ABSTRACT
AsanyoneworkingonthehistoryoftheChinesecommunistmovementknows, thelastdecadehaswitnessedanexplosionofmemoirliterature,orhuiyilu@)'tZ*[reminiscences].Previously,thehistoryofthecommunistrevolutionwas oftenmentioned,thoughrarelyexarnined,inPRC"scholarship";ithasnow emergedasabonafidesubjectforinquiry.And,asintheSovietUnionduring Khrushchev'sde-Stalinization,peoplearewritingtheirmemoirs.Thisnewbody ofmaterialisprovidinginvaluableinformationforstudentsofcontemporary ChinesehistoryandmanyforceustorewritethehistoryofChinesecommunism.WenowhavemoredetailsaboutthecommunistmovementinChinathan anyonepersoncandigest.However,thismaterialisnotwithoutitsflaws,and ourexcitementatitsappearanceshouldnotblindustothem.Itmustbeapproachedwithjustasmuchcritica!acumenaswewouldanyotherbodyof documents,especiallythoseproducedinastatewherethepressiscontrolledby thegovernment.1shalltrytoillustratewhat1haveinmindherewithexamples frommyworkontheChinesecommunist"philosopher,"AiSiqi)t}jll,~(19101966).
