Who is responsible for this "vacuum" decade?

This point in time has given some people with ulterior motives a breakthrough to "whitewash" - the textbook in question has been used for many years, so how could the problem be found only after nearly a decade? It's not logical.

The problem is the problem, and the problem is uncovered, not by the motives of the person who uncovered it and how much time it took to uncover it, but by the problem itself! It is illogical to speculate about the "whistleblower" without looking into the problem.

The textbook in question is an elementary school math textbook, and its direct audience is teachers and elementary school students. According to media reports, teachers found problems with the illustrations as early as 2014 and reported them to the Humanities Education Council, only to have them sink into the sea. In other words, it's not that no one found the problem, but no one cared at all! Elementary school students are limited in age and cognition, and they cannot be "whistleblowers". As for the parents, if not for this incident, I'm afraid few of them would have quietly looked at their children's textbooks, and who would have thought that there would be problems with the "Human Education Edition" textbooks?

On May 23, 2022, the Ministry of Education and five other departments jointly issued the "Guiding Opinions on the Accountability of Textbooks", and two days later, the textbook issue was revealed, so it can be said that the introduction of the "Opinions" was the trigger for this incident. I am more inclined to believe that those who found the problem finally saw the hope that the problem could be solved, so they "blew the whistle" again!

The People's Education Publishing House reacted quickly, responding through official channels at noon on the 26th: redrawing, citing the past, and presenting a comprehensive assessment of the covers and illustrations of the published textbooks.

This is the most perfunctory response I've ever seen, a glib, evasive, and arrogant response. But it is this response that clearly illustrates the truth!

The response said: "timely organization of experts to seriously study." This "timely" well-used, less than half a day's work, to receive public opinion, and immediately organize experts to study, completely broke my previous prejudice against the efficiency of "state-owned enterprises".

The response said: "has begun to redraw the cover and illustrations." In other words, not only the results of the study but also the redrawing has already begun! If this is a true statement, it can only mean one thing: knew there was a problem, has been holding a fluke, or is the mentality of trust, but wait to be revealed, hurry to make up. If this is a false statement (I prefer it to be a false statement), it can only mean that: the HSS has become a lying nature, really arrogant.

The most laughable thing is that this is a compulsory education textbook for millions of elementary school students, the country's biggest plan. According to the regulations, the textbook illustration, must pass the "proposed program → publisher evaluation, selection → approval selected → sketch shape → strict review → final draft → revision proofreading → publication and distribution" and other strict procedures. The problems were exposed in the morning, and the redrawing started at noon. No wonder, the textbook is full of problems.

From May 26 to May 28, two days, the elementary school mathematics textbook (approved by the Ministry of Education 2013) was constantly exposed to all kinds of problems, from the first "beautiful and ugly picture, Down's syndrome" to "drawing the wrong national flag", "the students' uniforms are the Stars and Stripes" and "the students' uniforms are the Stars and Stripes". The textbook has been exposed to all kinds of problems, from the initial "ugly picture and Down's syndrome" to the "wrong national flag", "student uniform is the Stars and Stripes", "small airplane is an invading Japanese plane", "pornographic hints", and so on.

If it is only a matter of painting style, or a matter of character creation style, or some "circle of experts" that "beauty is diversified, and everyone's eyes have different standards of beauty and ugliness", it can put off people's words and blind their eyes. But, no!

There are problems all over the place, and these problems have already exceeded the so-called "aesthetic debate", and are problems that cannot be caused by the momentary negligence of designers and painters. Even a layman with no expertise in this area can see that there is only one explanation for so many problems, of different types, in a set of textbook illustrations and covers: deliberate!

Is "deliberate" not afraid of the day it is discovered? The author ventures to guess the two possibilities.

Either it will never be discovered, or even if it is discovered, someone will come forward and defend it with some kind of professional authority or authority, and suppress those who ask questions with authority. You know, this textbook was published and distributed ten years ago, when the Internet was not so developed in China, the Sino-American debate was not so intense, and most people still believed in authority. Unfortunately, ten years later, it's not the same!

Otherwise, it is to think of a good way back, the author even in doubt, the stem of this matter, still in the country or not?

On May 28, the Ministry of Education responded: and instructed the People's Education Press to immediately rectify. Subsequently, the People's Education Society apologized for the illustration incident: deep remorse and guilt.

Two days after the incident fermented, the response from the Ministry of Education came. The Ministry of Education's response included the phrase: "to ensure that teaching materials adhere to the correct political direction and value orientation, promote excellent Chinese culture, and meet the aesthetic habits of the public"!

This phrase says a lot.

"Adhere to the correct political direction and value orientation", clearly telling everyone that the textbook issue is biased in terms of political outlook and values. The so-called "sober on earth" people, these days frantically yelling not to "on the line", are trying to understand and pretend to be confused. Please stop shifting the focus and changing the concept, the Ministry of Education's response is the loudest slap in the face to you!

The Ministry of Education's response is the loudest slap in the face to you! "Promoting the best of Chinese culture" means that this issue of teaching materials reveals a "pandering" mentality. Please also ask the so-called "experts and scholars" to understand: a Chinese person must first have cultural self-confidence, and retain cultural self-esteem; we do not reject foreign cultures, but this does not mean that pander to foreigners; we appreciate cultural integration, but the mother of integration must be Chinese culture, which is the fundamental reason why the Chinese nation has been alive and well for thousands of years. This is the fundamental reason why the Chinese nation has survived for thousands of years.

The phrase "in line with the aesthetic habits of the public" correctly explains the standard of beauty. The textbook is for the public, and the evaluation of its beauty is of course for the public, not for the "insiders" who are high up and boastful and out of touch with the people!

However, this response gives the impression of being picked up high and put down gently, without pain. At least, as a parent of a fourth-grade child, I am not satisfied.