The Sparks Lit by God
China’s “underground historians” are sparks lit by God so we don’t get lost in the darkness.
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In communist China, there are two versions of history. The Chinese Communist Party tightly controls the official version, deciding the events and people to include and what to downplay or erase from the record. The ultimate goal is to use altered history to legitimize the CCP’s totalitarian regime.
While many Chinese have either absorbed the party-sanctioned history wholeheartedly or harbored doubts but chose to do nothing about it out of self-preservation, a small group of citizens set out to document events and people omitted from the official history. These “underground historians” included artists, entrepreneurs, filmmakers, independent publishers, professors, writers, and photographers. Their quest to seek and document historical figures and events that the CCP wishes to expunge from all records requires tremendous courage and often comes at steep personal and professional costs.
Many paid for travel and production expenses out of their own pockets, with no government funding or grants from abroad (because they didn’t want the Chinese government to accuse them of “colluding with hostile foreign forces”). Many quickly learned that they couldn’t publish their findings domestically due to heavy censorship. A few lucky ones published their books abroad or uploaded their films to foreign sites such as YouTube. Because the history they uncovered paint the CCP in a bad light, some people lost promotion opportunities at work, were forced to retire early, or were fired. Some were sent to jail with trumped-up charges. A few of them paid the ultimate price, being mercilessly executed by the CCP.
Despite these challenges, generations of these underground historians have refused to give up. They also want to give a voice to millions who the CCP murdered. Some were so shocked by their findings that they felt a moral duty to keep an honest historical record so future generations may learn not to repeat the same horrendous mistakes. One activist, Xiang Chengjian, said he wouldn’t give up because “If you do not break out of silence, you will die in silence.”
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