long and useless

Today (or rather, in China, yesterday) is the fortieth anniversary of the start of the Cultural Revolution. Some of you know quite a bit about this ten-year span in China's modern history, some have an inkling, and some don't really know anything about it.

really believe in, if only because it's extremely difficult (I would say, almost impossible) to remain completely objective to a subject. And the Cultural Revolution is a very touchy subject, depending on where you're from.

To many people who study the Cultural Revolution, it's a very interesting, limited span of time in history and all the things that happened before, during, and after, are the subjects of intense debate. There's no doubt that Madame Mao had a hand in inflaming the worst, but whether Mao himself had any place in it is a matter of heated debate and I suspect it always will be. The Cultural Revolution was a heady time in China's modern history. Everything that had once defined the Chinese family, Chinese culture, Chinese people, were swept away in the tide of change. From 1966-1976, China effectively stagnated

From my grandparent's point of view, this was one of the worst things to ever happen. They had exited mainland China in 1942, literally weeks before the Communist Party took over, and fled to Taiwan with the remnants of the Kuomingtang Army. Both my grandfather and grandmother left behind family members and that proved to be tragic. During the Cultural Revolution, members of my grandfather's family were tortured because the family had been wealthy landowners. Several were permanently disabled from the torture. Everything was stripped. My grandfather passed away before he could ever return to seem them again and in the weeks leading up to his death, that was one of his greatest regrets.

From my parent's point of view, the Cultural Revolution was a great waste, especially to my mother. She hates the fact that so much of China's history and culture were completely annihilated during the revolution. I suppose that this can't be quite understood, but if you've ever visited the National Palace Museum, one of the premier museums of Chinese artifacts from the dynastic era and the ancient times, it might be understandable. The museum is fairly sizable, but at any one time, only a tenth of their collection is on display. During the civil war in China, the KMT had taken the treasures around with them to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Japanese Imperial Army. Now, the total amount of artifacts they took from the Forbidden Palace ranges. I've read ten percent, and I think that's a fair assessment.

Now. Ten percent of the China's cultural artifacts from the Forbidden Palace are in Taiwan. Only ten percent. And that's only from the Palace. The scores of places around China?

Destruction. Because of the idea that anything old China was a representation of everything wrong, the Red Guards were very earnest in destroying what they could. Anything from Ming Dynasty plates to scrolls to religious figures such as Guan Yin.

And that, for me, is the crux. When I think about it, I feel the sense of loss my mother does. Over four thousand years of history was shattered and scattered in only ten years. Ten years, and so much that had once defined China was sent to the fires or smashed on the floors. I don't pretend to be objective about it (though I can be surprisingly neutral in class... once upon a long, long time ago) because it's very hard.