A book written by Distinguished Professor Wang Di from the University of Macau (UM) Department of History, namely Violence and Order on the Chengdu Plain: The Story of a Secret Brotherhood in Rural China, 1939-1949, recently received the Academic Excellence Award from the Chinese Historians in the United States and the Best Book Award from the Association for the Studies of Chinese Secret Societies. The book also entered various best book rankings in 2018.

In Violence and Order on the Chengdu Plain: The Story of a Secret Brotherhood in Rural China, 1939-1949, Prof Wang uses a murder case that took place in 1939 in rural Chengdu to examine the history, culture, and organisation of the Gowned Brothers and reveal the structure of local power during that time. By studying the complex relationship between the Gowned Brothers and the Chinese Communist Party, he offers a unique perspective on China's transition to socialism and how new movements and ideologies helped shape contemporary China.