China was hermetically closed for decades after the Communist Party came to power in 1949. Even today, access to primary sources, not least party archives, remains haphazard at best. The party controls history, not only its own but also that of its erstwhile rivals.
Despite these restrictions, a formidable enterprise undertaken by the party from 1981 through 1989 offers us a window into the past. The Central Party Archives, under the control of the Central Committee, working in collaboration with provincial archives from every corner of the country, produced well over 300 volumes containing original party documents from 1923 to 1949. The volumes were printed in a limited edition with restricted circulation, meaning that they were intended for the eyes of senior party members only. Yet even though they could not be purchased in bookshops or consulted in public libraries, they found their way across the border into Hong Kong.
