HICCS 2025

PhD candidate in Political Science at the Doctoral School of Social Sciences at the University of Łódź, and a graduate of Sinology and Law from the College of Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities at the University of Warsaw. Her research on Chinese nationalism and patriotic education, including at the local level, is funded by the Ministry of Education and Science under the “Diamond Grant” program. As a recipient of the Rowny-Paderewski Scholarship, she completed an internship at the National Bureau of Asian Research in Washington, D.C.  

Title:
Patriotic Education Across China: Comparing Local Implementation Strategies

Abstract:
Paper for panel: The Different Dimensions of Local China’s Development
(panel organised by Dominik Mierzejewski, University of Lodz, Poland)

Patriotic education policies play a crucial role in maintaining stability in authoritarian regimes. In the PRC, the current version of ideological teachings emerged as a response to the Tian’anmen Square events in 1989; it is aimed at fostering pro-motherland sentiments among the younger generation and mitigating the influence of Western ideologies that could threaten the communist regime. The significance of these initiatives has been underscored by various policy frameworks, including the Outline for Implementing Patriotic Education in 1994, the Outline for Implementing Patriotic Education in the New Era in 2019, and the Patriotic Education Law in 2024.

Despite extensive literature on the subject, a significant gap remains in understanding the local implementation of patriotic education and its variance from national directives. To address this, the paper compares how three provinces — Guangdong, Heilongjiang and Jiangxi — interpret and enact central government guidelines on patriotic education. These provinces have been chosen based on their geographic, economic, historic, and cultural differences.

This comparative analysis focuses on the qualitative review of key policy documents issued by central and local authorities, as well as the quantitative assessment of memory sites designated as “patriotic education bases.” The author examined over 450 memory sites and conducted in-depth analyses in 20 of them during fieldwork in 2023. The content of these bases was categorized into six thematic areas: 1) external conflicts, 2) the history of the CCP until 1949, 3) socialist development and modernization, 4) national history excluding CCP events, 5) traditional cultural heritage, and 6) nature.

Findings highlight significant regional variations in the implementation of patriotic education. In Guangdong, the focus is on collectivism and socialist values, alongside an emphasis on Lingnan culture, influenced by, i.a., the province's proximity to Hong Kong and the need to strengthen national identity. In Jiangxi, there is a strong alignment with national directives, with local authorities leveraging the province's revolutionary history to promote "red tourism" as part of an economic development strategy. Heilongjiang's approach centers on themes of external conflict and socialist modernization, emphasizing national unity against external threats and integrating the region's development into broader national goals.

These findings underscore the complex relationship between central and local governments in China, showing how regional authorities adapt and reinterpret national patriotic education policies to suit regional contexts. Such adaptations not only modify the central government's vision of patriotism but also reveal potential areas of local resistance and innovation within the framework of ideological control. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of governance in authoritarian regimes, offering insights into how regional differences shape the implementation of national policies in China.