Chinese Communist Party Keeps Rewriting History, But History Cannot Be Changed
May 4, 2021 | By Yi Ran
History as a fait accompli is something we can only learn from, but not alter. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), however, has been altering history to its own advantage since it took power in 1949. The Chinese civilization dates back at least 5,000 years, so the history of China is not the same as the brief history of the CCP, which is a fact that the CCP is unable to change.
The CCP, though, has never stopped attempting to rewrite history in order to brainwash the Chinese people, especially the younger generations, with the communism ideology, to strike fear in their minds and strengthen its totalitarian rule. The latest revision to the CCP’s history, including removing political movement tragedies and whitewashing the Cultural Revolution from its history books, is one such example.
According to Sing Tao Daily and other news media, the most recent version of the History of the Chinese Communist Party released this February has eliminated contents such as zhengfeng (or “rectification” targeting people with different opinions than the CCP), fanyou (Anti-Rightist), Great Leap Forward, and people’s commune. The damage of the Cultural Revolution was also brushed off, and the resulting havoc was claimed as an initiative to oppose corruption and elite groups.
In this article, we will look into this topic and explain why such a narrative is misleading. In fact, the Cultural Revolution was a catastrophe, both culturally and politically. It fostered corruption and the CCP’s elite class, which continues to exploit Chinese people to this day.
Unprecedented Cultural Catastrophe
China has a long history of about 5,000 years, and Beijing was the capital of several dynasties. But an initiative known the “Destroy the Four Olds” (Old Ideas, Old Culture, Old Habits, and Old Customs) was launched in Beijing at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution in 1966. Led by extreme students known as Red Guards, it was essentially a mess of destroying heritage sites, objects, beating people, and ransacking homes. It soon spread to the entirety of China and caused immeasurable losses.
Over 114,000 households in Beijing were ransacked at the time, including 1,061 in Fusuijing Residential District alone. Robbed books, artworks, and archaeological objects were burned for eight days. More than 2.35 million ancient books, along with nearly 4 million calligraphy and artworks, and antique furniture were confiscated in Beijing alone. Many artworks in the Summer Palace, an invaluable imperial garden of the Qing Dynasty, were also destroyed.
Similar things happened in Shanghai and other cities. A 7-foot tall Buddha statue along with about 1,000 small statues in renowned Longhua Temple were smashed into pieces. A statue even had its head chopped off. But the CCP officials simply shrugged it off. “Households of 100,000 capitalists were ransacked [in Shanghai],” commented then premier Zhou Enlai, implying that these enemies-of-the-state deserved such treatment.
Across China, about ten million such households were ransacked. Countless tragedies happened to historical sites throughout China, and numerous scholars, celebrities, and ordinary citizens were targeted, and some even killed.
A well-known writer named Qin Mu once said, “This is an unprecedented catastrophe. Millions of people were targeted and died, numerous families were broken apart with youths turning into hooligans, countless books were burned, and historical sites were ruined. Even graves of ancestors were dug up and so many crimes had been carried out in the name of revolution.”
But such killings, arsons, looting, robberies, and damage to history and culture is now labeled by the CCP as an anti-corruption campaign. (To view the whole article visite the link below)
https://en.minghui.org/html/articles.../4/192177.html
May 4, 2021 | By Yi Ran
History as a fait accompli is something we can only learn from, but not alter. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), however, has been altering history to its own advantage since it took power in 1949. The Chinese civilization dates back at least 5,000 years, so the history of China is not the same as the brief history of the CCP, which is a fact that the CCP is unable to change.
The CCP, though, has never stopped attempting to rewrite history in order to brainwash the Chinese people, especially the younger generations, with the communism ideology, to strike fear in their minds and strengthen its totalitarian rule. The latest revision to the CCP’s history, including removing political movement tragedies and whitewashing the Cultural Revolution from its history books, is one such example.
According to Sing Tao Daily and other news media, the most recent version of the History of the Chinese Communist Party released this February has eliminated contents such as zhengfeng (or “rectification” targeting people with different opinions than the CCP), fanyou (Anti-Rightist), Great Leap Forward, and people’s commune. The damage of the Cultural Revolution was also brushed off, and the resulting havoc was claimed as an initiative to oppose corruption and elite groups.
In this article, we will look into this topic and explain why such a narrative is misleading. In fact, the Cultural Revolution was a catastrophe, both culturally and politically. It fostered corruption and the CCP’s elite class, which continues to exploit Chinese people to this day.
Unprecedented Cultural Catastrophe
China has a long history of about 5,000 years, and Beijing was the capital of several dynasties. But an initiative known the “Destroy the Four Olds” (Old Ideas, Old Culture, Old Habits, and Old Customs) was launched in Beijing at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution in 1966. Led by extreme students known as Red Guards, it was essentially a mess of destroying heritage sites, objects, beating people, and ransacking homes. It soon spread to the entirety of China and caused immeasurable losses.
Over 114,000 households in Beijing were ransacked at the time, including 1,061 in Fusuijing Residential District alone. Robbed books, artworks, and archaeological objects were burned for eight days. More than 2.35 million ancient books, along with nearly 4 million calligraphy and artworks, and antique furniture were confiscated in Beijing alone. Many artworks in the Summer Palace, an invaluable imperial garden of the Qing Dynasty, were also destroyed.
Similar things happened in Shanghai and other cities. A 7-foot tall Buddha statue along with about 1,000 small statues in renowned Longhua Temple were smashed into pieces. A statue even had its head chopped off. But the CCP officials simply shrugged it off. “Households of 100,000 capitalists were ransacked [in Shanghai],” commented then premier Zhou Enlai, implying that these enemies-of-the-state deserved such treatment.
Across China, about ten million such households were ransacked. Countless tragedies happened to historical sites throughout China, and numerous scholars, celebrities, and ordinary citizens were targeted, and some even killed.
A well-known writer named Qin Mu once said, “This is an unprecedented catastrophe. Millions of people were targeted and died, numerous families were broken apart with youths turning into hooligans, countless books were burned, and historical sites were ruined. Even graves of ancestors were dug up and so many crimes had been carried out in the name of revolution.”
But such killings, arsons, looting, robberies, and damage to history and culture is now labeled by the CCP as an anti-corruption campaign. (To view the whole article visite the link below)
https://en.minghui.org/html/articles.../4/192177.html