History Wars: The PRC pushes back against unsanctioned views of the past

Barbarians at the Gate

Jeremiah kicks off the podcast with news that the decades-long Qing History Projectn being carried out by, among other institutions, Renmin University and the Chinese Academy of Social Science(CASS) seems to have been "put on ice" after the draft document produced by the team of Chinese historians was deemed as “politically unacceptable” by the authorities.

One of the specific objections to the project’s content was that it was “overly influenced by the New Qing History,” referring to a group of prominent Western historians who have used Manchu-language sources and new perspectives to offer an interpretation of Qing history that departs from earlier narratives that emphasized the "Sinicization" of the Qing Empire.

In the podcast, we discuss how the PRC government attempts to rewrite history to promote current-day political narratives, including revisionist attempts to downplay Mongol and Manchu influences in the story of China.

Mentioned in the podcast:

China Digital Times, Qing History another front against Western Influence

More from Jeremiah, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Throwing Shade at the New Qing History

Young Tsu-wong review of Qingchaoshi de jiben tezheng zai tanjiu: Yi dui beimei xin Qingshi guandian de fansi wei zhongxin 清朝史的基本特徵再探究: 以對北美新清史觀點的反思為中心 [A New Look at the Fundamental Characteristics of the Qing Dynasty History: Focus on Rethinking the Views of the New Qing History School of North America by Zhong Han

Guo Wu, New Qing History: Dispute, Dialog, and Influence

The Art, “Blocked show on Genghis Khan finally opens in France,”

Christian Henriot, "Who owns China's Past? American Universities and the Writing of Chinese History"

Jeremiah’s review of Ian Johnson’s new book Sparks: China's Underground Historians and Their Battle for the Future, on the China Project