Liu Wencai

Liu Wencai ( Chinese  刘文彩 ; * 1887 ; † October 17, 1949 ) was a large landowner from the Chinese province of Sichuan and brother of the warlord Liu Wenhui . In communist propaganda during the Mao period, he was considered the archetype of the cruel exploiter of poor tenant farmers.

Life

Liu Wencai is considered to be one of the most colorful figures in Sichuan Province during the time of the Chinese Republic (1911–1949). His father was a small landowner and liquor dealer. He himself got through the protection of influential family members to high administrative posts and had good relations with politics, administration and the military. Liu Wencai is said to have deceived his farmers so much that they were in permanent lease debt. In order to pay off these, they are said to have been forced to sell their own children, forcibly recruited into military service or driven from their homes. He is also said to have had contacts with the underworld and with religiously influenced secret societies. He died in 1949 just before the Communist Party's People's Liberation Army occupied Sichuan. In contrast to the frequently readjusted version of the story, which was repeatedly "revised" as part of the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s, he died of natural causes in 1949.

Afterlife

Since the 1950s, the propaganda of the Communist Party constructed Liu Wencai into the archetypal arch villain of the vanquished feudal society. Publications with canonized stories of his evil deeds were circulated across the country. Today it is difficult to assess the truthfulness of the stories handed down and it remains unclear which facts were embellished with propaganda.

Long after the Cultural Revolution, Liu Wencai was considered an arch villain in China, whose image should not be shaken. When the Sichuan writer Xiao Shu published his book "The True Story" of Liu Wencai (Liu Wencai zhenxiang) in 1999, which paints a positive image of Liu that deviates significantly from the official version, it was immediately withdrawn from the market following strong intervention. And when the Hong Kong television station Phoenix TV broadcast a positive television portrait of Liu in 2003, the program could not be repeated. Today there is an extensive discussion on Chinese internet forums about who Liu Wencai really was. The television film, which was banned four years ago, can be seen online on the video portal of the largest Chinese Internet provider, Sina.com , and Xiao Shu published a new, freely available book about Liu Wencai.

Since Liu Wencai is still a controversial historical figure in China, no independent research into his biography seems possible to this day.

Museum Anren

Liu's manor museum

The magnificently expanded residence of his family in Anren in Dayi County is now a museum with an extensive collection and one of the most important cultural monuments in the country . a. the famous monumental group of statues Der Hof for the rental income , which shows Liu Wencai's alleged malice in bright colors.

Web links

• Information about the residence (en.)

Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Chinese. Liu is the family name here, Wencai is the first name.