Comments

That's a double WOW! Not surprisingly, this revised history has been kicked off first in the schools of Shanghai (the "elite urban region"). But assuming other cities follow suit, this is huge. Mao mentioned once! The times they are a-changin' indeed.

Posted by John OLeary at September 2, 2006 4:58 PM

The meaning which the collaborations for the developing of Asia in the future is important.
I am trying to collect a lot of information as much as possible and also to analyze it.
The effort looking for the key-factor that leads to the development of Asia
for the future becomes more and more necessary from the viewpoint of "Globalization Economy".
There is the following proverb in Japan.
"Continuing(do efforts) becomes the power".
Then, I want to create a new value together in the new age.

Posted by Makio Yamazaki at September 2, 2006 5:10 PM

Seems to contradict President Hu's speech of July 26, 2006: "Hu Calls for Study of Chinese Revolution History"
http://www.china.org.cn/english/2006/Jul/175791.htm
"We should first learn how the Party's founding fathers, especially Mao Zedong, applied Marxism to analyze problems in the Chinese context," Hu said, adding that the expansion of socialist theories to include practical experience should also be studied.

Posted by Mike L at September 2, 2006 5:18 PM

It sounds more like a manual for our business practices today (Economics, Technology, and Globalization). If this is merely what they consider their history, what does that mean for us?

Posted by Matthew Laos at September 3, 2006 3:25 AM

首先 谢谢你们这些人能关注中国历史文化的发展~~我们国家的确在经济快速发展的同时忽视了很多传统的东西~~

Posted by lpoplp at September 3, 2006 6:15 AM

Comment directly above as translated by Google:
"First, thank you for your attention to these people in the development of Chinese history and culture ~ ~ Indeed, we ignore the rapid economic development of many traditional things ~ ~"

Posted by Mike L at September 3, 2006 7:12 AM

CHINA MUST though aid in crushing North Korea AND IRAN - rather than selling its SOUL lapping up the latter's oil supply [for example] ... cool post sort of.

Posted by sean at September 3, 2006 11:40 AM

Don't you think we in the US have re-written our history over the years? It's just a matter of perspective. The interesting thing is that the Chinese don't "need" history re-written; they are obliterating it on a day by day basis. Shanghai metro area is one of the most commercially free market areas in the world. To relate to one of your previous posts...they "just do it".

Posted by Dave at September 3, 2006 2:59 PM

Change is evident. OBVIOUSLY evident.

Either grab the China opportunity or get left behind. It's a great time to be in business due to the global shifts that are happening.

Time to invest - time, energy, money in China!

Posted by Dennis D. Balajadia at September 4, 2006 8:07 AM

Mike L, thanks for the translation. And, lpoplp, welcome to this site.

Posted by cathy mosca at September 4, 2006 8:53 AM

CHINA MUST be praised at every opportunity as it embraces FREEDOM & Free enterprise to the max. Crush N Korea in spare time = boycott FREE Olympics.

Posted by sean at September 4, 2006 10:21 AM

You are all lying to yourselves if you think that China has changed. They are communists.

The "free market" changes are only for the collection of hard currency to build their military. They are merchantilists. The free market is only an ends to a means. They do not think of it as a way of life the way we do in the West. They look at at as a way to get what they want.

Sorry, I am not buying it. Communists are communists and cannot be trusted.

Posted by Puddy at September 4, 2006 8:25 PM

Puddy is smack on the target. In addition, China is headed for an environmental disaster the likes of which the world has not seen for a long, long time. Call it Poison-Sahara II. Excuse me for being cynical.

Posted by Mike at September 5, 2006 6:23 AM

Agree with Puddy & Mike - merchantile fascist China - Olympics 2008 boycott unless they become Free world lap dogs.

Posted by sean at September 5, 2006 8:23 AM

"History is written by the winners." I'm aware that history texts do change to incude what is relevant, but it seems to me that they are changing so much that it is no longer a history course. It resembles more of a culture course with little touches of history to emphasize it. How can one learn from a nation's mistakes if they aren't allowed to know that the mistakes exist?

Posted by Nick Adams at September 5, 2006 8:39 AM

"That's the beauty of having such a long recorded history: the patterns are recognizable." - Mike Stagg, in another post here that discussed China.

Blind yourself to those patterns and you are destined to commit the same errors. Embrace failure and fail fast are two of Tom's ideas, and they are great. However, they operate on the assumption that once you have failed, you then have the knowledge to avoid that particular mistake again.

(Sorry to double post, but I couldn't resist after seeing that quote here!)

Posted by Nick Adams at September 5, 2006 9:40 AM

Change? Or a choice between inclusion versus seclusion in the globalization process?

When I go to London, Hong Kong, Tokyo or Shanghai, I see a more internationalized CNN than what I see in Chicago. Are we inclusive into the global fraternity?

I see the US brands - Citibank, Coke, McDonalds, Pizza Hut and FedEx Kinko's in the streets of Shanghai. many of my US friends work in some of these companies? Have they become 'communists'? Does global business fraternity really make any distinction between capitalism and communism in a true political sense? Or do they realize, as matured fraternity, that the underlying economic and technological drivers are identical, are therefore they recognize them as different economic ways to achive the same goal?

Today, Germans do not like to talk about Hitler, South Africans do not want to talk about Apartheid and Japan do not want to talk Hiroshima as Chinese do not like to talk about Mao and 1989 movements. Manmohan Sigh in India asked people to be "new indian." Are people more self-liberated and self-independent to be in the power of economic inter-dependence than in the power struggle between political or religion ideologies than ever before?

I feel sorry for Puddy, Mike and Sean on carrying such strong 50s thought in the 21st century. I presume they are blind-sided with the fact that the 17% of the US treasury is held by China, and 80% of the basic economic goods are imported from China. With savings rate of -12% and over $200 billion fiscal deficit, and trillions of dollars in trade deficit, do they know that the virtually bankrupt-most-capital-advanced country is being supported by the "communists"? In short, do they know that their house mortgage is being paid by a fellow "communist" of China? (Sadly and unfortunately, American people do not have sense of appreciation and therefore do not like to hear this).

Countries like China, India, Brazil, Russia, Germany and the UK have changed their history to include their people in the global fraternity for a more egalitarian and entreprenerial economic development. Whereas, since 2001, for the first time in history, the political and oil-based economic seclusion of the Unied States had a very little impact in the global economic development. Is this a new emerging trend of collaborative commerce?

Posted by Prabir Sen at September 8, 2006 2:11 AM