Eight Outcasts: Social and Political Marginalization in China under Mao

by Yang Kuisong

The 1949 Communist Revolution marked a period of earthshaking change in China. Political, economic, ideological, and cultural movements galvanized the country, culminating in dramatic social transformations at all levels, including the persecution of hundreds of thousands of the country’s citizens. Based on normally inaccessible records of confessions, interrogations, trial transcripts, and depositions, Eight Outcasts tells the stories of eight victims of the Maoist dictatorship. It introduces readers to individuals accused of infractions such as corruption, political wrong thinking, homosexuality, illicit sexual activity, foreign ties, or “historical problems” (connections to the former Kuomintang regime) in the period between the revolution and Mao’s death in 1976. Each chapter brings stories of China’s voiceless citizens to light, broadening our knowledge of this important transitional period.
 
 

Genres: China, History, Nonfiction, Politics

293 pages, Paperback

Published December 17, 2019

Reviews

[风花]

还好这样一个题材是由杨奎松来操刀，以史学家的责任来通过档案还原事件的来龙去脉，因为这些档案里涉及的体裁实在是富有“理论探索的可能”，毛时代工人的生活日常、酷儿（用官方话语是鸡奸）、革命与反革命、毛时代的青年亚文化（例如聚集在电影院、百货大楼或舞厅旁的社会闲散青年）、毛时代城市的的“投机倒把”或是“灵活就业”等等，这些故事如果变成理论的附属，可能就会被打散了原貌，所以才说，还好这样的一个话题是由杨来操刀。

[Xinglongli]

some chinese ordinal peopel's tragedies in middle 20th centuries

[Ryanne]

I’m not interested in this theme.

[Lyset]

這本書完美的詮釋了什麼叫「抗拒從嚴 坦白等死」

[😼jiriguru]

作者只记录不评论，当然可以理解是为什么，但这免不了让书有点干巴巴的流水账感。里面的”反动”人物说的话，到今天也适用啊。

[Jay Lin]

小人物们主动坦白交代，却让自己一步步陷入深渊。