ABSTRACT

Hunan has produced more than its share of revolutionaries in the twentieth century. Hunanese were prominent in the Revolution of 1911 and they have played an even larger role in the Chinese Communist Party. Not only was Mao Zedong a Hunanese, but so were Li Lisan, who led the Party from 1928 until 1930, and Liu Shaoqi, chairman of the Chinese People's Government from 1958 until the Cultural Revolution which began in 1966. The new prominence of Hunanese officials after the rebellion was directly related to the growing influence of Zeng Guofan, a Hunanese scholar-official. The conservative reform ers of Hunan soon became alarmed by the realization that Liang's influence constituted a potential challenge to their own leadership and the Chinese political status quo. In the midst of this confrontation between young radicals and entrenched conservatives, a new reformist elite emerged from the Hunanese gentry, and by 1907 it would triumph over the conservatives.