Zheng Wang, Never Forget National Humiliation: Historical Memory in Chinese Politics and Foreign Relations

As China emerges as a great power, much attention has been devoted to understanding China’s present and prospective foreign affairs. With the rise of nationalism in China, policymakers have begun to worry about whether the Chinese leadership will adopt a more assertive nationalistic posture in foreign affairs. Zheng Wang uses recollections and representations of past historical events shared by the Chinese to emphasize that the understanding of the past impacts the present and the future. This book is less about Bwhat actually happened^ in history, but about Bwhat the Chinese remember and what they choose to forget^ in a recounting of the country’s past. It seeks to explain China’s political transition and foreign policy behavior in the post-Tiananmen era through the lens of historical memory. This study makes a valuable contribution to examining the function of historical memory and consciousness in Chinese politics and foreign relations. In this book, historical memory is identified as a powerful force in the formation of a country’s national identity and worldview. National identity is viewed as a key determinant for national interests, which in turn are considered as a driving force behind foreign policy and state action. As indicated in the title, this book primarily focuses on the Chinese people’s collective historical memory about the so-called Bainian guochi (century of national humiliation) beginning with the First Opium War (1839–1842) through the end of the Sino-Japanese War in 1945. The Chinese people remember this period as a time when their country was attacked and bullied by foreign powers. Wang examines how the Chinese historical memory about the country’s past humiliation, combined with the Communist leaders’ political use of the past to reshape national identity, influenced China’s political transformation and international behavior. To conduct this research, the author applies an in-depth qualitative and historical approach, using evidence gathered from historical textbooks, official documents, memoirs, and interviews. Based on the existing literature on historical memory and theories of identity and beliefs, the first chapter of the book develops two analytical frameworks that help to categorize and measure the effects of historical memory. Adopting the Harvard Identity Project model and social identity theory, the first analytical framework provides a method to measure the content of historical memory as a collective identity. The second one provides a set of questions categorizing causal pathways in which collective identity serves to influence political actions. Based on the analytical frameworks, the next five chapters explore the role of historical memory in the construction of national identity and nation building, with each chapter dealing with a different aspect of historical memory issues. Starting with an overview of China’s century of national humiliation in Chapter 2, the following chapters examine how the discourse of China’s humiliating modern history has been revised and institutionalized in the Chinese Communist Party’s efforts to construct the rules and norms of the ruling party. In particular, they provide a detailed account of how the Chinese government has used the content of historical memory to conduct ideological education as a central component of its patriotic education campaign that started in 1991. Wang argues that the state-led campaign of patriotic education contributed to the rise of nationalism in China which helped the Communist government to regain its legitimacy in the post-Tiananmen era. In Chapter 6, the author uses the historical memory variable to explain Chinese behavior during the Olympic Games and the Sichuan earthquake relief effort in 2008. Chapter 7 and 8 present case studies examining the impact of China’s institutionalized historical consciousness on its foreign relations, especially in relations with the United States and Japan. Based on these case studies, the author claims that historical memory often serves as a major driving force leading to international conflict, especially when the confrontation is perceived by the Chinese as an assault on the country’s national dignity (or face). Ideational factors including historical memory have been underestimated in the study of politics and international relations due to the difficulties in incorporating cognitive variables into empirical research. This book makes a significant contribution to providing researchers with analytical frameworks and methodological approaches for a systemic examination concerning the use of historical memory as a variable to explain political action. Therefore, I believe a wide range of readers with interests in China’s historical memory, national identity, nationalism and foreign relations will gain useful insights from this intriguing book 

Su-Jeong Kang