Political generations: memories and perceptions of the Chinese Communist Party-State since 1949 Hexuan Zhang Taiyuan, Shanxi, China M.A. University of Virginia, 2013 B.A. Peking University, 2010 A Dissertation presented to the Graduate Faculty of the University of Virginia in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Sociology University of Virginia May, 2019 Committee members: Jeffrey Olick (Chair) Sarah Corse Yingyao Wang Brantly Womack I Abstract In this dissertation, I examine the three political generations that took shape during the rapid social changes and historical transformations in China since the mid 20th century. Drawing on Mannheim’s social-historical definition of generation, I identify these generations by the three major transformative events/processes each experienced during late adolescence and early adulthood: the founding of the PRC in 1949, the Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976, and the Tiananmen Crackdown in 1989. I address two research questions: how have the historical events and the Party-state shaped the life trajectories and generational habitus of each political generation, and how the concept of “political generations” can help analyze distinct views and narratives about “Guo Jia,” the state, and perceptions of state legitimacy. To answer these questions, I rely on two data sources: historical archives of official documents and 56 in-depth interviews in Beijing across the three political generations. I adopt an interpretive approach and use textual analysis to provide the historical contexts of the formation of political generations and their explicit views and implicit beliefs towards their past lived experiences and the Party-state. In general, I find that the historical events that happened during each generation’s formative years had a relatively more prominent and lasting impact on their moral values and worldviews, including their political and emotional engagement with the state and their perceptions and expectations of state legitimacy. The generation of the “Liberation” benefited from the educational and job opportunities provided by the newly established Party-state and embraced the construction of a socialist “New China,” but their expectation of a stable and prosperous life was undermined during the Great Famine and the Cultural Revolution. The generation of the “Cultural Revolution” had a sense of ownership towards the Party-state and were first mobilized by Mao Zedong to II overthrow the newly established bureaucratic system and then forced into different life trajectories during the Rustication movement. The majority of this generation was deeply influenced by the personality cult of Mao and the “great democracy” of the Cultural Revolution and expected a parent-children relationship between the Party-state and the individuals. The generation of the “Tiananmen,” however, matured during the “New Enlightenment” era in the 1980s and gradually lost their close relationship with the Party-state during the Tiananmen Crackdown in 1989 and intensive marketization and privatization in the 1990s. Their ideal relationship with the Party-state was to be treated fairly as citizens with rights being respected by the Party-state. In addition to inter-generational transformations, I also lay out intra-generational specificities. As Mannheim argued, people from the same political generation often have different responses to the same historical events or destinies, which separate them into different generation units and endow them with somewhat different views towards the Party-state. III Acknowledgements This dissertation would not be possible without the great support and assistance from my committee members, my colleagues and friends at the Department of Sociology and the University of Virginia in general. I would like to first thank Dr. Jeffrey Olick, my advisor and chair of my committee, who has provided me invaluable support and guidance to help me get through this long and difficult process of dissertation research. I would like to thank Dr. Sarah Corse, my committee member, who has mentored me to write my first published academic journal article and taught me a great deal about sociology and life. I would like to thank each of my committee members for their patience, support and feedback on my work. I would also like to thank my fellow graduate students at the Department of Sociology and friends outside the department who have engaged with me in extensive personal and professional conversations and provided me insightful feedbacks on my projects and invaluable friendship and emotional support. I would like to thank my colleagues at the Center for Survey Research who have helped me find my career goal and provided me with emotional support during my dissertation research. More importantly, I would like to thank my dearest parents, whose unconditional love and support are always there for me to lean on. Their understanding and encouragement are indispensable for me to get through many obstacles in life. I would like to thank my beloved husband, Wen, who has inspired this project and supported me on every aspect of my life. IV Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................................. I Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... III Chapter1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 1 1. State of knowledge ............................................................................................................... 5 1.1 Generation .......................................................................................................................... 5 1.1.1 Defining generation and generation units ................................................................... 5 1.1.2 Generation Imprinting: Formative years of generation ............................................... 7 1.1.3 Political Generation: generational habitus and social change ..................................... 9 1.1.4 Generational studies in China ................................................................................... 12 1.2 State and legitimacy ......................................................................................................... 13 1.2.1 Visions of the state .................................................................................................... 13 1.2.2 Problem of the State legitimacy ................................................................................ 17 2. Data and Method .................................................................................................................... 21 2.1 Identify the political generations ...................................................................................... 21 2.2 Analytical approach ......................................................................................................... 25 3. Roadmap ................................................................................................................................ 26 Chapter2 Generation of the “Liberation”: “New China” idealism ................................................ 34 1. Anti-Japanese War: the rising of patriotism and initial contact with the CCP ...................... 37 1.1 Life in Beiping: Japanese occupation and inflation ......................................................... 38 1.2 Life in rural and suburban areas: Japanese atrocities and the CCP’s infiltration ............. 40 2. From the Civil War to the “Liberation”: the founding of a new Communist state ................ 44 2.1 Residents of Beiping: mixture of fears and hopes ........................................................... 44 2.2 New comers of Beijing: hope for a better future.............................................................. 52 3. From social restructuration to Cultural Revolution: illusions and disillusions of the Party- State ........................................................................................................................................... 56 3.1 Class designation and Socialist Transformation: being incorporated into a total system 58 3.2 Great Leap Forward to Great Famine: unexpected starvation in New China .................. 63 3.3 Cultural Revolution to the death of Mao: sufferings and self-protection ........................ 68 4. Discussion: from Nation-State to Party-State ........................................................................ 80 4.1 Party-State as the omnipotent resource controller and distributor ................................... 81 V 4.2 Party-State as the ideal object for personal sacrifice ....................................................... 83 Chapter 3 Generation of the “Cultural Revolution:” the Children of Mao ................................... 87 1. The Cultural Revolution (1966-1976).................................................................................... 91 1.1 The Red Guard Movement: a violent carnival ................................................................. 91 1.1.I The Great Link-up: unprecedented political tourism ................................................. 96 1.1.II The Red Terror: From destroying the “four olds” to factional infighting ................ 99 1.2 Differentiated destinations: sent-down to villages, joined the army or