Society

Unofficial leader memoirs 'lack archive references'

By Wang Huazhong (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-06-15 08:00

BEIJING - Unofficial biographies of Chinese leaders and senior officials published in Hong Kong and Western countries "lack archive references" and will not stand the test of time, a spokesman for the Party's top literary research institute said on Tuesday.

Yan Jianqi, spokesman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China's Party Literature Research Office, said the interest in leading figures by the public and scholars has been growing in recent years, leading to more publications about the country's leaders.

"The works quote many documents and have diverse angles and opinions, but lack archive references when compared to ours," Yan told China Daily in an exclusive interview.

"Some rely on the memories of the people involved, which might not be accurate and haven't been verified."

Yan said the biggest difference of the office is the ability to research with archive references.

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"A work of literature that aims to make its point is not done subjectively, but on the basis of objective reference."

Many history researchers and literary critics agree the office has unrivalled access to references, but said the unofficial works are not valueless.

Ding Dong, a retired researcher and editor at the Shanxi Academy of Social Sciences, said unofficial publications that hold an independent view on historical figures provide a different reading taste for serious politics.

Though Ding admitted that the accuracy of the memoirs needs checking, "professional researchers treat official and unofficial publications with equal caution. And the unofficial works can irreplaceably fill in the blanks left by confidentiality."

The literary research office was established in 1980. Its precursor was dedicated to editing and publishing Mao Zedong's works.

The office has written, edited and published 300 collections of literature, Chen Jin, deputy director of the office, said at a press conference on Tuesday.

Chen added the office has published chronicles and biographies of almost all the leaders of the People's Republic of China from the early generation, such as Mao, Zhou Enlai, Liu Shaoqi, Zhu De and Deng Xiaoping.

The chronicles and biographies are primarily based on the leaders' manuscripts, telegraphs, letters, speech recordings and meeting minutes as well as newspapers and peoples' memories, Chen said.