Chinese Party Keeps a Firm Grip on History Books

"Social Progress in the Minority Regions": The exhibition in the Palace of Nationalities has drawn hordes of visitors. Big, bright photos of happy people in Tibet, Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia adorn the walls. Young women wearing national dress guide the visitors through the exhibition.

Harmony and economic progress are at the fore of the events to mark the 60th anniversary of the foundation of the People’s Republic of China. Controversial themes are nowhere to be seen. There is no talk about the pro-autonomy movements in Tibet or Xinjiang.

But the visitors are not complaining. "We can see the economic development of China in the past few years and it’s really very good," one of them says. "As far as I know, it’s only people outside China who want Tibet or Xinjiang to be independent."

History as an instrument of party propaganda

Controversial themes are also omitted in history books. Nowhere is the bloody suppression of the democracy movement in 1989 mentioned. The Cultural Revolution might be mentioned fleetingly. The Great Leap Forward that triggered a catastrophic famine at the end of the 1950s gets a passing mention only but nowhere can the number of victims be found.

Journalist Li Datong has nothing good to say about the Communist Party although he was a member for years. "At the moment, all depictions of history in the People’s Republic are lies. There is not one ounce of truth," Li says. "The party controls every single aspect of the depiction of history in the media. This includes schoolbooks, newspapers, film, radio and television, literature and art -- all media."

Historians and journalists also conduct their own form of self-censorship. Especially when it comes to the state’s founder Mao Zedong. On People’s Daily Online, the milestones of the past 60 years -- including the so-called "peaceful liberation of Tibet" in 1951 -- have been listed but there is nothing about what happened on the domestic front until 1978 -- two years after Mao’s death.

Making, not telling history

Xiao Yanzhong from the Marxism Institute at the University of Beijing explains: "History is not told here, it is made. Anything that sheds a negative light on the government is left aside and everything positive is highlighted. Small things are turned into big events and other events are played down."

A new film has been screened across the country for the past few days: "The Foundation of a Republic". The bombastic two-and-a-half-hour long drama depicts the Communist Party as the saviour of the Chinese people and Mao Zedong as a talented military strategist. It ends with the announcement of the People’s Republic on 1st October 1949. Critics say that the film serves only to idealise Mao and the Party. Nonetheless, people are flocking to the cinemas.

Author: Ruth Kirchner / Anne Thomas
Editor: Thomas Bärthlein