ABSTRACT
To comprehend the values held by villagers in the heyday of the Maoist era, as well as the multifaceted tensions that divided village society, no period is more fruitful to examine than the Cultural Revolution, between 1966 and 1968. In that period, as national and provincial turmoil paralyzed the Party machinery that stood above the villages, conflicts that had previously been suppressed under the Party's rule flared up in a large number of villages. In some cases, groups of villagers tried to oust the village leadership, and in others villagers fought among themselves. In yet others, as will be seen, any violence that occurred was entirely orchestrated from above by local county, commune, and village authorities, sometimes even in circumstances where there was no challenge to them from below.
