CHINA, NATIONAL,NEWS: New York Times coverage of Shanghai History Textbook Revision Retorted
by Li Mu
Su Zhiliang, chief editor of the new standard history textbook in Shanghai, told the press last Thursday that New York Times has failed to cover changes of made in the new history book without biased distortion, and the public censure following the translation of the report in state media is unfounded.
He said to Southern Weekly, a major newspaper, that the September 1 cover story of New York Times, Where's Mao? Chinese Revise History Books, was irresponsible in reporting that important parts of Chinese history concerning Marxism and Socialism as well as massive struggles are reduced in the new textbooks at the approval of authorities. He also denied the assertion that the new history books will be used in nationwide history courses.
The general history of china and world including foreign invasions and revolutions in China has been covered in history book of junior high, he explained. The changes in Shanghai's high school history book was made to meet the requirement for eliminating repetition in the new national standard for history education.
"Conventional high school history education is like combining the study of "1+2=?" and "1+1=?", after learning them separately in previous lessons." Su said. In nationwide high schools, conventional history education reviews the same set global and domestic events covered in junior high schools, likely to result in a lack of student interest in learning what have been learned.
Student in Shanghai now learns about Mao Zedong in their first year in junior high and revision for college entrance examination at the senior year in high school. The junior high history book still acknowledges Mao's chief achievements and contributions to Chinese revolution, without leaving out Mao's "erroneous decisions" as the causes of the great leap forward campaign and culture revolution, which have brought social and economic havoc to China during 50s and 60s.
"Mao Zedong is a must-learn historic figure, but there is no necessity for every text book used in every level to cover the same thing. Even in the recent history books used nationwide, Mao Zedong does not appear in every volume." Su noted. He claimed that teachers have counted at least a hundred and twenty references to Mao Zedong in the new history textbooks.
Other important parts of Chinese history, such as the first emperor unifying China, Qing Shihuang, who ordered a campaign to burn books and kill scholars and large-scale peasant insurgences, have also remained in history books.
"These facts disappear from high school text because they are taught in the junior high." Su said, in response to the reported elimination of struggles in the history books, "There is no necessity to cover all of the peasant insurgences that streamed through the Chinese history. Some notable ones, such as the uprising against Qin dynasty and Qing dynasty, as well as the boxer rebellion have been detailed."
Following the translation of the New York Times report, criticisms of the textbook spread over newspapers and websites, albeit a few supportive voices. Spice-adding headlines such as "Bill Gates has replaced Mao in new Shanghai history text", "Shanghai textbook change: reflection of political overhaul" filled reports and posts carried on internet, which, according to su, "did little justice to the textbooks." He called on the public to review the textbooks before judging the changes made in the textbooks.
The new history books focus on evolutions of human civilization as well as development of social and culture institutions, featuring updated information including globalization and international trade, which is believed to be helpful in the real world. “Our new focus on history of civilization is founded on Marxist view of history, covering materialistic, social, political and spiritual aspects of civilizations.” He explained.
Ding, a Shanghai student who has been taught in conventional history textbook, says the new books add, instead of delete, materials for history lessons. "There are no fundamental changes in terms of the layout of historical facts. These books are more informative and lay less emphasis on student's memorization of facts."
"The most important question now is: have all the criticisms come from those who have read our text books? The distortions of fact in irresponsible reports and translations can render a biased view of what we have changed here." Su said.
Su Zhiliang, chief editor of the new standard history textbook in Shanghai, told the press last Thursday that New York Times has failed to cover changes of made in the new history book without biased distortion, and the public censure following the translation of the report in state media is unfounded.
He said to Southern Weekly, a major newspaper, that the September 1 cover story of New York Times, Where's Mao? Chinese Revise History Books, was irresponsible in reporting that important parts of Chinese history concerning Marxism and Socialism as well as massive struggles are reduced in the new textbooks at the approval of authorities. He also denied the assertion that the new history books will be used in nationwide history courses.
The general history of china and world including foreign invasions and revolutions in China has been covered in history book of junior high, he explained. The changes in Shanghai's high school history book was made to meet the requirement for eliminating repetition in the new national standard for history education.
"Conventional high school history education is like combining the study of "1+2=?" and "1+1=?", after learning them separately in previous lessons." Su said. In nationwide high schools, conventional history education reviews the same set global and domestic events covered in junior high schools, likely to result in a lack of student interest in learning what have been learned.
Student in Shanghai now learns about Mao Zedong in their first year in junior high and revision for college entrance examination at the senior year in high school. The junior high history book still acknowledges Mao's chief achievements and contributions to Chinese revolution, without leaving out Mao's "erroneous decisions" as the causes of the great leap forward campaign and culture revolution, which have brought social and economic havoc to China during 50s and 60s.
"Mao Zedong is a must-learn historic figure, but there is no necessity for every text book used in every level to cover the same thing. Even in the recent history books used nationwide, Mao Zedong does not appear in every volume." Su noted. He claimed that teachers have counted at least a hundred and twenty references to Mao Zedong in the new history textbooks.
Other important parts of Chinese history, such as the first emperor unifying China, Qing Shihuang, who ordered a campaign to burn books and kill scholars and large-scale peasant insurgences, have also remained in history books.
"These facts disappear from high school text because they are taught in the junior high." Su said, in response to the reported elimination of struggles in the history books, "There is no necessity to cover all of the peasant insurgences that streamed through the Chinese history. Some notable ones, such as the uprising against Qin dynasty and Qing dynasty, as well as the boxer rebellion have been detailed."
Following the translation of the New York Times report, criticisms of the textbook spread over newspapers and websites, albeit a few supportive voices. Spice-adding headlines such as "Bill Gates has replaced Mao in new Shanghai history text", "Shanghai textbook change: reflection of political overhaul" filled reports and posts carried on internet, which, according to su, "did little justice to the textbooks." He called on the public to review the textbooks before judging the changes made in the textbooks.
The new history books focus on evolutions of human civilization as well as development of social and culture institutions, featuring updated information including globalization and international trade, which is believed to be helpful in the real world. “Our new focus on history of civilization is founded on Marxist view of history, covering materialistic, social, political and spiritual aspects of civilizations.” He explained.
Ding, a Shanghai student who has been taught in conventional history textbook, says the new books add, instead of delete, materials for history lessons. "There are no fundamental changes in terms of the layout of historical facts. These books are more informative and lay less emphasis on student's memorization of facts."
"The most important question now is: have all the criticisms come from those who have read our text books? The distortions of fact in irresponsible reports and translations can render a biased view of what we have changed here." Su said.
1 Comments:
At 10:11 AM , Anonymous said...
"Distortions of fact"? Whose facts? Answer: the Communist Party's.
There is no history or correct interpretation of history, except of course if it is the Communist Party's.
And if you do not go along with that, then you are "distorting history".
What a strange and backward view of history as it is taught nearly everywhere else on Earth.
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