Li Jingquan and the South-west Region, 1958—66: The Life and “Crimes” of a “Local Emperor”

1 March 1980

journal article
Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in The China Quarterly

Vol. 81, 66-96
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0305741000012145

Abstract

This article is concerned with one aspect of the spatial distribution of power in the People's Republicof China – the relationship between Centre and region during 1958–66. During the past decade or so several different interpretations of the spatial distribution of power have emerged amongst western analysts of China, polarizing between centralized and decentralized models of the Chinese decision-making process. The recordof the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution certainly suggests that political power was not only decentralized but also misused in the preceding period. Between 1966 and 1968 the impact of the attack on the Party-State system fell disproportionately on the provincial level, and most first secretaries of the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) provincial committees and regional bureaus were criticized and removed from office. Moreover, many ofthese were accused of having created “independent kingdoms” in the areas under their leadership.

Keywords

This publication has 4 references indexed in Scilit:

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