Historical Dictionary of Revolutionary China, 1839-1976

A contribution to the reference literature on China, this historical dictionary covers the entire revolutionary period in China. Although existing biographical dictionaries focus on the 20th century, the Chinese revolutionary movements began in the early 19th century. China’s defeat in the Opium War (1839-1842) set the conditions for the rise of revolutionary movements, the first being the Taiping Christian Revolution of 1851-1864. Sun Yat-sen’s Republican Revolution began in the late 19th century and was followed by the Communist Revolution during the second half of the 20th century. With the Socialist transformation under Mao-Tse-tung, the Chinese entered another revolutionary stage. The death of Mao and the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976 conclude the time period covered in this dictionary. The entries in this volume provide concise accounts and profiles of the people, events, ideas, and other factors that played a role throughout the revolutionary period including sources of additional information.