Ba Jin (巴金), the famous Chinese writer who passed away in October of last year, had hoped to establish a museum dedicated to the Cultural Revolution. Ba was a man of letters, and this hope that he had reflects the purity and naivete of his literature. The CCP, however, would rather that Mao's body remain displayed in Tiananmen Square; they would rather rip down Beijing's historic hutong alleys in preparation for the 2008 Olympics; they will certainly not allow a Cultural Revolution museum to go up.
The more we reflect on the Cultural Revolution, the more we must take our cues from MacFarquhar. In retrospect, a cold, hard look at the origins will reveal that they are not concentrated merely in Mao's insanity; they are not completely rooted in the power struggles of Zhongnanhai, the government compound and the seat of power in Beijing; nor is the Cultural Revolution totally the product of the Gang of Four.
No, the true source of the Cultural Revolution, if we go back far enough, is the establishment of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, and the many mass movements that immediately followed the founding of the PRC in the 1950s. Which of those movements were in essence dissimilar to the Cultural Revolution? A thorough reflection of the Cultural Revolution reveals fatal flaws in the very design and structure of the party-state system. However, this truth -- three decades later -- is still hidden.
Has the Cultural Revolution been forgotten? If it has, perhaps one day it will be properly remembered. Even more frightening than forgetting the Cultural Revolution, however, is the way it has been "consumed" and cheapened as no more than an opportunity to make a buck.
The fact that China is awash today with tourist mementos sporting a Cultural Revolution theme bespeaks the CCP's embrace of capitalism. Such commercialization of the Cultural Revolution is a shrewd ploy, covering up the movement's horror with a nicer, more palatable, and more profitable spin.
Li Fu-chung is a professor in the Graduate Institute of Taiwanese History at Chengchi University.
Translated by Max Hirsch
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