国内英语新闻:CPC stresses "history wealth," calls for more education of Party history

In a column called "Eternal Monument," the CPC's history was told in short tales to help people, especially the young, to learn it.

The column was seen in major state media, including the flagship newspaper People's Daily, the Xinhua News Agency and the national broadcasters China National Radio and China Central Television, from 2005 to 2007. It was the culmination of cooperation between the PHRO and these media outlets.

Besides researching the Party history, the PHRO is also obligated to preserve historical sites concerning events in the Party's history. It also designs routes for people to learn history through sightseeing tours. Such "red (revolutionary) tourism" has become very popular in recent years.

The office has also compiled more than 1,000 history books over the last five years and collaborated with film producers to shoot 166 films about Party history. Li said theses books and films are narrated in a lively way, free from "mechanical teaching."

Founded in 1980, with Hu Qiaomu as its first director, the office received its first task of composing a credible history of the turbulent Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). How to treat this history was a crucial question faced by the CPC at that time. The Party had to make an impartial judgment and draw lessons from it.

The PHRO is now working on increasing its openness. On June 30, its spokesman, Zhang Shujun, together with spokespersons for the CPC's ten other departments, made an uNPRecedented group debut in front of both domestic and overseas media, one day ahead of the 89th anniversary of the founding of the CPC, on July 1, unveiling the mask of the mystery-shrouded historian' s organization.

The CPC, founded on July 1, 1921, is the world's largest political party. It had 78 million members as of last year.