Culture Archives - Friends of Socialist China

Brixton plaque remembers China pioneer

A pioneering photographer, now considered a founder of photojournalism, was honoured with the unveiling of a blue plaque at his former home in the south London district of Brixton on Thursday August 8. London’s blue plaques scheme, run by English Heritage, celebrates the links between notable figures of the past and the buildings in which they lived and worked.

John Thomson, who was born in Edinburgh in 1837 and who died in London in 1921 and is buried in Streatham Cemetery, was known for some of the first photographs of China, Cambodia and Thailand to reach a British audience, as well as for photos of the poorest sections of the working class in Victorian London, before finally winning recognition from ‘high society’ and royalty.

In April 1862, Thomson left Edinburgh for Singapore, beginning a ten-year period of travelling in East and South Asia. After visiting Ceylon (as Sri Lanka was then known) and India in October-November 1864 to document the destruction caused by a cyclone, he travelled to Thailand (then known as Siam), taking photographs of the monarch and members of the royal court and government.

Inspired by accounts of the rediscovery of the ruins of the city of Angkor, which was at the heart of a magnificent Khmer civilisation that flourished from the ninth century onwards, Thomson set off on his first major photographic expeditions and, despite nearly dying of malaria, took the first known photographs of the Angkor Wat Temple, which today takes the central place on the Cambodian flag. As in Siam, he also took photos of the Cambodian royal family.

Following a brief return to Britain, he settled in Hong Kong in 1868, using it as a base to explore and photograph China extensively over the next three years, including Fujian province, Guangzhou, Beiijing, Shanghai, the Great Wall and deep into central China. He published many of his photographs under the title, ‘Illustrations of China and Its People’.

His other important publication was ‘Street Life in London’. According to the BBC, it “recorded some of the impoverished characters living on the fringes of late nineteenth century society in London. His photographs include Hookey Alf of Whitechapel, who wore a hook in place of the arm he lost in an industrial accident and hung around the streets of east London looking for casual labour… His photojournalism, deliberately intended to prick the consciences of the Victorian middle classes, included a poignant picture of a destitute woman in Covent Garden, taken in 1877 and entitled ‘The Crawlers’.”

What the BBC did not report was that, far from merely intending to prick middle class consciences, each of the 36 photos was accompanied by text written by Adolphe Smith Headingley, a Marxist revolutionary and member of the First International. Half-French and a participant in the Paris Commune, Smith narrowly escaped execution when the Commune was crushed and was also instrumental in popularising the singing of the Red Flag in the British Labour movement.

Speaking at the unveiling of Thomson’s plaque, Jamie Carstairs, senior digitisation officer with Bristol University’s library services, who originally made the nomination, said that Thompson was an exceptionally gifted and versatile photographer with “a rare combination of a keen intellectual curiosity, perceptive observational skills, and visual virtuosity.”

‘Illustrations of China and its People’, consisting of 200 photographs and descriptions, was published in 1874. It earned him the nickname “China Thomson”. He is nowadays acclaimed as one of the best foreign photographers ever to set foot in China, Carstairs noted.

“Thomson’s photography introduced the Victorian public to what it could not see – far away Asia – and to what it did not necessarily want to see – London’s poorest people. John Thomson is a model photographer. Talented, hardworking, innovative, effective, generous, humane. His respect and empathy for the people he photographed made for compassionate and moving portraiture, especially of women.”

Carstairs was followed by Betty Yao MBE, a Chinese community activist, who co-founded the Pan-Asian Women’s Association (PAWA UK) and is the Managing Director of Credential International Arts Management. The rediscovery of Thomson’s work on China is largely thanks to 15 years of tireless work by Betty, who curated the touring exhibition, ‘Through the Lens of John Thomson’, which has now been viewed by over a million visitors throughout Britain, Ireland, China, Europe and North America. Betty has also chaired the John Thomson Commemoration Group, which completed the restoration of his gravestone at south London’s Streatham cemetery in 2019.

She told the gathering of her first encounter with Thomson’s work: “Instantly, I fell in love with his images of China, especially the many, many photographs of women.”

Mayor of Lambeth, and Labour Councillor for Brixton North, John-Paul Ennis said: “I’d like to thank everybody involved in helping to bring this blue plaque to fruition. Blue plaques create the opportunity to sow seeds in people’s minds. To see that great people have lived or worked in your community can have a huge impact on you.”

Thomson’s great-granddaughter, Caroline Thomas said: “As Londoners by upbringing, the work [‘Street Life in London’] resonates greatly, despite being produced over a century ago. It’s sad to think that some of the themes still prevail today. We’re especially proud of the fact that Thomson and Smith chose as their subjects ordinary people and those on the edge of society… It is this humanity that we would like to honour.”

In 2020, a heritage plaque was unveiled on the Edinburgh building where Thomson was born.

The below article was originally published on The Brixton Blog. We also embed an interview with Betty Yao, recorded in 2018, to coincide with her exhibition showing at the Brunei Gallery at SOAS University of London.

From Wagner to Alex Ho: new musical territory

We are pleased to republish the below review of a May 21 piano recital by Aidan Chan, which originally appeared in the Morning Star and was written by the paper’s classical music correspondent Simon Duff.

Aidan is a brilliant young Irish Chinese pianist whose work is often described as “fearless, courageous and ambitious.” A campaigner against racism, and a member of the FOSC Britain Committee, Aidan explores the relationship of music to revolution and of identity and social structures to performance.

His concert, held at the 1901 Arts Club in London’s Waterloo, a hidden gem of the London cultural scene, focused on the work of Wagner, along with the London premiere of a new work by the up and coming British Chinese composer Alex Ho. Aidan describes this piece as being “a response to Puccini’s opera Turandot, in particular its Orientalist portrayal of Chinese cultures and people.”

The concert also featured a video and poetry piece by Aidan entitled ‘What Light Shines There?’, inspired by the interdisciplinary work of the late Korean American author and artist Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, who was tragically murdered in 1982, during which he read a poem while images portrayed the nuclear ‘doomsday clock’, intertwined with montage of a US air strike on Syria.

AIDAN CHAN is an Irish Chinese pianist whose work favours an exploration of identity and social structures through performance. He has an affinity for Chopin and Mozart. In short he is fearless, courageous and ambitious.

For his London May concert Chan chose to focus on the work of Wagner and emerging British-Chinese composer Alex Ho.

The concert opened with Wagner’s Prelude from Tristan und Isolde arranged for piano by Zoltan Kocsis. Opening with a delicate two-note harmonic suspension opening it gives way to clusters of build-up chords. Dark and menacing clouds complete the soundscape before moving into lighter tones and moods of brief optimism, before Wagner’s full dynamic range explores his notions of God and revolutionary zeal.

Under Chan’s cool flexible and light playing, the piece flowed and the rhythmic intensity worked with poetic touches.

The passion and commitment continued through the next piece by Wagner’s Feierlicher Marsch from Parsifal, arranged by Liszt. Playing on the 1901’s Steinway Model C grand piano, the tonal clarity shone out.

Speaking ahead of the concert Chan explained what drew him to perform Wagner: “I’m particularly interested in his legacy as a cultural zeitgeist. There is a hauntological element to it that keeps finding its way into social and political discourse. Last year I read Paradoxes and Parallels, a collection of conversations between Daniel Barenboim and Edward Said and that pushed forward my thinking about my position as a performer of Western classical music in the context of today’s world.”

Wanting to create a piece which further contextualised some themes common to the Wagner’s works, a section of the concert was given over to a video and poetry piece by Chan entitled Light What Light Shines Through, inspired by the interdisciplinary work of Korean American author and artist Theresa Hak Kyung Cha. This pointed towards the transience of time and death/rebirth as a cycle, and also consumer alienation and apathy. Chan read a poem and the images, over silence, were of a doomsday clock intertwined with montage of a US air strike on Syria.

Contemporary composer Alex Ho’s work is deeply admired by Chan. His new work — premiered at the concert — is called Torn, to the ground, exhausted, sobbing. It begins with slow minimal notation with Chan singing a lullaby-like series of high notes as he played a high note melodic note cluster, before moving on to Copeland-inspired fast-paced sections, and then into area of modern Chinese jazz.

On the Steinway the overall intention and effect was stunning. Ho is moving into new important territory.

Chan adds: “The piece is a response to Puccini’s opera Turandot, in particular its Orientalist portrayal of Chinese cultures and people. As a performer it always broadens my horizons to work with him as he actively encourages dialogue between performer and composer and leaves much space for his music to be communicated through the performance itself.”

The final piece was a return to Wagner and Liszt in the form of the Isoldens Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde. Slow builds into further grand operatic chordal gestures.

At the end of the evening the audience knew that they had witnessed a special concert. Some 12 hours later the general election was called. Hope for a brighter future ahead, indeed.

Three-Body Problem: science fiction for China’s ‘New Era’?

The following article by David Peat – Iskra Books editorial board member and secretary of the Friends of Socialist China Britain Committee – discusses the new Netflix adaptation of Liu Cixin’s novel The Three-Body Problem, comparing it with the original book and with last year’s Chinese television adaptation by Tencent.

While describing the Netflix adaption as “admirable in many respects”, David considers that the series is somewhat let down by “poor scriptwriting and ham-fisted characterisation”. Compared to the Chinese adaptation, the Netflix version is too fast-paced, packing too much into a small number of episodes. “With more room to breathe, the novel and the Tencent series also bring out other elements” not covered by the Netflix series, including ecological themes.

David writes: “It has been noted that recent Western science fiction, particularly in cinema, is based either on simplified superhero narratives or extremely pessimistic dystopian/post-apocalypse scenarios, and this reflects a spiritual and ideological absence in late capitalist culture.” Liu Cixin, by contrast, “focuses on proactive and creative responses to long-standing and seemingly intractable problems affecting the whole of humanity.” As such, “Liu Cixin’s stories are fitting science fiction for China’s ‘New Era’ period of continuing socialist construction, undertaking (and more importantly achieving) its own enormously complex and profound projects of poverty elimination, green transformation, and high-quality development.”

David concludes that the Three-Body Problem has the potential to foster cultural understanding and people-to-people exchange between China and the West, “opening a door to the captivating world of Chinese science fiction for a global audience.”

This article contains no spoilers for any of Liu Cixin’s works or their adaptations.

The Three-Body Problem (三体), a science fiction novel released in 2006, counts as perhaps the major cultural ‘crossover’ success of China in the last decade. This was true even before the release of the new Netflix television adaptation of the book, released on the 21st of March 2024, and produced and written for the screen by Game of Thrones show creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, alongside Alexander Woo.

That the creators of arguably the largest television ‘phenomenon’ of recent years saw fit to choose Three-Body as their next project is testament to the cultural impact of this work within China and, increasingly, in the wider world. All the more interesting since the author Liu Cixin, a cultural icon in the PRC, refuses to repudiate his country’s revolutionary history, including its current governing party, the Communist Party of China. As such, he cannot easily be co-opted as a ‘dissident’, and those seeking to market and adapt his works in the West find themselves in the awkward position of having to promote an author who is proud of his country’s achievements and is able to critically engage with the historical path of the Chinese revolution in a productive way, avoiding what Xi Jinping refers to as “historical nihilism.”^[1]

This article will look at the original book series, as well as a Chinese-made (Tencent) adaptation from 2023, and compare them with the recently released US-made (Netflix) adaptation. It will assess the relative merits of each version, different audience reactions to these series, as well as some wider considerations of the differences between contemporary Western and Chinese science fiction.

Three-Body Problem was published in China in 2006. The book is the first of a trilogy, with subsequent volumes titled The Dark Forest (黑暗森林) and Death’s End (死神永生), with the trilogy collectively known as Remembrance of Earth’s Past (地球往事). It achieved broad commercial and critical success domestically, with Liu’s works accounting for 2/3rds of the Chinese science fiction market, and abroad, with translations into more than 20 languages. In English, the first volume of the trilogy, translated by Ken Liu, received the coveted Hugo Award for ‘Best Novel’ in 2015, the first non-English speaking writer to do so. Liu Cixin’s dominance of modern Chinese science fiction can also be seen in the enormous domestic (and moderate international) success of film adaptations of his Wandering Earth novel, with China selecting the second instalment in this film series as its submission for this year’s Oscars.

The plot of the Remembrance of Earth’s Past series is difficult to summarise, especially when trying not to spoil anything. In general, the action initially takes place in a near-contemporary era with the deaths by suicide of various theoretical and applied physicists around the world, many of them leaving cryptic notes suggesting something along the lines of “Physics doesn’t exist.” The first book also jumps back to Mao-era China and follows Ye Wenjie, herself a gifted physicist, during the Cultural Revolution and subsequent work at a radio telescope base in Inner Mongolia. In the broadest possible strokes, the series can be considered an ‘alien contact’ story, but it also touches on themes such as ecology and human development, ‘game theory’, the capacity for ideological groups to form depending on external circumstances, global cooperation to overcome multi-generational problems, and high-level physics concepts.

The books were extremely well-received, with many praising their creative and inventive use of scientific concepts, enormously ambitious ‘high-concept’ action sequences, and philosophical themes. Equally, however, some readers critiqued the series, suggesting that these overwhelmingly abstract ‘ideas’ take centre stage, to the detriment of any focus on interpersonal drama and character development. As such, for years it was considered that the novels were ‘unfilmable’.

There had been a few abortive attempts at adapting the book series in China, in animation, or even video game form. Eventually, the Chinese company Tencent succeeded and released a 30-episode series in January 2023. This covers the events of the first novel, Three-Body Problem,_,in exhaustive detail, and is considered a highly faithful adaptation, often with dialogue taken straight from the novel. On release, it was praised by fans of the book, with strong performances, excellent cinematography and impressive special effects, especially for its budget and the fact it was a Chinese television drama. However, there were also some criticisms, from both domestic and international audiences, which criticised the show’s irregular pacing, poor performances by non-Chinese actors, and the ‘old-fashioned’ CGI of the ‘video game’ section of the story.

Embracing the Year of the Dragon

In the following article, which was originally published by China Today to coincide with the start of the Year of the Dragon, our co-editor Keith Bennett, noting that the Lunar New Year has increasingly become a common festival of people throughout the world, goes on to illustrate how it has become an integral part of British life, celebrated not only by the Chinese community and all those with a connection to China, but increasingly by people from all communities and all walks of life.

Keith notes how the celebration in London’s Chinatown, which had already become one of the largest and most spectacular outside Asia, was brought to Trafalgar Square by progressive mayor Ken Livingstone, and due in large part to the hard work and efforts of two great friends of China, the late Redmond O’Neill and Jude Woodward.

Highlighting how China’s late Premier Zhou Enlai had stressed that his country’s diplomacy rested on a tripod of state-to-state, party-to-party and people-to-people relations and that President Xi Jinping has often stressed that good people-to-people relations are the foundation for sound state-to-state relations, Keith concludes:

“British people from all walks of life and backgrounds have been increasingly taking Chinese New Year to their hearts. It has become part of our culture and calendar. This is one more reminder that Cold War hostility and bellicosity do not represent the interests of the people of any country and are therefore destined to fail.”

Chinese people, and people throughout the world, are looking forward to welcoming the Year of the Dragon, which falls on February 10, 2024. The Dragon is considered the most auspicious of the 12 signs in the Chinese zodiac and this year is specifically the Year of the Wood Dragon, the first since 1964. According to Lifestyle Asia, “Wood Dragons enjoy fulfilling careers. They’re likely to materialize all their ambitions into actions, coming up with truly revolutionary ideas.”

In the run up to the Chinese people’s greatest holiday, there has already been some good news. On December 22, 2023, the 78th United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution by consensus that, as from 2024, the Chinese, or Lunar, New Year shall be designated as a UN “floating holiday,” to be taken into consideration when drafting the world body’s calendar of conferences and meetings.

This might be best understood as a welcome and quite possibly overdue recognition of reality. The Lunar New Year has long since ceased to be solely a great festival for all Chinese people; for other countries and peoples in East Asia sharing a cultural heritage and numerous neighborly bonds with China; and for overseas Chinese and people of Chinese heritage on the five continents and across the four seas. It has increasingly become a common festival of people throughout the world.

In my country, Britain, it is, of course, a special occasion for our Chinese community and for all those of us with a connection to China. This naturally especially applies to Chinatowns, such as those in London, Liverpool (the oldest in Europe), Manchester and elsewhere.

The London Chinatown Chinese Association (LCCA), one of the U.K.’s most important Chinese organizations, long led by the indefatigable Chu Ting Tang, proprietor of the Imperial China restaurant, works hard throughout each year to stage one of the greatest and most spectacular Chinese New Year celebrations outside Asia, which attracts tens of thousands of people – not just Chinese people, but Londoners from every background in this most multicultural and multinational of cities, joined, too, by visitors and tourists from all over.

This great celebration had long since outgrown the crowded pavements of Gerard Street, Lisle Street, Wardour Street, Newport Place, and others in the heart of Chinatown, when Ken Livingstone, the progressive mayor of London, brought it to the heart of the capital in nearby Trafalgar Square.

This was a key part of Ken’s ambitious program to recognize and celebrate the city’s great diversity, from Ireland’s national Saint Patrick’s Day, to the Notting Hill Carnival (originally inspired by Claudia Jones, a communist of Trinidadian origin, who met Chairman Mao and is now buried to the left of Karl Marx), to the Eid, Diwali, Vaisakhi, and Hannukah festivals of the Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, and Jewish faiths.

None of this would have been possible without the devoted and tireless work of two great friends of China, who were mainstays of the mayor’s office and administration. Redmond O’Neill and Jude Woodward, socialists, Marxists, and internationalists, left us far too early, but we remember them not least at Chinese New Year. Its central place in London life is thanks in great part to them.

The Chinese New Year is also a focus for all in the business community with an interest in China and the Chinese market. This is now marked by an ever-increasing number of dinners and receptions, but the flagship event has long been the “Icebreakers” Chinese New Year Dinner, customarily held in the ballroom of the iconic Dorchester Hotel, home also to the China Tang Restaurant, founded by the late Sir David Tang, on Park Lane, and organized by the 48 Group Club. Originally hosted by the London Export Corporation (LEC), the first U.K. company to trade with the new China following the establishment of the People’s Republic, and founded by the late Jack Perry, it is now joined by the China Britain Business Council (CBBC) and the China Chamber of Commerce in the U.K. (CCCUK), and features keynote speeches by the Chinese ambassador and other VIPs, both British and Chinese. It has even received letters and messages of greetings from President Xi Jinping and other top Chinese leaders.

For the last couple of decades, the Chinese affiliates, and China interest groups, of the Conservative, Labor and Liberal Democrat parties have all also hosted celebratory dinners, although these have now been somewhat negatively impacted by the new Cold War mentality and the rise of neo-McCarthyism. My personal highpoint from these events – although they have also been attended by a number of serving prime ministers and receptions have been held at 10 Downing Street, the prime minister’s official residence – was when former Chinese Ambassador to the U.K. Liu Xiaoming joined Jeremy Corbyn, the first socialist leader of the Labor Party in at least eight decades, to celebrate at the Phoenix Palace, one of London’s most outstanding Cantonese restaurants, as well as brought the traditional lion dance to life at Labor’s headquarters.

But, as mentioned, Chinese New Year in the U.K. has now gone well beyond those with a specific China interest. It is, for example, marked with special projects and lessons in many of our primary schools up and down the country.

China’s late Premier Zhou Enlai, in my view the greatest diplomat of the 20th century, stressed that China’s diplomacy rested on a tripod of state-to-state, party-to-party, and people-to-people relations.

President Xi Jinping has often stressed that good people-to-people bonds are the foundation for sound state-to-state relations.

British people from all walks of life and backgrounds have been increasingly taking Chinese New Year to their hearts. It has become part of our culture and calendar. This is one more reminder that Cold War hostility and bellicosity do not represent the interests of the people of any country and are therefore destined to fail.

Happy New Year of the Wood Dragon!

Xi Jinping: Integrate the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and the best of its traditional culture

The following is the text of a speech given by Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, at a meeting on cultural inheritance and development in June 2023, at which he comprehensively set out his views on the integration of Marxism with China’s specific realities and especially the best of its traditional culture, which is now being known as the “two integrations”.

Xi notes that:

“The traditional Chinese culture encompasses a multitude of significant concepts, including social ideals of pursuing the common good for all and achieving universal peace; governance principles of regarding the people as the foundation of the state and governing by virtue; traditions of striving for great unity in the country and ensuring unity amid diversity; values of dedicating oneself to self-cultivation, family management, state governance, and peace for all and shouldering one’s duties to secure the future of the nation; aspirations of embracing the world with virtue and cultivating integrity; economic principles of enriching the people and improving their lives and pursuing the greater good and shared interests; ecological ideas of promoting harmony between humanity and nature and the coexistence of all living things; philosophical thoughts of seeking truth from facts and combining knowledge with action.”

Explaining that Chinese civilisation is distinguished by its continuity, he adds that Chinese people’s deep-rooted sentiments for the motherland and profound sense of history constitute an ideal for upholding great unity and provide spiritual support for guiding the Chinese nation through countless hardships on the path to national rejuvenation.

He also refers to the creativity of Chinese civilisation, saying that it “places stress on discarding the outdated in favour of the new and making progress on a daily basis… The creativity of Chinese civilisation determines that it upholds tradition without clinging to the past and respects ancient wisdom without reverting to archaic thinking. It also determines that the Chinese nation is fearless in facing new challenges and embracing new things.”

It is also inclusive:

“Rather than replacing diverse cultures with a single monoculture, Chinese civilisation endeavours to integrate various cultures into a shared tapestry.”

Next, Xi Jinping turns his attention to the significance of the two integrations with Marxism, explaining that:

“Given the profound foundations of our venerable 5,000-year-old civilisation, the only path for pioneering and developing Chinese socialism is to integrate the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and the best of its traditional culture (‘two integrations’). This systematic conclusion has been derived from our extensive explorations of Chinese socialism. We have always emphasised integrating the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and have now officially brought forward the integration of the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s fine traditional culture. As I once stated, without the 5,000-year-old Chinese civilisation, where would the Chinese characteristics come from?”

Mutual compatibility, he insists, is the fundamental prerequisite:

“The ‘two integrations’ is not a far-fetched proposition. Despite their distinct origins, Marxism and traditional Chinese culture exhibit remarkable congruence. For instance, the social principles of pursuing the common good for all and acting in good faith and being friendly to others resonate harmoniously with the ideals and convictions of communism and socialism; the governing concepts of regarding the people as the foundation of the state and governing by virtue align seamlessly with the political principle of putting the people first; and the practices of discarding the outdated in favour of the new and ceaselessly pursuing self-improvement correspond faithfully to the revolutionary spirit of Communists. Marxism sees the essence of man from the angle of social relations, while in Chinese culture, people are defined by their relationships with their family, their country, and the world. Both reject the notion of viewing humans as isolated entities.”

“Integration,” he further explains, “extends beyond mere juxtaposition; instead, it creates a new, organically unified cultural entity. On one hand, Marxism entered China with its advanced theories, giving a new lease of life to Chinese civilisation with its truthfulness. It ushered China into the modern era, revitalising and modernising Chinese culture. Traditional concepts such as regarding the people as the foundation of the state, all regions sharing common customs and practices, all things living side by side, and enriching the people have transformed to modern ideas of pursuing democracy, forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation, maintaining harmony between humanity and nature, and striving for common prosperity.”

This integration has reinforced the foundations of China’s socialist path:

“The path of Chinese socialism is fundamentally socialist, grounded in Marxism. The essential socialist elements in Chinese culture provide an intellectual foundation for the embrace of Marxism in China. The path of Chinese socialism is continually broadening, and our determination to remain on this path is unwavering.”

In the concluding part of his speech, Xi Jinping points out that: “Under the guidance of Marxism, we must adeptly integrate the past with the present, draw on successful foreign experiences, make informed choices through dialectical reasoning, and develop the new from the old, therefore achieving a seamless fusion of traditional and contemporary cultures.”

The speech was originally published in Chinese in Qiushi Journal, theoretical organ of the Communist Party of China, issue 17 of 2023. This official English translation appeared in Qiushi’s English language edition, issue 5 of 2023.

Today, we convened a meeting on cultural inheritance and development. Preceding this event, I visited the newly built China National Archives of Publications and Culture and the Chinese Archaeological Museum at the Chinese Academy of History and found them exceptionally insightful.

To establish both the Chinese Academy of History and the China National Archives of Publications and Culture was a decision of great significance made by the CPC Central Committee. The Chinese nation boasts a legacy spanning millions of years of humanity, ten millennia of culture, and five thousand years of civilization. My visit to these two places helped deepen my appreciation for the time-honored Chinese culture and the profound depth of Chinese civilization. Only through a comprehensive and deep understanding of the history of Chinese civilization can we more effectively promote the creative transformation and development of the best of the traditional Chinese culture, vigorously push forward the progress of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics, and cultivate a modern Chinese civilization.

Culture is fundamental to a nation’s foundation and future. Recently, I have consistently pondered the major issue of promoting China’s socialist culture and developing a modern Chinese civilization. This is precisely the reason that led us to convene this meeting today. Here, I would like to address three key points.

I. Developing a profound understanding of the defining characteristics of Chinese civilization

The traditional Chinese culture encompasses a multitude of significant concepts, including social ideals of pursuing the common good for all and achieving universal peace; governance principles of regarding the people as the foundation of the state and governing by virtue; traditions of striving for great unity in the country and ensuring unity amid diversity; values of dedicating oneself to self-cultivation, family management, state governance, and peace for all and shouldering one’s duties to secure the future of the nation; aspirations of embracing the world with virtue and cultivating integrity; economic principles of enriching the people and improving their lives and pursuing the greater good and shared interests; ecological ideas of promoting harmony between humanity and nature and the coexistence of all living things; philosophical thoughts of seeking truth from facts and combining knowledge with action; the mindset of understanding multiple perspectives and seeking harmony through the middle way; and communication approaches of acting in good faith and being friendly to others. These concepts collectively shape the defining characteristics of Chinese civilization.

Chinese civilization is distinguished by its continuity

Chinese civilization is the only great, uninterrupted civilization that continues to this day in a state form. This unequivocally affirms the cultural identity and robust vitality of Chinese civilization as it has responded to challenges and broken new ground through self-development. Chinese people’s deep-rooted sentiments for the motherland and profound sense of history constitute an ideal for upholding great unity and provide spiritual support for guiding the Chinese nation through countless hardships on the path to national rejuvenation. This continuity inherently dictates that the Chinese nation will follow its own path. If not through the prism of its extensive history of continuity, one would not be able to understand ancient China, contemporary China, let alone China of the future.

Chinese civilization is distinguished by its creativity

Chinese civilization places stress on discarding the outdated in favor of the new and making progress on a daily basis. It embodies both profound depth and dynamic forward surges. Continuity doesn’t mean being stagnant or inflexible; on the contrary, it represents a history marked by creativity-driven progress. The Chinese nation embraces the ethos of self-renewal, as an ancient saying goes “improve oneself in one day, do so from day to day, and there will be daily improvement.” This spirit propels the Chinese nation’s sustained material, cultural-ethical, and political advancement, allowing it to stand tall and firm as one of the most prosperous and powerful civilizations throughout a long historical period. The creativity of Chinese civilization determines that it upholds tradition without clinging to the past and respects ancient wisdom without reverting to archaic thinking. It also determines that the Chinese nation is fearless in facing new challenges and embracing new things.

Review: Creation of the Gods I

Below is a brief review of the recently-released Chinese blockbuster movie, Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms. We would like to thank Trinity CineAsia for inviting Friends of Socialist China to attend a special showing and Q&A in London with the film’s director of photography.

This review is written by David Peat, an editorial board member of Iskra Books.

Those who have been paying attention to recent Chinese ‘blockbuster’ cinema will have noticed a qualitative shift in terms of the size of productions, the level of visual effects, and the confidence in representing both contemporary and historical Chinese stories. While wuxia (martial arts historical drama) with enormous casts, impressive sets, gravity-defying choreography, and beautiful costumes have for decades been one of the most popular Chinese cultural exports, the Chinese film industry was not typically well-known for its special effects. As recently as 2015, the general consensus with domestic audiences could be summed up by a slang term: 5元特效 “5 cent VFX”. However, with films such as the Wandering Earth series, the PRC’s film industry has shown it can offer a spectacle just as impressive, if not better, than the west.

That’s not to give the impression that the Chinese film industry is seeking to merely imitate Hollywood (whose ‘blockbuster’ offerings amount to endless sequels/revivals of increasingly exhausted intellectual property) but instead, the recent tranche of highly-polished cinematic works are squarely aimed at consolidating a vibrant domestic filmmaking industry, telling distinctively Chinese stories that will also have global crossover potential. This appears to be working, with China’s cinema market becoming the second-largest in the world in 2016, and the dominance of Hollywood-made films falling from 48% in 2012 to just 12% in 2021.

The latest cinematic ‘event’ in this burgeoning industry is Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms, a historical fantasy epic based on Chinese mythology. Inevitably referred to as “China’s Lord of the Rings”, this is an adaptation of the 16th-century novel Investiture of the Gods which itself tells a fantastical history of the transition from Shang dynasty (1600–1046 BCE) to Zhou Dynasty (1046 BC – 256 BCE). Released in July domestically, it went on to be the top-grossing film of the season, and likely the year. The production is absolutely enormous, with the trilogy expected to be the most ambitious and expensive in Chinese film history. Wuershan, the Chinese director from Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, heads up the 2,000-strong crew on this epic project, and in fact did consult with Peter Jackson (the creative force behind the Lord of the Rings series) before getting started on this ambitious trilogy.

The story, which will be well-known to Chinese audiences, features a wide range of characters, with emperors, demons, demi-gods, evil magicians, and army generals, as well as a focus on the Emperor’s Royal Guard (which is composed of the sons of the most powerful regional Lords, to fend off rebellion). In spite of this, the film opens with Prince Yin Shou, as a general of the Emperor’s army, putting down a regional uprising with great violence. In the course of this, inadvertently awakening a fox demon who possesses the body of the daughter of the defeated, rebellious Lord. She talks her way into avoiding becoming another victim and accompanies the prince back to the imperial capital, becoming a concubine for the prince, and going on to encourage his aspiration to become ‘King of All Realms’ (by any means necessary). However, the manner of his ascension, as well as the widespread violence of putting down the earlier rebellion, incurs the wrath of the Gods who bring about ‘The Great Curse’, causing suffering in all corners of the land (and whose effects are shown in blighted crops, fouled water, and illness). The immortals of a spiritual plane known as ‘Kunlun’ send down some of their own to our world with a magical scroll called the ‘Fengshen Bang’, which, if activated by the King of All Realms, can bring about an end to The Great Curse. However, upon arrival at the royal palace, the demi-gods realise the cruel and untrustworthy nature of the current King, and worry that the Fengshan Bang may be used for evil instead of good. As such, they decide to flee and hope that any next king may be a more suitable recipient. The story goes on to chart the adventures of the demi-gods and their allies trying to prevent Yin Shou from gaining possession of the magical artefact, as well as the attempts of would-be usurpers of his throne, including a potential candidate who may be worthy of bringing an end to The Great Curse.

The set pieces are of an epic scale as would be expected from the Oscar-winning production design of Tim Yip (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon & Red Cliff), with enormous battle scenes, and Tim Yip’s amazing work with costuming is also on display. Since the era depicted is so historically distant, historical accuracy would be difficult to measure, however he was inspired by surviving Shang Dynasty bronze artefacts. The performances tend towards the melodramatic, as befitting the grand mythological stakes, with the egotistical and cruel Yin Shou (played by Fei Xiang, aka Kris Phillips) as well as the fox-demon’s host Su Daji (played by Naran) being particular standouts. The visual effects take centre stage and are (mostly) impressive, with one particularly powerful sequence of a fight with a giant, crumbling stone tiger magically brought to life being reminiscent of the lauded Shadow of the Colossus video game. All in all, the film is an entertaining and well-paced fantasy epic, and a great introduction for western audiences into a new and intriguing mythological tradition.

This film is the first part of a trilogy, and those who were bemused by the ending of Dune’s first film may take warning that this film likewise ends very much looking to the subsequent episodes, and it follows the contemporary tradition of a number of ‘mid-credits’ sequences setting up future events. It is, however, an enjoyable story in its own right and an excellent introduction to a wide range of characters, many of which will presumably play large parts in the forthcoming sequels, which are set to be released in China in 2024 and ‘25 respectively.

Creation of The Gods is distributed in the UK by Trinity Cine Asia. The film will be released on streaming services next year.

Integrating the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and traditional culture

In the following article, the Theoretical Study Group under the Executive Council of the Institute of Party History and Literature of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee gives a systematic explanation and historical background to General Secretary Xi Jinping’s concept of the “two integrations”, namely of the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and traditional culture.

The article quotes Xi Jinping as saying:

“Given the rich foundations of our more than 5,000-year-old civilisation, the only path for pioneering and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics is to integrate the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with its traditional culture. This systematic conclusion, drawn from our explorations of Chinese socialism, is the strongest assurance for our success.”

It notes that the history of the CPC has been a process of continuously adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times and a process of continually making theoretical innovations.

In the periods of the new-democratic revolution (1921-1949) and of socialist revolution and development (1949-1978), the CPC integrated the basic tenets of Marxism-Leninism with the concrete realities of the Chinese revolution. This enabled it to blaze the correct revolutionary path of encircling the cities from the countryside and seizing state power with military force, secure victory in the new-democratic revolution, complete the socialist revolution, and carry out a highly productive socialist development drive. It was during this process that the CPC established, enriched, and further developed Mao Zedong Thought, which marked the first historic step in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times.

The CPC, the article notes, has drawn upon the Chinese concept of the people being the foundation of the state, the idea of universal participation in governance, the tradition of joint and consultative governance, and the political wisdom of being all-inclusive and seeking common ground while setting aside differences. On this basis, it established the system of people’s congresses and the system of CPC-led multiparty cooperation and political consultation.

Deng Xiaoping, it adds, stressed that “the socialist China we are building should have a civilisation with a high cultural and ideological level as well as a high material level; only if we do well on both fronts can we say we are building socialism with Chinese characteristics.” Deng also emphasised the need to carry forward and develop the Chinese nation’s fine cultural traditions and the Party’s fine traditions, oppose lingering feudal influences, and guard against the corrosion of decadent capitalist ideas. He also put forward a fundamental criterion for appraising all the party’s work, namely, whether it is favourable to growing the productive forces in a socialist society, to increasing the overall strength of the socialist state, and to raising the living standards of the people.

Xi Jinping, the article continues, has pointed out that:

“The basic tenets of Marxism must be closely integrated with China’s specific realities. We should adopt the right approaches to our national traditional culture and the cultures of other countries to equip ourselves with all the outstanding intellectual and cultural achievements of humanity.”

Xi Jinping’s Thought upholds the people-centred viewpoint of Marxism and draws extensively on the ancient Chinese governance principles of regarding the people as the foundation of the state and ensuring the people enjoy safety, prosperity, and contentment. It also adheres to Marxist principles regarding the relationship between humans and nature and draws on Chinese wisdom concerning the environment, including the ideas of humanity being an integral part of nature and all things living side by side. Likewise, it adheres to Marxist ideas on world history and carries forward the broad-minded vision advocated in traditional Chinese culture, which includes seeking prosperity for all and harmony between all nations. On this basis, initiatives such as a global community of shared future and the Belt and Road Initiative have been put forward.

The article explains that after Marxism was introduced into China, its propositions were enthusiastically embraced by the Chinese people amid fierce competition between different ideological trends, and they ultimately took root and bore fruit in the land of China. This was far from coincidental. Rather, it was because they were consistent with China’s millennia-old culture and the common values that Chinese people intuitively apply in their everyday lives. It is only with mutual compatibility that genuine integration can be achieved. “This integration is not a master plate from which we simplistically continue our history and culture, nor a pattern through which we mechanically apply the ideas of classic Marxist authors, nor a reprint of the practice of socialism in other countries, nor yet a duplicate of modernisation from any other country. Rather, it is the combining of the basic principles of scientific socialism with China’s specific realities, historical and cultural traditions, and the call of the times. It demands a harmonious blending of communist faith and socialist convictions with the millennia-old ideals of the Chinese nation.”

Integration, it explains, is not about piecing different components together; it is not a simple physical convergence, but instead requires complete fusion. While Marxism has profoundly changed China, China has also greatly enriched Marxism.

The article was originally published in Chinese in issue 13, 2023 of Qiushi Journal, the CPC’s main theoretical organ. This English language version was first published in issue 4, 2023 of Qiushi’s English edition.

In an address at a meeting on cultural inheritance and development, General Secretary Xi Jinping noted, “Given the rich foundations of our more than 5,000-year-old civilization, the only path for pioneering and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics is to integrate the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with its traditional culture. This systematic conclusion, drawn from our explorations of Chinese socialism is the strongest assurance for our success.” In his speech, General Secretary Xi incisively discussed the significance of integrating the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and traditional culture (referred to as the “two integrations”) and the rich implications and practical requirements therein.

The CPC’s experience and application of the “two integrations”

The history of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has been a process of continuously adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times and a process of continually making theoretical innovations. The CPC has led the people through arduous quests, setbacks, and pioneering efforts to accomplish enormous tasks that would have been inconceivable for any other political force in China. Essentially, this has been possible because the CPC has remained committed to integrating the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and the best of its traditional culture, thus continually adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times.

In the periods of the new-democratic revolution (1921-1949) and socialist revolution and development (1949-1978), the CPC integrated the basic tenets of Marxism-Leninism with the concrete realities of the Chinese revolution. This enabled it to blaze the right revolutionary path of encircling cities from the countryside and seizing state power with military force, secure victory in the new-democratic revolution, complete the socialist revolution, and carry out a highly productive socialist development drive. It was during this process that the CPC established, enriched, and further developed Mao Zedong Thought, which marked the first historic step in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times. By integrating Marxism’s basic tenets with China’s realities, the CPC developed many original theoretical achievements, put forward a series of important ideas regarding China’s revolution and development, and led the people in securing great successes in the new-democratic revolution and in socialist revolution and development.

In his explorations of a path for China’s revolution and development, Mao Zedong placed importance on interpreting and applying Marxism from a national perspective and was particularly adept at drawing nourishment from China’s cultural heritage. Indeed, he once observed that “We should sum up our history from Confucius to Sun Yat-sen and take over this valuable legacy.” Mao advocated making the past serve the present and stressed the need to “extensively and critically make use of China’s cultural heritage,” “to reject its feudal dross and assimilate its democratic essence,” and “to make the things we have inherited our own.” He fully tapped the contemporary value of China’s traditional culture by infusing classic Chinese idioms such as “seeking truth from facts” and “shooting the arrow at the target” with new meanings. These were used to illustrate the Marxist approach to thinking and working, which grounds all actions in reality. In this way, Mao demonstrated a practical mastery of the best of China’s traditional culture.

Xi Jinping stresses the importance of culture in building a modern socialist society

A national meeting was held in China on October 7-8, which formally advanced the concept of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture for the first time.

In an instruction sent to the meeting, President Xi Jinping, who is also the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, called for breaking new ground to provide a strong ideological guarantee, spiritual strength, and favourable cultural conditions for building a modern socialist country in all respects and advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts.

Culture plays a vital role in inspiring national spirit, maintaining national identity, and promoting economic and social development as well as well-rounded personal development, he said.

President Xi’s instruction listed requirements in seven areas of cultural work as follows:

Strengthening the Party’s leadership over the work of public communication and culture;
Developing a socialist ideology that has the power to unite and inspire the people;
Cultivating and applying core socialist values;
Strengthening the penetration and credibility of the media and its ability to guide and influence;
Promoting the creative transformation and development of fine traditional Chinese culture;
Vigorously developing the cultural sector; and
Enhancing international communication capacity and promoting exchanges and mutual learning among civilisations.

The following articles were originally published by the Xinhua News Agency.

Xi Jinping Thought on Culture highlighted at key meeting

BEIJING, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) — A national meeting on the work of public communication and culture was held in Beijing on Saturday and Sunday. The most important outcome of the meeting is that, for the first time, Xi Jinping Thought on Culture was put forward.

An instruction by President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, was conveyed at the meeting.

In the instruction, he stressed building stronger cultural confidence, following the approach of openness and inclusiveness, and upholding fundamental principles while breaking new ground to provide a strong ideological guarantee, spiritual strength and favorable cultural conditions for building a modern socialist country in all respects and advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts.

Culture plays a vital role in inspiring national spirit, maintaining national identity, and promoting economic and social development and well-rounded personal development.

Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC in 2012, Xi has placed the work of public communication and culture in a prominent position, giving instructions and guidance in art, journalism, philosophy and social sciences, and culture, among others.

Xi introduced the concept of confidence in culture. He incorporated the core socialist values into the basic policy underpinning the endeavor to uphold and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era.

He also set clear tasks for public communication and culture: to uphold socialism with Chinese characteristics, rally public support, cultivate generations of young people with sound values and ethics, develop Chinese culture, and better present China to the world.

The new ideas and judgments about cultural development in the new era put forward by Xi are the crystallization of cultural development under the Party’s leadership. They have enriched and developed Marxist cultural theories and formed Xi Jinping Thought on Culture.

British Museum must return Chinese cultural relics

In the two articles we reproduce below – the first an editorial followed by a news item – the influential Chinese newspaper Global Times responds to the recent news that some 2,000 artifacts have been found to be missing, believed stolen, from the British Museum, to demand the return of treasures, artifacts and cultural icons to China and other countries that were once the victims of colonial pillage by British imperialism. The paper estimates that the museum holds 23,000 cultural relics from China.

In its editorial, Global Times states: “We formally request the British Museum to return all Chinese cultural relics acquired through improper channels,” adding, “We also support the claims for the restitution of cultural relics made by other countries that have been looted by Britain, such as India, Nigeria and South Africa. We urge the British government to cooperate in the legal and other procedures to facilitate the process, which will be a test and verification of Britain’s sincerity in clearing the colonial stain and making amends for its historical sins.”

According to Global Times:

“The vast majority of the British Museum’s huge collection of up to 8 million items came from countries other than the UK, and a significant portion of it was acquired through improper channels, even dirty and sinful means. As a result, the British Museum has earned the name of the world’s largest ‘receiver of stolen goods’.”

Faced with growing demands over the years for the return of looted items by countries from Greece to Nigeria, the British Museum and the British government have fallen back on the frankly racist argument that the countries concerned are, unlike apparently the UK, incapable of taking care of their own property. The revelation of mass theft from the museum’s collections has blown that argument, such as it was, out of the water, and Global Times notes:

“The huge loopholes in the management and security of cultural objects in the British Museum exposed by this scandal have led to the collapse of a long-standing and widely circulated claim that ‘foreign cultural objects are better protected in the British Museum.'”

The editorial notes: “The UK, which has a bloody, ugly, and shameful colonial history, has always had a strong sense of moral superiority over others… We really do not know where their sense of moral superiority comes from.”

It also refers to Greece’s long-running campaign for the return of the so-called ‘Elgin Marbles’:

“Recently, Greece once again called for the return of sculptures taken from the Parthenon Temple by Britain in the past, only to be accused by British politicians of ‘blatant opportunism.’ This once again reveals the ‘traditions’ of imperialism and colonialism.”

In one of several news items recently carried by Global Times on this issue, the paper points out that: “It is estimated that 10 million artifacts were stolen from China from the first Opium War (1840-42) to the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1931-45).”

It also cites Abba Isa Tijani, director general of Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments, on his country’s demand for the return of the Benin Bronzes, and Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s former minister of state for antiquities affairs, on his country’s campaign for the return of the Rosetta Stone.

And it notes comments made to the Guardian newspaper by Bell Ribeiro-Addy, the left Labour MP for Streatham in south London, that: “What makes it more awful is that they’ve been so lax about the [suspected] theft of other people’s items that they haven’t even bothered to assess what it is that they have.”

British Museum must return Chinese cultural relics for free

Global Times, 28 August 2023

As a Chinese media, we formally request the British Museum to return all Chinese cultural relics acquired through improper channels to China free of charge, and to refrain from adopting a resistant, protracted and perfunctory attitude. First of all, a public commitment should be made to the world for the return of the relics and this long overdue work should begin as soon as possible. We also support the claims for the restitution of cultural relics made by other countries that have been looted by Britain, such as India, Nigeria and South Africa. We urge the British government to cooperate in the legal and other procedures to facilitate the process, which will be a test and verification of Britain’s sincerity in clearing the colonial stain and making amends for its historical sins.

The recent revelation that some 2,000 artifacts from the British Museum’s collection inexplicably went missing has shocked not only the UK, but also all other countries that have collections in the British Museum. The huge number of missing artifacts, the long duration of the case, and the seriousness of the suspected internal thief have made it impossible to connect it with the British Museum, one of the largest museums in the world. People have questioned why the British police and the museum have delayed releasing photos and detailed descriptions of the stolen artifacts. The failure to release photos may indicate that the British Museum still has not been able to find out exactly how much of its vast collection has been lost, probably more than 2,000 pieces.

Xi Jinping’s speech marking the centenary of the Communist Youth League of China

We are very pleased to publish the full text of the speech given on May 10th 2022 by President Xi Jinping marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Youth League of China.

In his comprehensive exposition, President Xi outlines how the youth have always stood in the forefront of the struggles and striving of the Chinese people and nation. The May Fourth Movement of the youth and students in 1919, “promoted the spread of Marxism in China, ushered in the new-democratic revolution, and marked the beginning of the youth’s role as the pioneers advancing social changes in China… As Marxism-Leninism was becoming closely integrated with the Chinese workers’ movement, the Communist Party of China was born. Since the day of its founding, the Party has paid particular attention to the youth and placed the hopes of revolution on them.”

He further outlined the indispensable role of the Communist Youth League and young people generally in the periods of the new-democratic revolution, socialist revolution and construction, reform, opening up and socialist modernisation, and the new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

“Inspired by ideals and convictions,” Xi pointed out, “the Communist Youth League has organised and united young people with firm belief and scientific thinking. The first national congress of the League defined building a communist society as its ultimate ideal and made clear its banner of socialism, which has lit the beacon of ideals and convictions among generations of young people. This is the most fundamental and enduring cohesion of the League. History tells us that only by holding high the banner of communism and socialism, can the Communist Youth League form the most solid unity, forge the most effective organisation, and ensure that the youth are united under the banner of the Party’s ideals and convictions.”

Expressing the hope that the League would continue to play its vanguard role, President Xi noted that: “Young people are the most vigorous, enterprising, and least conservative group in society, who possess infinite power to improve the objective world and promote social progress,” adding:

“Revolutionaries are always young. Today, a hundred years on from its founding, the Communist Party of China is still in its prime, and remains as determined as ever to achieve lasting greatness for the Chinese nation. Quoting from Engels, Lenin once said, ‘We are the party of the future, and the future belongs to the youth. We are a party of innovators, and it is always the youth that most eagerly follows the innovators. We are a party that is waging a self-sacrificing struggle against the old rottenness, and youth is always the first to undertake a self-sacrificing struggle.’ Both history and reality have shown that the Communist Party of China is a party that always preserves its youthful features and a party that is worthy of the young people’s trust and worth following.”

Party organisations, the Chinese President said, “must attach great importance to the training and recruitment of outstanding young people and should particularly focus on cultivating and admitting outstanding League members into the Party, so as to ensure our socialist country never changes its nature.”

Members of the Communist Youth League of China (League), young friends, and comrades,

Youth gives rise to infinite hope, and young people are the creators of a bright future. A nation can thrive and prosper only when it places hopes on its youth and maintains its youthful vigor.

Today, we are gathered here at the ceremony marking the centenary of the Communist Youth League of China to encourage League members and young people to forge ahead on the new journey toward realizing the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation.

Film review: The Battle at Lake Changjin

The following review was written by Friends of Socialist China co-editor Keith Bennett.

The Battle at Lake Changjin, directed by Chen Kaige, Tsui Hark and Dante Lam, premiered at the Beijing International Film Festival on 21 September 2021 and was released in China on 30 September. As part of its international distribution, it has been showing at selected cinemas in Britain, Ireland, the USA and Canada since 19 November and in Australia since 2 December. With a budget of some US$200 million, it is the most expensive Chinese film ever made. However, the acclaim with which it has been received has also made it the highest grossing film of 2021, the highest grossing film in Chinese history and the highest grossing non-English language film.

At just two minutes under three hours in length, the film is a revolutionary epic, with the main action centred around the Changjin Lake area of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) in the bitterly cold winter of 1950, shortly after the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army (CPVA) had entered the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. Confronted with the harshest natural and climatic conditions, forced to survive on starvation rations, and faced with an enemy that was better trained, better equipped, better fed, better armed and with complete mastery of the skies, the Chinese troops “fearing neither hardship nor death”, to use the well-known Chinese expression, continue to forge ahead in the most courageous and ingenious of ways. Armed with the element of surprise, and although making the ultimate sacrifice, by successfully blowing up the Shuimen Bridge, they score the most decisive victory ultimately ensuring the achievement of China’s objectives in the war.

Reminder: Special online showing of ‘1921’ (2 October)

Friends of Socialist China are pleased to offer a rare opportunity to watch the film 1921.

Date: Saturday 2 October 2021
Time: 7pm Britain / 2pm US Eastern / 11am US Pacific
Registration: Eventbrite

About ‘1921’

‘1921’ is a full length feature film produced to mark this year’s centenary of the Communist Party of China. It is set against the background of the intense class struggle waged by the young Chinese working class in Shanghai in particular. The action also takes us to Moscow, Paris and elsewhere. Key early Chinese communists like Li Dazhao, Chen Duxiu, Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping all feature in this not to be missed film. As gripping as any Hollywood blockbuster, it is also an education and an inspiration.

A review by Friends of Socialist China co-editor Keith Bennett can be read online.

Please note the film is in Mandarin Chinese with English subtitles.

Who is organising the screening?

This event is organised by Friends of Socialist China, in coordination with Trinity Cine Asia. It is co-sponsored by the Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding, the Morning Star, the Geopolitical Economy Research Group, the International Manifesto Group, and Qiao Collective.

How does the online screening work?

At the start time (7pm Britain, 2pm US Eastern, 11am US Pacific), registered users will receive (by email) a link to stream the film. They will then have a three-hour window in which to watch it.

Why are we charging for this event?

Please note that Friends of Socialist China are not making any money from the showing; our purpose in arranging it is to ensure that its important political and cultural content reaches a wider audience. However, Trinity Cine Asia, with whom we are partnering to organise the screening, have paid the costs of distribution and marketing; therefore all proceeds go to them.

Film review: 1921 – A vivid panorama of revolution

Review written by Friends of Socialist China co-editor Keith Bennett

The 100^th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China has been the occasion for many grand and impressive events throughout July. 1921, which has also been playing in selected cinemas in Britain and Ireland, and doubtless elsewhere, is the film for the centenary.

A feature film, with special effects worthy of any Hollywood blockbuster, it also features some documentary footage, skilfully heightening the sense of both drama and realism.

Whilst 1921 is focused on that momentous year, it deploys flashbacks as far as the 1850s, showing China’s degradation to a semi-colonial and semi-feudal ruined nation and then at its conclusion a potted but vivid historical reconstruction of subsequent years, which culminates in Chairman Mao proclaiming the founding of the People’s Republic on October 1^st 1949, as well as Young Pioneers visiting the restored site of the first party congress 100 years later.

A similar historical technique is deployed to depict aspects of some of the key characters, including such pioneering Chinese communists as Li Dazhao, Chen Duxiu, Li Da and, of course, Mao Zedong. Particularly moving is the depiction of the tragic and heroic fates of some of the key early martyrs of Chinese communism, including Yang Kaihui, Mao’s first wife and great love. This provides a raw and poignant contrast to the youthful idealism, frenetic activity and infectious optimism of many of the key characters as they throw themselves into the preparations for the founding of the party whilst simultaneously immersing themselves in the surging movement of the young but extremely militant Chinese working class along with the youth and students. Shanghai, in particular, where the party was founded, is accurately depicted as a playground for wealthy Chinese and above all for foreign overlords, but as a living hell for the masses of Chinese people.