"Ten Years of Catastrophe": State-Driven Hatred Triggers Horrific "Cannibalism" During the Cultural Revolution

Left: Mao Zedong, Right: Lin Biao (Dajiyuan composite)

[People News] China's Cultural Revolution, often called the "Ten Years of Catastrophe," saw a nation plunged into chaos under Mao Zedong’s call for “armed rebellion and seizure of power.” Fueled by the notion of targeting so-called “class enemies,” millions were persecuted, tortured, and brutally killed. In an extreme show of loyalty, students attacked teachers, children denounced their parents, and instances of “cannibalism” took place, with acts of violence that defied human comprehension.

"Revolution is Innocent; Rebellion is Justified."

In 1966, Mao Zedong launched the Cultural Revolution to protect his power by rallying against political opponents and dissenters, mobilizing the Red Guards for class struggle. Reverence for Mao reached a frenzied level nationwide.

Thousands of Red Guards carried out the “Smash the Four Olds” campaign, burning books, destroying cultural relics, temples, churches, and even attacking embassies. Even law enforcement institutions weren’t spared. Within months, widespread violence escalated across the country, creating a state of “anarchy.”

Academics, scientists, business people, teachers, monks, priests, and intellectuals were publicly humiliated, tortured, and killed, labeled as “landlords, rich peasants, counter-revolutionaries, bad elements, and rightists”—the so-called "Black Five Categories." Eventually, this class struggle evolved into a tool for personal grudges or self-preservation. Over ten years, 2 million to 20 million people died “unnaturally.”

One of the most horrifying episodes occurred in Guangxi, where a wave of “cannibalism” erupted. With the intensifying atmosphere of hatred, mobs in Guangxi reportedly killed and dismembered those targeted for struggle sessions. Under tacit official consent, these people were butchered, with their hearts, livers, and flesh cooked and eaten. An estimated 150,000 people died “unnaturally” in Guangxi, the highest rate of any province. In Wuxuan County, a severely affected area, cannibalism became commonplace; one well-known school even witnessed “students eating teachers and principals.” Former Red Guard Zheng Yi, who witnessed these events, described it as a “mass cannibalism movement.”

The architect behind these atrocities was Wei Guoqing, the First Secretary of the Guangxi Autonomous Region, infamously known as the “King of Guangxi.” This unprecedented tragedy in human history only ended with Mao Zedong's death in 1976.

(Reposted from Radio Free Asia)