I give China a lot of credit for opening itself up to this sort of examination.
The frightened figure in the picture is a Chinese opera star. His hair is grasped tightly in a Red Guard’s fist and he is being denounced during the Cultural Revolution, the ideological frenzy which destroyed millions of lives in China between 1966 and 1976.
The image is one of hundreds of engravings on cold grey tablets that make up the exhibits in China’s first Cultural Revolution museum, near the industrial port city of Shantou in the Guangdong district.
“There is Chinese proverb which says you should use history as a mirror,” Peng Qian, a former deputy mayor of Shantou, said. Mr Peng, who was himself persecuted by Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution, was the main driving force in setting up the museum last year.
“The message is that history is a warning to us not to make the same mistake twice. We don’t want to go back down that same path. We’re getting about 1,000 visitors a day at this museum and it’s extremely important in education terms, inspiring in fact,” Mr Peng said.
…The museum’s caretaker, Du Mubo, said the museum is proving to be popular. “China’s very different now and we get all kinds of visitors,” Mr Du said.
One visitor, who asked not to be named, said she was born in 1966 and was too small to know what was going on. “But this museum is very meaningful. We need more places like this so Chinese people can know our country’s history,” she said.
Can China do more to let the Chinese people know about its history? Yes, it can do a lot more. But there’s no question this is a positive step. At a time when nearly all the news about transparency in China has been bad, this is a much-needed breath of fresh air, and I can only hope that it helps the leaders see that knowledge and openness are good things, and that a better educated populace will make China stronger, not weaker.
I always say that when there is good news to be told about China, I’ll be the first to provide a showcase. This is good news, and I hope I have more and more opportunities to show the nobler side of China. There are multiple forces at play in the ruling party, tectonic plates pushing up against one another. If there is enough pressure on the “good plates,” more and more stories like this will come to the surface.
Update: I knew I had written about this museum some time ago, but I just went back and revisited my old post. It adds another dimension to this story, and I’m sorry I didn’t think of linking to it earlier.
1
By chester
Ok, can we focus a little closer?
Where is the museum?
Who is behind the museum? What maybe the intention?
How is the museum curated?
What real goals are being set?
I really caution something like this, given the brief report. It maybe a first “positive” baby step”, it is not anywhere close to ground breaking. In fact, something like this may actually become a set back. Can we be a little bit more patient first?
February 20, 2006 @ 9:19 pm | Comment
2
By G.
Has the museum a website?
February 20, 2006 @ 9:28 pm | Comment
3
By richard
It’s in Shantou. Go here for my earlier post on it.
February 20, 2006 @ 9:44 pm | Comment
4
By richard
Apparently the museum’s become a lot more popular since my last post, which quite honestly I’d forgotten about.
February 20, 2006 @ 9:47 pm | Comment
5
By Kevin
I’ve been meaning to go there for some time now. It’s just that Shantou isn’t an area I pass through often… or, ever.
February 20, 2006 @ 10:39 pm | Comment
6
By Feng 37
Yeah, nobody goes to Shantou. I’ve been planning on going there for sometime. I think a few days in Shantou and Chaozhou would make an excellent vacation. Something about small, seaside cities…
February 21, 2006 @ 1:04 am | Comment
7
By Raj
Richard, I don’t see this as a positive step when it comes to the government. After all this is pretty much a “private” enterprise. This was not funded by the State in any real way and there have not been any names going there.
This shows that honest Chinese are interested in their past, but only that the CCP is reasonably secure in their position that they don’t feel the need to close it. It doesn’t mean they’re going to re-evaluate their past actions at all (Mao especially).
February 21, 2006 @ 2:59 pm | Comment
8
By richard
They’re at least encouraging examination of their past – or at least allowing it. That’s a step, isn’t it?
February 21, 2006 @ 4:58 pm | Comment
9
By China_hand
Richard, I don’t see this as a positive step when it comes to the government. After all this is pretty much a “private” enterprise. This was not funded by the State in any real way and there have not been any names going there.
This shows that honest Chinese are interested in their past, but only that the CCP is reasonably secure in their position that they don’t feel the need to close it. It doesn’t mean they’re going to re-evaluate their past actions at all (Mao especially).
When I read the title of this thread, I knew that before long, someone would appear from the dark and spew a few things like those above.
Next time Richard should start a thread called “Chinese food very popular in the United States”, and wait for someone to come out and say “But let’s not forget Chinese food is high in msg and sodium, and the CCP has destroyed many fine traditional Chinese cooking.”
February 21, 2006 @ 5:58 pm | Comment
10
By Skystreaker
I’m glad there is some real exposure to this now within China. Hopefully it won’t get closed down.
February 21, 2006 @ 6:20 pm | Comment
11
By Shanghai Slim
A welcome step!
But where the hell is Shantou? Forgive my ignorance, but does anyone visit that place?
Maybe the museum is in Shantou for the same reason the Museum of Chinese Sexual History (great museum!) was forced to move from Shanghai to some cow-town. :-\
February 21, 2006 @ 10:34 pm | Comment
12
By Raj
Hand
And I had a feeling that you would try to deflect from the fact that this has nothing to do with the Chinese State being interested in re-evaluating its history. Or should Chinese bow and scrape to the CCP because they don’t close it down at all?
February 22, 2006 @ 3:19 am | Comment
13
By Skystreaker
China_hand doesn’t seem to be disagreeing with the concept that the museum does not show progress in part of the CCP government.
It seems more like an emotional whining about being reminded that Mao/CCP really screwed China up with the Cultural Revolution.
February 22, 2006 @ 12:05 pm | Comment
14
By ACB
“there’s no question this is a positive step”
I haven’t seen the muesum yet myself, but I would advise caution – any sugar coatings that this museum puts on will stick.
February 23, 2006 @ 5:21 am | Comment
15
By Passerby
Has no one visited the museum at all?
It’s not that remote people, Chenghai makes a large portion of world’s toys and Shantou is one of the four special economic zones in Guangdong. Your kid’s Barbie might be from Chenghai. And the park where the museum is located is probably the oldest tourist attraction of Chenghai. Every Chenghai citizen knows about it…
Anyway I live in Shantou and went there last year, just put up some pictures today.(I thought there should be plenty online already…)
If you’re interested, go to http://www.xanga.com/hazyechoes
May 2, 2006 @ 8:07 am | Comment