A variety of evidence from different sources and perspectives confirms the trend that, since the 1990s, social protest in China has risen dramatically. Some of the most frequently cited data come from the Public Security Ministry about “collective incidents” (quntixing shijian). According to this source, 87,000 collective incidents took place in 2005, as compared to 74,000 in 2004, 58,000 in 2003, and about 10,000 in 1994. Although this data is relatively reliable, it offers too little information for us to properly analyze the trend of social protest. For example, it is not clear how the Public Security Ministry defines “collective incidents.” It is quite possible that this term is broader than social protests, encompassing other social disturbances such as intervillage strife, but we cannot know for sure.

This book will rely mainly on data collected from the xinfang (letters and visits) system. Such data have two significant advantages. First, although xinfang data are generally regarded as sensitive, they are more accessible than similarly sensitive data from public safety bureaus. Many local xinfang bureaus have published part of their data, and xinfang officials are more willing to talk to interviewers. Consequently, we can know not only the contents of their reports and findings but also get a better idea of how such data have been collected and processed.