The history not forgotten

China has always been a country with a sense of mystery, covered by its own glory past as the easter empire, the troubled 19th and 20th century tangled between civil war and foreign invasions, and now more importantly an emerging power of the 21st century. There are certainly a lot of interests in china, and the British media certainly has chosen China as one of their favourite subject.

Channel four has a correspondeant in China who obviouslly loves to report all the dark corners of the society which looks to be poised for fastest economy growth ever. While they are dragging on the human rights issues, Channel five has taken a more historical view on things that have shaped China over the past century and also try to find the links between the past and today. Variety is always a positive thing, for viewers you get a more fully rounded picture and you can make your own judgement based on the input from various angels.

There has been a series of programmes on Channel five covering the red army's long march, the cultural revolution and also the Paul Merton in China - which is showing the life in today's China. I was impressed by the very objective and neutural view from the commentators in these programmes, it shows a good sense of maturity, understanding and putting things into the perspective and circumstances in which the events occured.

In the programmes about cultural revoluation, it shows the historical moment when Nixon was visiting Beijing and his meeting with Mao, whose health at the time was deteriorting. But both looked exicted about the occasion, and then Nixon was taken to the entertainment in the evening, where they were watching the red guards (in their very distinctive uniform) dancing and chanting the long live Mao songs. I can imagine he must have been feeling a bit disturbed watching a performance like that, not really the sort of entertainment he expected, but nevertheless he had to look interested. And then it was when Henry Kissinger was visiting Beijing, Mao was obviously amused when he saw Kissinger's very tall wife (who was probably a former volleyball player!). He was a whimsical man, who had a side of artist.

I was only very little when the gang of four was sentensed (the trial was broadcasted throughout China). But I certainly remember the atmosphere in the room where the crowd was watching TV. It was a momemnt never to be forgotten for a lot of Chinese. But how much do the new generation know about this history and its impact on China, probably very little. I guess sometimes the baggage from the past could be too heavy to carry along the way, and maybe it is too much to ask the young people today to make a connection with a past they never experienced.