In 2013, an internal Communist party edict known as Document No 9 denounced “historical nihilism” among the seven supposedly subversive influences on society. Since he took power, authorities have pulled out all the stops to suppress unorthodox versions of history that they fear would tarnish the image of the party and threaten its legitimacy.
Xi regards history as a highly contentious issue and has repeatedly emphasised the importance of upholding the party’s own version of the past. “ needs experts to reinterpret Chinese history to bolster his credibility,” Chen says. The Cass is the top national research institution that formulates ideology and advises leaders on policymaking.Īt the 2019 launch of the Chinese Academy of History, of which Gao is also president and party chief, Xi stated its mission was to push a historical narrative with “Chinese characteristics”.Ĭhen Daoyin, a former associate professor at Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, says Cass is not so much an academic institution but a body to formulate party ideology to support the leadership.
Historian Gao Xiang was appointed president, as well as the more powerful role of secretary of the Communist party, at the influential Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (Cass) just before the new year. The recent promotion of a historian – who spearheaded a rehabilitation of the period – to the highest levels of Chinese society has led to speculation that the past is being reinterpreted to bolster President Xi Jinping’s ideological and political authority.
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