Yu. GALENOVICH

Doctor of Historical Sciences

CHINA THROUGH THE EYES OF A SINOLOGIST

After observing the life of China for almost a month, I came to the conclusion that you can only talk about your impressions using the formula: "on the one hand...", "on the other hand". Changes in the country after the Hu Jintao-Wen Jiabao team came to power are definitely happening. But it is far from easy to evaluate them unambiguously.

Perhaps those Chinese intellectuals are right, who advise to take into account the "creeping" nature of changes corresponding to the "national mentality" and the "national" tendency to stability, their deliberate slowness, gradual, almost imperceptible completion, but still moving forward. So, let's try to understand these changes.

On my next visit to Beijing in April 2005. I considered it my duty, as always, to visit the National Museum of China.

Previously, the main square of the capital of the People's Republic of China - Tiananmen for many decades, there were two museums: the Museum of the History of the Revolution of the Chinese People and the Museum of the History of China.

Now there is neither. In their place appeared Zhongguo Guojia Boguan, which is proposed to translate as the National Museum of China.

The building is three-and partially four-storeyed. All rooms have very high ceilings. On one of the lower floors, in the right wing of the entrance, occupying only part of this wing, there was an exhibition dedicated to ancient Greece, and on the left - the Tangut state of Xi-Xia, or Western Xia.

FOLLOWING IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF MADAME TUSSAUDS

According to the encyclopedia, the Xia is a Proto-Chinese tribe that led the union of tribes in the middle reaches of the Yellow River in the late third and early second millennia BC.

The museum's exposition is mainly about Xi-Xia, a state created in the late X century BC by the Tanguts in the territory of the modern Chinese province of Gansu and the western part of Shaanxi province and conquered by the Mongols in 1227. The explanations for the exhibits emphasize that the Tanguts were influenced by the Han and that the culture of Western Xia, and equally the culture of the Chinese nation, is a fusion of the Han and Tangut cultures.

Thus, familiarization with the exposition leads to the idea that the modern Chinese nation-Zhonghua minzu, or Zhonghua nation-is a "continuously continuing" nation that originated in 3 thousand years BC and absorbed the cultures of different peoples, is not a mono-but a multi-ethnic nation, the oldest on Earth, which absorbed many nations that it had to meet on its historical path. Moreover, the Chinese nation is still preserved, while other ancient nations could not do this, they lost their former power, strength and even, in a sense, culture.

As for ancient Greece, its ethnic composition in the third millennium BC was motley. Then the former inhabitants were pushed back and assimilated by proto-Greek tribes. Their first states were formed at the beginning of the second millennium BC.

The exhibition shows models of ancient Greek cultural monuments, preserved objects or their copies. A map of the Greek colonies is given, according to which, in particular, the coasts of the Azov and Black Seas were developed by the Greeks.

If we recall what was written in China at the time, it turns out that speculatively the distribution areas of Greek and Chinese possessions touch each other in the Black Sea region. And this happened when the rest of the space or parts of our planet outside of these possessions were still supposedly wild or uncultured. We are not talking about Egypt, Mesopotamia, or India here.

Judging by the way these two expositions - about Western Xia and ancient Greece-are presented or compared, it is definitely clear that the ancient culture of the Chinese nation is more subtle, more profound, even if we take only writing and its artistic graphic representation, not to mention everyday objects, than the culture of ancient Greece.

The visitor is unobtrusively led to believe that the East and the West appeared in ancient times, at about the same time, their own centers of culture. The Chinese hearth is a more advanced culture. The Chinese hearth has survived to our times. This conclusion can be drawn when comparing the Western-European and Eastern - Chinese principles, which follows from the first exhibitions at the National Museum of China in 2005.

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HISTORY OF THE WAX REVOLUTION

But the National Museum has a third exhibition. It is located one floor above the first two, as if on their basis, and is a modern result of the development of two beginnings, or rather, in my opinion, one beginning-Chinese in world culture.

Let's turn to this exposition. In the spring of 2005, the main place here was occupied by, perhaps, the first of its kind in China wax gallery - Zhongguo la Xiang Guan.

For people who are interested in the history of China, as well as what is considered the basis of ideas about the past of China in this country, visiting this gallery can give a lot of food for thought. The gallery was certainly created with the direct participation of the Propaganda Department of the CPC Central Committee.

This is, indeed, a gallery of life-size wax figures with a good artistic performance (not counting the little things like too exuberant vegetation on the heads of Marx and Engels). It introduces both the history of China and the history of the revolution in China in their modern interpretation.

The perception of the exhibition is simplified to the limit. Here are only figures and lapidary explanations to them. At first, the visitor finds himself in a planetarium, or perhaps in the very Sky under which the entire universe is located, or, in Chinese, Tienxia-the Celestial Empire.

Against the background of the starry infinity, person number one is the first Chinese in space, the first person in the Middle Kingdom is already in the Sky. This is Chinese cosmonaut Yang Liwei. From the explanation, you can find out that he was born in 1965, and in 2003 he made a flight into space.

The history of the Chinese Revolution is presented in person. This is, first of all, Sun Yat-sen, the leader of the revolution of 1911. Consequently, the countdown in modern China begins with the Xinhai Revolution, designated "two tens", that is, 10/10 of 1911. This point is important to emphasize, because it means that the history of the revolution in China did not begin with the creation of the CCP and is not connected with the activities and name of only one person - Mao Zedong. This creates a common basis for mutual understanding between all revolutionaries, including, if not primarily, between the two parties - the Kuomintang Party and the Gongchandang Party, that is, the CCP.

Then a five-figure composition is presented to the gallery visitor. In the foreground are Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, although if you want, it may seem that they are Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong, because Zhou is closer to the visitor. Both of them are worth it.

And a little to the side, to the left and right - one more person. Zhu De is sitting on one side of the chair, and Liu Shaoqi is also sitting on the other. About Liu Shaoqi, the explanation says that he was first subjected to repression during the "cultural revolution", died in 1969, and in 1980 his good name was restored. This is yet another sign that Mao Zedong, who, by his own admission, "lit the fire "of the cultural revolution, is not indisputably right.

We can also point out that Mao Zedong was "forced" to stand, and at the same time it was clearly hinted that the two most respected members of that group or team of leaders are Zhu De and Liu Shaoqi, who are sitting in the presence of Mao Zedong.

Still slightly out of the way, but in the same group, Ren Bishi.

Thus, five figures who were secretaries of the Central Committee of the party before the victory in the civil war and the formation of the PRC now appear as patriarchs of the CPC. They laid the foundations of the PRC in the town of Sibaipo in 1949.

In the spring of 2004, army propaganda teams gave concerts for Beijing residents, performing on stages under the slogan: "Xibaipo-this is where the New China came from!"

All this means that the key moment in history is considered to be the Xibaipo meeting in 1949, and not the Third CPC Congress in 1956, where the standing committee of the Politburo of the Central Committee was elected, which included Mao Zedong, Liu Shaoqi, Zhu De, Zhou Enlai, Chen Yun, Lin Biao and Deng Xiaoping. It is characteristic that Chen Yun, Lin Biao, and Deng Xiaoping fall out of that leadership group (as if in accordance with the historical situation).

Thus, there is a slightly different interpretation of the history of the party and the composition of its leadership, which appears to be more collective than the leadership, the core of which was only Mao Zedong. Moreover, this interpretation does not repeat the previously widely implemented thesis that there are certain generations of CCP leaders, and the core of the first generation was only Mao Tse-tung.

Although at the same time, official propaganda tends to support the idea of Mao Zedong as a leader who, first of all, defended the interests of China and advocated for its unity, putting the interests of the state in the foreground. At the same time, it is suggested that the "main enemy" for China was supposedly our country.

In this connection, the famous ophthalmologist Tang Yuzhi's speech on "Days spent with the Chairman", which was shown on Chinese television on May 5, 2005, is characteristic. (In 1975, he successfully removed a cataract from Mao Zedong's eye. This remained a secret in the PRC and only became known after Mao's death.)

Together with Mao, he watched the Chinese film "The Beginning" ("Chuangye"), which was released at that time. Mao Zedong's wife, Jiang Qing, felt that the film should be criticized because it described Liu Shaoqi's oil exploration in Northeast China. According to Jiang Qing, even the veiled glorification of Liu Shaoqi, the main enemy of the "ideas of Mao Zedong" and the "cultural revolution"in those years, should not have been allowed.

Mao Zedong did not agree with Jiang Qing: the film did not mention a word about Liu Shaoqi. In Tang Yuzhi's presence, he

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he said it was a good movie. According to Mao Zedong, the main advantage of the film was that it promoted the determination of China and the Chinese in difficult conditions, when "the Soviet Union did not give oil to China", to find their own oil.

In this television program, the following thesis of Chinese propaganda was heard: our country is supposedly "guilty" of China, and Mao Zedong was "right", because he "defended" the interests of the Chinese nation. At the same time, the obvious facts were ignored, starting with the fact that it was our specialists who carried out exploration and surveys in order to determine oil reserves and deposits in China. There is no reason to reproach our country for "not giving oil to China."

Tang Yuzhi also tried to draw in everyday details an image of Mao Zedong that would arouse sympathy for him. He said that after cataract surgery, Mao read with glasses. He had three of them. If he was lying on his back, and he spent most of his time lying down, he would read with double-rimmed glasses. If on the right side, then in glasses that had only one shackle, on the left, and if on the other side - then in glasses where the shackle was on the right.

Tang Yuzhi also said that the only thing he still regrets is that he never got to remove the cataract from Mao Zedong's other eye. Tang Yoo-ji performed the same operation on Kim Il-sung's eye.

In addition, it can be added that in recent years, money with images of ordinary Chinese workers or with images of four people at the same time, introduced in the 1980s under the leadership of Hu Yaobang, has been gradually withdrawn from circulation in the PRC.: Mao Zedong, Liu Shaoqi, Zhou Enlai, and Zhu De. Now all of them are replaced with bills with the image of one person - Mao Zedong.

DENG XIAOPING IS EQUATED TO OTHER LEADERS

But let's continue our tour of the wax exhibition. Next, we see two figures separated from the first group by a partition: first, Deng Xiaoping, about whom it is said: during the" cultural revolution " he lost leadership positions twice (but it is not said that he was repressed), but returned, and retired in 1989.

Consequently, Deng Xiaoping's leadership period is limited to 1977-1989. And since 1989, the period of Jiang Zemin's leadership has begun.

Behind or next to Deng Xiaoping is the figure of Chen Yun.

In fact, this is also a hint of Deng Xiaoping's lower status compared to the founding group of the PRC, and that after Mao's death, the party had not one main leader, that is, Deng Xiaoping, but two authoritative leaders - Deng Xiaoping and Chen Yun.

Then separately - the figure of the Vice-President of the People's Republic of China Dong Biu. Beijing television broadcasts in late 2004 emphasized that Dong Biu found ways to demonstrate his opposition to the "cultural revolution", which in China is sometimes characterized as a period when China resembled an audience with only one person (i.e., Mao Zedong) as a speaker. Dong Biu then persistently repeated his idea about the need to create a situation in which"everyone in the audience would have the opportunity to speak."

These are the figures who are now proposed to be considered party leaders and founders of the PRC.

Then there are three more pieces. In this composition, on the one hand - Lenin with outstretched, as usual, pointing somewhere. The explanatory tablet says that he, based on the Russian realities and features of the era, enriched and developed Marxism, created Leninism. In 1918 he was seriously wounded, and in 1924 he died. In other words, there is no reference to the influence of Lenin and the October Revolution on the Chinese revolution and on the creation of the CCP, which was usually present earlier in China.

I noticed that visitors to the exhibition, almost exclusively Chinese, often looked at the wax figure of Lenin with laughter. And with the same laughter, they were photographed "against the background" of Lenin. There was no sign that they were laughing at any other figure.

On the other hand, there is a composition of two figures. Marx is sitting in the chair, and Engels is standing opposite him. It is said of Marx that he is a Jew. (When I talked about this exhibition znako-

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to the Chinese in Beijing, one of them asked :" Does it say that Lenin is also a Jew?")

In recent years, China has published a whole series of books about the mind and abilities of Jews. By the way, there are a lot of Jews by nationality among the characters of this gallery; in fact, they make up the majority of non-Chinese characters in this exhibition.

FOUNDERS OF DYNASTIES?

The wax gallery begins with a rather narrow corridor, flanked on either side by a succession of the founders of dynasties that have ruled China throughout its history, and political figures who have led the CCP.

Thus, in contrast to Mao Zedong, his forerunner Sun Yat-sen, and his successors Deng Xiaoping and Chen Yun, there are figures of Taizong, that is, the founders of the dynasties that ruled the Chinese empire.

So here's the first of the first: Qin Shi Huang. Here's a Han Udi. Here is the Tang Taizong and then the Sung Taizong.

Then the figure of Genghis Khan. It is said that he was the leader of the Mongols who united Mongolia, created the khanate, laid the foundation for the formation of the nation, and after his successor Kublai founded the Yuan Dynasty, Genghis Khan was proclaimed its founder as a sign of respect. Therefore, Genghis Khan is referred to as the Yuan Taizong, or founder of the Chinese Yuan Dynasty.

Next, viewers see Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, or Ming Taizong.

And finally - a series of major emperors of the last Chinese dynasty, that is, the Qing Dynasty. This is primarily Kangxi. It is said about him that he is a Manchurian who laid the foundation of a multinational state in China.

At present, the PRC insistently "voices" the idea that during the Ming Dynasty, the emperors sought to isolate themselves from the world, "created walls" between China and the rest of the world, and during the Qing Dynasty, the policy of uniting all the nationalities of China into a single Chinese nation was carried out, and all nationalities gladly accepted the leadership of the center the Great Chinese Empire.

By the way, in the vicinity of Beijing, in the summer imperial palace in Chengde, there is also a whole gallery of figures of the Qing Dynasty emperors with a story about them. They depict the Kangxi, Qianlong emperors (it is said that lamas came from Tibet with gifts for 13 months to celebrate his 70th birthday out of love for him), and Xianfeng. At the same time, it is explained that the Xianfeng Emperor was forced to sign the "unequal" Beijing Treaty with Russia. Shown are Empress Cixi, Emperor Guangxu, and the last Qing Dynasty emperor Pu Yi.

At the same time, a detailed account of the history of Russia's "territorial seizures" from China with a large map of the lands allegedly "seized" from China by Russia both in Central Asia and to the east of Lake Baikal is of great importance. There, in the vicinity of Beijing, in one of the Buddhist pagodas at the beginning of this century, an impressive bas-relief was installed: powerful figures of horsemen approach visitors. These are Torgauts who, as the explanation says, were "oppressed" in Russia, and who were forced to leave their native places and go to China, where they were sheltered in the territory of the Western Region, that is, Xinjiang. At the same time, it is emphasized that during the transition and as a result of "harassment" by Russia, a huge part of the trade scouts died. 170,000 people marched to China, but only a few thousand found peace under the protection of their homeland in Xinjiang.

In addition, the desire to somehow "revive the old" is also felt in the fact that today in China you can sometimes find entire decorative shopping streets with people in clothes from the period of Manchu rule.

Let us return, however, to the Beijing wax Gallery. After seeing the founders of all dynasties, the visitor then gets acquainted with cultural figures, especially those who prefer to be singled out as people who influenced the minds of their compatriots and prepared the rise to power of the Chinese Communist Party.

These are the poet and scholar Guo Mozho, the Chinese enlighteners Wu Yuzhang, Cai Yuanpei, and Tao Xingzhi, who died in 1946 , a figure in the field of education, who is described as a person who possessed two inseparable qualities - a democrat and a patriot. Among them, only Guo Mogo, who was a prominent figure in the field of science and art, is known for actively promoting the views of Mao Zedong.

Such a combination of names of respected scientific luminaries indicates a desire to expand the circle of those whose ideas are recognized as having served the cause of progress in China well and can still serve this cause in the future.

Two of those who started the reform movement in China at the end of the 19th century are also represented. This is Kang Yuwei (died 1925). It is noted that he was an anti-republican, but an ardent national patriot. Liang Qichao (died 1929) is said to have protested against the accession of Yuan Shikai, who wanted to restore the monarchy in the country.

And this is also a hint that the process of reform and modernization in China itself did not begin with the creation of the CCP, not with the victory of the CCP in the Chinese civil war and the formation of the PRC, and not with the activities of Deng Xiaoping and others after the death of Mao Zedong. The necessity and inevitability of reforms were understood by thinkers and scientists of the late nineteenth century, who, in fact, began to move along the path of transformation. In this way, the current leadership seeks to expand the circle of people, entire sections of society, who have contributed and are contributing to the cause of progress in China.

It is in this light, in my opinion, that the appearance of wax figures of two ancient sages, Confucius and Laozi, later in the gallery, is presented. (It may also be noted that there is no Buddha figure in the museum.)

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THE TEN GREAT MARSHALS

Separately, a line of "ten great marshals" appears in front of the viewer, thanks to whose victories it was possible to create the PRC. All of them are standing in almost the same position, in marshal's uniforms with orders and in caps with cockades.

Far to the right of the viewer is Marshal Lin Biao, who, in particular, is said to have "conspired to usurp the highest power in the party and in the state "during the " cultural Revolution", but after being defeated, on September 13, 1971, he fled abroad on a plane and died in a plane crash. In 1981, by the decision of the Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China, he was recognized as a criminal - "the leader of a counter-revolutionary group". It seems that by displaying the image of Lin Biao, the organizers of the exhibition made an attempt to take steps towards an objective assessment of his activities. It turns out that he has both advantages and disadvantages.

Then there are Marshals Nie Rongzhen, Xu Xiangqian, Chen Yi, and Liu Bocheng on the same side, that is, as members of a certain "right wing".

In this connection, it may be recalled that Hu Yaobang , General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee and one of the most active reformers in China since Mao's death, was close to Marshal Nie Rongzhen. Mao himself once called Marshal Chen "the leader of the right", and criticized Marshal Liu Bocheng for his enthusiasm in "studying with the Soviet Army".

At the center of this line is Marshal Zhu De. Thus, his role as the commander of the armed struggle, as a result of which the PRC was created, is emphasized. At that time, the CCP's armed forces were popularly referred to as the "Zhu - Mao Army", putting the surname Zhu De first.

To the left of Zhu De, that is, in the most honorable place among all the others, is the figure of Marshal Peng Dehuai, about whom, in particular, it is said that in 1959 at a party meeting in Lushan, he "made erroneous criticism." During the Cultural Revolution, he was" severely repressed and died (in 1974). "He is followed by Marshal Hae Lun, who is also said to have been "repressed" and died during the Cultural Revolution.

So veiled to the audience brings another mention of the injustices of Mao Zedong.

Marshals Luo Zhonghuan and Ye Jianyin complete the line (by the way, there is no explanation about the latter's merits in removing the gang of four from the political arena after Mao Zedong's death).

Then there are a few more historical figures.

Zhang Xueliang (1901-2001) is described as "a great patriot who played a role during the Xi'an events" (referring to the actions of Zhang Xueliang, who arrested Chiang Kai-shek in 1936. The latter was required to actively wage war against the Japanese occupiers and not fight against the CCP army). It is noted that Zhang Xueliang has lived in the United States since 1993.

There is also the figure of the Panchen Lama (1938-1989). This lama in the PRC is famous for the fact that he advocated the recognition of the power of Beijing by Tibetans.

Lin Zexu, a well-known historical figure of the 19th century, is singled out as a commander who "fought for the interests" of China both during the Opium War (with the British) and in the Ili Region (that is, with Russia). Probably, this also takes into account the well-known position of Lin Zexu, who considered Russia to be the "main enemy" of China.

The first section of the gallery is completed by the figures of Li Dazhao, "the very first propagandist of Marxism, who created a communist organization in Beijing in 1920", and Chen Duxiu, " who was expelled from the CCP in 1929, arrested by the Kuomintang in 1932, but released from prison in 1937 during the anti-Japanese war; he died in 1942". Thus, to a certain extent, the merits of all those figures who have ever played any significant role in the history of the communist movement in China are recognized.

At the beginning of the second part of the exhibition, the visitor is greeted by nine figures dressed in national costumes. This is (in the center) a Tibetan, next to a Mongol, a Chinese woman (a Han woman) and representatives of other nationalities living in the PRC. That is, the idea is suggested that the modern Chinese nation is a cohesive group of people in many countries.-

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other ethnic groups, not just Han Chinese.

STARS OF CULTURE AND SPORTS

Then there are the poet Qu Yuan, the historian Sima Qian, the poet Li Bo, the calligrapher Wang Xizhi (303-361), and the writer Cao Xueqin. All of them are bright representatives of ancient Chinese culture.

Modern culture is represented by the writer Ba Jin, the poet Ai Qing, the writers Lu Xin and Mao Tung. In the chair sits the writer Lao She; the explanation, in particular, states that at the beginning of the "cultural revolution" he "was subjected to repression and committed suicide by drowning in a lake on August 24, 1966."

Then there is the playwright Cao Yu and the composer Nie Er (the author of the music of the Chinese national anthem, but the author of the text of the poet Tian Han, who was killed during the "cultural revolution", for some reason is not in the gallery).

After that, the visitor sees two well-known masters of the conversational humorous genre, as if at their "workplace", that is, on the stage. This is Ma Sanli, who is said to be a Muslim (Hoyan) by origin and at the same time a resident of Beijing. Next to him is Hou Baolin. Peking Opera artist Mei Lanfang is also there. And then Rong Guotuan, the first Chinese world table tennis champion (1959). It is said that on June 20, 1968, in the midst of the "cultural revolution", he committed suicide.

Actor-martial artist Cheng Long (Jackie Chan) is captured in a fighting stance. Zhang Yimou, a film director, is sitting with his back to him, lost in thought. Only his first films are listed in the explanation: "Yellow Earth", "Old Well", "Red Gaoliang". Nothing is said about other films that raise tragic themes from the life of modern China.

Not forgotten is the giant Chinese basketball player Yao Ming, who now plays in the American NBA. He is in the company of world sports stars. Here, finally, the outside world opens up. In front of the audience is the first modern Western man (not counting Marx, Engels, Lenin) - football player David Beckham, next-football player Ronalde, basketball player Michael Jordan and, finally, football player Pele.

The gallery ends in a narrow corridor where Chinese people and foreigners look at each other. On the Chinese side, the party workers and ordinary CCP members are hardworking and conscientious people who left prematurely after losing their health in the struggle and hard work. Last in line is a military chauffeur, Private Lei Feng, known for his worship of Mao Zedong.

And opposite this row - people "from another planet". These are Charlie Chaplin, Marilyn Monroe, Ingrid Bergman, Picasso, Newton, Einstein and last of all Bill Gates.

Lei Feng at his truck (which crushed him to death in an accident) and Bill Gates-these are two wax figures accompanying the visitor.

But at the exit there are no longer wax figures, but a large composition of images of three politicians: from top to bottom hang portraits of Sun Yat-sen, Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping. So the viewer is once again reminded of the" greatest leaders " of China in the XX century, and that Mao Zedong is only one of them.

LEADERS PRESENT AND GONE

In China, it is sometimes argued that there is a decision of the authorities that people who are now living and have held leading party and state positions in the past, such as General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee Jiang Zemin, former Prime Ministers of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Zhu Rongji, Li Peng, do not meet with foreigners and do not participate in

The realities of political life are more complex. Jiang Zemin and those senior party officials who are inextricably linked to him obviously do not want him to withdraw from political life, at least from the party's life. In late 2004 and early 2005, a new book was published - a voluminous (at least 1,200 pages in translation into Russian, if one is made) collection of Jiang Zemin's statements on how the party and its members should behave in order to actually fulfill their role as the leading force of the state. The collection is called "On strengthening and improving the construction of the ruling Party".

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This underscores the idea that the CCP should no longer justify its stay in power with past achievements, references to the victory in the revolution, in the civil war in 1949, but should be engaged in real business and simply be a modern ruling party. It is characteristic that the author of this installation is Jiang Zemin. Although at the same time, judging by the conversations in Beijing, there is a critical attitude towards Jiang Zemin and the period of his rule. He is mildly criticized for "breaking away from reality", for some illusions in politics, including in foreign policy, in relation, for example, to the United States. At the same time, the current period - the "era of President Hu Jintao" - is contrasted with the reign of Jiang Zemin as a time of focusing on real problems and rejecting illusions.

In addition to books about Mao Zedong, and there are many such books now, a Chinese-language book by an American author called "Jiang Zemin: The Man Who Changed China"is being advertised and sold in bookstores in Beijing.

IDEOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK

In general, the Beijing wax figure gallery is a kind of dotted line that shows the framework of the CCP's modern ideology. This ideology is characterized by the desire to open the way to new, broader views of the world, while at the same time trying to preserve the basic principles of the CCP's ideology as if intact. This is evidenced, in particular, by the fact that on Tiananmen Square, as Deng Xiaoping bequeathed, there is a portrait of Chairman Mao. However, today, in front of this portrait, placed on the Tiananmen Gate itself, a portrait of Sun Yat-sen is installed on a capital pedestal. Sun Yat-sen is thus placed in the middle, separating the portrait of Mao Zedong from the Mao Zedong Mausoleum, or Chairman Mao Memorial House, which is located "behind" Sun Yat-sen.

By the way, in the booklet about the Chairman Mao Memorial House, it is said that in addition to the body of Mao Zedong, this house contains the halls of memory of Liu Shaoqi, Deng Xiaoping, Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, Chen Yun. The very enumeration of these names and their order also indicate the attitude of the party leadership towards each of them.

In the corresponding photos of these memorial halls, Mao Zedong is represented primarily as "the founder of the PRC", Liu Shaoqi as "an office worker", Deng Xiaoping as "a politician who stands firmly on the ground, but with his head directed to the heavens", Zhou Enlai as "a guardian of the Land of China", Zhu De is described as someone who was "awarded a marshal's uniform by Mao Zedong for military merit," and Chen Yun is described as someone who "just had an important idea."

In Tiananmen Square, on the very gate tower of the Gate of Heavenly Tranquility, two fundamental slogans are permanently fixed: on the left - " Long live the PRC! "and on the right - "Long live the great unity of the peoples of the world!". Not far from the square, in front of the main entrance to Zhongnanhai, the residence of the leaders of the CPC Central Committee, there are two more slogans: "Long live the great CCP!" and " Long live the all-conquering ideas of Mao Zedong!"

In various forms, China proclaims the need to "lean wholeheartedly on the working class" and the thesis that "the five-star red flag unites the hearts of the people of the Chinese nation." There is not even a hint of a rejection of the Red banner or the name of the party as communist. It seems that those people outside the PRC who try to claim that there is some kind of departure from the CCP's ideology in China are either deceiving themselves or deceiving their readers and listeners. The foundation of the official ideology is still based on the following concepts:: "CCP", "Mao's ideas", "PRC", "peoples of the world".

The current leader of China, Chairman of the Military Council of the CPC Central Committee, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, President of the People's Republic of China Hu Jintao appears in two guises, depending on the circumstances. Before the outside world, before foreigners, and even inside China, when he performs the duties of the head of the party and state - in civilian clothes, in a jacket and tie. But at the meetings of the Military Council of the CPC Central Committee, among military leaders, at least when these meetings are shown on TV-in a blind khaki military jacket without insignia. In the press and in official statements, including the speeches of the current second person in China, Premier Wen Jiabao of the State Council of the People's Republic of China is becoming a common cliche: "rally around the CPC Central Committee headed by General Secretary Hu Jintao."

On central television in Beijing, the daily morning press review is presented by an announcer as if every word is the ultimate truth. Moreover, the female announcer accompanies her words with energetic hand movements and with great enthusiasm, if not with delight, pronounces news about various tragic events. Allowed on TV and "discussions". Several participants in the program collectively complement each other, present the same idea from different sides, but there is no opposition of different points of view. All this can be explained by the management's focus on harmonizing the existing contradictions in China. Harmony, a harmonious society, a harmonious world-this is the idea that Hu Jintao and other party leaders see as the key to finding a path from the old model of development to the new one.

However, is it easy to achieve harmony? CCP leaders are concerned about the mood of many party members. These moods are characterized by either passivity or a formal attitude to business. Therefore, a campaign is being carried out to activate the work of all CCP members, and not in words, but in deeds.

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