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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250409T170000
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DTSTAMP:20260502T040009
CREATED:20250310T182439Z
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SUMMARY:Film Screening + Discussion – River Elegy (河殇)\, Episodes 1 & 2 featuring Rana Mitter and Yasheng Huang
DESCRIPTION:Rana Mitter\, ST Lee Chair in US-Asia Relations\, Harvard Kennedy SchoolYasheng Huang\, Epoch Foundation Professor of Global Economics and Management\, MIT Sloan School of ManagementModerator: Dorinda (Dinda) Elliott\, Executive Director\, Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies\, Harvard University \n\n\n\n\n“It may have been the most important television program ever broadcast in the history of the world.”—Rana Mitter\, BBC Radio 4’s In Our Time\, “The May Fourth Movement\,” December 9\, 2021 \n\n\n\n\nJoin us for a special screening of River Elegy (河殇)\, the landmark 1988 Chinese documentary series that ignited nationwide debate with its bold critique of China’s historical path and traditional culture. The event will feature a panel discussion with distinguished scholars Rana Mitter (Harvard University)\, Yasheng Huang (MIT)\, and Fairbank Center Executive Director Dorinda (Dinda) Elliott. \n\n\n\nWe will present a newly restored digital transfer of the series’ first two episodes\, “In Search of a Dream” and “Destiny”\, both in Chinese with newly translated English-language subtitles. \n\n\n\nFirst aired on CCTV1 in June 1988\, River Elegy uses the color “yellow” (symbolizing the Yellow River and the Yellow Emperor) as a metaphor for cultural and political stagnation\, contrasting it with “blue” (representing the open sea and maritime exploration) as a symbol of modernity and openness. Through poetic narration and a provocative visual collage of archival footage\, the series critiques China’s Confucian traditions and historical isolationism\, arguing that these forces hindered the country’s progress in the 20th century. It calls instead for reform\, global engagement\, and celebrates the economic liberalization taking place under Deng Xiaoping. \n\n\n\nRiver Elegy struck a deep chord with a generation navigating the tensions of modernization. Its writer\, Su Xiaokang\, quickly became one of China’s most prominent public intellectuals. The documentary received high-level endorsement from Party figures including former president Yang Shangkun\, Deng Pufang (son of Deng Xiaoping)\, and premier Zhao Ziyang—each of whom supported and even hosted special screenings of the series. But following the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests—which some scholars argue were partly catalyzed by River Elegy’s widespread influence—the series was banned amid a sweeping political crackdown. \n\n\n\nDecades later\, River Elegy remains a powerful historical document. Its themes continue to resonate\, particularly as the liberal values that the series championed—democracy\, human rights\, the rule of law—appear increasingly embattled\, not only in China\, but also in the United States and around the world. \n\n\n\nRana Mitter is ST Lee Chair in US-Asia Relations at the Harvard Kennedy School. He is the author of several books\, including Forgotten Ally: China’s World War II (2013)\, which won the 2014 RUSI/Duke of Westminster’s Medal for Military Literature\, and was named a Book of the Year in the Financial Times and Economist. His latest book is China’s Good War: How World War II is Shaping a New Nationalism (Harvard\, 2020). His writing on contemporary China has appeared recently in Foreign Affairs\, the Harvard Business Review\, The Spectator\, The Critic\, and The Guardian. He has commented regularly on China in media and forums around the world\, including at the World Economic Forum at Davos. His recent documentary on contemporary Chinese politics “Meanwhile in Beijing” is available on BBC Sounds. He is co-author\, with Sophia Gaston\, of the report “Conceptualizing a UK-China Engagement Strategy” (British Foreign Policy Group\, 2020). He won the 2020 Medlicott Medal for Service to History\, awarded by the UK Historical Association. He previously taught at Oxford\, and is a Fellow of the British Academy.Yasheng Huang is Epoch Foundation Professor of Global Economics and Management at MIT’s Sloan School of Management. From 2013 to 2017\, he served as an associate dean in charge of MIT Sloan’s global partnership programs and its action learning initiatives. His previous appointments include faculty positions at the University of Michigan and at Harvard Business School. He is the author of 11 books in both English and Chinese and of many academic papers and news commentaries. His book\, The Rise and the Fall of the EAST: How Exams\, Autocracy\, Stability\, and Technology Brought China Success\, and Why They Might Lead to Its Decline\, was published by Yale University Press in 2023. He is collaborating with Chinese academics on a book project\, The Needham Question\, based on a comprehensive database on Chinese historical inventions and politics. \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nVenue
URL:https://fairbank.fas.harvard.edu/events/film-screening-discussion-river-elegy-%e6%b2%b3%e6%ae%87-episodes-1-2-featuring-rana-mitter-and-yasheng-huang/
LOCATION:CGIS South\, Tsai Auditorium (S010)\, 1730 Cambridge St\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Film Screening
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://fairbank.fas.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Screenshot-2025-03-10-at-2.06.20 PM-1.png
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250430T133000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250430T163000
DTSTAMP:20260502T040009
CREATED:20250411T214600Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260127T181445Z
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SUMMARY:Film Screening\, Part 2 – River Elegy (河殇)\, Episodes 3 - 6 featuring Andrew S. Erickson & Shih-Diing Liu
DESCRIPTION:Andrew S. Erickson\, Professor of Strategy\, China Maritime Studies Institute\, U.S. Naval War College; Visiting Scholar 2024-25\, Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies\, Harvard UniversityShih-Diing Liu\, Professor of Communication and Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies\, University of Macau; Visiting Scholar 2024-25\, Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies\, Harvard University \n\n\n\nJoin us for the second part of our special screening of River Elegy (河殇)\, the landmark 1988 Chinese documentary series that ignited nationwide debate with its bold critique of China’s historical path and traditional culture. This event will feature commentary from two of our current visiting scholars\, Andrew S. Erickson (U.S. Naval War College) and Shih-Diing Liu (University of Macau). \n\n\n\nWe will present a newly restored digital transfer of the final four episodes of River Elegy: “Aura” (Episode 3)\, “A New Era” (Episode 4)\, “Worries” (Episode 5)\, and “Azure” (Episode 6). All episodes are in Chinese with newly translated\, English-language subtitles. \n\n\n\nFirst aired on CCTV1 in June 1988\, River Elegy uses the color “yellow” (symbolizing the Yellow River and the Yellow Emperor) as a metaphor for cultural and political stagnation\, contrasting it with “blue” (representing the open sea and maritime exploration) as a symbol of modernity and openness. Through poetic narration and a provocative visual collage of archival footage\, the series critiques China’s Confucian traditions and historical isolationism\, arguing that these forces hindered the country’s progress in the 20th century. It calls instead for reform\, global engagement\, and celebrates the economic liberalization taking place under Deng Xiaoping. \n\n\n\nRiver Elegy struck a deep chord with a generation navigating the tensions of modernization. Its writer\, Su Xiaokang\, quickly became one of China’s most prominent public intellectuals. The documentary received high-level endorsement from Party figures including former president Yang Shangkun\, Deng Pufang (son of Deng Xiaoping)\, and premier Zhao Ziyang—each of whom supported and even hosted special screenings of the series. But following the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests—which some scholars argue were partly catalyzed by River Elegy’s widespread influence—the series was banned amid a sweeping political crackdown. \n\n\n\nDecades later\, River Elegy remains a powerful historical document. Its themes continue to resonate\, particularly as the liberal values that the series championed—democracy\, human rights\, the rule of law—appear increasingly embattled\, not only in China\, but also in the United States and around the world. \n\n\n\nAndrew S. Erickson is a Professor of Strategy in the U.S. Naval War College (NWC)’s China Maritime Studies Institute\, which he helped establish and has served as Research Director\, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He testifies periodically before Congress and briefs leading officials\, including the Secretary of Defense. Erickson helped to escort the Commander of China’s Navy on a visit to Harvard and subsequently to establish\, and to lead the first iteration of\, NWC’s first naval officer exchange program with China. He has received the Navy Superior Civilian Service Medal\, NWC’s inaugural Civilian Faculty Research Excellence Award\, and NBR’s inaugural Ellis Joffe Prize for PLA Studies. His research focuses on Indo-Pacific defense\, international relations\, technology\, and resource issues. Dr. Erickson was a 2019-2022 Visiting Scholar.Shih-Diing Liu is Professor of Communication and a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies\, University of Macau. Liu’s research focuses on exploring the emotional dynamics of politics\, the formation of popular identity\, the expressive and embodied forms of political practices\, and the psychology of nationalism in contemporary China. His books include The Politics of People: Protest Cultures in China (SUNY Press\, 2019) and Affective Spaces: The Cultural Politics of Emotion in China (Edinburgh University Press\, 2024\, with Wei Shi). Continuing with a focus on emotion from the Affective Spaces project\, his current research explores the intersection of affect and gender in contemporary China. Arguing that Chinese gender has increasingly become an archive of feelings marked by ambivalence toward authorities\, this book project uncovers the power of emotion in negotiating the gendered order. Meanwhile\, he is also working on a book project that explores the emotional capabilities of Artificial Intelligence.Schedule:1:30 pm: Introductory Remarks by Shih-Diing Liu \n\n\n\n1:45 pm: Episode 3: “Aura” & Episode 4: “A New Era” (71 min.)3:00 pm: Comments from Andrew S. Erickson \n\n\n\n3:15 pm: Episode 5: “Worries” & Episode 6: “Azure” (66 min.) \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nVenue
URL:https://fairbank.fas.harvard.edu/events/film-screening-discussion-river-elegy-%e6%b2%b3%e6%ae%87-episodes-3-6-featuring-andrew-s-erickson-and-shih-diing-liu/
LOCATION:CGIS South S020\, Belfer Case Study Room\, 1730 Cambridge St.\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Film Screening
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