National Insecurities: Humiliation, Salvation, and Chinese Nationalism

While I was researching the South China Sea disputes between China, Vietnam, and the Philippines, I came upon an unlikely refer ence. In an otherwise hard-nosed analysis of the issue, a noted Chi nese expert cited a book called the Atlas of Shame. This odd juxta position of security studies, territoriality, and emotion piqued my interest, and I asked a friend in Beijing to track down this curious book. Once I got a copy of the Atlas of the Century of National Humili ation in Modern China, the correct title, I was fascinated by what seemed to be a unique feature of Communist Chinese historiography and identity: the very deliberate celebration of a national insecurity. But the more I looked for national humiliation discourse, the more I found. Though they do not receive much attention in West ern analysis, it turns out that there are textbooks, novels, museums, songs, and parks devoted to commemorating national humiliation in China. I continued looking for examples of such national inse curity in other countries.