Mencius said, “What distinguishes humans from beasts is rare.” The fundamental difference between humans and other animals is that other animals can only survive by instinct and cannot form intergenerational accumulation. Beyond instinct, humans have history, capable of forming continuous intergenerational accumulation and historical transmission in knowledge ability, organizational structure, ideological culture, moral and ethical conduct, and more.
Chinese people place great importance on history, unmatched in the world. Since the Zhou and Qin dynasties, China has had a strong state ideology but no state religion. It can be said that history is China’s national religion; history plays the role of national religion and shapes the spiritual world of the Chinese people. During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, the Zhou dynasty and many states established official historiographers. Since the Han dynasty, successive dynasties have compiled official histories on a large scale. In Chinese folk culture, there is also a long-standing tradition of respecting history, using it as a standard to distinguish good from evil and to let history bear the function of moral judgment.
It is precisely because history has gained a religious status in China that the battle for the “official history” has always been extremely fierce. China has an excellent historical tradition of fearlessness and straightforward writing, pursuing Sima Qian’s superb realm of “exploring the boundary between heaven and humanity, connecting the changes of past and present” to benefit humanity; However, there are also the vicious habits of falsifying history to serve the powerful and using historiography as a tool to deceive and fool the public.
The contemporary CCP party-state spares no effort in controlling historical narratives and turning history into a brainwashing tool through official histories and cannot be restored. As Orwell wrote in his political novel 1984, totalitarians believe that “whoever controls the past controls the future; whoever controls the present controls the past.” Currently, the CCP and the Party state are systematically altering history, distorting it, fabricating history, and fabricating it, distorting the world’s hypocritical and inferior historical records. Moreover, the corrupt and inferior customs of the officials, absurd, absurd, autocratic, and mentally corrupting historical narratives also prevailed among the people.
As scholars of our generationwho have studied history or have long sailed the sea of history, we deeply feel a sense of responsibility and have established the “Chinese History Forum.” Its aim is to bring together colleagues from all walks of life in the global Chinese-speaking world, who care for all living beings, to work together to clarify historical facts distorted by the CCP and the state-state, as well as the various misconceptions circulating in the public. We aim to set things straight, discard falsehoods and preserve truths, restore order from chaos, and use genuine insights to enlighten the world’s historical insight, conscience, and wisdom. Of course, we also hope that empirical historical wisdom can help people avoid the mistakes of their ancestors, discern right from wrong in worldly affairs, and choose the best path forward.
Regarding its fundamental aspects, our primary focus is on how the CCP’s totalitarian party-state was established in China, and how it evolved into today’s post-totalitarian party-state and totalitarian restoration; How was the Republic of China established, how did it transform into an authoritarian party-state, and suffer setbacks from constitutional transformation on the mainland? The struggle and lessons learned from the struggles of China’s free democratic forces in modern times; The tenacious vitality of modern capitalist market economies introduced to China in the 19th century, as well as their successes and failures, rises and falls; The situation and gains and losses of modern education, academia, media, and technology in China; The struggle and rise and fall of Western liberalism and Marxist-Leninist ideologies in China; The role of nationalism and populism in China since the 19th century; The spread and role of Christianity and other foreign religions in China since modern times; The adaptation and role of traditional Chinese culture, including indigenous religions, in modern China.
We should not be cynical or have clear value orientations and stances, but should also value factual judgments about authenticity and falsehood, as well as value judgments about right and wrong, good and evil. We have a profound understanding and insight into both the goodness and darkness of human nature, and we believe in the potential advantage of truth, goodness, and beauty in overcoming falsehood and ugliness throughout history. We cherish universal human values such as human rights, freedom, democracy, rule of law, constitutionalism, equality, and compassion, and deeply detest tyranny and autocracy throughout history and abroad, especially modern totalitarianism; We yearn for a vision and perspective that transcends ethnic and ethnic barriers, focusing on all human individuals and humanity as a whole; Methodologically, we attribute historical dynamics to the interaction between structural factors and the uncertain variable of human activity, and do not endorse economic determinism, cultural determinism, or any determinism; We are committed to achieving China’s constitutional democratic transformation and world peace based on the values of liberal democracy as soon as possible.
The advisors of the Chinese History Forum are as follows:
Qin Hui, Song Yongyi, Wang Dan, Hu Ping, Lin Peirui, Su Xiaokang, Wu Guoguang, Chen Kuide, Su Shiying, Gesang Jianshen, Wu Wei, Li Youtan, Gao Yu, Wu Renhua, Jin Zhong, Zhang Lun, Zeng Jianyuan, Wang Zhiyong, Cheng Xiang, He Yuhuai, Zhang Lun, Cheng Xiang, Ding Shu, Zhou Xiao, Lokdun (PhD), Pei Yiran
December 10, 2023, in Washington