Break free from shadow of historical humiliation
- Source: Global Times
- [02:24 January 15 2010]
- Comments
"Two robbers breaking into a museum, devastating, looting and burning, leaving, laughing hand-in-hand with their bags full of treasures; one of the robbers is called France and the other Britain." French writer Victor Hugo (1802-85) was famously quoted as saying on the burning of the Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan) in 1860.
Now the "two robbers" are on the list of invitees for the episode's 150th anniversary on October 18, 2010.
This should serve as a welcome move for Chinese people to step out of the shadow of the century-long humiliation. As the organizing committee stated, commemorative events are for remembering the past, not the hatred, and above all, embracing the future.
History can make men wise, and yet history has various layers, which may lead to different interpretations. To some Chinese, the "Garden of Gardens" represents unique aesthetic and architectural values, and full-scale restoration of its past glory seems to be the only choice.
Yet to a larger Chinese audience, in the relics of the imperial palace lies a nation's troubling memory of humiliation at the hands of foreign invaders, and they want the ruins preserved as a heritage site.
Even there are deeper values in the Old Summer Palace that deserve exploring.
While Chinese have proudly stood up over the ruins for more than six decades, they have never banished the historical shadow of being a victim of foreign invasion.
Only when Chinese come to regard the Westerners as equals can the nation progress and rise in real sense.
Getting rid of the deep-rooted sense of humiliation will be hard. As observed by Chinese writer Lu Xun (1881-1936), "Chinese have never looked at foreigners as human beings. We either look up to foreigners as gods, or down on them as wild animals."
In that sense, the West is China's alter ego. And changing the angle of interpreting the "Century of Humiliation" under Western powers can be as complex as Chinese reinventing themselves.
