I thought of going with Churchill, “history is written by the victors,” but felt that was too trite. Fortunately, Sir Winston once came up with something even more suitable to the occasion:
“History will be very kind to me, for I intend to write it.”
CCP…this one’s for you.
Churchill held many beliefs that would be compatible with the CCP. Among them: a taste for empire, a willingness to play realpolitik, and a preference for Pakistan over India (or, as he called it, “Hindustan”).
Some of his other quotes could be suitably “harmonized”, shall we say, to agree with CCP policy. Most notably the quote about democracy.
Which one? The one about five minutes with the average voter or the one about how it’s the worst form of government…except for all the others?
RE: CCP. And rewrite it too. Slave, serfs and one thing ‘n another. And all along I thought capitalism came before socialism. New chapter(s) pending?
Winston was a good writer though, quite unlike the ccp people
China Daily is a daily masterpiece, Rachel.
I see two “histories”, both are kind to their writers.
Rachel,
Mao wrote even better than Churchill.
A single spark can ignite a prairie fire,
Political power flows from the barrel of a gun,
Women hold up half the sky,
American imperialists are paper tigers,
These words will be with us for centuries.
cc,
Unfortunately, living in the PRC, I have only been able to see one “history” of late, and it is VERY kind to the writers.
StP,
Are aphorisms writing? I suppose, which I guess is why Robert Fulghum is a best-selling author.
Jeremiah,
Mao wrote classic essays on politics, class struggle, Chinese revolution, people’s war and many other subjects. A single Spark Can Start A Prairie Fire is actually the title of an article on revolution and guerrilla warfare.
His poetry holds more inspiration to me. Changsha, Snow, and Reply to Mr. Liu Ya-Tzu are some of my favorite.
I assume you, as a historian, must be familiar with these works.
“Mao wrote even better than Churchill.”
Yes, Churchill’s Chinese calligraphy was simply appalling.
“These words will be with us for centuries.”
That, I suggest, has more to do with the fact that even postgraduate students at Chinese universities take compulsory modules in Mao Zedong Thought (among other absurdities). Learning is rote, as you would expect, and assessment boils down to how much of the little red book you can memorise.
Jeremiah,
Fortunately, living outside the PRC, I should have been introduced to at least two kinds of kind “histories”. However, I have only been able to see one “histrory” of not so late, and it is HOLY kind to the writers.
StP,
Not only that, but I have a brace of students preparing for a Tuesday midterm who are currently going over several of Mao’s early writings..though doing so from the perspective of critical historical analysis rather than hero worship.
cc,
You might want to look again. Last I checked, the PRC version of history was not proscribed by the state in either the US or Europe.
Jeremiah and Stuart,
I was actually thinking about the influence of Mao’s writing outside China.
In the US people appear to be most interested in his theory, people’s war, on guerrilla warfare. If you want to start one or defeat one, the first articles you want to read are Mao’s On Guerilla Warfare, On Protracted War, and A Single Spark Can Start a Prairie Fire mentioned earlier.
In the academic circle his articles on the earlier twenty century Chinese peasant society, Analysis of the Classes in Chinese Society, and Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement In Hunan are frequently cited.
Among statesmen and military strategists, probably only Julius Caesar wrote as well, but unfortunately a lot of Caesar’s writings were lost.
Stp,
No accounting for taste…to each his own.
Jeremiah,
You might want to look again too? Last I checked, the Holy version of history was not proscribed by the state of PRC either. What’s the colour of the pot?
cc,
For me to concede this point, you’re going to have to prove to me that the media, publishing, and academic environment is as free or freer from state control and interference in the PRC as it is in the US or Ireland.
By the way, always wanted to go to Ireland, how is it? Are you worried the County Cork police might be tipped off by the Anti-China cabal that runs all political institutions and media organizations in the West and so arrest you for spreading anti-DL propaganda? I would be.
Jeremiah,
It’s a matter of perception, in my opinion. Who are the jury? Who is the judge? Being free or freer from state control doesn’t necessarily mean that the information/perception deriving from the environment is objective/balanced. It may have better chances to be more objective/balanced, I must concede. However, on occasions it might not be the case.
Being arrested for spreading anti-DL propaganda or not has no direct relationship with whether the information is indeed propaganda or a matter of fact. You still need to look at the information itself rather than/apart from the environment from which it is generated in order to have a fair view. I understand that people who are political correctness conscious may beg to differ.
It seems that you are interested in intelligence gathering, I may just as well feed you with a bit of local news.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0325/1224243368658.html
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0326/1224243451787.html?via=mr
It is not my intention to expand this conversation into a large debate. I merely want to point out that the glass might be half empty at the same time. (running the risk of being biased, I don’t think I need to point out that the glass is half full. There is plenty of popular information around, free or freer from state control I must say.) Again, it is my perception.
CC wrote:
“Being free or freer from state control doesn’t necessarily mean that the information/perception deriving from the environment is objective/balanced. It may have better chances to be more objective/balanced, I must concede.”
I would certainly concede your first point, I tend to subscribe to the school that such knowledge is produced/constructed and so reflects both that which is, that which is perceived, and that which wants (others) to see.
But my LARGER point was the second part of the above statement. If we, after Max Weber, define the state as the entity in society which holds a monopoly on the legitimate use of violence/force, I feel it is dangerous to give this entity a second monopoly on the legitimate deployment of information within that society.
There are biases to be sure in the “Western Media,” to use a frequent bogeyman, but the “Western Media,” as I’m sure you know, doesn’t exist as a single corporate entity (despite the best efforts of Rupert Murdoch), it is a diffuse and dispersed group of individuals, languages, backgrounds, and organizations all with different, and often competing, interests. There is an important distinction to be made between this rather nebulous category and a single state with defined interests and a strong desire to protect those interests through the control of information and, if necessary, the deployment of force.
As you noted in the local paper, even in “The West,” ideals fall short of reality, (Remember Robert Mapplethorpe?) and, to borrow an expression you’ve perhaps heard in your travels, “twas ever wrong.”
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