The power was off, schools and shops were closed, and the streets were largely deserted in Gancheng Village, Hainan Province on Thursday following a series of clashes with the neighboring village of Baoshang that have left one person dead and 13 injured.

The power was off, schools and shops were closed, and the streets were largely deserted in Gancheng Village, Hainan Province on Thursday following a series of clashes with the neighboring village of Baoshang that have left one person dead and 13 injured.

The Hainan Provincial Public Security Department dispatched more than 300 police to maintain order and search for instigators of the violence. As of Thursday, some dozens of the officers were patrolling a bridge that connects the two villages, in an effort to separate the two groups. Some 100 local officials have been trying to calm residents.

The two villages in China's southernmost province, each with about 10,000 people, have feuded for some 80 years over farmland that lies on their mutual border, and this dispute has created a simmering antagonism.

However, the disputes this week, which have been far more violent than most, reflect other, newer causes, according to Xinhua correspondents who have been investigating the dispute.

School bullying, corruption claims

One problem has been that students from Baoshang, who attend schools in Gancheng, have been bullied and subjected to demands for money. The two groups of students have brawled frequently, but not usually violently.

Gancheng gets many students from surrounding villages, but problems have only occurred with those from Baoshang, the correspondent found. On Monday, one student from Gancheng itself was subjected to a revenge attack by Baoshang students, villagers claim.

Another problem is that residents of both villages claim there has been corruption among local officials, with public money embezzled. Although these claims don't directly involve the relationship between the villages, anger with this situation helped fuel the dispute this week.