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

DEBATING THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION
troupes saw a drop in their numbers during the Cultural Revolution,
from 3,458 in 1965 to 2,906 in 1976. But these figures do not include the
unregistered unofficial theatre troupes that were created and active in
rural China, like the one I experienced in Gao Village.
More importantly, educated youth and many other Chinese read
many literary works that they were not supposed to read, such as works
by Russian writers, revolutionary or otherwise (Wang Jianzhao 2002).
They not only read extensively but they also created their own literature.
Artists like Mang Ke and Duo Duo, both now known in the West, wrote
and worked creatively during the Cultural Revolution. Others include
Bei Dao, Yan Li, Yan Xiaoqing, Peng Gang, Shi Baojia and Yue Zhong.
Another example of collective creativity is the Han Ying cidian
(Chinese–English Dictionary) compiled by a group of academics who
worked collectively at the Beijing Foreign Language Institute for ten
years. First published in 1978, the dictionary, in my opinion, remains the
best of its kind inside or outside China, past or present.
The objects on display at the exhibition in Seattle are evidence that
there was an upsurge of creativity among the popular masses during
the Cultural Revolution. The chopsticks holder, for instance, is a beautiful
piece of art. It is itself made of chopsticks and reflects the
tremendous resourcefulness of the labouring Chinese. It is cheap to
make and it is practical. Moreover, it cleverly combines the content
(chopsticks holder) with the form (chopsticks). If we treasure art and
artefacts that have been inspired by religions – institutions with brutal
and murderous records – and if we value modern artefacts that are
driven by commercialism, then I do not see why we should denigrate
the value of art from the Chinese Cultural Revolution just because it
came out of a political movement. Culture is not an abstract entity. It is
lived experience and creative activities. By living their ordinary lives
the ordinary Chinese may continue practising what has been passed
on, but they may also cut ties with their past. They may want to set up
new practices for their future. In the midst of all the change and continuity,
culture was destroyed and culture was created, as the displays
in the Burke Museum exhibition show.
If we accept the truth that the Cultural Revolution was ten years of
catastrophe, then there is no room for voices that differ from those of
the Chinese authorities and the Chinese elite intelligentsia who
condemn the Cultural Revolution and who exploit the holocaust
discourse (Sahlins 1985) to construct the Cultural Revolution history.
The best example of how the Cultural Revolution history is
constructed can be seen how the Cultural Revolution is ‘remembered’.
As it is true in the case of other histories, the history of the Cultural
Revolution is ‘in its telling’ (Taussig 1989). But who is doing the
telling? Who remembers what? Who is allowed to voice her/his
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