「云贵高原反强制火葬运动以及当下集体抗争态势（2025.11.25）」在中国西南的云贵高原，由农民自发组织的“反强制火葬运动”已持续近一个月，并呈现除进一步扩散的趋势。11月25日，云南昭通镇雄县与贵州贵阳息烽县分别出现数以千计的村民聚集事件，公开抗议地方当局推进的强制火化政策。
在云南昭通镇雄县中屯镇青山村，继本月初发生上千村民强行突破政府人员阻拦，护送逝者土葬的事件后。本周二，上千村民再次集结，为另一名逝去的老人举行土葬仪式。与月初不同的是，此次当地政府甚至未敢派出人员阻拦。村民们一路高喊“坚决不火葬”口号，顺利完成了仪式。
在贵州贵阳息烽县石垌镇木杉村，村民为防止政府进村“抢尸”强制火化，自14天前便开始集体驻守在墓地周围。随着事件在网络扩散，村民们的行动引发了强烈关注，不仅石垌镇18个村均有村民到场抗议，邻近乡镇，甚至附近县市的民众也陆续赶到现场声援。周二当天，现场人数一度达到约2000人。直至当晚，仍有上千人在现场坚守，形成了近年来罕见的能持续十余日的大规模集体抗争行动。而就在几天前，离木杉村仅数公里的石垌镇水头村村民，甚至还包围了要求交出死者遗体的息烽县副县长强勇，并最终逼退官方人员。
近年来，仍能形成一定规模的群体性事件，主要集中在中小城市和广大农村地区。蒲城、宁陵、江油等大规模抗争发生于县城或县级市；而杨大召、张宝山、安龙、琼中等事件，以及此次云贵高原的反强制火葬运动，则集中在农村。这种空间分布与“白纸运动”之后的社会环境密切相关。在大城市，中共依托大数据监控体系、强化社会管控，并持续加大维稳投入，使得大规模集体行动几乎绝迹；但在地域广阔、人口分散的农村地区，当局难以投入同等强度的维稳资源与监控密度，因而成了群体抗争事件高发区。同时，相较于深度嵌入体制或依赖城市体系生活的市民阶层，农民受制度约束相对较弱，在核心利益受到侵害时，抗争意志往往更为坚决。加之农村地区仍保留一定的宗族结构，社区内部的组织力和动员力相对更强。另外，随着智能手机、私家车等的普及，农村社会的互联性显著提升，加速了事件的跨区域扩散，这一点在近些年的大规模群体抗争事件中表现明显。
随着经济的持续下行，大量农民将不得不返回农村，他们不仅带回了失业的焦虑和生存的压力，也带回了更广阔的视野和维权意识。预计在未来几年，农村地区以及小型城市的集体抗争事件将会持续高发。中共最近提出的“防止规模性返乡”口号，恰恰反映了他们对这一风险的焦虑。
“Anti–Forced Cremation Movement on the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau and the Current Landscape of Collective Resistance (Nov. 25, 2025)”
On the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau in southwest China, a farmer-led “anti–forced cremation movement” has been ongoing for nearly a month, and is showing signs of further escalation. On November 25, thousands of villagers gathered separately in Zhenxiong County of Zhaotong, Yunnan, and Xifeng County of Guiyang, Guizhou, to openly protest local authorities’ push for mandatory cremation policies.
In Qingshan Village of Zhongtun Town, Zhenxiong County, Yunnan, more than a thousand villagers clashed with authorities earlier this month as they forced their way through official blockades to bury a deceased villager according to traditional customs. On Tuesday, over a thousand villagers assembled again to hold another burial ceremony for an elderly resident. Unlike the incident earlier this month, local officials did not even attempt to intervene. Villagers marched while chanting “We firmly oppose cremation” and completed the ceremony without obstruction.
In Mushan Village of Shidong Town, Xifeng County, Guizhou, villagers have been guarding the cemetery around the clock for 14 consecutive days to prevent the government from entering the village to “seize bodies” for forced cremation. As videos of the standoff circulated online, the action drew widespread attention. Villagers from all 18 villages in Shidong Town, as well as residents from nearby towns and even neighboring counties and cities, flocked to the site in support. On Tuesday, the crowd at one point reached roughly 2,000 people. By that evening, over a thousand villagers were still holding their ground—making it one of the rare large-scale collective actions in recent years capable of sustaining itself for more than ten days. Just days earlier, in Shuitou Village only a few kilometers away, villagers even surrounded Xifeng County’s deputy magistrate, Qiang Yong, demanding that he return a deceased villager’s body, ultimately forcing officials to retreat.
In recent years, the limited number of collective actions that still manage to reach significant scale have been concentrated mainly in small and medium-sized cities as well as rural areas. Large protests in Pucheng, Ningling, and Jiangyou occurred in county seats or county-level cities; while incidents such as Yang Dazhao, Zhang Baoshan, Anlong, Qiongzhong—and now the anti-cremation movement on the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau—have all erupted in rural regions. This spatial distribution is closely related to the social environment shaped after the “White Paper Movement.” In major cities, the CCP increasingly relies on extensive data-driven surveillance systems, strengthened social control, and expanding stability-maintenance budgets, making large-scale collective actions almost impossible. In contrast, rural areas—with vast territories and dispersed populations—are far more difficult for the state to monitor and police with equal intensity, thus becoming hotspots for collective resistance. Moreover, compared to urban residents who are deeply embedded in institutional structures, farmers face fewer systemic constraints and often show stronger resolve when core interests are infringed upon. Rural communities also retain certain clan-based networks, giving them stronger internal organization and mobilization capacity. Additionally, with the spread of smartphones and private vehicles, rural society has become far more interconnected, accelerating cross-regional information flow—something increasingly visible in major collective actions in recent years.
As China’s economic downturn continues, large numbers of migrant workers are expected to return to their home villages. They will bring back not only unemployment pressures and livelihood anxieties, but also broader perspectives and heightened rights-awareness. As a result, collective protests in rural regions and smaller cities are expected to remain frequent in the coming years. The CCP’s recent slogan calling to “prevent large-scale return migration” is itself a reflection of the authorities’ growing anxiety over this risk.