The term yanhuang (炎黃) — a reference to the Yandi (炎帝) and Huangdi (黃帝) emperors that Chinese are supposed to have descended from, and, by extension, to the Chinese-speaking world as a whole — and “the Chinese family” are slippery terms being bandied about by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee’s United Front Work Department, established to deal with the non-CCP elite. Whether the terms are effective depends on how people look on them.
The monthly Yanhuang Chunqiu (炎黃春秋) journal, which was founded by a former high-level CCP official and had a 25-year publishing run up to this year, has been commandeered by Chinese authorities. They have gone in and shaken things up, but — to avoid Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) being branded as disrespectful to China’s founding deities — allowed it to keep its name and to continue to publish, albeit trying to pass it off as something that it decidedly no longer is.
How sweet and touching the idea that all Chinese-speaking people are part of one happy family. This relies somewhat heavily on the proposition that China is the head of that family, with the keys to the entire estate. Should you reject the idea that China has the right to your estate, too, well, the CCP simply applies some of its united front magic to make you see that you are part of “the Chinese family.” The two maneuvers are not about cultural barriers; they are purely and simply a cold political calculation by the CCP.
The United Front Work Department is tasked with managing China’s ethnic minorities, religious activities and minor political parties and groups as well as Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. If you are unhappy that they confiscate your property and accuse them of libel and slander, it is just because you do not understand politics.
The use of Yanhuang as the name of the monthly journal is, of course, pure China, and the magazine’s deputy publisher, Hu Dehua (胡德華), is none other than the son of Hu Yaobang (胡耀邦), another high-ranking CCP official. The magazine had undertaken to concentrate on the past and leave the present alone, signing an agreement not to touch upon eight issues: the Tiananmen Massacre; the separation of powers; nationalization of the armed forces; the outlawed religious group Falun Gong; incumbent national leaders and their families; ethnic issues and foreign relations.
Nevertheless, the powers that be have clearly determined that the magazine breached that agreement and felt that the violations were sufficient to have it shut down, its funds appropriated and its personnel replaced.
The old management team was not particularly enamored with the idea that happy truce be trampled upon, the magazine’s property and name being confiscated, its personnel removed and its editorial powers wrested away. It continued to publish under the old name, albeit with altered content, and had its lawyers take the matter to court, only for their remonstrations to be thrown out.
The name Yanhuang is sacred, but if you step on the toes of the powers-that-be, it would not save you. They do not dare openly shut it down, but they can confiscate its property and steal its banner.
“The Chinese family” is an endearing phrase, but it is a pernicious one, too. If you concede that you are part of the same family, they would claim what is yours as their own. If you decline their generous invitation, “the Earth will move and the mountains will shake,” as Xi promised last year.
This is what it is like to deal with these charlatans.
James Wang is a media commentator.
Translated by Paul Cooper
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