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Dec 20, 2004 Presented
by EPOCH TIMES
(Updated: January 12, 2005)
Commentaries
on the Communist Party - Part 6
On
How the Chinese Communist Party Destroyed Traditional Culture
This is the sixth of Nine Commentaries
on the Communist Party. Copied here in August 2011
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A poster from the "Criticizing Lin Biao
and Confucius" campaign (AFP/Getty Images) |
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Culture is the soul of a nation. This spiritual
factor is as important to mankind as physical factors such as race and
land.
Cultural developments define the history
of a nation's civilization. The complete destruction of a national culture
leads to the end of the nation. Ancient nations who had created glorious
civilizations were considered to have vanished when their cultures disappeared,
even though people of their races may have survived. China is the only
country in the world whose ancient civilization has been passed down continuously
for over 5,000 years. Destruction of its traditional culture is an unforgivable
crime.
The Chinese culture, believed to be
passed down by God, started with such myths as Pangu's creation of heaven
and the earth [1], Nüwa's creation of humanity [2], Shennong's identification
of hundreds of medicinal herbs [3], and Cangjie's invention of Chinese
characters [4]. "Man follows the earth, the earth follows heaven, heaven
follows the Tao, and the Tao follows what is natural." [5] The Taoist wisdom
of unity of heaven and humanity has coursed through the veins of Chinese
culture. "Great learning promotes the cultivation of virtue."[6] Confucius
opened a school to teach students more than 2,000 years ago and imparted
to society the Confucian ideals represented by the five cardinal virtues
of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and faithfulness. In
the first century, Shakyamuni's Buddhism traveled east to China with its
emphasis on compassion and salvation for all beings. The Chinese culture
became more wide-ranging and profound. Thereafter, Confucianism, Buddhism,
and Taoism became complementary beliefs in Chinese society, bringing the
Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.) to the peak of its glory and prosperity, as
is known to all under heaven.
Although the Chinese nation has experienced
invasion and attack many times in history, the Chinese culture has shown
great endurance and stamina, and its essence has been continuously passed
down. The unity of heaven and humanity represents our ancestors' cosmology.
It is common sense that kindness will be rewarded and evil will be punished.
It is an elementary virtue not to do to others what one does not want done
to oneself. Loyalty, filial piety, dignity, and justice have set the social
standards, and Confucius' five cardinal virtues of benevolence, righteousness,
propriety, wisdom, and faithfulness have laid the foundation for social
and personal morality. With these principles, the Chinese culture embodied
honesty, kindness, harmony, and tolerance. Common Chinese people's death
memorials show reverence to "heaven, earth, monarch, parents and teacher."
This is a cultural expression of the deep-rooted Chinese traditions, which
include worship of god (heaven and earth), loyalty to the country (monarch),
values of family (parents), and respect for teachers. The traditional Chinese
culture sought harmony between man and the universe, and emphasized an
individual's ethics and morality. It was based on the faiths of the cultivation
practices of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, and provided the Chinese
people with tolerance, social progress, a safeguard for human morality,
and righteous belief.
Unlike law, which prescribes hard rules,
culture works as a soft constraint. The law enforces punishment after a
crime has been committed, while culture, by nurturing morality, prevents
crimes from happening in the first place. A society's morality is often
embodied in its culture.
In Chinese history, traditional culture
reached its peak during the prosperous Tang Dynasty, coinciding with the
height of the Chinese nation's power. Science was also advanced and enjoyed
a unique reputation among all nations. Scholars from Europe, the Middle
East, and Japan came to study in Chang'an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty.
Countries bordering China took China as their suzerain state. "Tens of
thousands of countries came to pay tribute to China, even though they might
have to be translated multiple times and clear successive customs." [7]
After the Qin Dynasty (221-207 BC),
China was often occupied by minority groups. This happened during the Sui
(581-618AD), Tang (618-907AD), Yuan (1271-1361AD) and Qing (1644-1911AD)
dynasties and in some other times when ethnic minorities established their
own regimes. Nevertheless, almost all these ethnic groups were assimilated
to the Chinese ways. This shows the great integrative power of traditional
Chinese culture. As Confucius said, "(Thus) if the people from afar are
not compliant, bring them around by cultivating (our) culture and virtue."
[8]
Since attaining power in 1949, the CCP
has devoted the nation's resources to destroying China's traditional culture.
This ill intention did not come from the CCP's zeal for industrialization,
nor from simple foolishness in worshipping Western civilization. Rather,
it came from the CCP's inherent ideological opposition to traditional Chinese
culture. Thus, the CCP's destruction of Chinese culture has been planned,
well organized, and systematic, supported by the state's use of violence.
Since its establishment, the CCP has never stopped "revolutionizing" Chinese
culture in the attempt to destroy its spirit completely.
Even more despicable than the CCP's
destruction of traditional culture is its intentional misuse and underhanded
modification of traditional culture. The CCP has highlighted the vile parts
from China's history, things that occurred whenever people diverged from
traditional values, such as internal strife for power within the royal
family, the use of tactics and conspiracy, and the exercise of dictatorship
and despotism. It has used these historical examples to help create the
CCP's own set of moral standards, ways of thinking, and system of discourse.
In doing so, the CCP has given the false impression that the "Party culture"
is actually a continuation of traditional Chinese culture. The CCP has
even taken advantage of the aversion some people have for the "Party culture"
to incite further abandonment of the authentic Chinese tradition.
The CCP's destruction of traditional
culture has brought disastrous consequences to China. Not only have people
lost their moral bearings, they have also been forcibly indoctrinated with
the CCP's evil theories. |
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I. Why Did the
CCP Want to Sabotage Traditional Culture? |
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The Long Tradition of Chinese Culture
- Based on Faith and Venerating Virtue
The authentic culture of the Chinese
nation started about 5,000 years ago with the legendary Emperor Huang,
who is deemed to be the earliest ancestor of the Chinese civilization.
In fact, Emperor Huang was also credited with founding Taoism - which was
also called the Huang-Lao (Lao Zi) school of thought. The profound influence
of Taoism on Confucianism can be seen in such Confucian sayings as "Aspire
to the Tao, align with virtue, abide by benevolence, and immerse yourself
in the arts" and "If one hears the Tao in the morning, one can die without
regret in the evening." [9] The Book of Changes (I Ching) , a record
of heaven and earth, yin and yang, cosmic changes, social rise and decline,
and the laws of human life, was regarded as "Number one among all Chinese
classics" by Confucians. The prophetic power of the book has far surpassed
what modern science can conceive. In addition to Taoism and Confucianism,
Buddhism, especially Zen Buddhism, has had a subtle yet profound influence
on Chinese intellectuals.
Confucianism is the part of the traditional
Chinese culture that focused on "entering the mundane world." It emphasized
family-based ethics, in which filial piety played an extremely important
role, teaching that "all kindness starts with filial piety." Confucius
advocated "benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and faithfulness,"
but also said, "Aren't filial piety and brotherly love the roots of benevolence?"
Family-based ethics can be naturally
extended to guide social morality. Filial piety can be extended to subordinates'
loyalty to the monarch. It is said that, "It is seldom that a person with
filial piety and brotherly love will be inclined to offend those above."[10]
Brotherly love is the relationship among brothers, and can be further extended
to righteousness and justice among friends. Confucians teach that in a
family, a father should be kind, a son filial, an older brother friendly,
and a younger brother respectful. Here, fatherly kindness can be further
extended to benevolence of the monarch toward his subordinates. As long
as the traditions of a family can be maintained, social morality can naturally
be sustained. "Cultivate oneself, regulate one's family, rightly govern
one's state and make the whole kingdom tranquil and happy." [11]
Buddhism and Taoism are the parts of
Chinese culture that focused on "leaving the mundane world." The influence
of Buddhism and Taoism can be found to penetrate all aspects of ordinary
people's lives. Practices that are deeply rooted in Taoism include Chinese
medicine, qigong, geomancy (Feng Shui), and divination. These practices,
as well as the Buddhist conceptions of a heavenly kingdom and hell, the
karmic reward of good and the retribution of evil, have, together with
Confucian ethics, formed the core of traditional Chinese culture.
The beliefs of Confucianism, Buddhism,
and Taoism offered the Chinese people a very stable moral system, unchangeable
"so long as heaven remains." [12] This ethical system offered the basis
for sustainability, peace, and harmony in society.
Morality belongs to the spiritual realm;
thus, it is often conceptual. Culture expresses such an abstract moral
system in language that can be commonly understood.
Take the "Four Chinese Classics," the
four most renowned novels in Chinese culture, as examples. The Journey
to the West [13] is a mythical tale. A Dream of Red Mansions
[14] starts with a dialog between a spirited stone and the Deity of Infinite
Space and the Tao of Boundless Time at the Baseless Cliff of the Great
Waste Mountain - this dialog provides clues for the human drama that unfolds
in the novel. Outlaws of the Marsh [15] opens with a tale of how
premier Hong, in charge of military affairs, accidentally set free 108
demons. This legend explains the origin of the "108 outlaw militants of
prowess." Three Kingdoms [16] begins with a heavenly warning of
a disaster, and ends with the inescapable conclusion of God's will: "The
world's affairs rush on like an endless stream; a heaven-told fate, infinite
in reach, dooms all." Other well-known stories, such as The Romance
of the Eastern Zhou [17] and The Complete Story of Yue Fei [18],
all begin with similar legends.
These novelists' use of myths was not
a coincidence, but a reflection of a basic philosophy of Chinese intellectuals
toward nature and humanity. These novels have had a profound influence
on the Chinese mind. When speaking of "righteousness," people think of
Guan Yu (160-219 AD) of the Three Kingdoms rather than the concept
itself - how his righteousness to his friends transcended the clouds and
reached heaven; how his unmovable loyalty to his superior and sworn-brother
Liu Bei gained him respect even from his enemies; how his bravery in battle
prevailed in the most dire of situations, his final defeat in a battle
near the Town of Mai; and, finally, his conference as a deity with his
son. When speaking of "loyalty," Chinese people naturally think of Yue
Fei (1103-1141 AD), a Song Dynasty general who served his country with
unreserved integrity and loyalty, and Zhuge Liang (181-234 AD), prime minister
of the Shu State during the Three Kingdoms period, who "gave his all until
his heart stopped beating."
Traditional Chinese culture's eulogy
of loyalty and righteousness has been fully elaborated in these authors'
colorful stories. The abstract moral principles they espouse have been
made specific and embodied in cultural expressions.
Taoism emphasizes truthfulness. Buddhism
emphasizes compassion, and Confucianism values loyalty, tolerance, benevolence
and righteousness. "While their forms differ, their purposes are the same...they
all inspire people to return to kindness." [19] These are the most valuable
aspects of traditional Chinese culture based upon the beliefs in Confucianism,
Buddhism and Taoism.
Traditional Chinese culture is filled
with concepts and principles such as heaven, the Tao, God, Buddha, fate,
predestination, benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, faithfulness,
honesty, shame, loyalty, filial piety, dignity, and so on. Many Chinese
may be illiterate, but they are still familiar with traditional plays and
operas. These cultural forms have been important ways for ordinary people
to learn traditional morals. Therefore, the CCP's destruction of traditional
Chinese culture is a direct attack against Chinese morality and undermines
the basis for peace and harmony in society.
The Evil Communist Theory Opposes Traditional
Culture
The "philosophy" of the Communist Party
completely contradicts the authentic traditional Chinese culture. Traditional
culture respects the mandate of heaven, as Confucius once said, "Life and
death are predestined, and wealth and rank are determined by heaven." [20]
Both Buddhism and Taoism are forms of theism, and believe in the reincarnation
cycle of life and death, and the karmic causality of good and evil. The
Communist Party, on the contrary, not only believes in atheism, but also
runs wild in defying the Tao and assaulting heavenly principles. Confucianism
values family, but the Communist Manifesto clearly promulgates abolition
of the family. Traditional culture differentiates the Chinese from the
foreign, but the Communist Manifesto advocates the end of nationality.
Confucian culture promotes kindness to others, but the Communist Party
encourages class struggle. Confucians encourage loyalty to the monarch
and love for the nation. The Communist Manifesto promotes the elimination
of nations.
To gain and maintain power in China,
the Communist Party first had to plant its immoral thoughts on Chinese
soil. Mao Zedong claimed, "If we want to overthrow an authority, we must
first make propaganda, and do work in the area of ideology."[21] The CCP
realized that the violent communist theory, which is sustained with arms,
is the refuse of Western thoughts and could not stand up to China's profound
5,000-year cultural history. "In for a penny, in for a pound." The CCP
then completely destroyed traditional Chinese culture, so that Marxism
and Leninism could take China's political stage.
Traditional Culture Is an Obstacle to
the CCP's Dictatorship
Mao Zedong once said, fittingly, that
he follows neither the Tao nor heaven. [22] Traditional Chinese culture
undoubtedly served as a huge obstacle for the CCP's defying the Tao and
contending with heaven.
Loyalty in traditional Chinese culture
does not mean blind devotion. In the eyes of the people, the emperor is
a "son of heaven" - with heaven above him. The emperor cannot be correct
at all times. Therefore there was a need for observers to point out the
emperor's mistakes all the time. The Chinese chronicle system had historians
record all the words and deeds of the emperor. Scholastic officials could
become teachers for their sage kings, and the behavior of the emperor was
judged by the Confucian classics. If the emperor was immoral - unenlightened
to the Tao, people might rise up to overthrow him, as was the case when
Chengtang attacked Jie, or in King Wu's removal of Zhou. [23] These uprisings,
judged from traditional culture, were not considered violations of loyalty
or the Tao. Instead, they were seen as enforcing the Tao on behalf of heaven.
When Wen Tianxiang (1236-1283 AD) [24], a well-known military commander
in the Song Dynasty, was taken prisoner, he refused to surrender to the
Mongolian invaders even when the Emperor tried to persuade him to surrender.
This was because, as a Confucian, he believed that "The people are of supreme
importance; the nation comes next; last comes the ruler." [25]
The dictatorial CCP could by no means
accept traditional beliefs such as these. The CCP wanted to canonize its
own leaders and promote a cult of personality, and so would not allow such
long-held concepts such as heaven, Tao, and God to govern from above. The
CCP was aware that what it did was considered the most heinous and enormous
crime against heaven and the Tao if measured by the standards of traditional
culture. They were aware that as long as the traditional culture existed,
people would not praise the CCP as "great, glorious, and correct." Scholars
would continue the tradition of "risking their lives to admonish the monarch,"
"maintaining justice at the expense of their lives," [26] and place the
people above the rulers. Thus, the people would not become CCP puppets,
and the CCP could not force conformity on the thoughts of the masses.
The traditional culture's respect for
heaven, the earth and nature became an obstacle for the CCP's "battle with
nature" in an effort to "alter heaven and the earth." Traditional culture
treasures human life, teaching that "any situation involving human life
has to be treated with the utmost care." Such a perception was a hindrance
to the CCP's mass genocide and rule by terror. The traditional culture's
ultimate moral standard of the "heavenly Tao" interfered with the CCP's
manipulation of moral principles. For these reasons, the CCP made traditional
culture an enemy in an effort to bolster its own control.
Traditional Culture Challenges the Legitimacy
of the CCP Rule
Traditional Chinese culture believes
in God and the heavenly mandate. Accepting the mandate of heaven means
that rulers have to be wise, follow the Tao and be attuned to destiny.
Accepting belief in God means accepting that authority over humanity rests
in heaven.
The CCP ruling principle is summarized
as, "Never more tradition's chains shall bind us, arise ye toilers no more
in thrall. The earth shall rise on new foundations; we are but naught;
we shall be all." [27]
The CCP promotes historical materialism,
claiming that Communism is an earthly paradise, the path to which is led
by the pioneer proletarians, or the Communist Party. The belief in God
thus directly challenged the legitimacy of the CCP's rule. |
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II. How the Communist
Party Sabotages Traditional Culture |
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Everything the CCP does serves a political
purpose. In order to seize, maintain and consolidate its tyranny, the CCP
needs to replace human nature with its evil Party nature, and the Chinese
traditional culture with its Party culture of "deceit, wickedness and violence."
This destruction and substitution includes cultural relics, historical
sites and ancient books, which are tangible, and such intangible things
as the traditional outlook on morality, life and the world. All aspects
of people's lives are involved, including their actions, thoughts and lifestyles.
At the same time, the CCP regards insignificant and superficial cultural
manifestations as the "essence," retaining them, and then puts this "essence"
up as a façade. The Party keeps the semblance of tradition while
replacing the real tradition with Party culture. It then deceives the people
and international society behind a façade of "carrying on and developing"
Chinese traditional culture.
Simultaneously Extinguishing the Three
Religions
Owing to the fact that the traditional
culture is rooted in Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, the CCP's first
step in destroying traditional culture was to extinguish the manifestation
of the divine principles in the human world, eradicating the three religions
corresponding to them.
All three major religions, Confucianism,
Buddhism, and Taoism, encountered destruction in different historical time
periods. Take Buddhism for example. It has suffered four major tribulations
in history, which are historically known as the "Three Wus and One Zong"
persecution of Buddhist devotees by four Chinese emperors. Emperor Taiwu
[28] of the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534 AD) and Emperor Wuzong [29] of
the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) both tried to extinguish Buddhism in order
to have Taoism prevail. Emperor Wu [30] of the Northern Zhou Dynasty (557-581
AD) tried to extinguish Buddhism and Taoism together, but venerated Confucianism.
Emperor Shizong [31] of the Later Zhou Dynasty (951-960 AD) tried to extinguish
Buddhism merely to use the Buddha statues to mint coins, and did not touch
Taoism or Confucianism.
The CCP is the only regime to extinguish
the three religions simultaneously.
Soon after the CCP established a government,
it began to destroy temples, burn scriptures and forced the Buddhist monks
and nuns to return to secular life. Neither was it any softer in destroying
other religious places. By the 1960s, there were hardly any religious places
left in China. The Great Cultural Revolution brought even greater religious
and cultural catastrophe in the campaign of "Casting Away the Four Olds"
[32] - i.e., old ideas, old culture, old customs and old habits.
For example, the first Buddhist temple
in China was the White Horse Temple (Bai Ma Temple) [33] built in the early
Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 AD) outside Luoyang city, Henan Province. It
is honored as "the Cradle of Buddhism in China" and "the Founder's Home."
During "Casting Away the Four Olds," the White Horse Temple, of course,
could not escape looting.
There was a White Horse Temple
production brigade near the temple. The Party branch secretary led peasants
to smash the temple in the name of ‘revolution.' The over 1,000-year-old
clay statues of the Eighteen Arhats built in the Liao Dynasty (916-1125
AD) were destroyed. The Beiye scripture [34] that an eminent Indian monk
brought to China 2,000 years ago was burned. A rare treasure, the Jade
Horse, was smashed to pieces. Several years later, Cambodian King in Exile
Norodom Sihanouk made a special request to pay homage to the White Horse
Temple. Zhou Enlai, the Chinese premier at the time, hurriedly ordered
the transport to Luoyang of the Beiye scripture stored in the Imperial
Palace in Beijing and the statues of the Eighteen Arhats built in the Qing
Dynasty from the Temple of Azure Clouds (Biyun Temple) located at the Xiangshan
Park [35] in suburban Beijing. With this bogus replacement, a diplomatic
difficulty was ‘solved.' [36]
The Cultural Revolution began in May of
1966. It was in fact "revolutionizing" Chinese culture in a destructive
way. Starting in August 1966, the raging fire of the "Casting Away the
Four Olds" burned the entire land of China. Regarded as objects of "feudalism,
capitalism, and revisionism," the Buddhist temples, Taoist temples, Buddha
statues, historical and scenic sites, calligraphy, paintings, and antiques
became the main targets for destruction by the Red Guards. [37] Take the
Buddha statues for example. There are 1000 colored, glazed Buddha statues
in relief on the top of Longevity Hill in the Summer Palace [38] in Beijing.
After the "Casting Away the Four Olds," they were all damaged. None of
them has a complete set of the five sensory organs any more.
The capital of the country was like
this, and so was the rest of the country. Even the remote county seats
did not escape.
There is a Tiantai Temple in
Dai county in Shanxi Province. It was built during the Taiyan time period
of the Northern Wei Dynasty 1,600 years ago and had precious statues and
frescos. Although it was situated on a hillside quite a distance away from
the county seat, the people who participated in the ‘Casting Away the Four
Olds' ignored the difficulties and made a clean sweep of the statues and
frescos there. ... The Louguan Temple, [39] where Lao Zi gave his lecture
and left his famous Tao-te Ching 2,500 years ago, is situated in
the Zhouzhi County of Shaanxi Province. Centered around the platform where
Lao Zi lectured, within a radius of 10 li [40], there are over 50
historical sites, including the Temple Venerating the Sage (Zongsheng Gong)
that Emperor Tang Gaozu Li Yuan [41] built to show respect for Lao Zi over
1,300 years ago.
Now the Louguan Temple and the other
historical sites have been destroyed, and all Taoist priests have been
forced to leave. According to the Taoist canon, once one becomes a Taoist
priest, one can never shave one's beard or have one's hair cut. However,
now the Taoist priests are forced to have their hair cut, take off their
Taoist robes, and become members of the People's communes. [42] Some of
them married daughters of the local peasants and became their sons-in-law.
... At the sacred Taoist places in Laoshan Mountain in Shandong Province,
the Temple of Supreme Peace, the Temple of the Highest Clarity, the Supreme
Clarity Temple, the Doumu Temple, the Huayan Nunnery, the Ningzhen Temple,
the Temple of Guan Yu, ‘the statues of the divine, sacrificial vessels,
scrolls of Buddhist sutras, cultural relics, and temple tablets were all
smashed and burned down'. ... The Temple of Literature in Jilin Province
is one of the four famous Temples of Confucius in China. During the ‘Casting
Away the Four Olds,' it was severely damaged." [43]
A Special Way to Destroy Religion
Lenin once said, "The easiest way to
take a fortress is from within." As a group of children and grandchildren
of Marxism-Leninism, the CCP naturally and tacitly understands this.
In the "Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra,"
[44] Buddha Shakyamuni predicted that after his nirvana, demons would be
reincarnated as monks, nuns, and male and female lay Buddhists to subvert
the Dharma. Of course, we cannot verify what Buddha Shakyamuni was referring
to exactly. However, the CCP's destruction of Buddhism indeed started with
forming a "united front" with some Buddhists. They even sent some underground
communist party members to infiltrate the religion directly and subvert
it from within. In a criticism meeting during the Cultural Revolution,
someone questioned Zhao Puchu, vice president of the Chinese Buddhists
Association at the time, "You are a Communist Party member, why do you
believe in Buddhism?"
Buddha Shakyamuni attained supreme and
complete enlightenment through "precept, concentration, wisdom." So before
his nirvana, he instructed his disciples to "Uphold and observe the Precepts.
Do not let them down or violate them." He also warned, "People who violate
the Precepts are abhorred by heaven, dragons, ghosts and the divine. Their
evil reputation spreads far and wide. ... When their lives end, they will
suffer in hell for their karma, and meet their inexorable doom. Then they
will come out. They will continue to suffer by bearing the body of hungry
ghosts and animals. They will suffer in a circle like this endlessly with
no relief." [45]
The political Buddhist monks turned
deaf ears to Buddha's warnings. In 1952, the CCP sent representatives to
attend the inaugural meeting of the Chinese Buddhists Association. At the
meeting, many Buddhists in the association proposed to abolish the Buddhist
precepts. They claimed that these disciplines had caused the death of many
young men and women. Some people even advocated that "people should be
free to believe in any religion. There should also be freedom for the monks
and nuns to get married, to drink alcohol, and to eat meat. Nobody should
interfere with these." At that time, Master Xuyun was at the meeting and
saw that Buddhism was facing the danger of extinction in China. He stepped
forward opposing the proposals and appealed for the preservation of the
Buddhist precepts and dress. Master Xuyun was then slandered, and labeled
as "counter-revolutionary." He was detained in the abbot's room, and denied
food and drink. He was not allowed out of the room even to use the toilet.
He was also ordered to hand over his gold, silver and firearms. When Xuyun
answered that he had none, he was beaten so badly that his skull was fractured
and bleeding and his ribs broken. Xuyun was 112 years old at the time.
The military police pushed him from the bed to the ground. When they came
back the next day and found Xuyun still alive, they brutally beat him again.
The Chinese Buddhists Association founded
in 1952 and the Chinese Taoist Association founded in 1957 both clearly
declared in their founding statements that they would be "under the leadership
of the People's government." In reality, they would be under the leadership
of the atheistic CCP. Both associations indicated that they would actively
participate in production and construction activities, and implement government
policies. They were transformed into completely secular organizations.
Yet the Buddhists and Taoists who were devoted and abided by the precepts
were labeled as counter-revolutionaries or members of superstitious sects
and secret societies. Under the revolutionary slogan of "purifying the
Buddhists and Taoists," they were imprisoned, forced to "reform through
labor," or even executed. Even religions spread from the West, such as
Christianity and Catholicism were not spared.
Based on the statistics given
in the book How the Chinese Communist Party Persecutes the Christians
published in 1958, even the limited number of documents that have been
made public reveal that among the clergymen who were charged as ‘landlord'
or ‘local bully,' a staggering 8,840 were killed and 39,200 were sent to
labor camps. Among the clergymen charged as ‘counter-revolutionary,' 2,450
were killed, and 24,800 were sent to labor camps. [46]
Religions are a way for people to remove
themselves from the secular world and cultivate themselves. They emphasize
"the other shore" (the shore of perfect enlightenment) and "heaven." Shakyamuni
used to be an Indian prince. In order to seek mukti [47], a state in which
one can obtain peace of mind, higher wisdom, full enlightenment, and nirvana,
[48] he gave up the throne and went to a wooded mountain to cultivate by
experiencing hardships and toil. Before Jesus became enlightened, the devil
brought him to the top of a mountain, showed him all the kingdoms of the
world in all their splendor. The devil said, "If you will bow down and
worship me, I will give you all these things." But Jesus was not enticed.
Yet the political monks and pastors who formed united fronts with the CCP
made up a series of deceits and lies such as "human world Buddhism," and
"religion is the truth, and so is socialism." They claimed that "there
is no contradiction between this shore and the other shore." They encouraged
Buddhists and Taoists to pursue happiness, glory, splendor, wealth and
rank in this life, and changed the religious doctrines and their meaning.
Buddhism forbids killing. The CCP killed
people like flies during the "suppression of counter-revolutionaries."
[49] The political monks thereupon cooked up the justification that "killing
the counter-revolutionaries is an even greater compassion." During the
"War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea" (1950-1953) [50], monks were
even sent directly to the front line to kill.
Take Christianity as another example.
In 1950, Wu Yaozong [51] formed a "Three-Self" Church, which followed the
principles of self-administration, self-support and self-propagation. He
claimed that they would break away from "imperialism" and actively join
the "War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea." A good friend of his was
imprisoned for over 20 years for refusing to join the Three-Self and suffered
all kinds of torture and humiliation. When he asked Wu Yaozong, "How do
you regard the miracles Jesus performed?" Wu answered, "I have discarded
all of them."
Not acknowledging Jesus' miracles equates
to not acknowledging Jesus' heaven. How can one be counted as a Christian
when one does not even recognize the heaven Jesus ascended to? However,
as the founder of the "Three-Self" Church, Wu Yaozong became a member of
the Political Consultative Conference standing committee. When he stepped
into the Great Hall of the People [52], he must have completely forgotten
Jesus' words. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and
with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and greatest
commandment." (Matthew, 22:37-38) "Render therefore unto Caesar the things
that are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's." (Matthew, 22:21)
The CCP confiscated the temple
property, forced monks and nuns to study Marxism-Leninism in order to brainwash
them, and even forced them to labor. For instance, there was a ‘Buddhist
workshop' in Ningbo city, Zhejiang Province. Over 25,000 monks and nuns
were once forced to work there. What is more absurd is that the CCP encouraged
monks and nuns to get married so as to disintegrate Buddhism. For example,
just before the March 8th Women's Day in 1951, the Women's Federation in
Changsha city, Hunan Province ordered all nuns in the province to decide
to get married in a few days. In addition, young and healthy monks were
forced to join the army and were sent to the battlefield to serve as cannon
fodder! [53]
Various religious groups in China have
disintegrated under the CCP's violent suppression. The genuine elites of
Buddhism and Taoism have been suppressed. Among those remaining, many returned
to secular life, and many others were undisclosed Communist Party members
who specialized in putting on kesa robes, [54] Taoist robes or pastor's
long gowns to distort the Buddhist Scriptures, the Taoist Canon and the
Holy Bible and to look for justification for the CCP's movements in these
doctrines.
Destruction of Cultural Relics
The ruination of cultural relics is
an important part of the CCP's destruction of traditional culture. In the
"Casting Away of the Four Olds," many one-of-a-kind books, calligraphies
and paintings that had been collected by intellectuals were committed to
flames or shredded into paper pulp. Zhang Bojun [55] had a family collection
of over 10,000 books. The Red Guard leaders used them to make a fire to
warm themselves. What was left was sent to paper mills and shredded into
paper pulp.
The calligraphy and painting
mounting specialist, Hong Qiusheng, was an elderly man known as the ‘miracle
doctor' for ancient calligraphy and paintings. He has mounted countless
world-class masterpieces, such as Song Emperor Huizong's [56] painting
of scenery, Su Dongpo's [57] painting of bamboo, and the paintings of Wen
Zhengming [58] and Tang Bohu [59]. Over several decades, most of the hundreds
of ancient calligraphy and paintings that he had rescued had become a first
class national collection. The calligraphy and paintings that he had spared
no pains in collecting were labeled as ‘Four Olds' and were committed to
flames. Afterwards, Mr. Hong said in tears, "Over 100 jin [60] (50 kilograms)
of calligraphy and paintings; it took such a long time to burn them!"[61]
"While worldly
matters come and go,
Ancient, modern,
to and fro,
Rivers and mountains
are changeless in their glory
And still to be
witnessed from this trail. ..." [62]
If today's Chinese people were still
to remember some of their history, they would probably feel differently
when they recite this poem by Meng Haoran. The famous mountain and river
historical sites have been ruined and have disappeared in the storm of
the "Casting Away the Four Olds." Not only was the Orchid Pavilion, where
Wang Xizhi [63] wrote the famous "Prologue to the Collection of Poems Composed
at the Orchid Pavilion," [64] destroyed, Wang Xizhi's own grave was ruined
as well. Wu Cheng'en's [65] former residence in Jiangsu Province was demolished,
Wu Jingzi's [66] former residence in Anhui Province was smashed, the stone
tablet that had Su Dongpo's handwritten article The Roadside Hut of
the Old Drunkard [67] was pushed over by the "young revolutionists,"
[68] and the characters on the stone tablet were scraped off.
The essence of Chinese culture has been
inherited and accumulated over several thousand years. Once destroyed,
it cannot be restored. Yet the CCP has barbarously destroyed it in the
name of "revolution" without sorrow or shame. When we sighed over the Old
Summer Palace, which is known as the "palace of palaces," being burned
down by the Anglo-French Allied Forces, when we sighed over the monumental
work of the Yongle Encyclopedia [69] being destroyed by invader's flames
of war, how could we have anticipated that the destruction caused by the
CCP would be so much more widespread, long lasting and thorough than that
caused by any invaders?
Destruction of Spiritual Beliefs
In addition to destroying the physical
forms of religion and culture, the CCP has also used its utmost capacity
to destroy people's spiritual identity formed by faith and culture.
Take the CCP's treatment of ethnic beliefs
for example. The CCP considered the traditions of the Hui Muslim group
to be one of the "Four Olds" - old thought, culture, tradition, habit.
Therefore, it forced the Hui people to eat pork. Muslim peasants and mosques
were required to raise pigs, and each household had to furnish two pigs
to the country every year. The Red Guards even forced the second highest
Tibetan living Buddha, the Panchen Lama, to eat human excrement. They ordered
three monks from Temple of Bliss located in Harbin city, Heilongjiang Province,
which is the biggest Buddhist temple built in modern times (1921), to hold
a poster board that said, "The hell with sutras - they are full of shit."
In 1971, Lin Biao [70], the Vice Chairman
of the CCP's central committee, attempted to escape China but was killed
when his plane crashed in Undurkhan, Mongolia. Later, in Lin's Beijing
residence at Maojiawan, some Confucian quotations were found. The CCP then
started a frantic movement of "Criticizing Confucius." A writer pen-named
Liang Xiao [71] published an article in The Red Flag , the CCP's
banner magazine, entitled "Who is Confucius?" The article described Confucius
as a "madman who wanted to turn history backward," and a "deceptive and
shrewd demagogue." A series of cartoons and songs followed, demonizing
Confucius.
In this way, the dignity and sacredness
of religion and culture were annihilated.
Endless Destruction
In ancient China, the central government
only extended its rule to the county level, below which patriarchal clans
maintained autonomous control. So in Chinese history, the destruction,
such as the "burning of books and the burying of Confucian scholars" by
Emperor Qin Shi Huang [72] in the Qin Dynasty (221-207 BC) and the four
campaigns to eliminate Buddhism between the fifth and tenth century by
the "Three Wus and One Zong," all were imposed from the top down, and could
not possibly eradicate the culture. Confucian and Buddhist classics and
ideas continued to survive in the vast spaces of society. In contrast,
the campaign of "Casting Away the Four Olds" by teenage students incited
by the CCP was a nationwide grass-roots movement with "spontaneous enthusiasm."
The CCP's extension to every village through village-level Party branches
controlled the society so tightly that the CCP's "revolutionary" movement
extended without end and affected every person on every inch of land in
China.
Never in history had any emperor eradicated
from people's minds what they considered to be the most beautiful and the
most sacred, using slanderous and insulting propaganda in addition to violence,
as the CCP has. Elimination of belief can often be more effective and long-lasting
than physical destruction alone.
Reforming Intellectuals
The Chinese characters embody the essence
of 5,000 years of civilization. Each character's form and pronunciation,
and the idioms and literary allusions composed of combinations of the characters,
all express profound cultural meanings. The CCP has not only simplified
the Chinese characters, but also tried to replace them with Romanized pinyin,
which would remove all cultural tradition from the Chinese characters and
language. But the replacement plan has failed, thus sparing further damage
to the Chinese language. However, the Chinese intellectuals who inherited
the same traditional culture were not so fortunate as to be spared destruction.
Prior to 1949, China had about two million
intellectuals. Although some had studied in Western countries, they still
inherited some Confucian ideas. The CCP certainly could not relax its control
of them, because as members of the traditional "scholar-aristocracy" class,
their ways of thinking played important roles in shaping the thoughts of
ordinary people.
In September 1951, the CCP initiated
a large-scale "thought reform movement" starting in Peking University among
intellectuals, and required to "organize a movement (among teachers in
colleges, middle schools and primary schools, and college students) to
confess their history faithfully and honestly," so as to cleanse any counter-revolutionary
elements."[73]
Mao Zedong never liked intellectuals.
He said, "They [the intellectuals] ought to be aware of the truth that
actually many so-called intellectuals are, relatively speaking, quite ignorant
and the workers and farmers sometimes know more than they do." [74] "Compared
with the workers and peasants, the unreformed intellectuals were not clean,
and in the last analysis, the workers and peasants were the cleanest people,
even though their hands were dirty and their feet smeared with cow-dung..."
[75]
The CCP's persecution of intellectuals
started with various forms of accusations, ranging from the 1951 criticism
of Wu Xun [76] for "running schools with begged money" to Mao Zedong's
personal attack, in 1955, on writer Hu Feng [77] as a counter-revolutionary.
In the beginning, the intellectuals were not categorized as a reactionary
class, but by 1957, after several major religious groups had surrendered
through the "unified front" movement, the CCP could focus its energy on
the intellectuals. The "Anti-Rightist" movement was thus launched.
In the end of February of 1957, claiming
to "let a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend,"
the CCP called on intellectuals to voice their suggestions and criticisms
to the Party, promising no retaliation. Those intellectuals had been dissatisfied
with the CCP for a long time for its ruling in every field even though
it was a layman in those fields and its killing of innocent people during
the movement to "suppress counter-revolutionaries" in 1950-1953 and to
"eliminate counter-revolutionaries" in 1955-1957. They thought the CCP
had finally become open-minded. So they began to speak out their true feelings,
and their criticism grew more and more intense.
Many years later, there are still many
people who believe that Mao Zedong only started to attack the intellectuals
after becoming impatient with their overly harsh criticisms. The truth,
however, turned out to be different.
On May 15, 1957, Mao Zedong wrote an
article entitled "Things Are Beginning to Change" and circulated it among
senior CCP officials. The article said, "In recent days the Rightists...have
shown themselves to be most determined and most rabid. ...The Rightists,
who are anti-Communist, are making a desperate attempt to stir up a typhoon
above force seven in China...and are so bent on destroying the Communist
Party." [78] After that, those officials who had been indifferent to the
"let a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend"
campaign suddenly became enthusiastic and "earnest." In her memoir The
Past Doesn't Disappear Like Smoke , Zhang Bojun's daughter recounted:
Li Weihan, Minister of the
United Front Work Department, called Zhang Bojun in person to invite him
to a rectification meeting to offer his opinion about the CCP. Zhang was
arranged to sit on a front row sofa. Not knowing this to be a trap, Zhang
articulated his criticisms of the CCP. During the whole course, "Li Weihan
appeared relaxed. Zhang probably thought Li agreed with what he said. He
didn't know Li was pleased to see his prey falling into the trap." After
the meeting, Zhang was classified as the number one rightist in China.
We can cite a string of dates in 1957 that
marked proposals or speeches delivered by intellectuals offering criticisms
and suggestions: Zhang Bojun's "Political Design Institute" on May 21;
Long Yun's "Absurd Anti-Soviet Views" on May 22; Luo Longji's "Redressing
Committee" on May 22; Lin Xiling's speech on "Criticizing the CCP's Feudalistic
Socialism" at Peking University on May 30; Wu Zuguang's "The Party Should
Stop Leading the Arts" on May 31; and Chu Anping's "The Party Dominates
the World" on June 1. All these proposals and speeches had been invited,
and were offered after Mao Zedong had already sharpened his butcher's knife.
All of these intellectuals, predictably,
were later labeled rightists. There were more than 550,000 such "rightists"
nationwide.
Chinese tradition has it that "scholars
can be killed but cannot be humiliated." The CCP was capable of humiliating
intellectuals by denying their right to survive and even incriminating
their families unless they accepted humiliation. Many intellectuals did
surrender. During the course, some of them told on others to save themselves,
which broke many people's hearts. Those who did not submit to humiliation
were killed - serving as examples to terrorize other intellectuals.
The traditional "scholarly class," exemplars
of social morality, was thus obliterated.
Mao Zedong said,
What can Emperor Qin Shi Huang
brag about? He only killed 460 Confucian scholars, but we killed 46,000
intellectuals. In our suppression of counter-revolutionaries, didn't we
kill some counter-revolutionary intellectuals as well? I argued with the
pro-democratic people who accused us of acting like Emperor Qin Shi Huang.
I said they were wrong. We surpassed him by a hundred times. [79]
Indeed, Mao did more than kill the intellectuals.
More grievously, he destroyed their minds and hearts.
Creating the Appearance of Culture by
Keeping the Semblance of Tradition but Replacing the Contents
After the CCP adopted economic reform
and an open-door policy, it renovated many churches as well as Buddhist
and Taoist temples. It also organized some temple fairs in China as well
as cultural fairs overseas. This was the last effort of the CCP to utilize
and destroy the remaining traditional culture. There were two reasons for
the CCP to do so. On the one hand, the kindness inherent in human nature,
which the CCP could not possibly eradicate, will lead to the destruction
of the "Party culture." On the other hand, the CCP intended to use traditional
culture to apply cosmetics to their [true] face in order to cover up their
evil nature of "deceit, wickedness and violence."
The essence of culture is its inner
moral meaning, while the superficial forms have only entertainment value.
The CCP restored the superficial elements of culture, which entertain,
to cover up its purpose of destroying morality. No matter how many art
and calligraphy exhibits the CCP has organized, how many culture festivals
with dragon and lion dances it has staged, how many food festivals it has
hosted, or how much classical architecture it has built, the Party is simply
restoring the superficial appearance, but not the essence, of the culture.
In the meantime, the CCP promoted its cultural showpieces both inside and
outside of China basically for the sole purpose of maintaining political
power.
Once again, temples are an example.
Temples are meant to be places for people to cultivate, hearing bells in
the morning and drums at sunset, worshiping Buddha under burning oil lamps.
People in ordinary human society can also confess and worship there. Cultivation
requires a pure heart that pursues nothing. Confession and worship also
require a serious and solemn environment. However, temples have been turned
into tourist resorts for the sake of economic profits. Among the people
actually visiting temples in China today, how many of them have come to
contemplate their mistakes with a sincere and respectful heart towards
Buddha right after taking a bath and changing their clothes?
Restoring the semblance but destroying
the inner meaning of traditional culture is the tactic that the CCP has
taken to confuse people. Be it Buddhism, other religions, or cultural forms
derived from them, the CCP deliberately degrades them in this way. |
|
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While the CCP was destroying the traditional
semi-divine culture, it quietly established its own "Party culture" through
continuous political movements. The Party culture has transformed the older
generation, poisoned the younger generation and also had an impact on children.
Its influence has been extremely deep and broad. Even when many people
tried to expose the evilness of the CCP, they couldn't help but adopt the
ways of judging good and bad, the ways of analyzing, and the vocabulary
developed by the CCP, which inevitably carry the imprint of the Party culture.
The Party culture not only inherited
the essential wickedness of the foreign-born Marxist-Leninist culture,
but also skillfully combined all the negative elements from thousands of
years of Chinese culture with the violent revolution and philosophy of
struggle from the Party's propaganda. Those negative components include
internal strife for power inside the royal family, forming cliques to pursue
selfish interests, political trickery to make others suffer, dirty tactics
and conspiracy. During the CCP's struggle for survival in the past decades,
its characteristic of "deceit, wickedness and violence" has been enriched,
nurtured, and carried forward.
Despotism and dictatorship are the nature
of the Party culture. This culture serves the Party in its political and
class struggles. One may understand how it forms the Party's "humanistic"
environment of terror and despotism from four aspects.
The Aspect of Domination and Control;
A)
A Culture of Isolation
The culture of the communist party is
an isolated monopoly with no freedom of thought, speech, association, or
belief. The mechanism of the Party's domination is similar to a hydraulic
system, relying on high pressure and isolation to maintain its state of
control. Even one tiny leak could cause the system to collapse. For example,
the Party refused dialogue with the students during the June 4th student
movement [80], fearing that if this leak spouted, the workers, peasants,
intellectuals and the military would also request dialogue. Consequently,
China would have eventually moved towards democracy and the one-party dictatorship
would have been challenged. Therefore, they chose to commit murder rather
than grant the students' request. Today the CCP employs tens of thousands
of "cyber police" to monitor the internet and directly blocks any overseas
websites that the CCP does not like.
B) A Culture
of Terror
For the past 55 years, the CCP has been
using terror to suppress the minds of Chinese people. They have wielded
their whips and butcher's knives - people never know when unforeseen disasters
will befall them - to force the people to conform. The people, living in
fear, became obedient. Advocates of democracy, independent thinkers, skeptics
within the (CCP's) system and members of various spiritual groups have
become targets for killing as a way to warn the public. The party wants
to nip any opposition in the bud.
C) A Culture
of Network Control
The CCP's control of society is all
encompassing. There are a household registration system, a neighborhood
residents' committee system, and various levels of party committee structure.
"Party branches are established at the level of the company." "Each and
every single village has its own Party branch." Party and Communist Youth
League members have regular activities. The CCP also advocated a series
of slogans accordingly. A few examples are: "Guard your own door and watch
your own people." "Stop your people from appealing." "Resolutely implement
the system to impose duties, guarantee fulfillment of duties, and ascertain
where the responsibility lies. Guard and control strictly. Be serious about
discipline and regulations and guarantee 24-hour preventive and maintenance
control measures." "The 610 Office [81] will form a surveillance committee
to inspect and monitor activities in each region and work unit at irregular
intervals."
D) A Culture
of Incrimination
The CCP completely neglected the principles
of rule by law in modern society and vigorously promoted the policy of
implication. It used its absolute power to punish relatives of those who
were labeled "landlords," "rich," "reactionaries," "bad elements," and
"rightists." It proposed the "class origin" theory [82].
Today, the CCP will "affix the responsibility
of the primary leaders and publicly reprimand them, if they fail in their
leadership roles to take adequate measures to prevent Falun Gong practitioners
from going to Beijing to stir up trouble. For serious cases, disciplinary
action will be taken." "If one person practices Falun Gong, every family
member will be laid off." "If one employee practices Falun Gong, the bonus
of every one in the whole company will be detained." The CCP also issued
discriminative policies that classified children into "ones that can be
educated and transformed" or "five black classes" (landlords, rich farmers,
reactionaries, bad elements, and rightists). The Party promoted complying
with the Party and "placing righteousness above family loyalty." Systems,
such as the personnel and organizational archive system and temporary relocation
system, were established to ensure implementation of its policies. People
were encouraged to accuse and expose others, and rewarded for contributions
to the Party.
Aspects of Propaganda
A)
A Culture of One Voice
(During the Cultural Revolution, China
was filled with slogans such as) "Supreme instructions," "One sentence
(of Mao) carries the weight of ten thousand sentences, each one is the
truth." All media were roused to sing the praises and collectively speak
in support of the Party. When needed, leaders from every level of the Party,
government, military, workers, youth league and women's organizations would
be brought out to express their support. Everyone had to go through the
ordeal.
B) A Culture
to Promote Violence
Mao Zedong said, "With 800 million people,
how can it work without struggle?" In the persecution of Falun Gong, Jiang
Zemin said, "No punishment for beating Falun Gong practitioners to death."
The CCP advocated "total war," and "the atomic bomb is simply a paper tiger...
even if half of the population died, the remaining half would still reconstruct
our homeland from the ruins."
C) A Culture
to Incite Hatred
It becomes a fundamental national policy
"not to forget the suffering of the (poor) classes, and to firmly remember
the enmity in tears and blood." Cruelty towards class enemies was praised
as a virtue. The CCP taught "Bite into your hatred, chew it and swallow
it down. Plant the hatred into your heart so that it sprouts." [83]
D) A Culture
of Deception and Lies
(Here are a few examples of the CCP's
lies.) "The yield per mu [84] is over ten thousand jin "
during the Great Leap Forward (1958). "Not a single person was killed on
Tiananmen Square" during the June 4th massacre in 1989. "We have controlled
the SARS virus" in 2003. "It is currently the best time for human rights
in China." and the "Three Represents." [85]
E) The Culture
of Brainwashing
(These are a few slogans that the CCP
made up to brainwash people.) "There would be no new China without the
Communist Party." "The force at the core leading our cause forward is the
CCP and the theoretical basis guiding our thinking is Marxism-Leninism."
[86] "Maintain maximum alignment with the Party's Central Committee." "Carry
out the party's command if you understand it. Even if you do not understand,
carry it out anyway and your understanding should deepen while carrying
out the orders."
F) A Culture
of Adulation
"Heaven and the earth are great but
greater still is the kindness of the Party;" "We owe all our achievements
to the Party;" "I take the Party as my mother;" "I use my own life to safeguard
the Central Committee of the Party." "A great, glorious and correct party."
"An undefeatable party," and so on.
G) The Culture
of Pretentiousness
The Party established models and set up
examples one after another, and launched the "socialist ideological and
ethical progress" and "ideological education" campaigns. In the end, people
continued to do whatever they did before each campaign. All of the public
lectures, study sessions, and experience sharing have become an "earnest
showcase," and society's moral standard has continued to take great leaps
backward.
The Aspect of Interpersonal Relations
A)
A Culture of Jealousy
The party promoted "absolute equalitarianism"
so that "anyone who stands out will be the target of attack." People are
jealous of those who have greater ability and those who are wealthier -
the so-called "red-eye syndrome." [87]
B) A Culture
of People Stepping Over Each Other
The CCP promoted "struggle face-to-face
and report back-to-back." Squealing on one's associates, creating written
materials to frame them, fabricating facts and exaggerating their mistakes
- these devious behaviors have been used to measure closeness to the party
and the desire to advance. .
Subtle Influences on People's Internal Psyche
and External Behavior
A)
A Culture That Transforms Human Beings into Machines
The Party wants the people to be the
"never rusting bolts in the revolution machine," to be the "tamed tool
for the Party," or to "Attack in whatever directions the Party directs
us." "Chairman Mao's soldiers listen to the Party the most; they go wherever
they are needed and settle down wherever there are hardships."
B) A Culture
That Confounds Right and Wrong
During the Cultural Revolution, the
CCP would "rather have the socialist weeds than the capitalist crops."
The army was ordered to shoot and kill in the June 4th massacre "in exchange
for 20 years of stability." The CCP also "Does unto others what one does
not want to be done unto oneself."
C) A Culture
of Self-Imposed Brainwashing and Unconditional Obedience
"Lower ranks obey the orders of the
higher ranks and the whole Party obeys the Party's Central Committee."
"Fight ruthlessly to eradicate any selfish thoughts that flash through
your mind." "Erupt a revolution in the depths of your soul." "Maintain
maximum alignment with the Party's Central Committee." "Unify the minds,
unify the footsteps, unify the orders, and unify the commands."
D) A Culture
of Securing a Flunkey Position
"China would be in chaos without the
Communist Party;" "China is so vast. Who else can lead it but the CCP?"
"If China collapses, it will be a worldwide disaster, so we should help
the CCP sustain its leadership." Out of fear and self-protection, the groups
constantly suppressed by the CCP oftentimes appear even more lefty than
the CCP.
There are many more examples like these.
Every reader could probably find various sorts of elements of the Party
culture from his personal experiences.
People who experienced the Cultural
Revolution might still remember vividly the "Model Play" of modern operas,
the Songs with Mao's words as lyrics, and the Loyalty Dance. Many still
recall the words from the dialogues in "The White-Haired Girl," [88] "Tunnel
Warfare" [89], and "War of Mines" [90]. Through these literary works, the
CCP has brainwashed people, forcibly filling their minds with messages
such as "how brilliant and great" the Party is; how "arduously and valiantly"
the party has struggled against the enemy; how "utterly devoted to the
Party" the Party's soldiers are; how willing they are to sacrifice themselves
for the Party; and how stupid and vicious the enemies are. Day after day,
the CCP's propaganda machine forcibly injects into every individual the
beliefs needed by the Communist Party. Today, if one went back to watch
the "Epic Poem" of musical dance– "The East is Red," one would realize
that the entire theme and style of the show is about "killing, killing,
and more killing."
At the same time, the CCP has created
its own system of speech and discourse, such as the abusive language in
mass criticism, the flattering words to sing the praises of the Party,
and the banal official formalities similar to the "eight-part essay." [91]
People are made to speak unconsciously with the thinking patterns that
promote the concept of "class struggle" and to "extol the Party," and use
domineering language instead of calm and rational reasoning. The CCP also
abuses the religious vocabulary and distorts the content of those terms.
One step beyond the truth is fallacy.
The CCP party culture also abuses traditional morality to a certain extent.
For instance, traditional culture values "faith," so does the Communist
Party. However what it promotes is "faithfulness and honesty to the Party."
The traditional culture emphasizes "filial piety." The CCP may put people
in jail if they do not provide for their parents, but the real reason is
that these parents would otherwise become a "burden" to the government.
When it fits the Party's needs, the children are required to draw clear
boundaries separating them from their parents. The traditional culture
stresses "loyalty." Nevertheless, "the people are of supreme importance;
the nation comes next; last comes the ruler." The "loyalty" preferred by
the CCP is "blind devotion" - so completely blind that people are required
to believe in the CCP unconditionally and obey it unquestioningly.
The words commonly used by the CCP are
very misleading. For example, it called the civil war between the Kuomintang
and the Communists the "Liberation War," as if the people were being "liberated"
from oppression. The CCP called the post-1949 period "after the founding
of the nation," when, in reality, China existed long before that. The CCP
simply established a new political regime. The three-year Great Famine
[92] was called "three years of natural disaster," when, in fact, it was
not at all a natural disaster but, rather, a complete man-made calamity.
However, upon hearing these words used in everyday life and being imperceptibly
influenced by them, people unconsciously accept the ideologies that the
CCP intended to instill to them.
In traditional culture, music is taken
as a way to constrain human desires. In the Book of Song (Yue Shu), Volume
24 of the Records of the Historian (Shi Ji) , Sima Qian (145-85
BC) [93] said the nature of man is peaceful; sensation of external matters
affects one's emotions and stir up the sentiment of love or hate based
upon one's character and wisdom. If these sentiments are not constrained,
one will be seduced by endless external temptations and assimilated by
one's internal sentiments to commit many bad deeds. Thus, said Sima Qian,
the emperors of the past used rituals and music to constrain people. The
songs should be "cheerful but not obscene, sad but not overly distressing."
They should express feelings and desires, yet have control over these sentiments.
Confucius said in the Analects, "The three hundred verses of The Odes
(one of the six classics compiled and edited by Confucius) may be summed
up in a single sentence, ‘Think no evil.'"
Such a beautiful thing as music, however,
was used by the CCP as a method to brainwash the people. Songs like "Socialism
Is Good," "There would be no new China without the Communist Party," and
many others, have been sung from kindergarten to the university. In singing
these songs, people have unconsciously accepted the meanings of the lyrics.
Further, the CCP stole the tunes of the most melodious folk songs and replaced
them with lyrics that praise the Party. This has served both to destroy
the traditional culture and to promote the Party.
As one of the CCP's classic documents,
Mao's "Speech at the Yan'an Forum on Literature and Arts" [94] placed cultural
endeavors and the military as "the two battle fronts." It stated that it
was not enough to have just the armed military; an "army of literary arts"
was also needed. It stipulated that "the literary arts should serve politics"
and "the literary arts of the proletariat class... are the ‘gears and screws'
of the revolution machine." A complete system of "Party culture" was developed
out of this, with "atheism" and "class struggle" being its core. This system
goes completely against traditional culture.
The "Party culture" has indeed rendered
distinguished service in helping the CCP to win power and control over
society. Like its army, prisons, and police force, the Party culture is
also a violence machine, which provides a different kind of brutality -
"cultural brutality." This cultural brutality, by destroying 5000 years
of traditional culture, has diminished the will of the people, and undermined
the cohesiveness of the Chinese nationality.
Today, many Chinese are absolutely ignorant
of the essence of traditional culture. Some even equate the 50 years of
"Party culture" to the 5000 years of Chinese traditional culture. This
is a sorrowful thing for the Chinese people. Many do not realize that in
opposing the so-called traditional culture they are in fact against the
"Party culture" of the CCP, not the real traditional culture of China.
Many people hope to replace the current
Chinese system with the Western democratic system. In reality, Western
democracy has also been established on a cultural basis, notably that of
Christianity, which, holding that "everyone is equal in the eyes of God,"
thus respects human nature and human choices. How could the despotic, inhuman
"Party culture" of the CCP be used as the foundation for a Western-style
democratic system? |
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China started to deviate from its traditional
culture in the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD), and that culture has experienced
constant depredation ever since. After the May Fourth Movement of 1919,
[95] some intellectuals who were eager for quick success and instant benefit
attempted to find a path for China by turning away from the traditional
culture toward Western civilization. Still, conflicts and changes in the
cultural domain remained a focus of academic contention without the involvement
of state forces. When the CCP came into existence, however, it elevated
cultural conflicts to a matter of life-and-death struggle for the Party.
So the CCP began to exercise a direct assault on traditional culture, using
destructive means as well as indirect abuse in the form of "adopting the
dross and rejecting the essence."
The destruction of the national culture
was also the process of establishing "the Party culture." The CCP subverted
human conscience and moral judgment, thus driving people to turn their
backs on traditional culture. If the national culture is completely destroyed,
the essence of the nation will disappear with it, leaving only an empty
name for the nation. This is not an exaggerated warning.
At the same time, the destruction of
the traditional culture has brought us unexpected physical damage.
Traditional culture values the unity
of heaven and humans and harmonious co-existence between humans and nature.
The CCP has declared endless joy from "fighting with heaven and earth."
This culture of the CCP has led directly to the serious degradation of
the natural environment that plagues China today. Take water resources
for example. The Chinese people, having abandoned the traditional value
that "a nobleman treasures wealth, but he makes fortune in a decent way,"
have wantonly ravaged and polluted the natural environment. Currently,
more than 75 percent of the 50,000 kilometers (or 30,000 miles) of China's
rivers are unsuitable for fish habitat. Over one third of the groundwater
had been polluted even a decade ago, and now the situation continues to
worsen. A "spectacle" of a strange kind occurred at the Huaihe River: A
little child playing in the oil-filled river created a spark that, upon
striking the surface of the river, lit a flame five meters (16 feet) high.
As the fire surged into the air, more than ten willow trees in the vicinity
were burnt to a crisp. [96] One can easily see that it is impossible for
those who drink such water not to develop cancer or other strange diseases.
Other environmental problems, such as desertification and salinization
in Northwest China and industrial pollution in developed regions, all are
related to the society's loss of respect for nature.
Traditional culture respects life. The
CCP urges that "revolt is justifiable," and "struggling against human beings
is full of joy." In the name of revolution, the Party could murder and
starve to death tens of millions of people. This has led people to devalue
life, which then encourages the proliferation of fake and poisonous products
in the market. In Fuyang City of Anhui Province, for example, many healthy
babies developed short limbs, thin and weak bodies, and enlarged heads
during their lactation period. Eight babies died because of this strange
disease. After investigation, it was discovered that the disease was caused
by poisonous milk powder made by a black-hearted and greedy manufacturer.
Some people feed crabs, snakes and turtles with hormones and antibiotics,
mix industrial alcohol with drinking wine, polish rice using industrial
shortenings, and whiten bread flour with industrial brightening agents.
For eight years, a manufacturer in Henan Province produced thousands of
tons of cooking oil every month using materials containing carcinogens
such as waste oil, oil extracted from left-over meals, or discarded argil
that contained residual oils after its use. Producing poisonous foods is
not a local or limited phenomenon, but is common all over China. This has
everything to do with the single-minded pursuit of material gain that comes
in the wake of the destruction of the culture and consequent degeneration
of human morality.
Unlike the absolute monopoly and exclusiveness
of the Party culture, the traditional culture has a tremendous integrative
capacity. During the prosperous Tang Dynasty, Buddhist teachings, Christianity,
and other Western religions co-existed harmoniously with Taoist and Confucian
thought. Authentic Chinese traditional culture would have kept an open
and tolerant attitude toward modern Western civilization. The four "tigers"
of Asia (Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong) have created a "New
Confucian" cultural identity. Their soaring economies have proven that
traditional culture is not a hindrance to social development.
At the same time, authentic traditional
culture measures the quality of human life on the basis of happiness from
within rather than material comfort from without. "I would rather have
no one blame me behind my back, than have someone praise me to my face;
I would rather have peace in mind, than have comfort in body." [97] Tao
Yuanming (365-427 AD) [98] lived in poverty, but he kept a joyful spirit
and enjoyed as a pastime, "picking asters beneath the eastern fence, gazing
upon the Southern Mountain in the distance."
Culture offers no answers for questions
such as how to expand industrial production or what social systems to adopt.
Rather, it plays an important role in providing moral guidance and restraint.
The true restoration of traditional culture shall be the recovery of humility
toward heaven, the earth and nature, respect for life, and awe before God.
It will allow humanity to live harmoniously with heaven and earth and to
enjoy a heaven-given old age. |
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Notes:
[1] Pangu was the first living being
and the creator of all in Chinese mythology.
[2] Nüwa was the mother goddess
who created humankind in Chinese mythology.
[3] Shennong (literally, "The Heavenly
Farmer") is a legendary figure in Chinese mythology who lived some 5,000
years ago. He taught the ancient people the practices of agriculture. He
is also credited with risking his life to identify hundreds of medicinal
(and poisonous) herbs and various plants of that nature, which were crucial
to the development of traditional Chinese medicine.
[4] Cangjie or Cang Jie is a fabled
and legendary figure from ancient China, is said to have been the Yellow
Emperor's official historian, and the inventor of the Chinese characters.
The Cangjie method of Chinese character computer input is named after him.
[5] From Tao-te Ching or Dao De Jing
, one of the most important Taoist texts, written by Lao Zi or Lao Tze.
[6] Opening remarks from The Great Learning
by Confucius.
[7] From Records of the Historian (
Shi Ji , also translated as The Grand Scribe's Record ) by Sima Qian (145-85
BC), who was the first major Chinese historian. It documents the history
of China and its neighboring countries from the ancient past to his own
time. The pattern of Sima Qian's historiographic work was unique and served
as model for the official standard histories of the imperial dynasties
for the next 2000 years.
[8] From Confucius' Analects .
[9] ibid.
[10] ibid.
[11] Confucius said in The Greating
Learning he wrote, "Their persons being cultivated, their families were
regulated. Their families being regulated, their states were rightly governed.
Their states being rightly governed, the whole kingdom was made tranquil
and happy."
[12] Dong Zhongshu (ca. 179-104 B.C.),
a Confucian thinker during the Han Dynasty, said in a treatise Three Ways
to Harmonize Humans with Heaven (Tian Ren San Ce) , "if heaven remains,
the Tao does not change."
[13] The Journey to the West , known
to westerners as Monkey King , written by Wu Cheng'en (1506?-1582?), is
one of the renowned classical Chinese novels. It was based on a true story
of a famous Chinese monk in the Tang Dynasty, Xuan Zang (602-664), who
traveled on foot to what is today India, the birthplace of Buddhism, to
seek for the sutras. In the novel, the Monkey King, Pigsy and Sandy were
arranged by the Buddha to become disciples of Xuan Zang and escorted him
to the West to get the sutras. They went through 81 dangers and calamities
before they finally arrived at the West and achieved True Fruition.
[14] A Dream of Red Mansions , ( Hung
Lou Meng , also translated as The Dream of the Red Chamber ), was written
by Cao Xueqin (or Tsao Hsueh-Chin) (1715?-1763) in Qing (Ching) Dynasty.
It is a tragic love story set against the background of the decline of
an aristocratic family. With this as its central theme, the novel unfolds
a vast and moving panorama of social history. It also parades a memorable
and dazzling cast of characters, with the central ones being Jia Baoyu
and Lin Daiyu. Its wide-ranging and meticulous structure together with
its literary merit in the form of exquisite language make it universally
recognized as the epitome of the art of the classical novel in China.
[15] Outlaws of the Marsh (also translated
as Heroes of Water Margins ), one of China's great classic novels, written
in the 14th century by Shi Nai'an. A hundred and eight men and women band
together to be outlaws of the marsh. Intrigue, adventure, murder, war,
and romantic stories are told in the suspenseful manner of the traditional
storyteller.
[16] Three Kingdoms , one of the most
famous Chinese classic novels written by Luo Guanzhong (1330?-1400?) based
on the history of the Three Kingdoms period (220AD-280AD). It describes
the intricate and tense struggles for the throne among three powerful political
forces: Liu Bei, Cao Cao and Sun Quan, and focuses on various great talents
and bold strategies during that period.
[17] The Romance of the Eastern Zhou
, a novel originally written by Yu Shaoyu in the Ming Dynasty, revised
and rewritten by Feng Menglong at end of the Ming Dynasty, and was further
revised by Cai Yuanfang in the Qing Dynasty. It covers a history of more
than 500-years during the Spring and Autumn period (770-476 BC) and the
Warring States period (475-221 BC).
[18] The Complete Story of Yue Fei ,
was written by Qian Cai in the Qing Dynasty. It described the life of Yue
Fei (1103-1142) from the Southern Song Dynasty, one of the most famous
Generals and patriotic heroes in Chinese history. General Yue Fei distinguished
himself in battles against northern invaders from the Jin nation. He was
framed for crimes that he did not commit, sent to prison and executed,
as Prime Minister Qin Hui attempted to eliminate the war party. Yue Fei
was later cleared of the groundless charges and a temple was built in his
memory. Four cast-iron figures were made for his tomb. With chests bare
and hands bound behind their backs and kneeling before it, they represent
those people who are responsible for Yue Fei's murder. Yue Fei has become
a model in Chinese culture of loyalty to the country.
[19] This quote comes from Abstract
of Collected Taoist Scriptures (Dao Cang Ji Yao) compiled in the Qing Dynasty.
[20] See [8].
[21] From Mao's speech at the Eighth
Session of the Tenth CCP Plenary Meeting.
[22] Mao's original words in Chinese
used a pun: I am like a monk holding an umbrella - no Tao (or Fa, pun for
"hair") nor heaven (pun for "sky").
[23] Jie is the name of the last ruler
of the Xia Dynasty (c. 21-16 B.C.), and Zhou is the name of the last ruler
of the Shang Dynasty (c. 16 -11 B.C.). Both are known as tyrants.
[24] Wen Tianxiang (1236-1283 AD), a
military commander who fought against the Mongolian troops to protect the
integrity of the Southern Song Dynasty. He was killed on January 9th, 1283
for refusing to surrender to the Mongolians after being taken prisoner.
[25] From Mencius .
[26] From a very famous saying by Mencius,
"Life, my desire; justice, my desire too. When I cannot have both of them
at the same time, I will maintain justice at the expense of my life."
[27] From the Communist Internationale
anthem. The Chinese translation literally means: "There has never been
a savior, and we do not rely on God either; to create human happiness,
we rely entirely on ourselves."
[28] Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei,
alias Tuo Tao (r. 424-452 AD)
[29] Emperor Wuzong of the Tang Dynasty,
alias Li Yan, (r. 840-846 AD)
[30] Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou
Dynasty, alias Yu Yong, (r. 561-579 AD)
[31] Emperor Shizong of the Later Zhou
Dynasty, alias Chairong, (r. 954-959 AD)
[32] A slogan used in the mid 1960s
during the Cultural Revolution in China.
[33] The White Horse Temple, the first
Buddhist monastery in China, was built in A.D. 68, the eleventh year of
Yong Ping in the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 AD).
[34] In the Dai language, the Beiye
Scripture is pronounced Tanlan. Beiye is a subtropical plant belonging
to the palm family. It is a tall kind of tree with thick leaves, which
are mothproof and very slow to dry out. In ancient times when paper was
not yet invented, the Dai's ancestors imprinted letters or articles on
the leaf. The letters carved on the leaf are called the Beiye correspondence,
and the scripture on it, Tanlan (Beiye scripture).
[35] Xiangshan Park, also called Fragrant
Hills Park, is located 28 kilometers (17 miles) northwest of downtown Beijing.
Initially built in 1186 in the Jin Dynasty, it became a summer resort for
imperial families during the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties.
[36] From How Many Cultural Relics Were
Committed To Flames by Ding Shu.
[37] Red Guards refers to civilians
who were the frontline implementers of the Great Cultural Revolution. Most
were youngsters in their mid-teens.
[38] The Summer Palace, located 15 kilometers
(9 miles) from Beijing, is the largest and best-preserved royal garden
in China, with a history of over 800 years.
[39] Louguan Temple is a famous Taoist
shrine in China. It is revered as "the first land of the blessed under
heaven." The temple is situated on the hillside north of the Zhongnan Mountains,
15 kilometers (9 miles) southeast of Zhouzhi County and 70 kilometers (42
miles) from Xi'an City.
[40] li is a Chinese unit of length
(1 li is 0.5 kilometer or 0.3 miles).
[41] Emperor Gaozu of the Tang Dynasty,
alias Li Yuan, (r. 618-626 AD), the first emperor of Tang Dynasty.
[42] People's communes (Renmin Gongshe),
were formerly the highest of three administrative levels in rural areas
in the period from 1958 to around 1982 in the People's Republic of China.
The communes had governmental, political, and economic functions. They
were the largest collective units and were further divided into production
brigades and production teams. After 1982, they were replaced by townships.
[43] See [36].
[44] The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra
purports to be the Buddha's final Mahayana sutra, delivered on the last
day of his earthly life. It claims to constitute the quintessence of all
Mahayana sutras.
[45] From Taisho Tripitaka Vol. T01,
No. 7, Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra . Provisional translation subject
to improvement.
[46] From The Theory and Practice of
the Chinese Communist Party's Suppression of Religions by Bai Zhi. Website:
http://www.dajiyuan.com/gb/3/4/15/n300731.htm (in Chinese).
[47] Mukti means Fist Dharma or Law
teaching or transmission. Mukti can also be translated as "loosing, release,
deliverance, liberation, setting free, emancipation; escape from bonds
and the obtaining of freedom, freedom from transmigration, from karma,
from illusion, from suffering"; it denotes Nirv?na and also the freedom
obtained in Dhy?na (meditation). It is to escape from Samsara (reincarnation).
[48] Nirvana, in Buddhism or Hinduism,
is a state of blissful peace and harmony beyond the sufferings and passions
of individual existence; a state of oneness with the eternal spirit.
[49] A Suppression of Counterrevolutionaries
campaign dealt violently with former members of secret societies, religious
associations, and the Kuomintang (KMT) in early 1951.
[50] The "War to Resist U.S. Aggression
and Aid Korea", as the CCP called it, broke out in 1950. It is commonly
known in the western world as the "Korean War."
[51] Wu Yaozong (1893-1975 AD) and others
published the so-called "Means for Chinese Christianity to Exert Efforts
in the Construction of the New China," also called the "Innovation Manifesto
of Three Self" in 1950 and formed the "Three-Self" church thereafter.
[52] The Great Hall of the People, built
in 1959, is located at the west side of Tiananmen Square. It is a meeting
place for the National People's Congress of China.
[53] See [46].
[54] Kesa robe, the monk's robe, or
cassock.
[55] Zhang Bojun (1895-1969 AD) was
one of the founders of the "China Democratic League," a democratic party
in China. He was classified as the "number one rightist" in 1957 by Mao
Zedong, and was one of the few "rightists" who were not redressed after
the Cultural Revolution.
[56] Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty,
alias Zhao Ji (r. 1100-1126 AD).
[57] Su Dongpo, (1036-1101 AD), a famous
Chinese poet and writer of the Song Dynasty. One of the "Eight Great Prose
Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties."
[58] Wen Zhengming, (1470-1559 AD) Chinese
painter of the Ming Dynasty.
[59] Tang Bohu, (1470-1523) renowned
Chinese scholar, painter, and poet of the Ming Dynasty.
[60] Jin is a unit of weight used in
China. One jin is 0.5 kg, or about 1.1 lb.
[61] See [36].
[62] From a poem by Meng Haoran (689
– 740 AD) who was a well-known poet of the Tang Dynasty.
[63] Wang Xi Zhi (321-379 AD), the most
famous calligrapher in history, from the Tang Dynasty.
[64] The original Lan Ting Prologue,
allegedly written by Wang Xi Zhi at the prime of his calligraphy career
(51 years old, 353 AD), is universally recognized as the most important
piece in the history of Chinese calligraphy.
[65] Wu Cheng'en (1506?-1582? AD), Chinese
novelist and poet of the Ming Dynasty, author of The Journey to the West
, one of the four best-known Chinese novels.
[66] Wu Jingzi (1701-1754 AD), an elegant
writer of the Qing Dynasty, author of The Scholars ( Rulin Waishi , also
known as Unofficial History of the Scholars ).
[67] Prose wrote by Ouyang Xiu (1007?1072
AD), one of the "Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties."
Ouyang Xiu called himself an "old drunkard".
[68] Alternative name for the Red Guards.
[69] The Yongle Encyclopedia or Yongle
Dadian was commissioned by the Chinese Ming Dynasty Emperor Yongle in 1403.
It is considered the world's earliest and greatest encyclopedia. Two thousand
scholars worked on the project, incorporating 8000 texts from ancient times
up to the early Ming Dynasty. The Encyclopedia, completed in 1408, comprised
over 22,000 manuscript volumes occupying 40 cubic metres (1400 cubic feet).
[70] Lin Biao (1907-1971), one of the
senior CCP leaders, served under Mao Zedong as a member of China's Politburo,
as Vice-Chairman (1958) and Defense Minister (1959). Lin was designated
as Mao's successor in 1966 but fell out of favor in 1970. He was said to
attempt to flee out of China. His plane crashed in Mongolia, resulting
in his death.
[71] "Liang Xiao" represents a group
of assigned writers, among whom Zhou Yiliang, whose involvement in the
writing group earned him an anonymous letter from an old friend that referred
to "the extreme of shamelessness."
[72] Emperor Qin Shi Huang (259-210
BC), alias Ying Zheng, was the first emperor in the history of the unified
China. He standardized legal codes, written language, currencies, weights
and measures, and ordered the Great Wall be built. All these measures had
a great and deep influence upon Chinese history and culture. He ordered
the books of various schools burned including those of Confucianism and
Daoism, and once ordered 460 Confucian scholars be buried alive. These
events were later called in history "the burning of books and the burying
of Confucian scholars." He built a huge mausoleum for himself and the Terra-cotta
Army of the Tomb of Emperor Qin became known as the Eighth Wonder of the
World.
[73] From The Writings of Mao Zedong
1949-1976 (Vol. 2)
[74] From Mao's "Rectify the Party's
Style of Work" (1942).
[75] From Mao's "Talks at the Yan'an
Forum on Literature and Art" (1942).
[76] Wu Xun (1838-1896 AD), originally
Wu Qi, was born in Shandong's Tangyi. Having lost his father at an early
age, his family was impoverished. He had to beg for food to feed his mother
and became known as the filial piety beggar. After his mother passed away,
begging became his only means of making a living. He ran free schools with
the money he had accrued from begging.
[77] Hu Feng (1902-1985), scholar and
literary critic, opposed the doctrinaire literature policy of the CCP.
He was expelled from the Party in 1955 and sentenced to 14 years in prison.
[78] From Selected Works of Mao Zedong
(Vol. 5), "Things Are Beginning to Change" (1957)
[79] Qian Bocheng, Oriental Culture
, fourth edition (2000).
[80] The June 4th student movement was
initiated by college students advocating democratic reforms in China between
April 15 and June 4, 1989. It was later suppressed by the People's Liberation
Army, and is called by international society the June 4th massacre.
[81] An agency specifically created
to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration
in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.
[82] "Class origin" (or bloodline or
pedigree) theory claims that one's nature is determined by the class of
the family in which one is born.
[83] From the song of the modern opera
"Legend of the Red Lantern," a popular official "Model Play" developed
during the "Great Cultural Revolution" (1966-76).
[84] Mu is a unit of area used in China.
One mu is 0.165 acres.
[85] The "Three Represents" claims that,
the Party must always represent the development trend of China's advanced
productive forces, the orientation of China's advanced culture and the
fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people.
[86] Opening address at the First Session
of the First National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China
(September 15, 1954).
[87] "Red-eye syndrome," equivalent
to "green-eyed" in the Western expression, is used here to describe a person,
who, when seeing other people doing better than he is, feels unequal and
uncomfortable, and thinks that he should be the one who is doing better.
[88] A popular official "Model Play"
developed during the "Great Cultural Revolution" (1966-76). In folk legend,
the White-Haired Girl is a female immortal living in a cave who had supernatural
abilities to reward virtue and punish vice, support the righteous and restrain
the evil. However, in this Chinese "modern" opera, she was described as
a girl who was forced to flee to a cave after her father was beaten to
death for refusing to marry her to an old landlord. She became white-haired
for lack of nutrition. This became one of the most well-known "modern"
dramas in China and incited class hatred of landlords.
[89] Tunnel Warfare (Didao Zhan), a
1965 black and white film in which the CCP claimed that its guerrillas
in Central China fought Japanese invaders through various underground tunnels
in the 1940s.
[90] War of Mines (Dilei Zhan), a 1962
black and white film in which the CCP claimed that its guerrillas in Hebei
Province fought Japanese invaders with homemade mines in the 1940s.
[91] A literary composition prescribed
for the imperial civil service examinations, known for its rigidity of
form and poverty of ideas.
[92] The Great Famine of 1959-1961 in
China is the largest famine in human history. Estimated numbers of "abnormal
deaths" in the famine range from 18 to 43 million.
[93] See [7].
[94] By Mao Zedong (1942).
[95] The May Fourth Movement was the
first mass movement in modern Chinese history, beginning on May 4, 1919.
[96] Chen Guili, Warning of Huaihe River
(1995).
[97] From Prologue to See Li Yuan to
Return to Pangu by Han Yu (768-824 AD), one of the "Eight Great Prose Masters
of the Tang and Song Dynasties."
[98] Tao Yuanming (365-427 AD), also
known as Tao Qian, a great poet in Chinese literature. |
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