Explore the collection
Showing 7 items in the collection
7 items
Book
1966: Memories of Our Generation
This book is a collection of nineteen feature articles by well-known contemporary scholars, researchers, and writers. They recapitulate their own experiences during the Cultural Revolution in a literary style.
When the Cultural Revolution broke out, they were all young people in their twenties. These reminiscence articles are the result of a rare collective reflection after the end of the Cultural Revolution. The authors described their own experiences during the Cultural Revolution in the articles, providing a personal perspective on history.
The chief editor of this book is the philosopher and activist Xu Youyu, a former researcher at the Institute of Philosophy, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Xu signed and made suggestions on Charter 08, and also is a co-founder of the New Citizens Movement. Since 2015 he has resided in New York City, where he has been a visiting scholar at the New School for Social Research.
This book was published by China Federation of Literary and Art Circles Publishing Corporation in 1998.
Book
Active Life
This is a collection of essays by Cui Weiping, a professor at the Beijing Film Academy. The title, inspired by Hannah Arendt, covers a wide range of fields from poetry and movies to politics and ethics, and tells the stories of fascinating people, the construction of their inner world and external lives. These people include Hai Zi, Wang Xiaobo, Arendt, Woolf, Beauvoir, Tarkovsky, Kremer, Herbert, Havel, and many others. Behind these seemingly unrelated names, there are hints of these two interdependent spiritual dimensions: on the one hand, the construction of the external world in which we live; on the other hand, the construction of our own inner world, which cannot be neglected. This book, published by Renmin University of China Press in 2003, has had a significant impact on the development of civil society in China.
Periodicals
Examination of the Great Famine of the 1960s in China
This book documents the situation of people during the Great Famine, reflects on the causes of this tragedy, and candidly criticizes the practices of the time, which ignored the laws of the economy and put class struggle above all else. As a *de facto* party organ, Lanzhou Municipal Political Consultative Conference’s publication of this book bears special significance.
This book is the 22nd volume of a 23-volume series called the "Lanzhou Literary and Historical Materials" compiled by the Literary and Historical Materials and Study Committee of the Lanzhou Municipal Political Consultative Conference, a body directly under CCP control.
Taking Gansu, Qinghai and Henan Province as examples, the book describes the situation of people during the Great Famine and analyzes the causes of the disaster; it also documents a series of phenomena at that time, such as the irrational construction of mega hydraulic projects, the operation of communal canteens that caused huge waste, and the mass exodus of people fleeing the famine. In chapters 10 to 15, the book summarizes the lessons learned in detail, pointing out that the Anti-Rightist Campaign and the Great Leap Forward led to the tragedy of the Great Famine.
Published in 2002, the book was edited by Wu Wenjun Wang Jialuo. Wu Wenjun and Wang Jialuo also worked together on the 20th volume of the *Lanzhou Literary and Historical Materials*, *Examination of the Great Famine of the 1960s in Gansu Province* (which is also held by the archive). All but the 20th and 22nd series are available on the website ((https://www.gslzzx.gov.cn/col/col11760/index.html) ) of the Lanzhou Municipal Political Consultative Conference.
Periodicals
Examination of the Great Famine of the 1960s in Gansu Province
This book is a series of studies on the socio-economic situation in Gansu Province during the Great Famine of 1958 to 1961. The book is, divided into two parts.
The first part consists of five research articles, which document the miserable situation of the people of Gansu during the Great Famine. According to the book, the Gansu Provincial Party Committee admitted in a report that there were incidents of cannibalism in the area during the Great Famine. The articles also expose a series of activities by local authorities during the Great Leap Forward Campaign, such as the irrational construction of mega hydraulic projects, the false reporting of grain output, the operation of communal canteens that caused huge waste, and misleading the hungry people to eat bark and mud. The articles also analyze the reasons behind the disaster.
The second part of the book contains important historical documents reflecting the situation at that time, which are the evidence to support the author's research and analysis, including Gansu Provincial Party Committee's directives on the People's Commune, as well as a number of reports on the Committee’s work submitted to the Central Party Committee. In addition, the book contains news, propaganda posters and photographs published in newspapers at the time.
This book is the 20th series of the Lanzhou Literary and Historical Materials (there is a total 23 series) compiled by the Literary and Historical Materials and Study Committee of the Lanzhou Municipal Political Consultative Conference, an advisory body to the CCP (which is actually directly directed and supervised by CCP). This gives the book special value, as it reflects a semi-authoritative voice that supports independent historians' contention that the famine was far deeper and widespread than official historiography admits.
The book was published in 2002, written by Wu Wenjun and edited by Wang Jialuo. Wu Wenjun and Wang Jialuo also worked together on the 22nd series of the Lanzhou Literary and Historical Materials *Examination of the Great Famine of the 1960s in China* (which is also held by the archive). All but the 20th and 22nd series are available on the website of the Lanzhou Municipal Political Consultative Conference (https://www.gslzzx.gov.cn/col/col11760/index.html) .
Book
Rebellion in All Its Shapes and Colors --The Formation and Evolution of the Spiritual Qualities of the Red Guards
This book seeks to reveal the characteristics of the Red Guard movement through the study of the Red Guard's spiritual qualities, such as the mode of action of the rebellion, the formation of factions and regional differences, as well as the types of Red Guard ideology and the trend of change before and after the Cultural Revolution, etc. The author is a peer of the Red Guard and has accumulated first-hand information on the subject through extensive interviews and documentary research. The author of this book, Xu Youyu, is a peer of the Red Guards, and has accumulated first-hand information about the research through a large number of interviews and documentary research. At present, there are very few studies that analyze the formation of the Red Guards' mentality based on oral data and case studies. Therefore, this book is of great reference value to researchers in this field. This book was published by the Chinese University of Hong Kong Press in 1999.
Film and Video
Working toward a Civil Society (Episode 5): Cui Weiping
The Xi’an-based videographer Zhang Shihe, or Tiger Temple, has been a fixture on the independent Chinese history scene for more than twenty years. In 2010, he began a thirty-part series of short interviews with leading Chinese thinkers called “Working Toward Civil Society,” in which he explores how China can build a true civil society. Some of those interviewed have now been silenced, passed away, or moved abroad, making the series itself a work of history.
In this episode, Zhang interviews one of China’s most thoughtful public thinkers, Cui Weiping. Cui is a professor at the Beijing Film Academy, and translator of Havel into Chinese. She was a signer of Charter 08, and friend of the late Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo. Although the interview is only 8 minutes long, Cui touches on some of the key problems that continue to plague China: how to break free of overwhelming government control of civic life?
Note to English speakers: this interview only has Chinese subtitles. The CUA is working to add English subtitles to all of our video offerings so check back in a few months.
Film and Video
Working toward a Civil Society (Episode 8): Xu Youyu
How can China build a true civil society? Since 2010, independent director Tiger Temple has conducted a series of interviews with scholars and civil society participants.