This imperative has become a touchstone for each leader’s articulation of China’s national aspirations, and a justification for the path that each leader says China should take to achieve those aspirations. Why is a Chinese leader’s use of history an important lens through which to understand him? It is because modern Chinese political legitimacy rests-and has rested since the late 1840s-on how able Chinese leaders and political systems are to respond to a perceived historical imperative to “save” China from a subjugated past and make it strong, powerful, and respected by other nations and by its own people. Why History Matters to Chinese Leaders: The Imperative to “Rejuvenate the Nation” The essay asks: What lessons does Xi draw from the past, and how do these support or shape his national agenda? In short, what kind of historian is he? It concentrates primarily on how these traditions help to focus Xi’s international agenda, although there is also much that can be said about domestic issues. This article situates Xi Jinping’s frequent use of historical allusions and lessons relative to these four historiographical strands. And from globalism, he makes claims about the universality of China’s grievances and aspirations. From nationalism, he derives an emphasis on unity. From premodern Chinese history, he has argued for China’s uniquely peaceful perspective. From Marxism, he has emphasized struggle and the justness of China’s cause. He has interpreted the significance of Chinese historical events against the backdrop of four meaning-making frameworks: Marxism, Confucianism, nationalism, and globalism. Rather than introducing new ideas, what Xi has done is to integrate multiple strands of Chinese historiography-some old, some quite recent. The language he has used to talk about China’s past draws from a rich trove of rhetoric, imagery, and interpretation that has been developed by Chinese leaders since the 1840s. 6 The anniversaries he commemorated in 2014, with the exception of September 30, have had unofficial recognition for many years.
5 As he himself pointed out in a 2011 speech at the Central Party School, all CCP leaders have emphasized the importance of understanding China’s history in order to determine its path forward. Xi’s attention to history has received a great deal of international attention, but it is not new. 4 In his public statements on history, he has shown a persistent eagerness to tie his own rule, the rule of the CCP, and his aspirations for China’s future international role, to China’s past-both its communist and its earlier past. Before ascending to the position of secretary general, Xi gave annual speeches, in his capacity as president of the CCP Central Party School, which admonished listeners on the importance of history as a guide for communist cadres seeking to improve their abilities to govern and to connect with the Chinese people. Over the previous few years, Xi had also spoken at events commemorating the 2565th birthday of Confucius, the 120th birthday of Mao Zedong, and the 110th birthday of Deng Xiaoping. ” 3 Xi Jinping gave keynote speeches at each of these events. 2 In September, the NPC added September 30 to the calendar as “Martyr’s Day” to commemorate “people who sacrificed their lives for national independence and prosperity the welfare of the people, … after the first Opium War. In February 2014, a little over a year after Xi Jinping ascended to power as the secretary general of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and then the president of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the National People’s Congress (NPC) ratified the creation of two new national days: September 3, the date of Japan’s formal surrender at the end of WWII (known in China as the second Sino-Japanese War), would be officially known as Victory Day, and December 13 would commemorate the victims of the 1937 Nanjing Massacre near the start of that war. … Forgetting history signifies betrayal.” 1
“Only by having a correct recognition of history can it be possible for us to open up a better future.
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