Accidental Holy Land: The Communist Revolution in Northwest China

347 Pages·2022·8.283 MB·English

by  Joseph W. Esherick

HISTORY | ASIAN STUDIES
E
S
Yan’an is China’s “revolutionary holy land,” the heart of Mao Zedong’s H
Communist movement from 1937 to 1947. Based on thirty years of archi- E ACCIDENTAL
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val and documentary research and numerous field trips to the region, I
C
Joseph W. Esherick’s book examines the origins of the Communist rev- K
olution in Northwest China, from the political, social, and demographic
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changes of the Qing dynasty (1644–1911), to the intellectual ferment
of the early Republic, the guerrilla movement of the 1930s, and the C
replacement of the local revolutionary leadership after Mao and the C HOLY LAND
Center arrived in 1935. In Accidental Holy Land, Esherick compels us I
to consider the Chinese Revolution not as some inevitable peasant re- D
sponse to poverty and oppression, but as the contingent product of E
local, national, and international events in a constantly changing milieu.
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T
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“If the Shaan-Gan-Ning Border Region, the homeland of Xi Jinping’s The Communist Revolution
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family, is the ‘holy land’ of Mao’s revolution, then Esherick’s new book

is its indispensable Baedecker guide. This thoroughly researched and H in Northwest China
clearly written narrative helps us understand the complex historical
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roots of the People’s Republic of China as it incubated in Shaanxi Prov-
ince’s ‘yellow earth’ hills.” L
ORVILLE SCHELL, Arthur Ross Director of the Center on US-China Relations, Asia Y
Society
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A
“Shattering the myth of historical inevitability, this meticulously re-
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searched and beautifully crafted study is a refreshing corrective to pre-
vious interpretations of the Chinese Revolution. Esherick’s gripping tale D
of battling bandits and Bolsheviks in the making of Mao’s wartime sanc-
tuary lays bare the indeterminate and contingent course of one of the
i T
most momentous events of the twentieth century. Scholars and general n h
readers alike will learn much from this authoritative work by America’s N e

premier historian of the Chinese Revolution.” o C
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ELIZABETH J. PERRY, Henry Rosovsky Professor of Government, Harvard Uni- th m
versity w m
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UJOnSiEvPeHrs iWty. oESf HCEaRlIiCfoKr nisi aE,m Searnit uDsi ePgroo.f eHseso isr tohfe H aiusttohoryr oaft Tthhee t C ist
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Origins of the Boxer Uprising (UC Press), Ancestral Leaves i R
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(UC Press), and other works on modern Chinese history.
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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS o
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www.ucpress.edu JOSEPH W. ESHERICK

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Author photo: David Cheng Chang. Cover design: Glynnis
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Accidental Holy Land
The publisher and the University of California Press Foundation
gratefully acknowledge the generous support of the Sue Tsao
Endowment Fund in Chinese Studies.
Accidental Holy Land
The Communist Revolution in Northwest China
Joseph W. Esherick
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
University of California Press
Oakland, California
© 2022 by Joseph W. Esherick
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND license.
To view a copy of the license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses.
Suggested citation: Esherick, J. W. Accidental Holy Land: The Communist
Revolution in Northwest China. Oakland: University of California Press,
2022. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/luminos.117
Names: Esherick, Joseph W., author.
Title: Accidental holy land : the Communist revolution in northwest China /
Joseph W. Esherick.
Description: Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2022] |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021029482 | ISBN 9780520385320 (paperback) |
ISBN 9780520385337 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Communism—China—Shan Gan Ning Bian Qu. |
Communism—China, Northwest—History—20th century. |
Revolutions—China—History—20th century. |
Shan Gan Ning Bian Qu (China)—History.
Classification: LCC HX420.S48 E74 2022 | DDC 335.43/45—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021029482
Manufactured in the United States of America
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Mom and Ye Wa
Two extraordinary women

Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xxv
1. Frontier Foundations for Revolution 1
2. Shaanxi’s Early Communist Movement 31
3. Bandits and Bolsheviks 58
4. The Rocky Road to Revolution 87
5. Accidental Holy Land 123
6. Dawn of the Yan’an Era 161
Conclusion 196
Appendix: Informants 211
Glossary 213
Abbreviations Used in Notes 221
Notes 223
Bibliography 289
Index 307