{"id":702538,"date":"2024-11-13T22:18:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-14T06:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=702538"},"modified":"2024-11-15T18:57:47","modified_gmt":"2024-11-16T02:57:47","slug":"word-of-the-week-xianzhong-the-ming-rebel-inspiring-massacres","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2024\/11\/word-of-the-week-xianzhong-the-ming-rebel-inspiring-massacres\/","title":{"rendered":"Word of the Week: “Xianzhong,” The Ming Rebel Cited as Emblem of Modern Massacres"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
A murderous rampage in Zhuhai, Guangdong<\/a> that left 35 dead and scores wounded was met with a now all-too-familiar refrain on the Chinese internet: \u201cXianzhong\u201d is back. Zhang Xianzhong (\u5f20\u732e\u5fe0, Zh\u0101ng Xi\u00e0nzh\u014dng), a Ming-era peasant rebel notorious for his mythical bloodlust, has become an online by-word for \u201crevenge against society\u201d attacks against innocents by disgruntled men<\/a>. In 2021, CDT flagged \u201cXianzhong,\u201d<\/a> which literally translates as \u201cdemonstrate loyalty,\u201d as one of the most censored words of the year\u2014it remains as sensitive as ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Running tallies of Xianzhong attacks<\/a> circulate on the Chinese internet. A non-exhaustive list of incidents from this year include: the stabbing of four Americans in a Jilin park<\/a>, the murder of a Suzhou bus attendant<\/a>, the killing of a Japanese boy in Shenzhen<\/a>, a knife attack in a Yunnan hospital that killed two<\/a> and injured 21, and a Beijing stabbing spree that injured five<\/a>. The latest incident, in Zhuhai, is the only one to have elicited a rare direct public response from Xi Jinping<\/a>. Xi stressed an emphasis on preventing issues at their source and called for the \u201charshest punishment\u201d for the attacker, who allegedly was upset about the financial settlement of his divorce proceedings.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the extent of the real-life Zhang Xianzhong\u2019s murders are a question of significant historical contention<\/a>, in the popular imagination he has become a stand-in for senseless bloodlust with a political edge. The following graffiti is emblematic of his image in the popular consciousness; the artist imagines Zhang paraphrasing Mao Zedong\u2019s famous quote on reactionaries<\/a> and finishes with his apocryphal instruction to \u201ckill, kill, kill\u201d<\/strong><\/a>:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n