It has been said that there is a battle going on for China's history. That is true. It is at conferences like the one pictured above that the battle is being fought. You see the painting in the background? That's Mao in scholar's dress, strolling bigger than life, with determination on his face, determined to bring truth to Anyuan. Everybody had a copy of that painting during the Cultural Revolution.
It is the opinion of the sponsors and participants in this conference that that noble legacy is being auctioned off. Elizabeth J. Perry, past-president of the Association for Asian Studies, used that painting as the theme for her farewell address in the A.A.S.' Journal of Asian Studies, an article she titled "Re-Claiming the Chinese Revolution."(1)
Dr. Perry is listed as one of the participants in the conference, along with some of the most prominent names on that side of the battle, Geremie Barme, Carma Hinton(2), as well as trainees like Jie Li (3).
I am the most marginal of foot soldiers in this battle but even from my obscure foxhole I can see the outcome. They have won, my side has lost, I have lost. One can not give up, though.
1. See, China's Great Wall of Silence: Dr. Elizabeth J. Perry's 'Reclaiming the Chinese Revolution,' " Public Occurrences, December 29, 2008.
2. C.G.W.S.: English Translation of Dr. Wang Rongfen's Critique of Carma Hinton and Morning Sun, Public Occurrences, March 11, 2008; C.G.W.S.: Fruit of the Poisonous Tree, August 5, 2007; The Murder of Bian Zhongyun: Carma Hinton's 'Interview' of Song Binbin, Public Occurrences, March 19, 2007.
3. C.G.W.S.: Jie Li, Public Occurrences, December 4, 2009.
