The New York Times carried a story on Sunday about the opening of China's new National Museum, with an interesting discussion of the struggles over interpretations of China's history. Some groups called for a more open and honest approach to China's history, acknowledging mistakes made in the past, the terrible cost of the Great Leap Forward, and so on. However, ultimately curatorial control seems to have rested with politicians, who chose to use China's history, both ancient and modern, to reinforce a narrative of national unity and progress. This is, of course, a common impulse in writing and presenting national history, although one that academics and curators have a responsibility to question and resist (witness the recent re-opening of the Watergate exhibit at the Nixon Library). I know that there have been conflicts over textbook accounts of Japan's actions during WWII, so I'm curious about other instances of the political or nationalistic uses of history in East Asia; I find that my students are much better at spotting historiographical bias in the telling of other countries' histories than they are when examining US history!
Here's the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/25/world/asia/25iht-cram.1.13975596.html
.