Multimedia Event on Chinese
Cultural Revolution to Be Held
January 12 And 13 at UC San Diego

December 5, 2006

By Pat JaCoby

A two-day multimedia presentation highlighting the 40 th anniversary of the Chinese Cultural Revolution will be held at the University of California, San Diego Geisel Library and the Graduate School of International Relations/Pacific Studies on Jan. 12 and 13, 2007.

The Chinese Cultural Revolution was launched by Chinese Communist Party chairman Mao Zedong during his last decade in power (1966-76) to renew the spirit of the Chinese revolution. Fearing that China would develop along the lines of the Soviet model and concerned about his own place in history, Mao threw China’s cities and people into turmoil in a monumental effort to reverse the historic processes underway. Millions of young students were mobilized as the famous Red Guards at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution to attack all traditional values and “bourgeois” things and to test party officials by publicly criticizing them.

Remembering the Chinese Cultural Revolution covers this period in Chinese history and will examine the social, political, cultural and historical backdrop of the Cultural Revolution through an exhibition featuring posters of the period, six films, a book talk, two lectures and two panel discussions led by distinguished scholars in the fields of sociology, history, literature, art, library science and film studies.

The various aspects of the exhibition and the participants themselves open doors to different perspectives on this controversial period in Chinese history. The six featured films represent different perspectives on the Cultural Revolution: two were produced during the period, one produced by a Westerner who personally experienced the Cultural Revolution in China, and the rest were independently produced and have not passed Chinese government censorship authorities. The films will be shown at various times throughout the two-day event.

Selections of the Paul G. Pickowicz collection of Cultural Revolution era posters were gathered by the UCSD professor while he was in China during the 1970’s, and will be exhibited in the lobby of the Geisel Library from Jan. 12 to March 24. The book, The Chinese Cultural Revolution in History, (available for sale and signing during the event) will be featured in a talk which includes the insights and perspectives of the various contributors to the publication, many of which were/are UCSD graduate students in Chinese studies. The panel discussions feature people who witnessed the Cultural Revolution first-hand, lending both a personal and academic perspective.

Sponsors are the UCSD Libraries, IR/PS, and the UCSD Center for the Humanities, the UCSD Chinese Studies Program, the American Chinese Culture and Education Foundation, and the San Diego Chinese Association.

Admission is free to all films, lectures, panel discussions, book talk and poser exhibit. The event’s two venues are the Seuss Room and lobby at the Geisel Library and Robinson Auditorium at the IR/PS Graduate School. A detailed schedule can be found at http://rccr.ucsd.edu/.

For further information call Maria Adams at 858 534-1413,
Victoria Chu 858 534-7782 or Jim Cheng at 858 534-7788

 

Media Contact: Pat JaCoby, 858 534-7404