It was during the Great Chinese Famine of 1959-1961 – a time when starvation and death swept through China. In the face of unbearable suffering, a group of students, led by Zhang ChunYuan, decided they could no longer stay silent. They launched a student-led journal with the hope to bringing awareness to the famine’s devastating effects, not just to the public, but also more importantly to the government. The goal was to spur the authorities into action.
Pooling their resources, the students bought a mimeograph and began writing and distributing their journal themselves. Spur the action they did, however, the action from the government was to capture them. They were captured before they manage to publish the second issue. This magazine was called “Spark“, based on the expression xinghuoliaoyuan – “a single spark can start a prairie fire” – the phrase that also inspired the title of Ian Johnson’s book, Sparks.
First issue of “Spark”. Courtersy from China Unofficial Archive | Spark, Issue 1 (minjian-danganguan.org)
Ian Johnson is a Pulitzer-winning journalist, has long been a trusted voice on China, writing regularly in the New York Times, The New York Review of Books and Wall Street Journal. His extensive time spent in China brings creditability to his work, and in Sparks, he tells the stories we rarely hear – about the people who fight against state propaganda and their struggle to preserve the truth in the face of censorship.
In his new book Sparks, Johnson introduces us to the underground historians of China – people dedicated to documenting and preserving the some aspects of the Chinese history, often at great personal risk. While we often hear about China’s strict censorship, Sparks focuses on those who resist it, offering another lens to look at China and offers deeper understanding on the ongoing battle between the Chinese Communist Party and those fighting for truth.
Overall, Sparks by Ian Johnson is a great introductory book for anyone looking to understand China better and to understand the conflict between the Chinese Communist Party and China’s underground historians.
Best books to understand the rise of Chinese Communist Party
How the Red Sun Rose: The Origin and Development of the Yan’an Rectification Movement, 1930-1945
A very dense, rigorous and in-depth study of a crucial period in the history of the Chinese Communist Party. Also details the rise of Mao Zedong in the party. This book is banned in mainland China.
Published: Feb 1, 2000
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The World Turned Upside Down: A History of the Chinese Cultural Revolution
Another very dense and scholarly book on Cultural Revolution, a critical and tumultuous period in Chinese history. This book is also banned in mainland China.
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Recommended read to understand about censorship in China
Forbidden Memory: Tibet during the Cultural Revolution
Delve into this book to understand what happened in Tibet during the Cultural Revolution and how China attempts to rewrite their history.
Published Jan 21, 2006
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Blood letters: The Untold Story of Lin Zhao, a Martyr in Mao’s China
Tells the astonishing tale of Lin Zhao, a poet and journalist arrested by authorities in 1860 and executed eight years later, at the height of the Cultural Revolution. Her poem was also used in the first issue of Spark.
Published: Mar 20, 2018
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Wuhan Diary: Dispatches from a Quarantined City
A recommended read to understand the day to day experience in the quarantined Wuhan citty.
Published: May 15, 2020
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