It would’ve been much more free under British rule towards the end but the mainland government pressured the UK not to allow that to happen in preparation for the handover.
I visited in 2016, too. The fellow there recommended that to learn more about China I should visit Taiwan. At the time I thought that was a pessimistic point of view.
Taiwan did seek to preserve the heritage of China after the communist takeover on the mainland, which sought to pretty much destroy said heritage in a cultural revolution.
Please don't give credence to nonsensical nationalist tropes. The Oracle Bone Script goes back to about 1200 BC during the Shang Dynasty, that makes about 3200 years of history. Before that it's _pre-history_.
It's a bit younger than Linear B, Old Avestan and Vedic Sanskrit. So in terms of a traceable, continuous culture China is at the fourth place of so.
These days I'd probably be called a "historical nihilist" in China for saying that.
That was the most pedantic correction I've ever seen on HN in a while :-). I think the parent was just speaking loosely rather than spreading "nonsensical nationalistic tropes". Take it easy.
Does being 5000 or 3200 years old really change the discussion to anyone but historians?
I think it touched a nerve because that line of thinking ("we're the oldest culture") is presumably highly propagandized amongst CCP China. 1800 years is the difference between "best" and "just another", which is a big deal in totalitarian narrative terms :)
It's certainly changes the discussion to the CCP ! They intend to cement the notion that China is the oldest, greatest, most venerable nation their is. Truth be damned.
How so ? There's a case to be made for Linear B because of the Greek Dark Ages, but Old Avestan ? By that same token, Oracle Bone Script also doesn't represent a traceable and continuous culture.
Persia was conquered by iconoclastic foreigners. Many native traditions were lost, even the knowledge of how to read the old writings. Continuity was significantly interrupted.
> There's a case to be made for Linear B because of the Greek Dark Ages
That's sufficient to defeat the claim of cultural continuity, but note also that the case that Linear B has been deciphered at all isn't on the firmest ground.
> Persia was conquered by iconoclastic foreigners.
Spouting this as if it somehow justifies or reinforces the CCP's claim to China being the oldest and therefore most venerable of cultures is just continuing to give credence to their nationalist tropes. It's not as if China had never been conquered.
I try to remind people of this all the time, it’s especially interesting since the leadership is trying to destroy artifacts of their history to fit a very recent narrative.
They only occasionally use bits and pieces to talk about how they are in ancient culture, but they are rapidly becoming a very young culture in a historical sense.
Not sure why you are being downvoted. During the communist revolution (in the 40s), the previous government was overthrown and escaped to Taiwan. That was when Mao and Communism took over.
> During the cultural revolution, the previous government was overthrown and escaped to Taiwan
Not the Cultural Revolution. Cultural Revolution was in the 1960s, the Communist victory over the Nationalists and the Nationalists' flight to Taiwan was late 1940s. The "Cultural Revolution" was not a "revolution" in the classic sense. It was not an attempt to install a new government. It was a totalitarian exercise in which the Communist Party – led by Mao – attempted to eliminate every aspect of Chinese culture and society that wasn't enthusiastically communist
> Not sure why you are being downvoted. During the communist revolution (in the 40s), the previous government was overthrown and escaped to Taiwan.
Incorrect. The previous government of China (the Beiyang government) was overthrown by a collaboration between the CPC and the KMT (Which was led by Chiang Kai-shek).
The CPC and the KMT then had a war, which the KMT lost - and fled to Taiwan.
As a bonus, the KMT then proceeded to carry out the White Terror - 38 years of one-party rule, repression and martial law, which ostensibly purged Taiwan's of suspected or alleged communists.
Hong Kong had a mere 20 years of being truly Hong Kong, free of the UK and generally free of China. Now it is just more China.