In fact changing historical records and emphasizing advantageous parts of history are not communist inventions. In China, this has been a very old tradition. Since Qin dynasty, history books and records were heavily regulated by the government. Almost at every change of the dynasties, the historical records were changed/destroyed to justify the new situation. The communists are just continuing that, in fact, in a rather blatant way. I remember, in high school, we would learn that history is a useful tool for propaganda (which is a good word in China) and that is one of the reason why the history we learned implies that "only communism can save China". I would chuckle whenever I wrote that very sentence in exams (which was the basis of the correct answer to most questions). In the end, people understand conceptually that history and facts are different things. I guess in the west, the distinction between history as passed on in religious texts and traditions and history as archaeological findings is similar (of course, here there are people who confuse the two as well).
In the end, history, being in the past, denies direct access or verification. In some sense it is just what we choose to remember, which is a very fluid thing. I guess culturally the Chinese are just more flexible about it. It is not necessarily bad, as it is a less fanatic ideology.
In the end, history, being in the past, denies direct access or verification. In some sense it is just what we choose to remember, which is a very fluid thing. I guess culturally the Chinese are just more flexible about it. It is not necessarily bad, as it is a less fanatic ideology.