The Impact of History Textbooks on Young Chinese People's Understanding of the Past: A Social Media Analysis

Abstract

History textbooks are the only history books that the majority of people read in their lives. This article investigates the impact of history textbooks on young Chinese people's understanding of their nation's modern history, as revealed on the popular microblogging site Sina Weibo. We analysed posts related to history textbooks and their representations of three contentious turning points in the communist historical narrative: the May Fourth Movement of 1919, the nationalist assault on the communists in 1927, and the Yan’an Rectification Movement of 1942. Widespread engagement with and recollection of history textbook content indicates a substantial impact of these textbooks on people's understanding of the past and a willingness to relate that past to the present. Responses to textbooks vary widely, from acceptance of the textbook narrative and the expression of strong patriotic and emotional connections to the past as presented in textbooks to open and angry critique.