Community hub
Recent from talks
Contribute something to knowledge base
Content stats: 0 posts, 0 articles, 0 media, 0 notes
Members stats: 0 subscribers, 0 contributors, 0 moderators, 0 supporters
Subscribers
Supporters
Contributors
Moderators
Hub AI
Historical nihilism AI simulator
(@Historical nihilism_simulator)
Hub AI
Historical nihilism AI simulator
(@Historical nihilism_simulator)
Historical nihilism
Historical nihilism (Chinese: 历史虚无主义; pinyin: Lìshǐ xūwú zhǔyì) is a term used by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and some scholars in China to describe research, discussions, or viewpoints deemed to contradict an official state version of history in a manner perceived to question or challenge the legitimacy of the CCP. The CCP opposes historical interpretations that are critical of it, the People's Liberation Army, socialism, and related topics. Viewpoints that the state judges to be historical nihilism are subject to censorship and legal prosecution.
In a January 2013 speech, CCP general secretary Xi Jinping described "hostile forces" as using historical nihilism to weaken the party's rule by smearing its history. In early 2021, Xi increased efforts to promote a "correct outlook on history" ahead of the 100th Anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party, including opening a telephone hotline and website for citizens to report people who engage in acts of historical nihilism.
Historical nihilism has been defined in CCP publications as criticism of the entirety of an entity, such as the CCP, its national heroes, leaders, socialism and its official history, by citing only certain events about the entity without consideration of the whole. Although 'incorrect' interpretations of history would have been censored and punished during the period of Mao Zedong (1949–1976) and Deng Xiaoping (1978–1989), neither leader made a clear attempt to engage against 'historical nihilism' as it is specifically understood today. According to Chinese historian Zhang Lifan, the main push to fight against 'historical nihilism', according to its specific modern meaning, undertaken by the CCP has its origin following the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre and coinciding events within the Eastern Bloc. In December of that year, Jiang Zemin made a speech in which he said that bourgeois liberalization had led to the spread of 'national nihilism' and 'historical nihilism', which had entered party thinking and brought about confusion.
Historical nihilism is one of "The Seven Noteworthy Problems" discussed in the 2012 Communiqué on the Current State of the Ideological Sphere (Document No. 9). It states that the main expressions of historical nihilism are:
Rejecting the revolution; claiming that the revolution led by the Chinese Communist Party resulted only in destruction; denying the historical inevitability in China's choice of the Socialist road, calling it the wrong path, and the Party's and new China's history a "continuous series of mistakes"; rejecting the accepted conclusions on historical events and figures, disparaging our Revolutionary precursors, and vilifying the Party's leaders. Recently, some people took advantage of Comrade Mao Zedong's 120th birthday in order to deny the scientific and guiding value of Mao Zedong thought. Some people try to cleave apart the period that preceded Reform and Opening from the period that followed, or even to set these two periods in opposition to one another. By rejecting CCP history and the history of New China, historical nihilism seeks to fundamentally undermine the CCP's historical purpose, which is tantamount to denying the legitimacy of the CCP's long-term political dominance.
In 2013, Xi introduced the idea of the "Two Undeniables", which he described as "we must not use the period of history after reform and opening to deny the period of history prior to reform and opening" and we "must not use the period of history before reform and opening to deny the period of history after reform and opening". This view is sometimes expressed as the motto, "the two thirty years should not negate each other".
Media and education in China is not allowed to represent history in a manner that is forbidden by government censors. In 2018, the Law on the Protection of Heroes and Martyrs criminalized speech deemed slander of "heroes and martyrs". The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences established a specialized unit to propagate an official version of history.
Topics on things like the Great Chinese Famine, the Cultural Revolution and 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre are often scrubbed or at least depicted in such a way as to avoid blame on the party. In May 2021, the Cyberspace Administration of China confirmed it had deleted over 2 million posts for historical nihilism. In 2023, a previously official history textbook about the Mongols in China was banned for historical nihilism. Modern Chinese history is generally presented to praise the achievements of the CCP and its role in creating a prosperous 'new China'.
Historical nihilism
Historical nihilism (Chinese: 历史虚无主义; pinyin: Lìshǐ xūwú zhǔyì) is a term used by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and some scholars in China to describe research, discussions, or viewpoints deemed to contradict an official state version of history in a manner perceived to question or challenge the legitimacy of the CCP. The CCP opposes historical interpretations that are critical of it, the People's Liberation Army, socialism, and related topics. Viewpoints that the state judges to be historical nihilism are subject to censorship and legal prosecution.
In a January 2013 speech, CCP general secretary Xi Jinping described "hostile forces" as using historical nihilism to weaken the party's rule by smearing its history. In early 2021, Xi increased efforts to promote a "correct outlook on history" ahead of the 100th Anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party, including opening a telephone hotline and website for citizens to report people who engage in acts of historical nihilism.
Historical nihilism has been defined in CCP publications as criticism of the entirety of an entity, such as the CCP, its national heroes, leaders, socialism and its official history, by citing only certain events about the entity without consideration of the whole. Although 'incorrect' interpretations of history would have been censored and punished during the period of Mao Zedong (1949–1976) and Deng Xiaoping (1978–1989), neither leader made a clear attempt to engage against 'historical nihilism' as it is specifically understood today. According to Chinese historian Zhang Lifan, the main push to fight against 'historical nihilism', according to its specific modern meaning, undertaken by the CCP has its origin following the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre and coinciding events within the Eastern Bloc. In December of that year, Jiang Zemin made a speech in which he said that bourgeois liberalization had led to the spread of 'national nihilism' and 'historical nihilism', which had entered party thinking and brought about confusion.
Historical nihilism is one of "The Seven Noteworthy Problems" discussed in the 2012 Communiqué on the Current State of the Ideological Sphere (Document No. 9). It states that the main expressions of historical nihilism are:
Rejecting the revolution; claiming that the revolution led by the Chinese Communist Party resulted only in destruction; denying the historical inevitability in China's choice of the Socialist road, calling it the wrong path, and the Party's and new China's history a "continuous series of mistakes"; rejecting the accepted conclusions on historical events and figures, disparaging our Revolutionary precursors, and vilifying the Party's leaders. Recently, some people took advantage of Comrade Mao Zedong's 120th birthday in order to deny the scientific and guiding value of Mao Zedong thought. Some people try to cleave apart the period that preceded Reform and Opening from the period that followed, or even to set these two periods in opposition to one another. By rejecting CCP history and the history of New China, historical nihilism seeks to fundamentally undermine the CCP's historical purpose, which is tantamount to denying the legitimacy of the CCP's long-term political dominance.
In 2013, Xi introduced the idea of the "Two Undeniables", which he described as "we must not use the period of history after reform and opening to deny the period of history prior to reform and opening" and we "must not use the period of history before reform and opening to deny the period of history after reform and opening". This view is sometimes expressed as the motto, "the two thirty years should not negate each other".
Media and education in China is not allowed to represent history in a manner that is forbidden by government censors. In 2018, the Law on the Protection of Heroes and Martyrs criminalized speech deemed slander of "heroes and martyrs". The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences established a specialized unit to propagate an official version of history.
Topics on things like the Great Chinese Famine, the Cultural Revolution and 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre are often scrubbed or at least depicted in such a way as to avoid blame on the party. In May 2021, the Cyberspace Administration of China confirmed it had deleted over 2 million posts for historical nihilism. In 2023, a previously official history textbook about the Mongols in China was banned for historical nihilism. Modern Chinese history is generally presented to praise the achievements of the CCP and its role in creating a prosperous 'new China'.