Between 1967 and 1968, during the Cultural Revolution launched by Mao Zedong in May 1966, the Chinese province of Guangxi experienced a series of massacres and lynchings now referred to as the Guangxi Massacre. The violence emerged from a factional split between the "United Headquarters," which backed regional CCP leader Wei Guoqing, and the rebel "4.22" faction. Despite receiving endorsement from Premier Zhou Enlai in 1967, the "4.22" faction was suppressed by local military leaders, and in 1968 the Guangzhou Military Region, under Huang Yongsheng, declared it a "reactionary organization" and launched large-scale repression.
According to Yan Lebin, a Ministry of Public Security official who took part in later investigations, the killings unfolded in three stages: rural violence against the "Five Black Categories" and "4.22" supporters in late 1967 and early 1968; organized killings by newly formed revolutionary committees and local militia in spring and summer 1968; and, by July–August 1968, large-scale military and militia attacks on cities such as Nanning and Guilin. Methods of killing documented in official records included beheading, beating, live burial, stoning, drowning, boiling, disembowelment, and other forms of mutilation.
Official investigations launched in the early 1980s, involving senior CCP figures including Hu Yaobang and Xi Zhongxun, produced two major inquiries. The first, in 1981, found a death toll exceeding 100,000, though some officials and civilians privately cited figures as high as 500,000. A second investigation, completed in January 1984, documented 89,810 "abnormal deaths" and estimated that, accounting for nearly 20,000 missing persons, the actual toll exceeded 100,000. In Nanning alone, eight of fourteen counties recorded more than 1,000 deaths each, with Binyang County losing 3,777 people.
The massacre was also marked by extensive human cannibalism, occurring even though no famine existed. Official archives published in 2016 and 2017 documented at least 302 victims eaten, while independent researchers have identified 421 named individuals, with cannibalism reported across roughly two-thirds of Guangxi's counties. Acts included consuming hearts, livers, and flesh, sometimes prepared as meals for local officials. Scholars, including Song Yongyi and Ding Xueliang, have argued the practice was driven by political ideology and class-struggle rhetoric rather than economic necessity, while historian Frank Dikötter has described a documented hierarchy in which local leaders consumed organs and ordinary participants ate other body parts.
In the aftermath, during China's Boluan Fanzheng period, some perpetrators faced legal consequences: in Wuxuan County, fifteen people were prosecuted with sentences of up to 14 years, ninety-one Communist Party members were expelled, and thirty-nine non-party officials were demoted or had pay reduced. Contemporary reporting by international outlets, including The New York Times and The Washington Post, later described the Guangxi cannibalism cases as among the most extensively documented episodes of politically motivated cannibalism reported in the 20th century.
Key facts
- Victims
- On file
- Date
- 1966
- Location
- Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China
- Case status
- solved
Case timeline
1966-05
Mao Zedong launches the Cultural Revolution.
1967-03
Two rival factions, the 'United Headquarters' and the '4.22', begin forming among troops and civilians in Guangxi.
1967-08
The '4.22' rebel faction receives endorsement from Premier Zhou Enlai.
1967-09
First stage of massacres begins in rural Guangxi, mostly targeting members of the Five Black Categories and '4.22' supporters.
1968-02
Guangzhou Military Region orders troops supporting '4.22' to relocate out of the region.
1968-04
Huang Yongsheng declares the '4.22' faction a 'reactionary organization,' launching mass suppression; second stage of organized killings by revolutionary committees intensifies.
1968-07
Third stage of the massacre spreads from rural areas to cities including Nanning and Guilin, with large-scale killings by troops and militia.
1968-09-01
A 'killing conference' is held at Pingshan Square in Shangsi County, during which more than 10 people are beaten to death and organs of victims are prepared and eaten.
1981-04
First official investigation group of over 20 people is formed to examine the Cultural Revolution violence in Guangxi.
1981-06
First investigation concludes the death toll exceeds 100,000.
1983-03
Second investigation group of 40 people, led by Li Rui and Zhou Yifeng, is formed by the CCP Central Committee.
1984-01
Second investigation documents 89,810 abnormal deaths and concludes the actual toll exceeds 100,000 when including missing persons.
1993-01-06
The New York Times publishes contemporaneous coverage discussing reports of cannibalism in Guangxi during the Cultural Revolution.
1996-07-07
The Washington Post publishes coverage following Zheng Yi's book on the Guangxi cannibalism, discussing the Communist Party's response to disclosures.
2016
Official Chinese archives on the Cultural Revolution in Guangxi are published in the United States as the Secret Archives about the Cultural Revolution in Guangxi.
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People
Cen Guorong
CONVICTEDFormer Director of the Trade Union of Guangxi; identified as having led an incident in which a victim was killed with dynamite; described in the source as having received legal punishment during the Boluan Fanzheng period along with other participants.
Li Hao
CHARGEDCommittee member in Shangsi County identified as having removed and prepared the hearts and livers of victims killed at a 'killing conference' in September 1968; named in official investigation accounts.
Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.
Places
Common questions
- What happened to the victim?
- Between 1967 and 1968, during China's Cultural Revolution, factional violence in Guangxi province led to mass killings later documented as at least 89,810 "abnormal deaths," with investigators concluding the true toll exceeded 100,000; hundreds of victims were also subjected to organized, ideologically motivated cannibalism.
- Where did the massacre happen?
- Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China.
- Who was convicted?
- Cen Guorong (Former Director of the Trade Union of Guangxi; identified as having led an incident in which a victim was killed with dynamite; described in the source as having received legal punishment during the Boluan Fanzheng period along with other participants.).
- What is the current status of the case?
- Status: solved.
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Sources
- ENCYCLOPEDICGuangxi MassacreWikipedia · 2026-07-10
- PRESSA Tale of Red Guards and CannibalsThe New York Times · 2026-07-10
- PRESSDevouring Their OwnThe Washington Post · 2026-07-10