Battle for China's Past : Mao and the Cultural Revolution

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6 How a medical doctor doctors history: a case study of Li Zhisui Introduction: expatriate Chinese memories – a literary phenomenon As a source for the interpretation and understanding of China’s contemporary politics and society in general and of the Chinese Cultural Revolution in particular, memoirs and biographies written by the Chinese themselves have drawn increasing attention from Western academics. 1 The impact that Nien Cheng (1987) Yuan Ming (1994), Li Zhisui (1994) and Jung Chang (1991) have had in the West clearly demonstrates the importance of this genre. One of the most comprehensive monographs on the Cultural Revolution in English, by Barbara Barnouin and Yu Changgen (1993), relies heavily on the memoir and biography literature and claims to have corrected a few Western misperceptions of the Cultural Revolution. Doctor Li Zhisui’s memoirs have created a stir in the West. Even the respectable academic journal, The China Journal (formerly called The Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs) invited Anne Thurston, David Bachman, Lucian Pye and Geremie Barmé for a special discussion of Li’s book in its No. 35 (January) 1996 issue. As for Jung Chang’s Wild Swans, its popularity is phenomenal. It sold more than 5 million copies worldwide in more than two dozen languages and became the ‘biggest grossing non-fiction paperback in publication history’ (Kong Shuyu 1997). Many schools and universities use the book as a textbook of modern China. But greater impact does not necessarily mean better understanding. As one personal friend, Cathy Farnworth, who learned Chinese and worked in China commented, someone who did not know anything about China would hate the country after reading Chang’s book. Writings by those Chinese outside China who were participants in contemporary Chinese history are understandably valued by Western scholars. Having settled in the West, these so-called expatriates can write about events that they had participated in without obvious political censorship. The underlying assumption is that they could tell the truth without external pressure. These writers can therefore provide an ‘insider’ knowledge that a Western writer [ 97 ]
THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST does not have. The main aim of this chapter is, by a case study, to demonstrate that we are well advised not to take at face value the accounts by former Chinese who now reside in the West. We have to be aware of their backgrounds, their personal interests and prejudices in the production of our knowledge of history. Memories and the politics of knowledge production As an indication of personal interest in constructing history we may first take Yuan Ming as an example. The fact that Yuan (1994) idealizes Hu Yaobang, the General Secretary of the CCP during the first years of post-Mao reform, should not be surprising since the latter was his patron and protector at the height of their careers. That one’s personal past is at stake is only one aspect of the production of knowledge. There is also another aspect of knowledge production: what is expected to be well received. We have to be aware of the politics of the market. Writers such as Jung Chang may turn ‘their experience into recognizable stories that satisfy the expectations of a Western public’, and a ‘literature of suffering’ that ‘moulded through outraged victimization and a broad generational consensus, and simultaneously as an affirmation of a superior Western way of life’ (Zarrow 1999: 166–67). Like the film Raise the Red Lantern directed By Zhang Yimou, which invented scenes of Chinese tradition to suit the West’s curiosity – the kind of scenes that would puzzle the Chinese themselves – the tendency of the post-Mao literature and arts professionals to commercialize Western voyeurism of the Orient is too obvious to ignore. Though Li’s memoirs have been widely reviewed (Mirsky 1994, Young 1994, Bernstein 1994, Link 1994, Wills 1994, Elegant 1994, Buruma 1995 and Teiwes 1996), Li deserves a case study for two reasons. The first is that the image of Mao propagated in the book needs to be corrected. The second is that we need to look at the production process to reveal at least some aspects of how knowledge of contemporary China is manufactured in the West. Let us start with the academics. Two of the Western scholars involved in the production of the book are not just obscure academics working at some obscure topic in isolation but influential public intellectuals propagating ways to change China. One of them is Andrew Nathan who has served: on the Advisory Committee of Human Rights Watch, Asia, and on the board of Human Rights in China. He is frequently interviewed about East Asian issues in print and electronic media, and he has served as an advisor to several film documentaries [ 98 ]
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’S PAST
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First published 2008 by Pluto Press
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Contents Acknowledgements xi Introd
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CONTENTS History as doctored by the
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Acknowledgements This book has been
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST posi
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST and
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST of s
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Thro
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Anhu
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST More
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Cult
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST lead
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST been
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Mima
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memory? Who is able to tell her/his
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Ther
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST irre
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literally means ‘beautiful countr
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST beca
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST posi
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST It i
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Page 61 and 62: 3 Constructing history: memoirs, au
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Page 65 and 66: Lin Biao. Recently, however, Liu Yu
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Page 79 and 80: Whether it’s the news that Mao ne
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Page 89 and 90: Red Army let go by Chiang THE BATTL
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Page 95 and 96: such a scale take place simply as a
Page 97 and 98: the Great Leap hype. By doing this
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Page 115 and 116: was written by Li himself. In an Op
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Page 147 and 148: the broad masses of people. The pro
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Page 151 and 152: was in a chaotic situation (hunluan
Page 153 and 154: Debates on comparisons Ever since t
Page 155 and 156: through him. It turned out that wha
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content of newspaper reports of tha
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prejudices against women. One accus
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an essay in English in praise of th
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would also argue that the increase
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST clim
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST •
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economically or both)? Obviously th
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Brutal taxes and levies The Ding st
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central government was to collect v
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST taki
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destruction of the collective syste
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five days was legal and people toil
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST tage
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST In t
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST on e
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST sign
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST priv
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST exte
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Social stratification THE BATTLE FO
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virtually impossible. Indeed, some
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Seei
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST that
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST unde
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST The
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documentation it was his decision t
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The fact that rural Chinese did not
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Notes Chapter 1 This chapter is an
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST 5. L
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Faxian (2006), appear occasionally
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST (whi
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST 6. T
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Chun
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Jian
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Ma Y
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST suzh
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST yi k
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Bibliography Ai Ming (2007), ‘Shi
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST save
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Chin
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Deng
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Feng
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST faes
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Tony
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Kahn
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST -- (
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Li Z
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST reco
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Mill
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Ping
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Schm
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Spen
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST are
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Cult
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST mile
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Yang
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST lunt
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THE BATTLE FOR CHINA’ S PAST Zhen
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Index agriculture, 14, 19, 24, 36,
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Halliday, Jon, 2, 4, 10, 11, 65-73,
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Vietnam War, 40, 145 Wang Dongxing,
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