Li Hui’s The History of the Wrongful Persecution of the Hu Feng Clique is a meticulously researched book that delves into the “Hu Feng Incident,” the first political campaign targeting intellectuals in the Mao era. The book details how Hu Feng and his followers were accused of organizing an “anti-Party clique” in 1955, leading to decades of political persecution. Through extensive research of archival documents, memoirs of those involved, and interview materials, Li Hui uncovers all aspects of the “Hu Feng Incident”—its origins, development, and its profound impact on the fates of individuals and on society. The book not only explores the complex political factors and ideological conflicts behind the incident but also analyzes the tension and predicament in the relationship between intellectuals and state power during that specific period.

The Memoirs of Hu Feng is a work based on the oral accounts of the literary theorist and poet Hu Feng (1902-1985) in his later years, compiled and edited by others. This memoir primarily chronicles Hu Feng’s eventful life, from his early experiences and studies in Japan to his involvement in the left-wing literary movement and his interactions with cultural figures like Lu Xun. It also covers his entanglement in the “Hu Feng Incident” in 1955 and his subsequent decades of political persecution. The memoir, from a first-person perspective, offers a detailed review of the significant historical events and ideological journey throughout Hu Feng’s life. It not only showcases his dedicated exploration of literary theory and his steadfast adherence to ideas like the “subjective fighting spirit” but also includes a wealth of first-hand materials, such as his correspondence with friends and comrades, and his evaluations of the prevailing literary trends and figures of the time. The book also provides readers with a valuable perspective for understanding the “Hu Feng Incident.”

In May 1955, Mao Zedong launched a nationwide campaign to “purge the counterrevolutionary clique of Hu Feng,” which is widely regarded in academic circles as the first large-scale Literary inquisition after the founding of the People's Republic of China. Hu Feng, the central figure of the campaign, was a poet, critic, and translator. Inspired by Lu Xun, who was regarded as the most influential Chinese writer associated with the May Fourth Movement, Hu devoted himself to the revolution in pursuit of people's liberation. Considered the successor of Lu Xun's New Literature Movement, he was the head of the propaganda of the League of Left-Wing Writers, and founded the magazines July and Hope, through which he trained a large number of progressive left-wing poets and writers. However, Hu became a target of Mao Zedong's campaign because he upheld the critical spirit of Lu Xun and insisted that writers should be independent rather than mouthpieces of the Communist Party. According to official statistics, during the campaign against Hu Feng, 92 people were arrested, 62 were subjected to solitary confinement, 73 were suspended from their jobs, and 2,100 were implicated. Although only three people, including Hu Feng, were formally sentenced, many labeled key Hu Feng elements endured decades of imprisonment and reeducation through labor. Director Peng Xiaolian's father, Peng Baishan (then a member of the League of Left-Wing Writers and head of the propaganda of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee), was also subjected to severe persecution, and in 1968 was beaten to death for being the “spokesman of the Hu Feng counterrevolutionary group within the Party. Starting in 2003, Peng Xiaolian and S. Louisa Wei visited more than 20 survivors of the anti-Hu Feng campaign. They also spent more than five years filming and producing Storm under the Sun. Through audio recordings of Hu Feng, interviews with survivors, family members of the victims, and scholars, the film presents from beginning to end how the anti-Hu Feng campaign unfolded, as well as the immense physical and psychological trauma that it imposed on the victims and their families. As the first film to document the anti-Hu Feng campaign, Storm under the Sun tells the stories of these lesser-known left-wing poets and writers and how they participated in the revolution through their literary work. At the same time, the film demonstrates how the multiple political campaigns against intellectuals during the Mao era were one and the same, unified under the overarching goal of controlling thought and eradicating dissent.

(English follows) Bu kitab muhajirettiki Uyghur jem’iyitide nisbeten baldur neshir qilin’ghan, shundaqla Uyghur ziyaliylirining kommunist Xitay hökümranliqi astidiki paji'elik kechürmishlirini inchike détallar bilen teswirlep bergen edebiy xatire sheklidiki eslimidur. Téximu éniqraq qilip éytqanda, bu kitabta aptorning charek esirlik ré'al kechürmishliri asasiy liniye qilinip, 1957-yilidin 1982-yilighiche bolghan 25 yil jeryanida Sherqiy Türkistan (Shinjang)diki Uyghur istudéntlarning boran-chapqunluq sergüzeshtiliri we tragédiyelik teqdiri yorutup bérilgen. 1957-Yili Séntebirde emdila 17 yashqa kirgen Söyün'gül Chanishéf (aptor) Shinjang Méditsina Inistitutigha qobul qilinidu. Bu pütün Xitay miqyasida Maw Zédung bashlatqan «échilip-sayrash» dolquni emdila axirliship, «istil tüzitish» herikiti bashlanghan, Shinjang Uyghur Aptonom Rayonida «yerlik milletchilikke qarshi heriket» élip bérishning teyyarliqi jiddiy élip bériliwatqan mezgiller idi. Söyün'gülning siyasiy dolqunlar ichide bashlanghan aliy mektep hayati uning kéyinki teqdiride oylap baqmighan qarangghu sehipilerni achidu. U Méditsina Inistitutidiki bashqa Uyghur sawaqdashliri bilen birlikte siyasiy jehette «échilip-sayrash»qa, «istil tüzitish» yighinlirigha qatniship, kompartiye heqqidiki pikir-qarashlirini ochuq otturigha qoyushqa mejbur qilinidu. Yashliq bahari urghup turghan, kelgüsige ümid bilen qarighan, emma siyasiy boran-chapqunlarda téxi pishmighan bu bir türküm sap-sebiy we qizghin oqughuchilar köz aldidiki rehmisiz siyasiy ré'alliqtin qattiq ümidsizlinidu. Sabiq Sowét Ittipaqi modélidiki ittipaqdash jumhuriyetlik aliy aptonomiye tüzümini Xitaydiki Uyghur, Tibet, Mongghul qatarliq az sanliq milletlerning aliy aptonomiye hoquqining tüp kapaliti dep bilgen bu yashlar, Xitay kompartiyesining Xitayche uslubtiki «milliy téritoriyelik aptonomiye tüzümi»din qattiq narazi bolidu. Ular, Shinjangda ölke derijilik atalmish «Shinjang Uyghur Aptonom Rayoni» emes, belki Sowét Ittipaqi modélidiki «Sherqiy Türkistan/Uyghuristan Ittipaqdash Jumhuriyiti» qurulushi kérek, dep qaraydu. Ularning «échilip-sayrash» yighinlirida dadilliq bilen otturigha qoyghan bu pikir-telepliri, kéyinche ularning siyasiy jehettiki qéchip qutulalmas éghir jinayiti bolup qalidu. Shuningdin kéyinki polat tawlash, chong sekrep ilgirilesh, yerlik milletchilikke qarshi heriket jeryanida Söyün'gülni öz ichige alghan yerlik millet oqughuchiliri qattiq tenqid we teqipke, siyasiy bésim we rohiy azablargha duch kélidu. Acharchiliq yillirining éghir riyazetlirini béshidin ötküzidu. Xitay kompartiyesining az sanliq milletlerge qaratqan aldamchiliq siyasiti we saxta aptonomiyesining mahiyitini chongqur chüshinip yétidu. Netijide ularda mexpiy teshkilat qurup, yer asti siyasiy küresh pa'aliyetliri bilen shoghullinish; kéyinche shara'it piship yétilgende yerlik xelqni qozghap keng kölemlik milliy azadliq sépi shekillendürüsh; Xitay mustemlikisidin qutulup, Sherqiy Türkistanning musteqilliqini qolgha keltürüshtek siyasiy ghaye hem pikir birliki hasil bolidu. Ular 1962-yili 2-ayning 5-küni Shinjang Méditsina Inistitutining oqughuchilar yataq binasida mexpiy yighilip, «Sherqiy Türkistan Méhnetkesh Xelq Partiyesi» namliq siyasiy teshkilat quridu. Söyün'gül Chanishéf bu teshkilatning katipliq wezipisini öz üstige alidu. Halbuki, aridin birqanche ay ötmeyla Xitay Jama'et Xewpsizlik organlirining oqughuchilar arisigha mexpiy orunlashturghan jasuslirining uchur yetküzüshi bilen bu teshkilat pash bolup qalidu. Shu yili 4-ayning 29-küni Söyün'gül Chanishéfni öz ichige alghan nechche onlighan Uyghur oqughuchilar qolgha élinidu. Shuningdin bashlap Söyün'gül we uning sawaqdashlirining uzun yilliq türme we mejburiy emgek hayati bashlinidu. Ürümchi türmisidiki 4 yilgha sozulghan qiyin-qistaq we qarangghu türme hayatidin kéyin, Söyün'gül we uning türmidishi Sajide Ürümchi etrapidiki emgek bilen özgertish lagérida mejburiy emgekke sélinidu. Bu jeryanda insan tesewwur qilghusiz teqip we qiyin-qistaqlargha, künige on nechche sa'etlik éghir emgekke, achliq we rohiy azablargha duch kélidu. Medeniyet Inqilabi bashlinishi bilen ularni téximu éghir qismetler kütiwalidu. Söyün'gül «siyasiy jinayetchi» dégen qalpaq bilen Ürümchi etrapidiki bir xelq kommunasigha yerleshtürülüp, ammining nazariti astida éghir emgek arqiliq özgertishke tapshurup bérilidu. U bu yerde türmidinmu better qiyin künlerge duch kélidu. Rohiy we jismaniy jehettin qattiq xorlinidu. Uzun yilliq türme, mejburiy emgek we qiyin-qistaq Söyün'gül Chanishéf we uning tutqundiki sawaqdashlirini öz ichige alghan bir ewlad Uyghur yashlirining yashliq baharini, arzu-armanlirini, ghaye we intilishlirini xazan qilidu. 1976-Yiligha kelgende Xitay kompartiyesining aliy rehbiri Maw ölüp, «Medeniyet Zor Inqilabi» axirlashqan, 1978-yili kommunist Xitayning milletler siyasitide «yumshash» bashlanghan bolsimu, emma Söyün'gül Chanishéf qatarliq «siyasiy jinayetchi» qalpiqi kiydürülgen bir ewlad Uyghur oqughuchilarning délosi hel bolmaydu. 1980-yillarning bashlirigha kelgende, Xitayning siyasiy atmosférasida körülgen «islahat» we «ishikni échiwétish» dolqunidimu héchqandaq siyasiy kengchilikke érishelmigen Söyün'gül pütün a'ilisi bilen birlikte tughulup ösken yurtini tashlap Awstraliyege köchmen bolup kétidu. Shundaq qilip, Söyün'gülning Sherqiy Türkistandiki 18 yilliq türme we tutqunluq hayati axirliship, erkin dunyadiki kéyinki hayati bashlinidu. Bu eslime aptor Söyün'gül chanishéfning muhajirettiki hayati dawamida eyni waqittiki kündilik xatirisi bilen türme xatirilirini retlesh, toluqlash, qayta eslep yézish arqiliq wujutqa chiqqan. Pütün kitab 700 betke yéqin uzun sehpidin teshkil tapqan bolup, tili addiy, uslubi yenggil we güzel, hékaye weqeliki jiddiy we jelp qilarliq shekilde yézilghan. Bu kitab peqet aptorning béshidin köchürgen shexsiy kechürmishlirining addiy bayani bolupla qalmastin, belki 1950-yillarning axiridin 1980-yillarning bashlirighiche bolghan bir ewlad Uyghur istudéntlirining boran-chapqunluq kolléktip hayati we Uyghur ziyaliylirining kommunist Xitay réjimi astidiki paji'elik teqdirining janliq örnikidur. Aptor kitabning bash qismigha yazghan kirish sözide, «musteqilliq arzusi bilen teshkilat qurup qolgha élin’ghan hemde türme we nazaret astida yashighan 18 yilliq hayatimdin qisqiche xatire qaldurup, yoshurun saqlap kelgen idim. Shu xatirige asasen bu kitabni yézip chiqtim. Bu kitabtiki weqelerning hemmisi béshimdin ötken, öz közüm bilen körgen hem anglighan heqiqiy ishlardur» dep yazghan. Istanbul Uniwérsitétining Uyghur proféssori Sultan Maxmut Qeshqeri bu kitabqa yazghan béghishlimisida «<köz yéshida nemlen'gen zémin> namliq bu kitabta yézilghan weqeler toqulma hékayiler we xiyaliy épizotlar bolmastin, hemmisi Söyün'gülning béshidin ötken we öz közi bilen körgen rast weqelerdur. Bu kitabta kommunist Xitay hakimiyitining Sherqiy Türkistanda yürgüzgen insan qélipidin chiqqan wehshiy siyasetliri emeliy pakitlar bilen chongqur pash qilinghan, bolupmu Maw Zédung bashlatqan <Medeniyet Inqilabi>ning dehshetlik menzirisi de dölet térori nahayiti janliq ipadilep bérilgen» dep yazghan. Bu kitab 2006-yili Istanbuldiki Teklimakan Uyghur Neshriyati teripidin birinchi qétim neshir qilin’ghan. Kitab muhajirettiki Uyghur oqurmenliri arisida zor tesir peyda qilghan we bazarliq kitabqa aylanghan. 2015-yili yuqiri tiraj bilen ikkinchi qétim bésilghan. 2018-Yili in'gilizchigha terjime qilinip, En'giliyede neshir qilinghan. <i>The Land Drenched in Tears</i> is the one of the earliest literary memoirs published in the Uyghur language within the diaspora community, detailing the experiences of Uyghur intellectuals under Chinese Communist rule. The book, written by Söyüngül Chanisheff, chronicles the turbulent experiences and tragic fate of Uyghur students in East Turkistan (Xinjiang) during the 25 years from 1957 to 1982, centered around the author’s quarter-century of real-life experiences. In September 1957, Söyüngül, who had just turned 17, was admitted to Xinjiang Medical Institute. This was a time when Mao Zedong’s Hundred Flowers Campaign had just ended nationwide, the Rectification Movement had begun, and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region was intensively preparing for the Anti-Local Nationalism Campaign. Along with other Uyghur classmates at the Medical Institute, Söyüngül was forced to participate in political “speaking out” meetings–when people were encouraged to voice criticism about the Communist Party. However, their bold views and demands expressed during these “speaking out” meetings later severe criticism, persecution, political pressure, and psychological torment during the Anti-rightist Campaign. On February 5, 1962, they secretly gathered in a student dormitory at Xinjiang Medical College and established the East Turkistan Working People’s Party, with the political ideal and common goal of freeing themselves from Chinese rule and achieving independence for East Turkestan. Söyüngül Chanisheff served as the organization’s secretary. Just months later, due to an informant placed among students by Chinese security forces, the organization was exposed. On April 29 the same year, dozens of Uyghur students, including Söyüngül, were arrested. In the subsequent years, Söyüngül went through imprisonment, as well as forced labor at labor camp and a people's commune, where she suffered severe physical and psychological damage. Although Mao died in 1976, ending the Cultural Revolution, and China’s ethnic policies began to soften in 1978, cases like Soyungül’s were never rehabilitated. By the early 1980s, even amidst China’s reform and opening political atmosphere, Söyüngül —still denied any political clemency—eventually left her homeland with her family and emigrated to Australia. This memoir was created during the author’s life in exile, based on her contemporary diaries, reorganized prison notes, and reconstructed memories. The nearly 700-page book is not merely a simple account of the author’s personal experiences, but also serves as a vivid portrayal of the turbulent collective life of a generation of Uyghur university students from the late 1950s to early 1980s, and the tragic fate of Uyghur intellectuals under the Chinese Communist regime. The book was first published in 2006 by Taklamakan Uyghur Publishing House in Istanbul. It had a significant impact among diaspora Uyghur readers and became a bestseller. A second edition with higher circulation was published in 2015, and an abbreviated English translation was published in the UK in 2018. <a href="https://www.foyles.co.uk/book/the-land-drenched-in-tears/s-y-ng-l-chanisheff/9781910886380">The English edition can be purchased here</a>.

Fengming, A Chinese Memoir is director Wang Bing's second feature-length documentary. The film primarily recounts the long and tragic experiences of an individual in China from the late 1940s to the 1990s, as narrated by the protagonist, He Fengming. In 1949, with the founding of the People’s Republic of China, 17-year-old He Fengming enthusiastically dedicated herself to the socialist construction of the new nation. She and her husband worked as journalists at a provincial newspaper. In 1957, the Chinese Communist Party launched the Anti-Rightist Campaign. After her husband published three articles in the provincial newspaper, he was labeled a "rightist." She, too, was implicated by her husband and also branded a rightist. During several months of denunciation and struggle sessions, she endured such torment from others that she attempted suicide multiple times, but failed. One evening, returning home, her husband held her, and for the first time, his tears fell on her shoulder. In April 1958, He Fengming and her husband were forcibly sent to two different labor reform farms in western China to undergo thought reform through labor. During her two and a half years at the farm, she experienced grueling physical labor, hunger, death, and psychological devastation. In 1960, she received a letter from her father informing her that her husband's life was in danger. She tried everything to find some food and, braving heavy snow, rushed to the farm where her husband was working. However, her husband had already starved to death. For the next 20 years, He Fengming lived precariously, labeled as a rightist and raising her two young children, until her rehabilitation in 1979. In 1991, she returned to the labor reform farm where her husband had died, hoping to find his grave, but ultimately she did not succeed. In her later years, undeterred by external pressures, He Fengming used her pen and tears to document her painful life. In 2007, the film won the Grand Prize in the International Competition section at the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival in Yamagata City, Japan.

Independent director Tiger Temple began shooting this film in 2010 and completed it in 2012, with subsequent revisions. The film features interviews with Lin Zhao's former lover Gan Cui as well as interviews with several independent scholars such as Qian Liqun and Cui Weiping. It is a powerful addition to Lin Zhao's memory. This film was selected as one of the top 20 finalists in the 2012 Sunshine Chinese Documentary Awards.

In 1960, a group of faculty and students from Lanzhou University, who had been labeled Rightists and sent down to rural areas in Tianshui, Gansu, personally experienced the Great Famine. They self-published <i>Spark</i> magazine to expose and criticize the totalitarian rule that led to this catastrophe.<i>Spark</i> only published one issue before its participants were arrested and labeled as a counterrevolutionary group. Many were sentenced to long prison terms, and some were even executed. <a href=“http://108.160.154.72/s/china-unofficial/item/1759#lg=1&slide=0”>The first issue of <i>Spark</i> and more information about the "Spark Case" can be read here</a>. <i>Return from Purgatory: A Survivor’s Memoir of the ‘Spark Case’ in the Great Famine Years (1957–1981)</i> is the autobiography of Xiang Chengjian, a key participant in <i>Spark</i> magazine. At the time, he and another student were responsible for printing the first issue, and he contributed six articles to <i>Spark</i>. Due to his involvement, he was sentenced to 18 years in prison for his role in the Spark case and was not rehabilitated until the early 1980s. This memoir is divided into three sections, with a total of thirteen chapters spanning over 350,000 characters. It documents Xiang’s journey from being labeled a Rightist and sent to perform forced labor, to his arrest and 19-year imprisonment for his involvement in <i>Spark</i>, and finally to his struggle for rehabilitation and efforts to rebuild his life after release. In the book’s preface, scholar Ai Xiaoming offers the following assessment: "Xiang Chengjian’s memoir holds significant value for the study of the intellectual history of contemporary China. First, it serves as another important testimony of the “Spark Case”, following Tan Chanxue’s memoir <i><a href=“”>Sparks: A Chronicle of the Rightist Counter-Revolutionary Group at Lanzhou University</a></i>, making it a crucial historical document on this act of resistance. The author reconstructs the social context before and after the case and describes how the young intellectuals behind <i>Spark</i> bravely challenged totalitarian rule. Second, the book provides a detailed account of labor camps in western China, with the author documenting his 18 years of forced labor in Gansu and Qinghai, unveiling a western chapter of China’s Gulag system. Third, it is a deeply personal intellectual history of a resister, showing the immense suffering, trials of life and death, and personal resilience under the crushing force of state violence." The book’s appendix includes Xiang Chengjian’s six articles for <i>Spark</i>, an in-depth investigative report on him by journalist Jiang Xue, and a chronological record of the Spark Case compiled by Ai Xiaoming. <i>Return from Purgatory</i> is published by Borden Press in New York and is the first book in the “People’s Archives Series”, published by the China Unofficial Archives. The author, Xiang Chengjian, has generously authorized the archive to share the book’s digital edition. Readers are encouraged to purchase the book to support the author and publisher.

This film is a five-part documentary by the filmmaker and feminist scholar Ai Xiaoming on the persecution of inmates at the Jiabiangou labor camp in Jiuquan, Gansu province, where more than 2,000 people died. The documentary includes interviews with the few remaining survivors and documents efforts to commemorate the dead. The director interviewed survivors of Jiabiangou and the children of the victims and listened to their stories about the past; she also found former correctional officers and their descendants to understand the causes of labor camps and the Great Famine from different angles. Shot by Ai and a team of volunteers, the film presents the conflict between the preservation and destruction of memory.

Hu Jie narrates the life of Lin Zhao, a Christian dissident who was condemned as a Rightist in the late 1950s and executed during the Cultural Revolution. Prior to becoming a mentcritic of the government, Lin Zhao was an ardent believer of communism. She demonstrated talent in writing and speaking as a star student in Peking University. However, after criticizing the government in 1957 during the Hundred Flowers Campaign, she was cast as anti-revolutionary. Despite the government’s attempts to silence her, Lin Zhao continued to speak and write publicly, including contributing two epic poems to Spark, an underground student-run journal. In 1960, she was arrested, and despite being released briefly in 1962, spent the rest of her life behind bars, under extremely poor living conditions. Nevertheless, she continued to write in prison, sometimes with her blood. In 1968, at the age of 36, she was executed by a firing squad. In this documentary, Hu Jie showcases many of Lin Zhao’s surviving writings and poetry. These pieces often contain criticisms of the communist regime, as well as commentary on policy issues pertaining to labor and land reform. In making this film, Hu Jie traveled around China to interview friends and associates of Lin Zhao, who knew her as a student, activist, or prisoner. This documentary includes excerpts from interviews with them, which inform us about Lin Zhao’s personality and motivations. This documentary has contributed to a widespread revival of interest in Lin Zhao, who had almost become a forgotten figure until the film’s appearance.

In 1959, in the desolate Lingyuan area in the western part of Liaoning Province, a group of intellectual rightists from the Shenyang University arrived. There, they were to labor and be reformed alongside criminal prisoners in the prison, while digging mines to build railroads. How did the Communist Party reform the intellectuals? What kind of encounters did these rightist intellectuals go through? Hu Jie's camera restores this history.

Lin Zhao, formerly known as Peng Lingzhao, a native of Suzhou, was admitted to the journalism department of Peking University in 1954, but was classified as a Rightist in 1957. She was arrested and imprisoned in October 1960 because of her involvement with the underground magazine <i>Spark</i>. In 1965, Lin Zhao was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment for "counter-revolutionary crimes." On April 29, 1968, she was sentenced to death and executed on the same day at the age of 36. This book is a collection of more than sixty articles written in memory of Lin Zhao.

Xu Liangying is a well-known Chinese physicist, thinker and social activist. He has translated “The Collected Works of Albert Einstein”, published by The Commercial Press (three volumes, 1979). He was branded as a rightist in his youth, but in his later years he pursued constitutional democracy and became an outspoken public intellectual. This is a memoir written by his son Xu Ping after his passing in 2013.

In 1957, two hundred teachers, students, and cadres from Kunming, Yunnan were among the hundreds of thousands of Chinese people labeled as “Rightists” for criticizing the Chinese Communist Party. They were sent to the East Wind State Farm, located in Mi-le County in Yunnan, for 21 years of “thought reform” in the countryside. These inmates witnessed the policies of the Great Leap Forward first-hand: they took part in deforestation, agricultural, and industrial projects in the countryside, which precipitated the Great Famine. Later, during the Cultural Revolution, their camp was visited by large groups of youths “sent down” from the cities, who worked on the farm with the “Rightists.” In 1978, these “Rightists” were finally rehabilitated and allowed to leave. This documentary examines the policies and campaigns of the Maoist era through the eyes of those who were persecuted and exiled. Director Hu Jie pieces together this long and complex story through collecting dozens of extensive interviews with inmates as well as staff who served through decades of the camp’s existence. These people’s vivid memories and personal accounts shed light on the harrowing lifestyle of not only the two hundred “Rightists” of East Wind State Farm, but also the scores of dissidents and youths who experienced the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution.

<i>Spark</i> tells the story of a group of young intellectuals who risked their lives to voice their opinions about the Chinese Communist Party in the 1950s and 1960s. Following the Hundred Flowers Campaign of 1957, many intellectuals were branded as Rightists and banished to work and live in rural China. A group of students from Lanzhou University were among those sent to the countryside. There, they witnessed mass famine which resulted from government policies to collectivize agriculture and force industrialization in rural China. Shocked and angered by the government’s lack of response to the Great Famine, these students banded together to publish <i>Spark</i>, an underground magazine that sought to alert the Chinese population of the unfolding famine. The first issue, printed in 1960, included poems and articles analyzing the root causes of failed policies. However, as the first issue of <i>Spark</i> was mailed and the second issue was edited, many of these students, along with locals who supported the team, were arrested. Some of the key members of the publication were sentenced to life imprisonment and later executed, while others spent decades in labor camps. In this 2014 documentary, Hu Jie uncovers the stories of the people involved in the publication of <i>Spark</i>. He conducts interviews with former members of the magazine who survived persecution, and also shows footage of the manuscripts of the magazine. A digital copy of the original manuscript of the first volume of <i>Spark</i> is also held on our website. This film was awarded the Special Jury Prize for Chinese Documentary at the 2014 Taiwan International Documentary Film Festival and the Award of Excellence in the Asian Competition. Later, it won the Independent Spirit Award at the Beijing Independent Film Festival.

This movie records how Zhang Xianzhi went from being a soldier to a prisoner and then to an independent writer. His experience and thought process is compared with that of the Russian writer Solzhenitsyn. The title of the film is taken from the title of Zhang Xianzhi's book <i>Anecdotes from the Gulag</i>, which takes the viewer on a journey to China's Gulag Archipelago, a labor camp in Sichuan. The extreme conditions and little-known tragic history of the camp are presented. The movie is 42 minutes long and was filmed in 2012.

Spark was an underground magazine that appeared in the Tianshui area of Gansu Province in northwestern China during the 1959-1961 Great Famine. The magazine was lost for decades but in the late 1990s began to be republished electronically, becoming the basis of documentary films, essays, and books. In 1959, the Great Famine was spreading across China. It was witnessed by a group of Lanzhou University students who had been branded as Rightists and sent down to labor in the rural area of Tianshui. They saw countless peasants dying of hunger, and witnessed cannibalism. Led by Zhang Chunyuan, a history student at Lanzhou University, they founded <i>Spark</i> in the hope of alerting people to the unfolding disaster and analyzing its root causes. The students pooled their money to buy a mimeograph machine, carved their own wax plates, and printed the first issue. The thirty-page publication featured Lin Zhao's long poem, "A Day in Prometheus's Passion." The first issue also featured articles, such as "The Current Situation and Duty," which dissected the tragic situation of society at that time and hoped that the revolution would be initiated by the Communist Party from within. The students planned to send the magazine to the leaders of the provinces and cities with a view to correcting their mistakes. But before the first issue of Spark was mailed and while the second issue was still being edited, on September 30, 1960, these students in Wushan and Tianshui were arrested, along with dozens of local peasants who knew and supported them. Among them: Zhang Chunyuan was sentenced to life imprisonment and later executed; Du Yinghua, deputy secretary of the Wushan County Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, was sentenced to five years' imprisonment for having interacted with the students, and later executed. Lin Zhao was detained and also executed. Other key members, such as Gu Yan, Tan Chanxue, and Xiang Chengjian, were all sentenced to long years in labor camps. In the 1990s, Tan Chanxue devoted herself to researching historical information and figures to bring this history to life. She found in her personnel file (<i>dan'an</i>）photographs of the magazine, as well as self-confessions and other evidence used in the students' trial. Eventually, the photos were collated into PDFs, which began to circulate around China. Editors' note: This site the original handwritten version and a PDF of all the articles from the first issue of <i>Spark</i>. We will also make available transcripts of the essays in Chinese and are searching for volunteers to translate the texts into English. Please contact us if you're interested in helping!