New info for me

[skibum]

I think it was the Biograpy Channel on Tues night that had a story about cannibalism. They covered several cases but the one that grabbed my attention was the one about Guangxi Prov. during the Cultural Revolution. Evidently, it was not because of hunger but some other reason. They interviewed a couple of cannibals and one said that "if you don't kill them, they will kill you" There was also the author of a book about it but I could not find it on Amazon but did find "China Wakes : The Struggle for the Soul of a Rising Power" which has the following guote:

on Page 73:

"... trove of secret Communist Party documents attesting to large-scale cannibalism during the Cultural Revolution in the Guangxi region of southern China. The documents were given to me by Zheng Yi, a ... In most cases, many people shared a corpse, so the cannibals may have numbered in the thousands. While this apparently was one of the largest episodes of cannibalism anywhere in the ..."

 

I think I will stay out of Guangxi Prov. I can see walking down a street and having old guys look at you, licking their lips and thinking "There goes the new white meat"!

[Mick]

I had read about this somewhere in the past in fact. Evidently, it is pretty well documented by historians, both Chinese and western. I talked to a few folks I knew in China about it, several university professors in fact, and they said they had heard about it as well. In fact, one of the professors was from Guangxi. It was supposed to have taken place deep in the mountains, somewhere pretty far away from metropolitan areas, but I can't be sure.

[tonado]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/081332616...glance&n=283155

[skibum]

Thanks for the link, Tony. That is the book whose author they talked to. The book I quoted from was older, 1994 I think.

[tonado]

Thanks for the link, Tony. That is the book whose author they talked to. The book I quoted from was older, 1994 I think.

201328[/snapback]

I will ask my wife about this tonight. I bet she won't believe this since she is from Nanning.

[skibum]

I really doubt that this was happening in the cities but if you ever stay with her parents, you may want to sleep with one eye open - LOL

[lassetter]

From what I have read and heard the Guangxi province had a particularily brutal experience during the 1950's and 1960's.

 

I have a sneaking feeling that some of our SO's could tell stories that would curdle your blood. You don't have to be too old to have experienced the Cultural Revolution. Many of our SO's were youngsters and saw many horrible things back then. My SO calls them "Bad Men." Of course she calls me "bad man," too.

Rup

[tonado]

Thanks for the link, Tony. That is the book whose author they talked to. The book I quoted from was older, 1994 I think.

201328[/snapback]

I will ask my wife about this tonight. I bet she won't believe this since she is from Nanning.

201337[/snapback]

She said she heard about it but they did it for food (starvation).

[esun41]

My wife tells me of many unpleasant things I would never consider eating. Let's just say one persons trash is another's treasure.

 

She "NEVER" heard of eating another person. She's from Hengxian originally. Lived in Nanning past ten years. Born in 1969 during the height of the Vietnam war. I'm sure there are stories. I'm sure her mother could write a book. (not a bad idea!!!)

[lassetter]

The issue of cannabalism in Guangxi is very well documented. It had nothing to do with hunger. Hatred and anger appear to be the causes.

 

Rup

[skibum]

Is Guangxi pretty isolated. Strange it would happen in just one prov.

 

The famous Alfred Packer was Colorados only claim to this kind of fame. Someone said that there were only a4 Democrats in Hinsdale Co and he ate 3 of them. There was a student movement many years ago to get the new dining hall at CU named after him. He died in Denver at the begining of the 20th century. His party got snowbound like the Donner party and ate to survive.

[lassetter]

Guangxi is fairly isolated but more importantly it is extremely poor. Guangxi suffered terribly during the 19th century. The Taiping Rebellion originated in Guangxi and the civil war (when the Nationalists fought the warlords)s was especially savage in that region. WW II and in the Communist Revolution that followed it was horrific. Nanning was taken by the Japanese. That would not have been lovely. The Cultural Revolution of the 1960's and early 1970's would have been stressful to say the least.

The hatred of the landlords led to a series of "trials" in which the accused were literally hacked to pieces with various agricultural implements. It is those people that sometimes got eaten.

Rup.

[Dennis143]

So, I asked Leiqin this question....have your ever heard of Chinese eating human flesh? I had to translate the word 'cannablism' to her. She starts making motions as if cutting slices of flesh from her buttocks. She goes to her pocket translator and hands it to me. The words 'cremation' are on her translator. She says people "no money to buy portk." I deduce that she is telling me that people cannot afford pork. There are people who run crematoriums who slice pieces of human flesh off and pawn it off as pork, yet, maybe they know it is human flesh. I don't know.

 

This is simply my interruptation of what my wife's answer is to the question "have you ever heard of Chinese eating human flesh?"

Edited March 27, 2006 by Dennis143 (see edit history)

[Jonathan]

I asked my girl about this, and she found it hard to believe.

 

The thought of this topic is too much for my stomach to handle...

Do not think I can read that book.

Edited March 27, 2006 by Jonathan (see edit history)

[awch]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/081332616...glance&n=283155

201323[/snapback]

Also read Jasper Becker's Hungry Ghosts.

 

There is a whole chapter on Cannabilism.

Edited March 27, 2006 by awch (see edit history)