Vital Roles of the Education on the View on the History of the Chinese Nation in the Construction of the Multi-Ethnic Country of China

Yan Qing, Sun Mingchen, Wang Yue

DOI：10.3969/j.issn.1674-9391.2023.3.001

Abstract：

The view on history is the starting point of memory and the cornerstone of identity. It therefore plays a vital role in building the multi-ethnic country of China and also determines how we view history， think about the future， and choose our destiny. A correct view on the history of the Chinese nation inherits the core content of the traditional view of the history of the Chinese nation. Guided by the Marxist ethnic theory and Marxist history theory， it emphasizes the structural unity of “sharing joys and sorrows， sharing honor and disgrace， sharing life and death， sharing destiny” as well as the continuity of the process of “jointly opening up a vast territory， jointly writing a long history， jointly creating a splendid culture， and jointly cultivating a great spirit”. The view on the history of the Chinese nation provides ideological maintenance for the continuity and legitimacy of Chinas historical and political genes， gives an ideological basis and ideological material for the integration and construction of a multi-ethnic country， and also responds to external challenges in concept.

A “problematic view of history” refers to a historical view which is contrary to mainstream social-political thought in the general and fundamental view of social history. This problematic view of history， through purposeful rewriting of historical information， tries to change existing historical cognition and historical ways of thinking in the audiences mind and replace the audiences ideology with a new way， in order to ultimately make the audience deny the political identity and ideological legitimacy served by the previous historical cognition. At present， China is also confronted with some problematic views on history that are keen on deconstructing the historical narrative of China and the Chinese nation， denying the historical legitimacy of the socialist unified multi-ethnic state， and attacking the continuity， unity， subjectivity， and localization of the mainstream discourse on Chinese history. Therefore， this brings great challenges to the governance of Chinas ethnic affairs and building of the Chinese national community.

This study holds that the instructions on the view of the history of the Chinese nation are a refutation and correction of those problematic views of history. Taking the national mainstream ideology as the value standpoints， the instruction on the view of the history of the Chinese nation firstly focuses on strengthening the cognition of the educatees view on the Chinese national history， letting the educatees correctly understand the hierarchical structure relationship of “unity” and “diversity” of the Chinese nation and the development history of the unified multi-ethnic country; meanwhile， it aims to cultivate the educatees correct historical judgment ability， and to guide them to have a correct value judgment of historical issues. Secondly， the education of the view on the history of the Chinese nation intends to sublimate the educatees intellectual historical cognition into an emotional identification with the Chinese community， forming a value identity for the great motherland， the Chinese nation， Chinese culture， the Communist Party of China， and socialism with Chinese characteristics. Finally， instruction on the view of the history of the Chinese nation strives to help the educatees with forming a high degree of historical confidence and identity emotion and inspires them to generate a spiritual motivation to participate in the construction of the Chinese national community.

Key Words：

state construction; the Chinese nation; the view on history; education