Yanhuang Chunqiu

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Yánhuáng Chūnqiū (《炎黄 春秋》, "Annals of the Yellow Emperor") was a Chinese monthly magazine that appeared from 1991 to 2016, dealt with numerous controversial topics and was considered to be one of the "most liberal" magazines in China.

history

Yánhuáng Chūnqiū was founded in 1991 by retired officials from the Chinese Communist Party .

Many of the older employees were close to the reform-oriented KP cadres Hú Yàobāng and Zhào Zǐyáng . After the death of Hú, the suppression of the protest movement of 1989 (" Tian'anmen massacre ") and the subsequent fight against liberalization tendencies , these cadres found a discussion platform in Yánhuáng Chūnqiū under the guise of historical discussions and under the protection of those who are still influential Editors. The first head of the editorial office was Dù Dǎozhèng, a cadre from the Chinese press and employee of Zhào Zǐyáng, who u. a. organized the publication of Zhào's memoirs. The magazine was u. a. sponsored by Máo Zédōng's former secretary Lǐ Ruì and by Xí Zhòngxūn . In Yánhuáng Chūnqiū, for example, articles could appear that had to be rejected or withdrawn by the likewise "liberal" weekly newspaper Nánfāng Zhōumò .

A key figure in the editorial team was the former Xīnhuá journalist Yáng Jìshéng , who u. a. best known for his book on the Famine after the Great Leap Forward .

2011 declared Wú Si, the editor of Yanhuang Chunqiu , in an interview with the time the strategy of the magazine, debates on China's history as a mirror for the current problems to use:

Just take the question of how imperial China faced modernization in the late 19th and early 20th centuries - it's very topical. The reluctance of the imperial family to press ahead with reforms like the intellectuals demanded at the time ... There are certainly parallels to today. And, of course, behind this is the question: How much reform can and need today's China so that it does not come to an overthrow like 1911, to a revolution that might turn out bloody? Another question is: why did authoritarian regimes come to power as a result? Why was there no lasting democratic change? ...
Today's critics of the party are demanding something that the communists themselves fought for! There are also democratic elements within the communist tradition . Why shouldn't we build on that today? Another possibility is to look into the history of the Kuomintang for liberal traditions, because their rule was just as multifaceted. Taiwan , which embarked on the path to democracy in 1987, could well be a role model.

Articles in Yánhuáng Chūnqiū pleaded a. a. for freedom of the press , the rule of law , " democratic socialism " on the model of Scandinavian states, recalled " cleansed " politicians and examples of repression by government organs. The magazine frequently published memoirs, letters, and other documents from well-known people that contained unorthodox accounts of historical events and people.

One article that attracted particular attention was an eight-page post by Xiè Tāo, former Deputy Rector of the People's University in Běijīng , in February 2007 entitled "The Model of Democratic Socialism and the Future of China." In it, Xiè wrote, among other things:

The niece of Leonid I Brezhnev , the former general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , wrote in her memoirs, as Brezhnev said to his brother: “Oh, communism. That’s empty gossip to talk to the common people. ”The mistake of the leadership of the former Soviet Union was not to give up the goal of communism - once they realized that it was an unrealistic fantasy they should of course give up - but that they continued to deceive the people as an official ideology with a theory in which they themselves no longer believed. ...
I often ask myself whether the Germans don't understand Marx better and whether the Russians don't understand Lenin better [than we], just as we understand Confucius better than foreigners. Why do we have to idolize the part of Marxism that does not correspond to real life and that the Germans have abolished, and Leninism that the Russians have given up? Why do we have to hold up this banner?

Most of the time, criticism in Yánhuáng Chūnqiū was not so bluntly expressed.

In April 2015, the State Central Office for Press, Publishing, Radio and Television ( Guójiā xīnwén chūbǎn guǎngdiàn zǒngjú国家 新闻 出版 广电 总局) reportedly warned the editorial team that 37 articles published in Yánhuáng Chūnqiū had violated political guidelines since the beginning of the year had. Yáng Jìshéng had to resign as deputy editor-in-chief of Yánhuáng Chūnqiū .

In mid-2015, the magazine had a circulation of 150,000, a large part of which was distributed by subscription . However, government pressure on editors increased steadily.

In July 2016, the magazine was not discontinued immediately, but the government carried out a "hostile takeover": the original editors (including Dù Dǎozhèng) were fired or retired and replaced by hardliners who were loyal to the line, including the well-known author and Colonel of the Air Force Dài Xù . Another issue appeared in August, but it was to be the last issue.

literature

Footnotes

  1. ^ The company China Die Zeit 51/2011 (December 15, 2011).