"A vital account of how some of China's most important writers, filmmakers, and artists have overcome crackdowns and censorship to challenge the Chinese Communist Party on its most sacred ground, its monopoly on history" -- "The tectonic plates that form China have left it a checkerboard of mountains and rivers and memories. From the south, the Indian plate pushes up into the Eurasian, creating the Himalayas and the vast Tibetan plateau that almost cuts the country off from the rest of the continent. Rippling outward are smaller mountain ranges that ebb and flow toward the Pacific Ocean, like deep swells heaving through the land"-- publisher's description. Provided by publisher.

"A Council on Foreign Relations book" -- title page. Maps on lining papers.

Preface -- I. The past. Introduction: The landscape of memory -- Memory: The Hexi Corridor -- The ditch -- Memory: Facing walls -- The sacrifice -- Memory: Bamboo slips -- Spark -- Memory: Etchings -- History as weapon -- Memory: How the Red Sun rose -- History as myth -- Memory: National Museum of China -- II. The present. The limits of amnesia -- Memory: A landlord's mansion -- The lost city -- Memory: Snow's visit -- The gateway -- Memory: Bloodlines -- Remembrance -- Memory: Tie Liu's cafe -- Lay down your butcher's knife -- Memory: Videoing China's village -- III. The future. Virus -- Memory: Soft burial -- Empire -- Memory: The lost warehouses -- The land of hermits -- Conclusion: Learning to walk underground -- Appendix: Exploring China's underground history.