It Is History, Stupid!
We grew up in communist China and witnessed the so-called “cultural revolution” in the 60’s. Below are photos showing what happened in the communist China 50 plus years ago (courtesy of l). Compared with the movement of the “renaming” or “removing” of historical monuments nowadays in the US, we are terrified that the insane and inhumane “cultural revolution” could happen in America and the West!
During the Cultural Revolution, the gateway in the most prestigious university in China, Tsinghua University, was dismantled, only because the inscription was by a high level official of the Qing dynasty.
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The majestic Forbidden City was vandalized, because it was where the emperors and their families lived.
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Church, of course! The Christianity is anti-communism, counter revolutionary!
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This street was renamed “anti imperialism”. Beijing was almost renamed “East is Red City”.
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The statue of Confucius was dismantled and covered with anti-Confucianism posters.
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A statue of Buddha, dismantled.
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A grave of a historical figure was dismantled. Why? Just because he was not a Maoist!
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Books were burned. Soon, people were told they must only read one book – Little Red Book, a selection of Mao’s saying, plus very few sanctioned by Mao. All the “old” films, arts and music were banned because they did not conform to Maoism.
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There are too many pictures to show. At first, there were only damages to buildings and artifacts. But the violence of the political correctness has its own life, it quickly evolved to violate living people:
Monks had to denounce their faith. They were told “silence is conspirator”! |
The officials and intellectuals had to publicly admit their crime. Their only crime was that they did not conform to Maosim, the only thing correct politically in China at that time.
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Then, the most terrifying thing happened: people’s homes were no longer their shelters, it could be broken in and searched by the Red Guards, anytime, 24/7. If you ask, where is the law enforcement? Well, all police departments were unfunctional and people were all on their own. Below is the scene after the Red Guards ransacked one’s home.
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We escaped the communist China, in the early 80’s, to America, the Land of the Free. To us, one of the first cultural shocks and admirations of this Land of the Free is that people respect and cherish the history - you can find monuments of historical figures representing different histories of the country or different aspects of the history. We were touched by the American’s tolerance and appreciation of true human history. In the communist China, the Party kept changing the history book at will (and is still doing so). If an official or intellectual was purged by Mao, he or she would disappear completely from the eyes (and ears) of the public; the history book would be altered at Mao’s will. The most telling example: General Zhu was one of the founders of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). After he was purged by Mao, suddenly his place in the PLA’s history was replaced by General Lin, who created the Little Red Book. Do we really want this insanity to happen in the US?
The reasoning behind what happened during the communist China’s cultural revolution, as demonstrated in the pictures above, is that the temples, churches, forbidden city, Confucianism and etc. represent the oppressors - the emperors, the landlords, the capitalists and etc., the oppressed should destroy anything historical, material or spiritual, associated with the oppressors, in the name of justice. Same reasoning behind the Cancel Culture in today’s America - here the oppressor is the slave owners, the oppressed the Black. We would like to ask the BLM and their comrades in other countries to give us a guidance – where to draw the line?
Should you destroy or rename the Forbidden City because it was the symbol of the emperors, the ultimate oppressors in China’s history?
Should you destroy or rename the Palace of Versailles, the hunting lodge of the French kings since the kings are the most vicious oppressors in the history of France?
Should you destroy or rename Egypt’s pyramid, the grave of the pharaohs, because the Pharaohs are the ruling oppressors in the long history of Egypt?
Should you destroy or rename the Machu Pichu- the estate of the Inca emperor? The emperor is an oppressor, isn’t he?
Should you alter the history book of America because our founding fathers were once slave owners? Should you make your children believe that this “people’s” America did not exist until Obama became the president?
Should you make your children believe that Columbus was just a slave owner and never contributed to the discovery of the New World, and he does NOT represent the Italian-American contribution to this country?
Should you make your children believe there was never a film called “Gone with the Wind”, because it does not conform to your political correctness?
Finally,
should you dismantle or rename the Democratic Party because the southern democrats once in history were the strong supporters of slavery?
We would simply say: “It Is History, Please!” History is what it is, and is part of who we are, including you and me, people of different colors and faiths. History is not for you to destroy or alter, but remember and learn from.
舒醒 1/14/2020
