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Project Introduction
Project Introduction
Authoritarian states often use history as a key tool for legitimization while suppressing alternative narratives. Recently, China has intensified its control over official materials and restricted access to PRC archives at both central and county levels. To better understand the complexities of historiographical writing under authoritarian governance, this research project delves into new grassroots data and the associated local evidence, including archival remnants, county gazetteers, legal records, land contracts, household division documents, village stele, oral epics, genealogies, and underground folk stories. In particular, local county gazetteers (xianzhi) are one of the most important sources for researchers of modern Chinese history. These documents provide evidence of historical processes of local socioeconomic structuring by recording conflicts at the micro level over a long temporal scale.
Drawing upon a combination of historiographical, archival, and field methods, this research project aims to advocate for a more in-depth exploration of Chinese grassroots sources and field strategies that have often been overlooked by previous students of modern Chinese studies. We emphasize the urgency for historians and social scientists to employ grassroots data and underground materials as a gateway to comprehending the complexities of China’s local structuring and conflicts. By embracing these valuable sources, researchers can unearth new perspectives, challenge established narratives, and contribute to a more nuanced understanding of modern Chinese history.
Internal discussion drafts of county gazetteers from four counties in Guangxi Province
We offer a novel source for studying contemporary Chinese history and measuring data manipulation in local records: the internal discussion drafts of county gazetteers (xianzhi pingyigao). Like other official publications issued by the government, local gazetteers are evaluated by internal censors in order to determine the information that can be shared or is considered appropriate to present to the public. Before being finalized, a pre-published internal discussion version is circulated between local officials and designated experts. These, in turn, go through several rounds of review or are subject to internal discussion. Although internal discussion records are not necessarily more honest, independent, or impartial than their published versions; nevertheless, limited internal circulation allows editors to have greater latitude and experience less censorship from superior party and propaganda officials when compiling materials on sensitive topics.
Cultural Revolution Coverage Level in County Gazetteers of Shandong and Shaanxi Provinces
To explore the dynamics of negotiation of historiographical editing at the local level, We analyze the hierarchical structure of chapters related to the Cultural Revolution in local gazetteers for each county in Shaanxi and Shandong Provinces. Our findings reveal that Shandong’s local gazetteers typically lacked independent sections on Mao-era political movements, and documentation on the Cultural Revolution is largely absent from published records. In contrast, most counties in Shaanxi included individual chapters dedicated to the Cultural Revolution.
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