Peng Qi'an
彭启安
Born1932
Chenghai
Known forShantou Cultural Revolution Museum

Peng Qi'an (Chinese: 彭启安; pinyin: Péng Qǐ'ān; born 1932[1] in Chenghai[2]) is a retired Chinese municipal official and survivor of the Chinese Cultural Revolution who founded a museum in Shantou to commemorate the victims of the revolution, which opened in 2005.[3] He continued to serve as its volunteer curator.[4] The museum was closed in 2016.[5]

Persecution during Cultural Revolution

During the Cultural Revolution, which lasted from 1966 to 1976, Peng was subjected to at least 30 criticism sessions. In 1967 he was on a list of five people for whom execution was recommended to higher authorities,[4] due to his alleged association with a "counter-revolutionary" group named after two local leaders who had lost power.[6]

Later career

After the Cultural Revolution, Peng remained in the Communist Party of China.[4] From 1979 until 1983, he served as Party Committee Secretary of Chaozhou.[7] He later served as the executive vice mayor of Shantou, overseeing the transportation, energy and telecommunications sectors.[8] In the subsequent years until his retirement in 1999, he served a consultant for the Shantou municipal government.[4] In 2012 he was chosen as an "excellent party member" of Shantou.[8]

Chinese Cultural Revolution Museum

In 1996, Peng came across dozens of graves scattered around the slopes of Tashan Scenic Area.[9][10] Having learned that these were victims of the Cultural Revolution who had died in 1967 and 1968, he started his efforts to turn the park into a memorial site.[11] He used a special mayor's fund to the amount of 600,000 renminbi yuan, which he was entitled to use at his discretion, as start-up funds. He intensified his efforts after his retirement from public office in 1999. The district government originally opposed the construction of the museum.[8] Friends and other officials expressed their worries to Peng that he might run afoul of authorities, but Peng remained unfazed.[4] The total funds raised by Peng amounted to over RMB 10 million.[12] The donors included many friends of Peng who were fellow survivors.[4]

In 2003, Peng received from a friend a copy of a book by Yang Kelin (杨克林) entitled Cultural Revolution Museum. The descriptions in the book served as a blueprint for the main museum building.[11] On 1 January 2005, the museum was officially opened as the first museum in China dedicated to the Cultural Revolution.[3][13]

In 2015, Peng handed over the museum to the local government, citing his old age.[1][14] In late April 2016 the museum was closed down, fenced off and all inscriptions, monuments, and more were covered up.[5][6][15] In an interview with the New York Times, Peng expressed his belief that the order to close the museum had come not from local officials but "above", refusing further discussion of this point.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 "Two museums in China about the Cultural Revolution show very different versions of history". Quartz. 16 May 2016.
  2. ↑ Summaries of articles about the museum (in Chinese), www.163.com
  3. 1 2 Li, Minggong (9 January 2018). China's Three Major Mysteries (in Traditional Chinese). Sea Dove Culture Publishing Books Limited. p. 361. ISBN 978-986-392-006-9.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 MacKinnon, Mark (22 July 2010). "China's Cultural Revolution museum a well-kept secret". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  5. 1 2 Tatlow, Didi Kirsten (2 October 2016). "Fate Catches Up to a Cultural Revolution Museum in China". The New York Times.
  6. 1 2 3 Tatlow, Didi Kirsten (8 October 2016). "中国一座文革博物馆被围栏遮掩" [Chinese cultural revolution museum fenced and covered up]. The New York Times (in Simplified Chinese). Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  7. ↑ "潮州市历任市委书记、市长" [Successive municipal party secretaries and mayors of Chaozhou]. mingdanwang.com (in Simplified Chinese). 25 November 2016. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  8. 1 2 3 Wang, Sally (18 August 2012). "Remembering the dark days of China's Cultural Revolution". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  9. ↑ Li, Jie (2020). Utopian Ruins: A Memorial Museum of the Mao Era. Duke University Press. p. 231. ISBN 978-147-801-018-0.
  10. ↑ Lin, Di; Fung, Sandy (4 July 2006). "Southern Chinese city marks Cultural Revolution". Radio Free Asia. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  11. 1 2 Li, Jie (2020). Utopian Ruins: A Memorial Museum of the Mao Era. Duke University Press. p. 256. ISBN 978-147-801-018-0.
  12. ↑ Hai, Tao (15 June 2005). "文革：革了文化和人民的命(1)". Voice of America (in Traditional Chinese). Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  13. ↑ Tatlow, Didi Kirsten (2 October 2016). "Fate Catches Up to a Cultural Revolution Museum in China". The New York Times.
  14. ↑ Gu, Li (5 May 2016). "中國內地唯一文革紀念館被封" (in Traditional Chinese). Radio France International. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  15. ↑ Yang, Fan (6 May 2016). "文革发动50周年纪念日临近 汕头文革博物馆被围封". Radio Free Asia (in Simplified Chinese).


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