Toward a Happier Memory

Zhiyi Yang

Punitive Forgetting and Mnemonic Justice in the Case of Wang Jingwei

This paper examines monuments, museums, textbooks, and films to explore the censorship of memory on Wang Jingwei and on Chinese wartime collaboration. I argue that the mechanism of punitive forgetting is powered by ideological and market forces alike. At the same time, censorship creates fragmented memories that may come back to haunt through unexpected channels. By drawing comparisons to France’s postwar experience with the legacy of Vichy, I explore the possibility of reconciling obligations toward the justice of memory and toward the truth of history. Reading Wang Jingwei’s writings, including his poetry, is an intrinsic part of this process of mnemonic justice, as it allows the defendant to speak in his own voice in the court of history. Only after the justice of memory is served, we may finally reach a happier memory: a more confident memory capable of forgiving and forgetting.