We have had history classes since elementary school, and history classes have accompanied us through junior high school, high school, and even college. In the history textbooks, from China's ancient civilization to the period of historical rule, and then to the end of the war years, we ushered in reform, opening up and the development of modern science and technology, and we have learned many reincarnations of Chinese history. Today, instead of talking about Chinese history in the history textbooks we have studied, let's take a look at how China is written in American and Japanese textbooks.
You may say that history has already happened, so let's use another language to describe it! If you think so, you are naïve. Our history books are fair descriptions of history, but perhaps foreign countries cannot do so.
First, let's take a look at how Chinese history is described in American history textbooks.
In general, the chinese history described in American history textbooks is described from a neutral standpoint, which is more objective. "World History" is the Textbook of the United States in the middle school stage, in this textbook, the introduction to ancient Rome and ancient Greece accounts for a large part, as we all know, the history of ancient Greece and ancient Rome belongs to Western civilization, so the ancient history of China is only rarely interspersed in this. After all, China is one of the four ancient civilizations, and it is not that there is no part that describes China.
In this 20 pages of the book, China is regarded as a branch of the same Eastern civilization as India. Among them, the four great inventions of ancient China, which are civilized in the world, are introduced. The characteristics of China's culture and geographical environment are also introduced here. The Hundred Sons and Hundred Schools and Confucianism have an important place in the history of philosophy in the world, and they are also described in American textbooks. Although the introduction to China in this book is relatively general, the basic major events are also involved, and it is from an objective and fair point of view. In this book, praise is also expressed for the Book of Verses.
The history of China is objectively written in American textbooks, so let's see how Japan wrote about China in textbooks. In the face of their own aggression against China, where should they start? Although in the eyes of the public, it is difficult to erase the memory of Japanese people tampering with history. However, it must be mentioned that Japanese textbooks still describe ancient Chinese history fairly, and still have a respectful attitude.
In textbooks, they even use the pejorative title of "倭" to express the derogatory designation that they sent envoys to China to study, in order to express their reverence for ancient Chinese culture. At the same time, the inventions and creations of ancient China are also written in fact. If you think that Japan will continue to depict the disasters of modern China with the same brush strokes and attitudes that describe ancient China, you are mistaken. They use all their language in textbooks to belittle China, and they do not recognize the facts of aggression at all, the harm they have brought to China.