title: From Imperialist to Innovator: Some remarks on the use of “the West” in PRC history curricula and textbooks during the 1950s and 1980s
metadata.name: dc.contributor.author
metadata.value: Samoylov, Nikolay A.
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.contributor.author
metadata.value: Muenning, Mariana
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.date.accessioned
metadata.value: 2020-01-24T10:47:30Z
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.date.available
metadata.value: 2020-01-24T10:47:30Z
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.date.issued
metadata.value: 2019-12
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.identifier.citation
metadata.value: Samoylov N. A., Muenning M. From Imperialist to Innovator: Some remarks on the use of “the West” in PRC history curricula and textbooks during the 1950s and 1980s. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Asian and African Studies, 2019, vol. 11, issue 4, pp. 480–492.
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.identifier.other
metadata.value: https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu13.2019.405
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.identifier.uri
metadata.value: http://hdl.handle.net/11701/16957
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.description.abstract
metadata.value: The present paper provides an initial comparison of the image of “the West” in Chinese history
  teaching materials in the 1950s and 1980s. The focus lies on secondary education, i. e. lower
  and higher level secondary schools, with an occasional mention of the primary education level
  and one example drawn from a book directed towards a general readership. School textbooks
  published in the People’s Republic of China in the 1950s, as well as the accompanying teaching
  materials, to a large extent, had copied similar textbooks and training programs used in
  the Soviet Union. This was especially true of textbooks on world history. In the 1950s many
  Soviet historians visited China and contributed to the development of world history teaching
  programmes in Chinese universities and schools. It is therefore not surprising that Chinese
  textbooks on general history sought mostly to emulate Soviet publications. This paper aims to
  demonstrate the way Chinese textbooks pursued a legitimization of historical materialism by
  applying it to world (more specifically: western) history. Special emphasis is laid on the Industrial
  Revolution, which was the driving force behind the development of colonialism. China
  enters the stage of world history as a victim of Western colonialism, which is seen as the result
  of capitalism and an expression of worldwide class struggle according to Leninism. It is shown
  how the West is presented as an aggressor and how Marxism and the Communist Party are
  seen as legitimate defenders of China. The article concludes with a notable “plot twist” during
  the Reform and Opening Era, in which the depiction of the Industrial Revolution is altered
  significantly to give place to the praise of technological progress.
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.description.sponsorship
metadata.value: The reported study was funded by RFBR and DFG according to the research project no. 17–21-
  49001 (“Chinese perceptions of Russia and the West during the 20th century: changes, continuities and
  contingencies”).
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.language.iso
metadata.value: en
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.publisher
metadata.value: St Petersburg State University
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.relation.ispartofseries
metadata.value: Vestnik of St Petersburg University. Asian and African Studies;Volume 11; Issue 4
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: China
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: educational policy in PRC
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: history textbooks
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: the image of the West
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: curriculum
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.title
metadata.value: From Imperialist to Innovator: Some remarks on the use of “the West” in PRC history curricula and textbooks during the 1950s and 1980s
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.type
metadata.value: Article
metadata.lang: en_GB
resources.filename: 480-492.pdf
resources.url: https://dspace.spbu.ru/bitstream/11701/16957/1/480-492.pdf
resources.format: Adobe PDF
resources.size: 968,98 kB