This book is the memoir of Chinese economist's Yang Xiaokai. It tells the stories of more than two dozen characters he met while imprisoned in Changsha during the Cultural Revolution. Published in 1994, it was reprinted in 1997 and 2016. The English version is titled *Captive Spirits: Prisoners of the Cultural Revolution*, published by Stanford University Press in 1997.
When the Cultural Revolution broke out, Yang Xiaokai was a senior high school student at No. 1 Middle School in Changsha. On January 12, 1968, he published an article entitled "Where is China Going?" which systematically put forward the ideas of the "ultra-leftist" Red Guards, criticized the privileged bureaucratic class in China, and advocated for the establishment of a Chinese People's Commune based on the principles of the Paris Commune. Yang Xiaokai recalled that his parents were beaten because they sympathized with Liu Shaoqi's and Peng Dehuai's views, and that he was discriminated against at school and could not join the Red Guards. As a result, he joined the rebel faction to oppose the theory of descent. Yang Xiaokai was later sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for this article. Yang Xiaokai died in 2004. This article is a retrospective of his life.
Author Wang Ruoshui spent his early years studying philosophy at Peking University. He served as deputy editor-in-chief of the Communist Party newspaper “People's Daily” and was able to participate in high-level ideological discussions, gaining a deep understanding of Mao Zedong as a person and of his thought. He was one of the rare intellectuals within the CCP system who had an independent personality as well as the ability to think for himself. After his death from cancer, his wife, Feng Yuan, helped put together this posthumous book. Published by Ming Pao Press in 2002, it has been described as "the first and most comprehensive and in-depth discussion of Mao Zedong and his thought."
Author Wang Ruoshui spent his early years studying philosophy at Peking University. He served as deputy editor-in-chief of the Communist Party newspaper "People's Daily" and was able to participate in high-level ideological discussions, gaining a deep understanding of Mao Zedong as a person and his thought. He was one of the rare intellectuals within the CCP system who had an independent personality as well as the ability to think for himself. After his death from cancer, his wife, Feng Yuan, put together this posthumous book. Published by Ming Pao Press in 2002, it has been described as "the first and most comprehensive and in-depth discussion of Mao Zedong and his thought.
On June 12, 2025, the Hong Kong–based NGO China Labour Bulletin (CLB) announced its dissolution. This marks yet another Chinese civil society organization that ceased operations following the implementation of the Hong Kong National Security Law. Founded in 1994, CLB was dedicated to promoting the Chinese labor movement and had long focused on labor rights in China. Headquartered in Hong Kong, its founder Han Dongfang was a workers’ leader during the 1989 Tiananmen Democracy Movement and one of the founders of the Beijing Workers’ Autonomous Federation.
Over the years, China Labour Bulletin published dozens of reports in Chinese and English on China’s labor movement, addressing issues related to migrant workers, food delivery couriers, women workers, child labor, coal mining, and pneumoconiosis, among others. Following the organization’s dissolution, the China Labour Bulletin website was also taken offline.
In response, the China Unofficial Archives website immediately downloaded and preserved 80 Chinese- and English-language reports from the site. The following 26 reports are studies on the labor rights protection in China published between 2004 and 2024, including titles such as “Research Report on China’s Food Delivery Industry,” “Labor Rights in the Construction Industry,” “Healthcare Workers’ Rights Report,” and “Workers’ Rights in the Manufacturing Sector,” among others.
On June 12, 2025, the Hong Kong–based NGO China Labour Bulletin (CLB) announced its dissolution. This marks yet another Chinese civil society organization that ceased operations following the implementation of the Hong Kong National Security Law. Founded in 1994, CLB was dedicated to promoting the Chinese labor movement and had long focused on labor rights in China. Headquartered in Hong Kong, its founder Han Dongfang was a workers’ leader during the 1989 Tiananmen Democracy Movement and one of the founders of the Beijing Workers’ Autonomous Federation.
Over the years, China Labour Bulletin published dozens of reports in Chinese and English on China’s labor movement, addressing issues related to migrant workers, food delivery couriers, women workers, child labor, coal mining, and pneumoconiosis, among others. Following the organization’s dissolution, the China Labour Bulletin website was also taken offline.
In response, the China Unofficial Archives website immediately downloaded and preserved 80 Chinese- and English-language reports from the site. The following 15 reports are observation reports on China's workers' movement.
On June 12, 2025, the Hong Kong–based NGO China Labour Bulletin (CLB) announced its dissolution. This marks yet another Chinese civil society organization that ceased operations following the implementation of the Hong Kong National Security Law. Founded in 1994, CLB was dedicated to promoting the Chinese labor movement and had long focused on labor rights in China. Headquartered in Hong Kong, its founder Han Dongfang was a workers’ leader during the 1989 Tiananmen Democracy Movement and one of the founders of the Beijing Workers’ Autonomous Federation.
Over the years, China Labour Bulletin published dozens of reports in Chinese and English on China’s labor movement, addressing issues related to migrant workers, food delivery couriers, women workers, child labor, coal mining, and pneumoconiosis, among others. Following the organization’s dissolution, the China Labour Bulletin website was also taken offline.
In response, the China Unofficial Archives website immediately downloaded and preserved 80 Chinese- and English-language reports from the site. The following 18 reports are studies concerning trade union reform in China.