From Counterinsurgency to National Defence: Walling Villages in Modern Chinese Wars 1931–1937

Walling villages as a method of protecting rural residents and mobilising them to contain social violence was a state strategy applied in counterinsurgent wars of late imperial China. This article contends that the Nationalists repurposed and vigorously advocated the strategy of walling villages to eliminate Communists during the 1930s. As the military threat from Japan became increasingly imminent, walling villages was adapted to the demands of national defence and had a profound impact on China's preparations for a potential invasion.