Using the past to legitimise the present: the portrayal of good governance in Chinese history textbooks.

Autor/inn/en	Magee, Coirle; Weatherley, Robert
Titel	Using the past to legitimise the present: the portrayal of good governance in Chinese history textbooks.
Quelle	In: Journal of current Chinese affairs, 47 (2018) 1, S. 41-69 PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Link als defekt meldenVerfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1868-1026; 1868-4874
URN	urn:nbn:de:gbv:18-4-11666
Schlagwörter	Herrschaft; Schulbuch; Geschichte (Histor); Legitimation; Konfuzianismus; Kommunistische Partei; China
Abstract	This article examines how Chinese middle-school history textbooks are written as a means of legitimising the rule of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), by carefully utilising China's past. The authors identify (or perhaps "construct") a sinified model of good governance in the textbooks that derives from the teachings of Confucius and Mencius, and the subsequent practises of certain revered Chinese emperors. This model is then applied to CCP leaders in the modern-era textbooks in order to cast them as diligently upholding a time-honoured Chinese tradition of legitimate rule. In a broader context, our analysis fits within the ongoing discussions about the continuing legacy of Confucianism in contemporary China and the CCP's efforts to locate itself within this as a way of for-tifying its own legitimacy. We also note how some of the themes of good governance contained in the textbooks are closely linked to contemporary government policies and priorities, such as anti-corruption schemes and constitutionalism. The objective in so doing is to propagate the importance of these themes to a young audience.
Erfasst von	GESIS - Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften, Mannheim
Update	2020/1