World

History of Yuanmingyuan will teach us a lesson

By Binod Singh (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-10-19 17:17

China and India both are victims of Western imperialism. The two countries have been looted by the so called civilized nations of the world and there had been a continuous attempt to prove us socially, culturally and economically bankrupt.

Many of us will feel anguished by the fact that 150 years ago the burning of Yuanmingyuan (the Old Summer Palace) was part of the same Western strategy. The Garden then was symbolic of representing the Chinese culture and its glorious achievements under the Ming and Qing Empire. A century and a half later, whatever it may take, the creations of Yuan Ming Yuan cannot be restored say by using modern science and technology. The Garden cannot be restored but we must restore the broken trust between the two civilizations which was damaged by the insane act of some governments.

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Now as an Indian when I look back at the looting of my own country at the hands of British I feel history can be repeated but cannot be rewritten. It may look funny to some when we Indians are asking the British Queen to return the piece of diamond called "Kohinoor" in her jewels to its original masters in India. But it is important for us to remember what a plunder of Indian wealth and culture took place under the behest of the colonial empire in the country. It is visible to any visitor to the Royal Museum in London and across Europe. The word "Shame" for stilling the oriental culture and making its own does not fit here.

I am pretty confident Chinese people are very conscious of their history, and they will take the obligation of passing the correct version to their next generation. But history has many versions and due to easy access to digital media they may get confused. It is important to educate the young generation of our two nations about our past. It will be a naive idea that they will know it on their own by surfing the net. We need to educate our children with the correct version of history so that they should not fall in to the trap of West worship.

Even today there is an organized attempt by the Western media to malign the image of our two countries. The western media is tilted towards our shortcomings and some negative aspects of our society. But, we rarely find any article which condemns the barbaric acts of France and Britain back in 1860. Therefore we must ask them to educate their own kids about how they created an industrial empire by plundering Asian countries.

To me personally it seems despite the decline of Western capitalism there is little change in their attitude towards Asian civilizations such as China and India. Not only the media but the top universities in the West still keep a colonial mindset towards Asian countries. It may take another few decades for them to bring Asia on par with the West. They are self-proclaimed knowledge superpowers and their soft power is helping them to sustain their bankrupt economy. I wish in the coming decades China could emerge as a role model for Asian countries and set moral standards such as in its foreign policy "that non-interference in others affairs" is the best policy a rising superpower can follow.

As I have written in this journal in the past on the hegemony of the English language and also W. Halbfass (a famous Orientalist) has confirmed it when he said that "In the modern planetary situation, Eastern and Western 'cultures' can no longer meet one another as equal partners. They meet in a Westernized world, under conditions shaped by Western ways of thinking." Therefore it is suggestive here that Asian scholars should rethink history writing and start decolonizing the minds of our young people. The anniversary of Yuanmingyuan is a very good occasion for all of us to ponder over the fact that the path of development we have taken is peaceful and different than Western imperialist took in the 19th century.

Despite the Western obsession with the "China Collapse Theory" the country has emerged as the world's second largest economy in 2010. The rise of China is totally based on the hard work and correct leadership of its own people. Therefore it is a great tribute to Chinese history and a lesson for the Western nations that China could rise even on the ashes they had left after burning the famous imperial gardens in Beijing.

The message China should send to the West and to the whole world on this 150th anniversary is that of global peace and harmony among the different civilizations. Chinese scholars should come forward in denouncing the Samuel Huntington's theory of "Clash of Civilization". We must emphasize the fact that the rise of China and India is a peaceful rise and they are not a threat to any other country or civilization.

The writer is a PhD scholar at Peking University and teaches at Beijing foreign Studies University. He can be contacted at [email protected]