The propaganda department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has always had an official narrative about the “first 30 years” or the tragic history of the Cultural Revolution, which is based on the argument of the late CPC leader Deng Xiaoping in the 1970s, who rejected Mao Zedong’s line of “class struggle as the platform” and then proposed the line of “economic construction as the center”. “In the Party, Deng Xiaoping insisted that Mao’s “merits outweighed his faults”, i.e., seven percent of the merits and three percent of the faults, but in any case, in general, he was negative about the Cultural Revolution. In the Party, Deng Xiaoping insisted that Mao Zedong’s “merits outweighed his faults”, i.e., seven percent of merits and three percent of faults.
But when Xi Jinping came to power, the Communist Party’s propaganda caliber began to change, and last week, on April 20, Zhuang Rongwen, vice minister of the Communist Party’s Central Propaganda Department and director of the State Internet Information Office, presided over a study class on the topic of Party history learning and education, and put forward a new set of historical theories.
The Xinhua News Agency summed up the meeting this way: “The 27 years between the founding of New China and the end of the Cultural Revolution were the 27 years in which the Party led the people of all nationalities to struggle hard, to be indignant, to explore actively, and to make great achievements in socialist revolution and construction. Although this period was full of hardships and twists, and even encountered major setbacks, it was generally a period of advancement in exploration and development in the midst of twists and turns, with remarkable achievements, including the full establishment of the basic system of socialism, the beginning of comprehensive socialist construction and the achievement of historic progress, the gradual exploration of a socialist construction path suitable for China’s conditions and the achievement of important positive results, and the creation of an environment conducive to socialist construction. international peaceful environment, and provided valuable experience, theoretical preparation, and material foundation for creating socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new historical period.”
There is a huge difference from the official discourse that appeared in the mainstream media and on the Internet in the past. The new discourse gives full recognition to the first three decades, with special emphasis on “providing valuable experience, theoretical preparation, and material foundation for the creation of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new historical period,” instead of being mainly critical and negative, as some past discourses were, with emphasis on individual mistakes. This is in sharp contrast to some discourses that attribute the blame for the Cultural Revolution to individual mistakes and equate historical cases with the whole history, as was common in past academics.
The prevailing view is that the first 30 years of Mao’s reign were characterized by social and economic decay, which is a far cry from the latter 30 years of reform and opening up. But according to the latest claims of the Communist Party’s propaganda system, the first 30 years are linked to the second 30, and it is now established that the achievements of reform and opening up are based on the “valuable experience, theoretical preparation, and material foundation” of the first 30 years.
Maoist scholars show excitement over new version of Party history
Zhang Hongliang, a Maoist scholar on the mainland, wrote on April 27 that the new 2021 edition of A Brief History of the Communist Party of China has made a qualitative breakthrough and leap forward compared to previous old editions on a range of issues such as affirming Chairman Mao’s great leadership role in the Chinese revolution, not like some past discourses that were mainly critical of denial and focused on personal mistakes. This is in sharp contrast to some discourses that attribute the responsibility of the Cultural Revolution to individual mistakes and equate historical cases with the whole history, as was common in the academic circles in the past.
Zhang Hongliang says that the most significant breakthrough of the new version of the Party history is that for the first time in 40 years, the great achievements of the 27 years from the founding of the country to the end of the Cultural Revolution are fully affirmed, and for the first time, there is no more mention of “turmoil” or “catastrophe” when talking about this period of history. Deng Xiaoping’s words are no longer used to deny the Cultural Revolution as in previous Party histories, but to affirm that this period has established China’s status and influence as a great nation. This is also the first time that Deng Xiaoping’s words are used in the Party History to affirm the achievements of the Cultural Revolution. Another feature of the new edition of the Party History is that it is not written by a specific unit, as in the past, but is signed by the “This Book Writing Team”, which was common during the Cultural Revolution and often indicates the extraordinary weight of the book, and is probably the first time after the Cultural Revolution.
Now with the central propaganda system setting the tone, it can be expected that this year, the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party, the tone of propaganda and all activities have been set, and the next central to local, from universities to kindergartens, from south to north or east to west, 1.4 billion people will face the overwhelming red education and brainwashing project.
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