The latest Chinese history textbook used in mainland China restored content about the Cultural Revolution that was removed in the 2018 edition, spelling hope that public opinion, no matter how small, might have made a difference.

Interest in the Cultural Revolution coverage in textbooks arose recently after Chinese film critic Yin Hong and veteran journalist Tang Jianguang publicised their comparison of the newest edition of the Chinese history textbook with the 1981, 2018 and 2019 versions.

Photos of the textbooks were posted on their Weibo accounts, China’s version of Twitter, sparking heated discussion. Online commentators expressed surprise at the discrepancies and the changes made on this historical incident over the years.

On his Weibo page, Yin described the fresh revisions as “an illustration of public opinion demonstrating its minuscule power.” The new edition “maintained the assessment of the Cultural Revolution given by the Central Committee of the Communist Party 40 years ago.”

His post attracted a lot of online commentators showing support for the content restoration, but it was later deleted without a reason.

The Cultural Revolution, which lasted from 1966 to 1976, was initiated and led by Mao Zedong. Authorities responsible for high-school textbooks in Chinese history had in recent years produced four versions of the account of this chaotic and brutal period of social upheaval. Politically sensitive content was variously amended or removed.

It is understood that the present account in use concurs with a resolution and declaration passed during the Sixth Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in 1981, which said: “The history of the Cultural Revolution has proven that it was wrongly initiated by the leader and was used by counter-revolutionary groups, causing severe disaster to the party, the country and the people.”

Fast forward to 2018, and this description was deleted from the textbook, which instead contained the words “arduous exploration and achievements in development.”

In the 2018 version, the Cultural Revolution was a “severe setback faced by the party, the country and its people since the establishment of the new China,” “there were complicated social and historical reasons behind the initiative” and “the party made a detour during the exploration.”

The amendments attracted heavy criticism. Many academics and other experts slammed the Communist Party for changing the assessment of the Cultural Revolution.

Then last year, the history textbook was edited again. Wording such as “exploration,” “setback” and “complicated reasons” was dropped and part of the description published in the version 40 years earlier reinstated.

This year, the Cultural Revolution account in the textbook was almost the same as in 1981.

Tang, the journalist, said he “saluted all those people who have held firmly to the bottom line.”

He lamented all the changes made over the years and asked: “Who is trying to reverse the verdict? How can all those teachers teach history that can be changed every year?”

A veteran Hong Kong political commentator voiced reservations, cautioning that the revised content this year might be just a temporary solution. The issue, and the government’s action, were worthy of outsiders’ continued observation in the long run, Johnny Lau said.

On the state of history education in Hong Kong schools, Lau said he was not optimistic as the city’s government officials tended to follow the same path as in mainland China.

Lau said Chinese officials would only say what the party leaders told them to say, and it was sad that government officials in Hong Kong had also become obsessed with parroting the official line.

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