''White Snow, Red Blood'' () is a book by Zhāng Zhènglóng (), a colonel in the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the China, People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five Military branch, service branches: the People's ...

, that was published in August, 1989 by the People's Liberation Army Publishing House. It concerns the history of the People's Liberation Army during the

Chinese Communist Revolution The Chinese Communist Revolution, officially known as the Chinese People's War of Liberation in the People's Republic of China (PRC) and also known as the National Protection War against the Communist Rebellion in the Republic of China (RO ...

. The book was severely criticized and suppressed in the spring of 1990, after about 100,000 copies had been sold.Pomfret, John. Red Army Starved 150,000 Chinese Civilians, Books Says. Associated Press; ''The Seattle Times''. 2009-10-02. URL:http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19901122&slug=1105487. Accessed: 2009-10-02. (Archived by WebCite at https://www.webcitation.org/5kEN5bTlE ) Based on records of the People's Liberation Army and interviews with surviving participants in the Chinese Communist Revolution the book contains information about events that are not usually included in official accounts of the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on main ...

such as the Siege of Changchun in 1948. Corruption in certain units of the PLA is also discussed. Among the controversial contents of the book were that the Red Army had committed atrocities during the Siege of Changchun, that senior Party leader Wang Zhen had smuggled opium during the Chinese Civil War, and that the "official" Chinese account of the "Lin Biao incident" was inaccurate.Uhalley Jr., Stephen, and Jin Qiu
"The Lin Biao Incident: More Than Twenty Years Later"
''Pacific Affairs''. Vol.66, No.3, Autumn, 1993. pp.386-387. Retrieved December 15, 2011. Because of its controversial content, the book and its author were attacked by conservative politicians inside China, notably

Yang Shangkun Yang Shangkun (3 August 1907 – 14 September 1998) was a Chinese Communist military and political leader, President of the People's Republic of China (''de jure'' head of state) from 1988 to 1993, and one of the Eight Elders that dominated ...

and Wang Zhen. Yang, who was then

President of the People's Republic of China The president of the People's Republic of China, commonly called the president of China, is the head of state and the second-highest political office of the People's Republic of China. The presidency is constitutionally a largely ceremonial off ...

, claimed that the book "insulted the Communist Party". Zhang was arrested in 1990 for publishing the book, and the book was censored in mainland China. Information about the contents of the book in the West is derived from a copy obtained by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. new ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

in 1990. The book was reprinted in Hong Kong in 1991 as ''Xuě bái xiě hóng: Guó Gòng Dōngběi dà juézhàn lìshǐ zhēnxiàng'' ( ''White snow red blood: A true history of the KMT-CPC battle for the Northeast'') by Tiandi Press.

Notes

{{reflist Book censorship in China Works banned in China Chinese Civil War 1989 books Chinese-language books Lin Biao