CHEUNG,Siu-woo (The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology)
The Cult of Revolution in Post-socialist China:
Development Strategy and Rural Empowerment in an Impoverished County
of Guizhou
In Spring 2003, five sculpture-like Chinese characters, “zhong guo gong chan
dang” (The Chinese Communist Party), were found on a split surface of a big
boulder in a ravine landscape tourist park in Pingtang, a poverty-stricken
county of Guizhou Province in Southwest China. The discovery of this
boulder, locally named “The Savior Rock” (Jiuxingshi) in memory of the
Chinese communist revolution, attracted the visits of many state officials and
geologists. Those Chinese characters were said to be confirmed as
geological features formed more than two hundred million years ago,
generating public debates throughout China in print and electronic media.
Centering around this discovery, the county government has launched
campaigns for promoting tourism development and invited famous guests from
various institutions across China and abroad to promotion gatherings and
conferences.
This paper attempts to examine how the revolutionary past of the Chinese
Communist Party has been used to mark a place for development in the
post-socialist space of China, which has been known for its unprecedented
economic divides between regions and the bankruptcy of the revolutionary
spirit of socioeconomic equality. It seeks to understand the specific
institutional configurations and social processes whereby the revolutionary
past is mobilized.