The Economist - USA (2020-11-07)

The EconomistNovember 7th 2020 Books & arts 75

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arrangedtoborrowa setforseveraldays.

Eachvolumeweighs11 kilograms,soit took

twopeopletohaulthesetinitsprotective

caseupthestairs.Simplyremovinga book

fromitsfoamnestisanundertaking.But

theyare,indeed,remarkable.

Without the overwhelmingdrama of

thechapel,itiseasiertonoticethegrace-

fullybentlegsofa manonhisback,his

nostrilsfacingtheviewer,inthependen-

tive“TheBrazenSerpent”.In“TheCreation

of Adam”,youcanappreciate thefleshy

curveofAdam’slowerstomach.Everypage

alsorevealsthewebofcrackscastbytime,

makingthevalueofthisarchiveplain.

Butforallthepleasuresofdotingonin-

dividual panels from this extraordinary

room,theeffectcanbedisorienting.Pag-

ing through these immersive reproduc-

tions,thereadergetslittlesenseforhow

theyfittogether.Itiseasytoimagine a

moreuser-friendlydigitalexperiencethat

allowsviewerstozoominandoutwithout

worrying about the cleanliness of their

hands.Dependingondemand,MrCalla-

wayanticipatesothereditions,interactive

andprint-based,atmoreaffordableprices.

Inthemeantime,thecoronavirusmay

boost sales of the luxury sets, reckons

JamesDaunt,headofBarnes&Nobleand

Waterstones, whose stores are selling

thesebooksonline.Mostrichpeople,he

explains,havenotgotpoorerduringthe

pandemic,andmanywantsomethingnice

tolookatduringtheirhoursathome.^7

T

hewaythesecondworldwarisremem-

bered—andused—isalwayschanging.

InBritain,theBlitzisinvokedineverynew

crisis.InAmerica,theattackonPearlHar-

bourresonatedanewafter9/11.Yet,asRana

MitterofOxfordUniversityshowsin“Chi-

na’sGoodWar”,nowherehavesuccessive

generations thought more differently

abouttheconflictthaninChina,whereit is

seenthroughtheprismoftheJapanesein-

vasionthatbeganin1931.

InhispreviousbookMrMitterchroni-

cledthebloodystrugglebetweenJapanand

Chinathateruptedintofull-scalewarin

1937.Nowhefocuses ontheafterlifeof

thoseeventsinfilms,monuments,parades

andpropaganda.TheCommunistParty,he

writes,hasbeenstrivingtoconvincedo-

mesticandglobalaudiencesthatJapanese

atrocities,especiallytheNanjingmassa-

cre, should rank among the era’s worst

abominations. Gallingly for many Chinese,

the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

often seems to command more sympathy

than the suffering inflicted on them.

This push, Mr Mitter notes, represents a

break from the rule of Mao Zedong, when

“official China spoke in a minor key about

the war years”, stressing their role in bring-

ing the party to power. In the past,

Nationalist officials and spies, or American

soldiers in Korea, were often the villains in

Chinese films, as Nazis were in Hollywood

productions. Heroic Chinese Communists

repelling Japanese marauders always fea-

tured as well, but recently the balance has

altered. China has been saturated with im-

ages of Japanese aggression; the lengths to

which movies go to demonise Japanese in-

vaders and heroise Chinese fighters are as

striking as their volume. In “Designation

Forever”(2011-),a televisionseries,a Chi-

nesesoldierbringsdowna Japaneseplane

bythrowinga grenadeatit.

Theseobservationsarenotnew,though

therangeofevidencethatMrMittermar-

shals is impressive. The argument he

makesaboutwar,memoryandtheinterna-

tionalorderismoreoriginal.Thepost-Mao

changes,hewrites,arepartofabroader

movefromanemphasisonrevolutionary

idealsandclassstruggletooneonforeign

mistreatmentofChinaduringa “centuryof

humiliation”thatbeganwiththeOpium

warsandpeakedinJapaneseimperialism.

Recentportrayalsofthewarcomplementa

softeningofofficialhostilitytowardsthe

Nationalists, whose soldiers and even

leader, Chiang Kai-shek, are now given

somecreditforhelpingdefeatJapan.They

fit,too,witha shiftfromMao’sdreamof

pryingTokyoawayfromWashington’sem-

bracetowarda morecombativeapproach

toJapanasa regionalrival.

Finally,andmostintriguingly,allthis

fitswitha switchfromrejectingthepost-

warglobalsystem,asMaosometimesdid,

tousingthecountry’sstatusamongthe

wartimeAlliestoforgea “morallyweighted

narrativeaboutChina’sroleintheglobal

order”.PresidentXiJinping’stighteningof

controls overperipheral territories, and

Beijing’sexpansionintotheSouthChina

Sea, canseem imperialistic.ButChina’s

rulerswantallthattobeinterpretedina

radicallydifferentlight.AccordingtoMr

Mitter,Chinawishestobeseenasincorpo-

ratingitselfintothe“existing,largelyliber-

alorder”,whilestrivingto“revisethator-

dertomatchitsownpreferences”.

JoiningtheWorldTradeOrganisation,

hostingtheOlympicsandbecomingmore

involvedintheUnitedNationsallfurther

thisaim.Sodoestellingwarstoriesthat

showChineseforcescontributingto the

defeatoftheAxispowers—therebyearning

Chinaa placeatthetableatwhichthepost-

warorderwascreated. 7

Chinaandthesecondworldwar

Lesttheyforget

China’s Good War.By Rana Mitter. Belknap

Press; 336 pages; $27.95 and £22.95

I

t takesmorethana decentconstitution

to build a democracy, as anyone who has

tried to steer a country out of anarchy or ty-

ranny can attest. And it takes more than

well-turned commercial laws to make a

healthy market economy. For either to hap-

pen, certain values must be widely accept-

ed—yet defining them can be tricky.

Joseph Henrich, a professor of human

evolutionary biology at Harvard, has de-

vised a teasing term to describe societies

where rules and values have come together

with benign results: Western, educated, in-

dustrialised, rich and democratic. The ac-

ronym, weird, neatly makes his point that

these attributes, and the mindset that goes

with them, are the exception not the rule in

human history.

The values that underpin weirdness,

he writes, include a tough-minded belief in

the rule of the law, even at the risk of perso-

nal disadvantage; an openness to experi-

mentation in matters of scientific knowl-

edge or social arrangements; and a

willingness to trust strangers, from politi-

cians offering new policies to potential

business partners. These may not seem

original insights, but Mr Henrich’s work is

distinguished by the weight he places on

the extended family as an obstacle to

healthy individualism, and on religious

The Western mind

Value judgments

The Weirdest People in the World: How

the West Became Psychologically Peculiar

and Particularly Prosperous.By Joseph

Henrich. Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 704

pages; $35. Allen Lane; £30