Never Forget National Humiliation: Historical Memory In Chinese Politics And Foreign Relations (contemporary Asia In The World)
by Zheng Wang /
2014 / English / EPUB
20.1 MB Download
How could the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) not only survive but
even thrive, regaining the support of many Chinese citizens after
the Tiananmen Square crackdown of 1989? Why has popular sentiment
turned toward anti-Western nationalism despite the
anti-dictatorship democratic movements of the 1980s? And why has
China been more assertive toward the United States and Japan in
foreign policy but relatively conciliatory toward smaller countries
in conflict?
How could the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) not only survive but
even thrive, regaining the support of many Chinese citizens after
the Tiananmen Square crackdown of 1989? Why has popular sentiment
turned toward anti-Western nationalism despite the
anti-dictatorship democratic movements of the 1980s? And why has
China been more assertive toward the United States and Japan in
foreign policy but relatively conciliatory toward smaller countries
in conflict?
Offering an explanation for these unexpected trends, Zheng Wang
follows the Communist government's ideological reeducation of the
public, which relentlessly portrays China as the victim of foreign
imperialist bullying during "one hundred years of humiliation." By
concentrating on the telling and teaching of history in today's
China, Wang illuminates the thinking of the young patriots who will
lead this rising power in the twenty-first century.
Offering an explanation for these unexpected trends, Zheng Wang
follows the Communist government's ideological reeducation of the
public, which relentlessly portrays China as the victim of foreign
imperialist bullying during "one hundred years of humiliation." By
concentrating on the telling and teaching of history in today's
China, Wang illuminates the thinking of the young patriots who will
lead this rising power in the twenty-first century.
Wang visits China's primary schools and memory sites and reads its
history textbooks, arguing that China's rise should not be viewed
through a single lens, such as economics or military growth, but
from a more comprehensive perspective that takes national identity
and domestic discourse into account. Since it is the prime raw
material for constructing China's national identity, historical
memory is the key to unlocking the inner mystery of the Chinese.
From this vantage point, Wang tracks the CCP's use of history
education to glorify the party, reestablish its legitimacy,
consolidate national identity, and justify one-party rule in the
post-Tiananmen and post–Cold War era. The institutionalization of
this manipulated historical consciousness now directs political
discourse and foreign policy, and Wang demonstrates its important
role in China's rise.
Wang visits China's primary schools and memory sites and reads its
history textbooks, arguing that China's rise should not be viewed
through a single lens, such as economics or military growth, but
from a more comprehensive perspective that takes national identity
and domestic discourse into account. Since it is the prime raw
material for constructing China's national identity, historical
memory is the key to unlocking the inner mystery of the Chinese.
From this vantage point, Wang tracks the CCP's use of history
education to glorify the party, reestablish its legitimacy,
consolidate national identity, and justify one-party rule in the
post-Tiananmen and post–Cold War era. The institutionalization of
this manipulated historical consciousness now directs political
discourse and foreign policy, and Wang demonstrates its important
role in China's rise.