| Publication |
2008.
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| Summary/Abstract |
During the years of 1955-1969, the Xingkaihu labor camp in China's northeastern borderland of Heilongjiang Province detained large numbers of social undesirables, a considerable portion being charged with political offenses. The authorities used them as forced laborers for land reclamation and other projects in conjunction with "ideological remolding." This research examines the experiences of intellectual political inmates in Xingkaihu. They suffered physically and psychologically. Their attempts to redeem themselves exacerbated their misfortune and came to define one aspect of the tragedy of intellectuals in Mao's China. I also outline the development of Xingkaihu, its managerial features, and the camp authority's alleged efforts to remold the inmates ideologically through combined use of indoctrination, manipulation, intimidation and coercion.
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