The Xiaoyao Faction or Xiaoyao Pai (), also known as Tea-drinking Faction (喝茶派), translated into English as Wanderers' Faction or Faction of Bystanders or Carefree Clique, refers to the illiterate or indifferent people who do not belong to any mass

organization An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived f ...

, who do not engage in any factional struggle, and who stay away from radical movements, during the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...

. It included some cadres of the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Ci ...

, and some less active

Red Guards Red Guards () were a mass student-led paramilitary social movement mobilized and guided by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 through 1967, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a Red Guard lead ...

. The term "xiaoyao" comes from '' Zhuangzi'', and its original meaning in the phrase "xiaoyao pai" means having no conflicts with the world and being at ease. "Xiaoyao Pai" became a special

term Term may refer to: * Terminology, or term, a noun or compound word used in a specific context, in particular: **Technical term, part of the specialized vocabulary of a particular field, specifically: ***Scientific terminology, terms used by scient ...

during the Cultural Revolution. They were spectators of the Cultural Revolution. At the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, there were very few members of the Xiaoyao Faction, but as the movement progressed, its members gradually expanded. The Xiaoyao Faction was used as a term of criticism at the time. It was considered a derogatory term, and members of the so-called Xiaoyao Faction were seen as dishonorable. However, since the Xiaoyao Faction was a group of "cold-eyed spectators" during the Cultural Revolution, they could obtain rational thinking and political wisdom that the "

Rebel Faction The Nationalist faction ( es, Bando nacional) or Rebel faction ( es, Bando sublevado) was a major faction in the Spanish Civil War of 1936 to 1939. It was composed of a variety of right-leaning political groups that supported the Spanish Coup ...

" (造反派) could not. Because of this, a new group of independent spiritual bearers emerged from the original "Xiaoyao Faction". Notable representatives of the Xiaoyao Faction included

Li Yuanchao Li Yuanchao (born 20 November 1950) is a retired Chinese politician. He was the Vice President of the People's Republic of China from 2013 to 2018 and the Honorary President of the Red Cross Society of China. He was a member of the Secretaria ...

Li Zehou Li Zehou (; 13 June 1930 – 2 November 2021) was a Chinese scholar of philosophy and intellectual history. He resided in the United States.. coloradocollege.edu He is considered an important modern scholar of Chinese history and culture whose ...

Yan Jiaqi Yan Jiaqi (; born December 25, 1942) is a Chinese political scientist and dissident. Biography Yan was born on 25 December 1942 in Wujin District, Changzhou, Jiangsu, during the Chinese Civil War. In 1959, he entered the University of Science ...

Liu Zaifu Liu Zaifu (; born 10 October 1941) is a Chinese author, poet, and professor in literature and the liberal arts. Liu is particularly well known for his work "Reflections on Dream of the Red Chamber", which analyzes the Chinese classic " Dream of ...

Fang Lizhi Fang Lizhi (also Li-Zhi; February 12, 1936 – April 6, 2012) was a Chinese astrophysicist, vice-president of the University of Science and Technology of China, and activist whose liberal ideas inspired the pro-democracy student movement ...

, and

Xu Liangying Xu Liangying (; 3 May 1920 – 28 January 2013) was a Chinese physicist, translator and a historian and philosopher of natural science. Biography Xu was born in Linhai of Taizhou, Zhejiang on May 3 of 1920. Xu graduated from the Department of P ...

References

{{reflist Red Guards Cultural Revolution People's Republic of China

See also

References