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The research aims to analyze the role of blind storytellers within the Chinese Communist Party's revolutionary framework from 1938 to 1977.

August 7, 2026Modern China

Pulling Strings at the Margins: Blind Storytellers and the Politics of Survival in Socialist China, 1938–1977

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This article examines blind storytellers' roles in socialist governance, revealing dynamics of inclusion and exclusion in China.

The research aims to analyze the role of blind storytellers within the Chinese Communist Party's revolutionary framework from 1938 to 1977.
Utilized local archives and oral histories to gather data.
Examined the societal impact of blind storytellers' labor and mobility in rural Southeast Shanxi during the defined period.
Analyzed the reclassification of these storytellers in relation to socialist labor regimes.
Blind storytellers were initially seen as effective propagandists but later reclassified to welfare-dependent subjects.
Their physical mobility and endurance highlighted contradictions within socialist labor systems focused on productivity.
The study illuminated how revolutionary inclusion led to new forms of social differentiation and exclusion.

Yi Ren (2026) studied this question.

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