Soul-searching needed to avoid repeat of Cultural Revolution crimes
Lijia Zhang says recent public apologies from Red Guards show it's time for more open discussion
The internet has been alive lately with the news that Chen Xiaolu, the son of Marshal Chen Yi, made a public apology to the teachers he had attacked during the Cultural Revolution. I was talking about the news with two American visitors as I showed them around the National Museum of China, just off Tiananmen Square. Tucked away in a corner we noticed that this major historical event is represented by one photo - Mao Zedong receiving the Red Guards - and a one-sentence caption: "A catastrophe mistakenly launched by the leaders."
Back in 1966, Chairman Mao mobilised the whole nation to violently remove the "bourgeois elements" that had supposedly infiltrated the government and society. By the time the movement ended 10 years later, shortly after his death, millions of people had been tortured and persecuted, at least one million had died, countless dreams had been shattered and a nation deeply scarred.
On October 7, 57-year-old Chen, together with some former Red Guards classmates, visited Beijing No 8 High School and apologised to the teachers who had been labelled "supporters of capitalism". He expressed remorse for causing their suffering. In August, Mr Chen, who worked as a political adviser, also published a formal apology in the school's alumni blog in which he claimed responsibility for sending some staff and fellow students to labour camps.
Without true reflection, China will miss a good opportunity to heal properly … to grow stronger
It is encouraging to see a string of individual confessions in recent years. Just in June, a 61-year-old retired official, Liu Boqin, paid for an advertisement in the magazine Yanhuang Chunqiu to apologise for the violence he had committed as a 14-year-old. "The chaos of the Cultural Revolution was not an excuse for my evil deeds," read the apology.
Earlier this year, a 60-year-old lawyer, Zhang Hongbing, fought a legal battle in a bid to preserve his mother's tomb in their hometown in the central province of Anhui . Her public humiliation and execution was the result of his own denunciation of her.
In May 2010, another 60-year-old, Wang Jiyu, haunted by guilt, confessed in the same magazine that as a quick-tempered 16-year-old, he had killed another teenager from a rival Red Guards group.
There are quite a few similar cases. But Chen's case has drawn the widest attention thanks to his family background: his father was one of the 10 marshals who led the revolution.
To apologise, especially in such an open fashion, is uncommon in Chinese culture. So why has this new trend emerged? As Chen explained in his apology, his victims were getting old and if he hadn't taken action, it might have been too late. As they reached their autumn years, these former activists began to reflect on their painful past.