Shaoyang County Massacre
| Shaoyang County Massacre | |
|---|---|
| Part of Cultural Revolution in China | |
Shaoyang in the People's Republic of China. | |
| Native name | 邵阳县大屠杀 |
| Location | Shaoyang County China |
| Date | 1968 July – September 1968 |
| Target | "Five Black Categories" (Landlords, wealthy peasants, bad influences/elements and right wingers) |
Attack type | Politicide, politically motivated violence, political persecution, class warfare |
| Deaths | 1,690 (killed including those who committed suicide) |
| Victims | 7,781 (imprisoned), 991 (killed), 699 (forced suicide) |
| Perpetrators | Chinese Communist Party, Mao Zedong |
| Motive | Cultural Revolution instigated by Mao Zedong, elimination of political enemies, "class enemies", resentment of wealthier members of society instigated by the local party committees |
The Shaoyang County Massacre (simplified Chinese: 邵阳县大屠杀; traditional Chinese:邵陽縣大屠殺), also known as the "Black Killing Wind" Incident (simplified Chinese: 黑杀风事件; traditional Chinese: 黑殺風事件), was a massacre in Shaoyang County of Hunan Province during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. According to the official statistics in 1974, from July to September of 1968, a total of 11,177 people were arrested with 7,781 imprisoned and 113 permanently disabled, while the death toll of the massacre was 991, including 699 who were forced to commit suicide. However, some researchers argue that thousands of people died in the massacre.
During the Cultural Revolution, peasants in Dao County of Hunan Province coined the phrase "Black Killing Team (黑杀队)", meaning that 21 types of people including members of the Five Black Categories as well as their relatives were organised to form such teams to systematically kill peasants and local officials. In 1967, the Daoxian Massacre broke out, targeting members of the Black Killing Team and causing the deaths of over 9,000 people.
The Daoxian Massacre in 1967 made a direct impact on the "Black Killing Wind (黑杀风)" in Shaoyang. Methods of torture and slaughter in the Shaoyang massacre included live burial, stoning, drowning, suffocating, boiling, burning, dismembering and so on; in particular, many female victims were tortured and sexually abused before death. A large number of corpses were floating down the Zi River and some of the dead bodies even blocked the water pumps inside local water purification plants, creating panic among local citizens who stopped using tap water for approximately half a month. The massacre eventually ended due to the multiple interventions from the 47th Group of the People's Liberation Army.