China: Roots of Madness

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

Makeup for June 7 session

“China: Roots of Madness” is a documentary that aired on TV in 1967. Thus, it is a Cold War Era documentary, and so the style & presentation may seem outdated by today’s standards. Nevertheless, “China: Roots of Madness” obviously reflected the “Cold War Mentality” of the United States at the time…for better or worse. The documentary is narrated by Theodre White, and a short segment includes in interview with Pearl S. Buck, author of The Good Earth, a Pulitzer Prize Winning Book which chronicles China in the Early 20th Century.

The Black and White documentary gives the history of China during the Modern era, starting from the early 1800’s up to the Cultural Revolution in 1967. It shows how Western European powers gained a foothold on their terms during the Opium War, and how one sided treaties benefited those European powers. The documentary shows the European Powers as dominating leeches and the Chinese as victims of the Imperialist powers. The United States and Japan were also included as powers exercising their might over China on their own terms, particularly with the Boxer Rebellion for the United States and Japan’s occupation of Manchuria and its invasion in 1937.

Regarding post-1911 Revolution China, “China: Roots of Madness” portrays the 1912-1949 Republican era as one of chaos & anarchy. Sun Yat-Sen is shown as an idealistic visionary who was unable to bring order amidst the fighting Warlords. Mao is shown as a strong leader who was able to unify China against Japan in World War II and Chiang Kai-Shek’s Nationalists in the Civil War. Not much detail is given to the millions who died as a result of Mao’s disastrous “Great Leap Forward”, and the Cultural Revolution is briefly mentioned. Interestingly, the documentary does not even call it “The Cultural Revolution” but instead calls it a time of upheaval dominated by the Red Guards. Generally, “China: Roots of Madness” gives compassion to China for the wrongs done by the Imperialist powers, but in the end, it offers caution, if not fear, for China’s role as a nuclear power in the Cold War.
edited by ggamboa on 6/7/2011
edited by ggamboa on 6/8/2011

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