![]() The short-lived flourishing of independent newspapers and journals 1946: The failed reconciliation between China’s political parties and a renewed civil war which continues to this day.1936: The death of the writer and ‘Soul of China’ 中國魂 Lu Xun 魯迅 China’s ignominious participation in the Berlin Olympic Games the Communust Party Red Army’s Long March comes to an end and, the Xi’an Incident 西安事變 that forced Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist government to form a patriotic united resistance against the invading Japanese.1926: The Northern Expedition that would unify Republican China in an unsteady coalition and help pave the way for the ninety-year split between the Nationalists (Guomindang) and the Chinese Communist Party.1916: The end of the short-lived reign of the Hongxian 洪憲 Emperor, Yuan Shikai 袁世凱, who bequeathed Beijing the modern seat of government at Zhongnanhai (which he named China Palace 中華宮) the journal New Youth 新青年 launched an anti-Confucian campaign the effects of which are felt into the 1980s and beyond.1906: The dying days of the Manchu-Qing dynasty saw, among other things, the abolition of the keju 科舉 examination system and formal discussions by the court concerning the creation of a constitutional monarchy.In the spirit of the unruly Sun Wukong 孫悟空, the Monkey King of Wu Cheng’en’s 吳承恩 classic novel Journey to the West 西遊記, I acknowledge some of the events spanning the last one hundred and ten years that may, or may not, be commemorated during 2016. Photograph: Geremie R Barmé, Melbourne 2016 Ai Weiwei commissioned copies of the Zodiac Animals in different materials and has featured them in various installations and exhibitions since 2011. The heads, long ago plundered by invaders and court eunuchs, have been a source of controversy in recent years. ![]() _ ‘The Monkey’ by Ai Weiwei, a copy of one of the twelve Zodiac Animal fountain sculptures designed by court Jesuits for the Qianlong Emperor’s Western Follies 西洋樓 in the Garden of Prolonged Spring 長春園, which itself is within the Garden of Perfect Brightness 圓明園 complex in Beijing (laid waste in 1860 and again in the 1890s). The Editors, The China Story Journal, 7 February 2016 Barmé, Emeritus Professor of Chinese history at the Australian National University, Founding Director of the Australian Centre on China in the World and creator of The China Story Project, reflects on China’s last century and the upcoming year of the Golden Monkey. This Year of the Monkey which begins on 8 February 2016 marks the anniversary of a number of significant moments in modern Chinese history.
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