easily adaptable, and student findings could be displayed in a
number of ways, including writing essays. Some students may
percent and his mistakes to 70 percent, or vice versa. It would
Additional Discussion Points:
lines of distinction, between revolution and counter-revolution
find they need to conduct additional research.
1. While no artwork from the time of Qin exists beyond
the Terracotta Soldiers, artists throughout history have
depicted the first emperor in a number of ways. Have
students examine some of the following works of art from
the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries and then discuss
what these tell us about the legacy of Qin throughout
Chinese history.
a. Book burning (seventeenth century)
b. Emperor Qin Palanquin (seventeenth century)
c. First Emperor (nineteenth century)
2. The Chinese Communist Party has declared that Mao was
70 percent good and 30 percent bad. Have students discuss
what they think about these numbers in regards to Mao, as
well as what they might say about Qin.
3. How has the discovery and excavation of the Terracotta
Warriors changed Qin’s legacy?
4. The Terracotta Warriors were discovered in 1974, but
not officially announced to the Chinese public until 1975.
At this point, the Cultural Revolution was nearing its end.
How is this significant to both Qin’s and Mao’s legacy? How
does this help bridge the gap between the ancient and
the modern? How may the discovery of the warriors have
benefited the Communist Party?
be entirely wrong to describe work in which the achievements
are primary as work in which the mistakes are primary. In our
approach to problems, we must not forget to draw these two
and between achievements and shortcomings. We shall be able
to handle things well if we bear these two distinctions in mind;
otherwise, we shall confuse the nature of the problems. To draw
these distinctions well, careful study and analysis are of course
necessary. Our attitude towards every person and every matter
should be one of analysis and study.
Conclusion:
End by returning to the photo of the entrance to the Forbidden
City. Have students discuss the significance of Mao’s portrait
on the entrance to the imperial palace. What does this say
about his legacy, but also about the legacy of the imperial age
of China (and thus Qin’s)?
5. Consider the following quote from Quotations of Mao
Tse-tung. While he speaks in the context of revolution and
counter-revolution, how can his ideas about achievements
and shortcomings be used to look at someone’s leadership
and legacy?
Draw two lines of distinction. First, between revolution and
counter-revolution, between Yenan and Sian. Some do not
understand that they must draw this line of distinction.
For example, when they combat bureaucracy, they speak of
Yenan as though “nothing is right” there and fail to make a
comparison and distinguish between the bureaucracy in Yenan
and the bureaucracy in Sian. This is fundamentally wrong.
Secondly, within the revolutionary ranks, it is necessary to
make a clear distinction between right and wrong, between
achievements and shortcomings and to make clear which
of the two is primary and which secondary. For instance, do
the achievements amount to 30 percent or to 70 percent of
the whole? It will not do either any good to understate or to
overstate. We must have a fundamental evaluation of a person’s
work and establish whether his achievements amount to 30
48
NATIONAL HISTORY DAY 2015
Photo of Mao Zedong in front of a crowd. (Photo courtesy of
“Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung”)