The Tragedy of Liberation: A History of the Chinese Revolution 1945-1957 (65 page)

Victory parade, Shanghai, June 1949, shortly after the communists had taken the city.

Shanghai, June 1949, as the communists take control.

An evacuation ship transporting refugees.

Refugees of the civil war, April 1949.

Mao Zedong proclaims the founding of the People’s Republic of China in Beijing.

Chinese communists carry placards bearing pictures of Joseph Stalin, as they celebrate the first anniversary of the new regime in China.

An alleged ‘landlord’ facing a People’s Tribunal minutes before being executed by a shot to the back in a village in Guangdong, July 1952.

A grief-stricken woman stands amid the ruins of a village just north of Caolaoji, destroyed by fighting during the civil war.

Yue Songsheng, a representative of industry and commerce, presents a red envelope to Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong during the official celebration of the ‘Successful Socialist Transformation’, at Tian’anmen Square, 15 January 1956.

Queue outside a food shop, 1957.

Maintenance of a statue of Mao.

Mao Zedong in 1957.

A Note on the Author

Frank Dikötter is Chair Professor of Humanities at the University of Hong Kong. Before moving to Asia in 2006, he was Professor of the Modern History of China at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He has published nine books about the history of China, including
Mao’s Great Famine
, which won the BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-fiction in 2011.

By the Same Author

The Discourse of Race in Modern China

Sex, Culture and Modernity in China

Imperfect Conceptions: Eugenics in China

Crime, Punishment and the Prison in Modern China

Narcotic Culture: A History of Drugs in China

Exotic Commodities: Modern Objects and Everyday Life in China

The Age of Openness: China before Mao

Mao’s Great Famine

Copyright © 2013 by Frank Dikötter

Map by ML Design

All rights reserved. You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce, or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. For information, write to Bloomsbury Press, 1385 Broadway, New York, New York, 10018.

Every reasonable effort has been made to trace copyright holders of material reproduced in this book, but if any have been inadvertently overlooked the publishers would be glad to hear from them.