of these communists, known as the Sixty-one, and in doing so produces a revealing account of the tensions within the Chinese Communist Party. "In 1936 the Chinese Communist party secretly ordered a group of its cadres, imprisoned by the Nationalists, to renounce publicly all ties with the communist movement, thereby effecting their release from jail. These cadres were urgently needed to galvanize support for the party in northern China and to promote a united front against Japan. During the Cultural Revolution, some thirty years later, despite its role in their release and despite their high-ranking status, the Party condemned the members of this group as renegades. Once again they were imprisoned. Twelve years elapsed before they were rehabilitated in 1978. Pamela Lubell has written a history of the Sixty-One Renegades and has produced a revealing account of tensions within the founder generation of the Chinese Communist Party."--Jacket Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgements......Page 10 Abbreviations......Page 12 Introduction......Page 14 1 1936: On the Eve of War and Freedom......Page 33 2 Release from the Guomindang Prison, 1936......Page 65 3 Levers of Power: Careers 1949–66......Page 107 4 Prison Again – the CCP Version......Page 151 5 Rehabilitating the Sixty-One......Page 174 6 A Prejudiced Conclusion......Page 203 Appendix: The Sixty-One......Page 209 Notes and References......Page 210 Bibliography......Page 246 Index......Page 266 Annotation In 1936 a group of Chinese communists were released from jail after a humiliating renunciation of communism. The Chinese Communist Party then secretly employed them to galvanise support in nationalist areas of the country. It later condemned the members of this group as renegades before finally rehabilitating them in 1978. Pamela Lubell uncovers the fascinating history of these communists, known as the Sixty-one, and in doing so produces a revealing account of the tensions within the Chinese Communist Party 1936 was indeed a turning point, not just for scholars and revolutionaries but for entire nations and vast continents.