Changing the Guard in Shanghai: October-November 1976

Abstract

THIS ARTICLE DEALS with the political activity in Shanghai between October 6 and November 3, 1976. It was during those 29 days that the people of Shanghai learned officially that three top members of the Shanghai Municipal Revolutionary Committee had been arrested, and that three new appointments to the city administration had been made by Peking. The citizens of Shanghai responded to that political change by spontaneously preparing thousands of ta-tzu-pao (wall posters) in which they expressed their support for the new leadership in the city and at the same time raised questions concerning other officials in the city government who had connections with those arrested in Peking. In the midst of the proliferation of ta-tzu-pao, the city government organized a number of rallies as a way of encouraging the masses to demonstrate their support for the new leaders of the Municipal Revolutionary Committee. Much of the information in this article is based on observations made during a visit to Shanghai from October 30 to November 3, 1976 as a member of an American delegation.' In terms of overt political activity, the contrast between Shanghai and many other cities in China during October and November was suprisingly great. In Peking we had seen many banners with official slogans, but no ta-tzu-pao discussing the alleged crimes of local officials, and in Kwangchow the residents of the city were most concerned with the affairs of daily life, which then included the Chinese Export Commodities Fair being held there. In Kweilin there were relatively few official slogans to be seen, and those in evidence were almost invariably on government buildings. But Shanghai was in the middle of an im-