Controversy over Chinese textbook’s Cultural Revolution chapter as state publisher denies censorship
Firm says title of chapter referring to period of massive social upheaval and violence in China changed to ‘Arduous Exploration and Development Achievements’
Changes made to a middle-school history textbook’s chapter on the Cultural Revolution have sparked controversy in China, with its state-run publisher denying it censored the book.
The furore came after a post widely shared on Chinese social media suggested that politically sensitive content about the political movement had been removed.
The post showed photographs of the old version of the textbook and a revised text.
The pictures appeared to show that a chapter formerly devoted to the Cultural Revolution had been taken out.
The post also suggested that a sentence referring to the political movement in China in the 1960s and 1970s – which caused a decade of violence and political and social violence upheaval – had been altered to remove a reference to the Communist Party.
The original version read, “Mao Zedong wrongfully believed that the central leadership of the party had the problem of revisionism and the party and the country were facing the risk of the restoration of capitalism. ” The later version said, “Mao Zedong believed that the party and the country were facing the risk of the restoration of capitalism”, according to the post.