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Remembrance

Remembrance

Remembrance is arguably the most important journal of alternative history in the history of the People's Republic. Founded in 2008, it has published more than 250 issues, all of which are held by the China Unofficial Archive. The issue we chose for the highlight issue number 112 from April 30, 2014. It deals with one of the most controversial episodes of the past decade, an effort at an apology by some of the women involved in the killing of the school teacher Bian Zhongyun. Bian's killing is one of the most famous incidents in the Cultural Revolution, commemorated by the independent film director Hu Jie in his classic film <i>Though I Am Gone</i> (also held in the archive, and among our Highlights). One of the then-school children widely seen as being responsible for Bian's killing was Song Binbin, who soon afterwards was honored by Mao on the rostrum at Tiananmen. Years later, in 2014, Song gave an apology for her role in Bian's killing. Although denying direct responsibility, she said that she and the other girls in the school didn't stop the other students from torturing Bian to death and thus bear responsibility. In this issue, Song's apology is analyzed on page 19 by one of the founders of Remembrance, who wrote the article under the pseudonym Qi Zhi. On page 3, one of Song's friends, Ye Weili, gives a long account of the day when Bian was killed. Other authors in the issue also chime in with their analyses of the events, the adequacy of Song's apology, and who ultimately bore responsibility for Bian's death–the girls who turned on their teacher, or the system that raised and encouraged such barbaric behavior?
Yanhuang Chunqiu

Yanhuang Chunqiu

This magazine was one of most important alternative history journals. It was founded in 1991 by a liberal faction in the CCP, with the help of people such as Xiao Ke, a general in the PLA, and Du Daozheng, a Chinese journalist who once served as head of Guangming Daily and the head of the National Press and Publications Administration of China. It attracted the support of other liberal CCP members, such as Xi Zhongxun, the father of Xi Jinping, and for many years its chief editor was the famous Chinese journalist Yang Jisheng. The journal had upwards of 200,000 readers a month. In 2016 its reform-oriented management was dismissed as part of a crackdown on alternative histories. The China Unofficial Archives has a complete set of <i>Yanhuang Chunqiu</i> in its database. Over time, we will index the individual issues and hope to provide English summaries.
The Doubtful Clouds of 1957-- Cracking the Code of the Anti-Rightist Movement

The Doubtful Clouds of 1957-- Cracking the Code of the Anti-Rightist Movement

The Anti-Rightist Movement in China began in 1957 with the reorganization of intellectuals, followed by the Great Leap Forward, the People's Commune, and a series of calamities such as the Great Famine. The Hong Kong Five Sevens Society was founded in 2007 with the aim of collecting, organizing, and researching historical information about the Anti-Rightist Movement. It is headed by Wu Yisan, a writer who moved to Hong Kong from mainland China. The author of this book, Shen Yuan, who was also a Rightist at the time. He has systematically researched and organized the Anti-Rightist Movement that took place in 1957 and attempted to answer some of the unanswered questions.
Revisiting 1957

Revisiting 1957

<i>Revisiting 1957</i> is not just about the history of the Anti-Rightist Campaign but is also a theoretical reflection on that history. Written by Wei Zidan (the penname for Wei Liyan), the book has three sections: upper, in which the author discusses philosophical problems of the campaign; middle, in which he discusses the origins of the campaign; and lower, which contains his thoughts on lessons for the future. In Wei's view, the people who were declared rightists stood up for freedom of speech. The campaign, therefore, was an assault on freedom of expression and resulted in a human rights catastrophe for China. The book also has an eleven-part appendix with reflections on miscellaneous events. Wei Zidan was born in Henan Province in 1933 and was a teacher in the Anyang Middle School. He himself was labeled a rightist and brings a unique insider's account of the movement but unlike some personal accounts of suffering, Wei also brings a more analytical approach to the issue. After moving to the United States in his later years, he collected information and found the freedom to complete this book. Published in Hong Kong in 2013 by the May 7 Society Press.
Bloodshed in Beijing and China: Hong Kong Wen Wei Po 1989 Special Edition

Bloodshed in Beijing and China: Hong Kong Wen Wei Po 1989 Special Edition

During the pro-democracy movement in 1989, Hong Kong journalists gathered in Beijing, including Wen Wei Po reporters. This book is a special issue of *Wen Wei Po* for 1989. It contains a large number of photographs, all taken by its reporters. "After the June 4 massacre, the Communist Party of China (CCP) settled scores with the editorial team of Hong Kong's "Wen Wei Po," replacing the president, editor-in-chief, and deputy editors-in-chief. The editor-in-chief at the time, Jin Yaoru, later moved to the United States and publicly announced his resignation from the party.
Who is the New China

Who is the New China

Author Xin Hao Nian tries to analyze the modern history of China since the Xinhai Revolution. He pointsout that the People's Republic of China (PRC) is a restoration of the authoritarian system, and the Republic of China (ROC) represents China's road to a republic. The first volume of the book defends and clarifies the history of the Kuomintang (KMT), arguing that the KMT is not a "reactionary faction" as claimed by the CCP. The second volume criticizes the revolution and history of the CCP. The book was first printed in 1999 by Blue Sky Publishing House (USA) and reprinted in June 2012 by Hong Kong's Schaefer International Publishing. It is banned on the mainland.
Active Life

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.
Chronicle of the Dingxi Orphanage

Chronicle of the Dingxi Orphanage

After the disaster in Dingxi Prefecture, which was the hardest-hit area of Gansu Province during the 1958-1960 famine, a children's welfare institution was urgently set up in Dingxi Prefecture to take in hundreds of orphans. During the same period, children's welfare centers or "kindergartens" were set up in all counties and towns in Dingxi Prefecture, as well as in the people's communes in the hardest-hit counties. These children's welfare centers, large and small, housed about 5,000 orphans. On the basis of faithful historical facts and statements by the parties concerned, this book brings tragic scenes of starvation and death before people's eyes using straightforward description, documentary language, and a down-to-earth tone of voice.
New Biographies of the 1957 Rightists

New Biographies of the 1957 Rightists

According to official CCP statistics, some 550,000 people were directly labeled as rightists and persecuted during the Anti-Rightist campaign. These people, as well as others implicated in the campaign, are mostly unknown, except for a very few. The author, Shen Yuan, who was also labeled as a rightist when he was a university student in 1958, devoted himself to collecting and researching historical data on the anti-rightist campaign. He has compiled a book entitled Biographies of the 1957 Rightists, which attempts to present the truth about the Anti-Rightist campaign and its victims. The book is divided into four volumes of about 1.2 million words, containing the stories of about 600 rightists and about 240 historical photographs. 2016 marked the 60th anniversary of the Anti-Rightist campaign, and Shen Yuan used the original book as the basis for his New Biographies of the 1957 Rightists, expanding the number of people included to 1,588. Sha Yexin and Wu Yisan were both involved in the compilation of this book.
The Realm of Historiography

The Realm of Historiography

This book is a compilation of some of Gao Hua's speeches, book reviews, commentaries on current affairs, reviews of student papers, and lecture transcripts. It includes his studies and reflections on themes around revolution, civil war, and nationalism, his comments on the works of Long Yingtai, Wang Dingjun, and Mao Zedong, and his observations on Taiwan's social and political realities during his visits to Taiwan. In addition, the book contains a selection of Gao Hua's lecture notes on the theory and methodology of historiographical research, as well as on the production of official historical narratives and the development of folk history, enabling readers to gain further understanding of the philosophy and methodology behind Gao Hua’s research. The book was published by Guangxi Normal University Press in November 2015 before the fourth anniversary of Gao Hua's death, for which the publisher was disciplined by the Central Propaganda Department and the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television.
Remembering Tiananmen Square

Remembering Tiananmen Square

The author was a Hong Kong-based observer for the international human rights organization Human Rights Watch. Remembering Tiananmen is a long article first published in The Nationmagazine in November 1990. It was written after witnessing the crackdown around the square during the night of June 3 until 4 a.m. the next morning.
The Big Bang of History:June Fourth Movement Record

The Big Bang of History:June Fourth Movement Record

This book was published in Hong Kong in 2009, on the eve of the 20th anniversary of June Fourth. The author, Zhang Wanshu, was the Director of the Domestic News Department of Xinhua News Agency during the June Fourth Incident. This book provides a historical account of the June 4 incident from the unique perspective of the official media, including a lot of insider information. Famous journalist Yang Jijian commented that the book's historical authenticity is beyond doubt, and that it is an indispensable historical document for the study of the June Fourth Incident. In the form of daily events, the book records the situation from April 14th to June 10th, 1989—including the mobilization of 10 armies by the Central Military Commission from the five major military regions, their march to Tiananmen Square along six routes, and the army's entry into the city in disguise, etc. Of particular interest is Zhang Wanshu's citation of Tan Yunhe, then party secretary of the Red Cross Society of China, who said that there were 727 deaths in the June 4 incident—including 713 students and mass deaths and 14 military deaths. This figure is far from the 2,700 recorded by the Red Cross Society of China and has led to much controversy.
Life of Storms: The New Life of a Disabled Prisoner, A

Life of Storms: The New Life of a Disabled Prisoner, A

On August 8, 1966, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China adopted the "Sixteen Articles" of the Cultural Revolution. Soon after, Liu Wenhui, a young mechanic in Shanghai who had been labeled as a Rightist in 1957, wrote pamphlets and leaflets clearly opposing the Cultural Revolution, the "Sixteen Articles," authoritarianism, and tyranny. Liu was arrested on November 26 of that year. Four months later, he was executed for "counter-revolutionary crimes." Liu Wenhui became the first person known to have been publicly shot for opposing the Cultural Revolution. The author of this book, Liu Wenzhong, was Liu Wenhui's co-defendant and survived thirteen years in prison. In this autobiography, Liu Wenzhong describes in detail not only Liu Wenhui's ideology but also how he was killed by the tyrannical government.
Holy Virgin on the Altar - A Biography of Lin Zhao

Holy Virgin on the Altar - A Biography of Lin Zhao

This book is a biography of Lin Zhao written by mainland writer Zhao Rui and published by Taiwan's Xiuwei Information Publishing House in 2008. The book describes Lin Zhao's life and family background in detail. The "Appendix" contains the recollections of several people involved.Purchase link: https://www.books.com.tw/products/0010431680.
Defeat of an Extraordinary Leader: The Cultural Revolution in Wuhan, The

Defeat of an Extraordinary Leader: The Cultural Revolution in Wuhan, The

This book covers the history of the Cultural Revolution in Wuhan and related analysis. Wang Shaoguang completed his doctoral dissertation of the same name (in English) in 1989, and the Chinese version of his abridged dissertation, *Rationality and Madness: The Masses in the Cultural Revolution,* was published by Oxford University Press in 1993. a Chinese version was published by The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press in 2009. Taking the Cultural Revolution in Wuhan as the main axis, the author interviewed dozens of participants in the Cultural Revolution, utilizing a large amount of original materials published during the Cultural Revolution. Combining all of this with his own personal experience, he profoundly reveals the masses' participation in the Cultural Revolution during winters, forms and laws, the mechanism of advancement and retreat, and its relationship to the general situation of the whole country.
Living Monument in the Square: June 4 Bloodshed through the Eyes of a Hong Kong Woman Reporter

Living Monument in the Square: June 4 Bloodshed through the Eyes of a Hong Kong Woman Reporter

The author of this book was a reporter for "Sing Tao Daily" and was stationed in Beijing at the end of April 1989 to cover the democracy movement. The book is divided into six main parts: Square Facts records the course of the 1989 democracy movement, from the author's visit to Beijing in April to the early morning of June 4, when she and the masses were evacuated from Tiananmen Square. The second part concerns post-hijacking memories, which are some of the author's interviews from 1989. The third part concerns the interviews. The author had interviewed 7 student leaders and intellectuals that year. The leaders told her the reasons why they devoted themselves to the student movement. The fourth part is about the rest of the author's life, from June 4 to December 1990. The author has recorded some fragments of her speeches to the secondary school students in Hong Kong. Some of them are sentimental, some of them are confessional, and all of them are sincere and heartfelt. The fifth part is "Twenty Years of Wounds," which is a reminiscence written by the author on the 20th anniversary of June Fourth. The sixth part is about the grassroots of June 4. These grassroots actors have been pretty much forgotten. The author wanted to write a biography of the grassroots of June 4 in order to fill in gaps in history.
Life and Death In Shanghai

Life and Death In Shanghai

"Life and Death In Shanghai" (also known as "Shen Jiang Meng Hui") is an autobiography by female writer Zheng Nian. First published in English in 1986, it was subsequently translated into various languages and published in various countries. In the book, Zheng Nian recounts her personal experiences from the beginning of the Cultural Revolution to her departure from China in the early 1980s. After her release from prison in 1973, she learned that, shortly after her imprisonment, her only daughter, Zheng Meiping, had been persecuted and had died. She then tried to find out the cause of her daughter's death. The book traces how the ideals of intellectuals were crushed by politics.
The Age of Great Unrest: China 1949-1989

The Age of Great Unrest: China 1949-1989

The author of this book, Wang Nianyi (1932 - September 13, 2007), was an expert on the history of the Cultural Revolution. He has a clear understanding of the causes and circumstances of the Cultural Revolution. He is regarded as doing "pioneering work" in China's domestic study of the Cultural Revolution. According to Qizhi's recollection, Wang Nianyi compiled <i>Chronicle of the Cultural Revolution</i>, <i>The First Year of the Cultural Revolution</i>, <i>Dictionary of the Cultural Revolution</i>, <i>Miscellaneous Discourses on the Cultural Revolution</i>, and <i>Research Materials on the Cultural Revolution</i>, which have not been published in China.
Chronicle of Rural Remediation of Communes in Difficult Times

Chronicle of Rural Remediation of Communes in Difficult Times

Two years after the Great Famine of 1958, the government sent "rectification" work teams of about 10,000 people to many of the most severely affected provinces, such as Henan, Shandong, Anhui, Guizhou, Sichuan, Qinghai, and Xinjiang. The author of this book, Hui Wen, had just graduated from Renmin University of China and was assigned to work at the Institute of Modern History of the Chinese Academy of Sciences for half a year. In December 1960, he was sent to Jianyang, Sichuan to participate in the whole society. The book records what he saw during this period. heard. Hui Wen came into contact with a large number of farmers and witnessed the situation of rural areas on the front line. Each article in the book records the date, place and passage of writing at that time, which adds to the history and authenticity of the book. After the Cultural Revolution ended in 1976, the author compiled these records into a volume. Through a case study of Jianyang, this book uses specific historical details to reflect the relationship between the Great Leap Forward policy and the Great Famine. After the book was completed, due to China's strict publishing censorship system, the author did not submit it to a publishing organization and chose to circulate it among friends first. Later, he handed the manuscript to the website "China's Great Famine Archives," and this historical record was made public to the world.
Walking Through That Era

Walking Through That Era

The author of this book, Ms. Wang Lingyun, is the mother of Wang Dan, a student leader of the June Fourth Movement. She graduated from the History Department of Peking University and worked at the National Museum next to Tiananmen Square for decades. This memoir, published in Taiwan in 2021, is an account of the major events in modern Chinese history, including the 1989 Tiananmen Square democracy movemen. This is the link to purchase the book: https://www.eslite.com/product/1001273162681985770003
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