Correction: Year of last translated editorial title mentioned in second paragraph added.
In honor of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the People’s Daily posted an image list of every commemorative editorial it has published from 1949 to the present, along with these words, on Weibo:
PeoplesDaily: Today in News History: In almost every year from 1949 to 2012, the People’s Daily has printed a “National Day editorial” on October 1. Looking just at the 57 titles, one can witness the forward march of the times. This year’s title is “Advance Valiantly on China’s Hopeful Path.” Happy birthday to the republic! (via the China News History Society) (October 1, 2012)
人民日报：【新闻史上的今天】从1949年到2012年，除个别年份外，《人民日报》在每一年的10月1日共发表“国庆社论”57篇。仅从其标题的变化，就可见证时代前行的步伐。今年的国庆社论标题是《奋进在充满希望的中国道路上》。共和国，生日快乐！（中国新闻史学会供稿）
Previous titles include “Five Years of Striving for Peace, Democracy and Socialism” (1954), “Study Mao Zedong Thought; Carry on Chairman Mao’s Final Wishes” (1976) and “Forge Ahead Courageously Along the Great Path of Socialism” (1989). No editorial was published in 1950, 1951, 1971, 1979, 1980, 1982 or 1986. The full list is available in Chinese here.
Many readers were less than impressed, comparing China’s “hopeful path” to its congested highways, stifled during the Golden Week holiday. Others asked if all that much as changed in the People’s Daily over the past 63 years. Below are comments selected by CDT Chinese:
iYuanfeng: Get trapped in the middle of the endless traffic on China’s highways!—To my dear friends who contributed to the congestion through their road trips during Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day.
i远风：拥堵在没有尽头的中国高速上！－献给双节开车出行给祖国添堵的亲爱的朋友们。
putianzhixia110: Wow, you rock! How thick does your skin have to be to show off something like this?
putianzhixia110：哇 你们真有种 这种事情拿出来炫耀脸皮得多厚啊
LiXingHengV: I want to barf!
李興恆V：想吐！
DuNanExposee: There’s a sensitive word in 1954.
杜楠爆料: 1954年的有敏感词
LittleStrayDog007: Is this a country of the people? If not, I’d rather not to give it my blessing!
小浪狗007：这个国是人民的国吗？如果不是，不祝福也罢！
ShiLiqin: How about publishing the annual editorials of the #XinhuaDaily# from before 1949?
施力勤：公布下1949年前每年#新华日报#的社论?
JianchengCD: There is traffic on this “road”!
简称CD：这道路堵车了!
Ghost57: I don’t trust a single thing printed in your esteemed newspaper except the punctuation marks!
鬼57：除了标点符号，贵报上的东西我一个字都不信！
OldDemonbo: The “People’s Daily”? I don’t think it has anything to do with the “people” other than its name…
老妖bo：《人民日报》？除了名称，其他的，我没觉得那样说的是人民的……
JingboZhuanping2: “With what face does a government represent a country if it is not elected by the people? To love this kind of nation is to betray our motherland.” [Mao Zedong, 1944]
精博转评2：“一个不是人民选举出来的政府，有什么脸面代表这个国家？爱这样的国家，就是对祖国的背叛”。
Iceberg5188: Will you speak for the people, or will you speak for the Communist Party?
冰山5188：你在替人民说话、还是替共产党说话？
John_Chen_: How can you possibly call this country a “republic”?
John_Chen_：好意思说是“共和”国吗?
SunshineOldLady958: Sigh, “People’s Daily”? In this country, we can only see some truthful words on Weibo… It’s sad.
阳光老太958：唉，人民日报？这个国家只有在微博上才能看到点真话。。。悲哀
AngleIsNegative: The splendid language and culture of China are ruined by outrageous official newspapers like the People’s Daily.
角度为负：中国优秀灿烂的语言文化就是被人民日报这类丧心病狂的机关报给毁了
dragemannenII: I haven’t got an inch of land or a single ballot. Is it still fitting to call it a “republic”?
dragemannen二世：没有一寸地没有一张票，也配叫自己共和国？
ChiWanHuijiaPeilaopo: There won’t be much to write about in ten years. I’m waiting!
吃玩回家陪老婆：10年后的今天应该没得写了吧！期待！
Read more about Nationals Days past and present from CDT.
Translation by Mengyu Dong.
“Netizen Voices” is an original CDT series. If you would like to reuse this content, please follow the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 agreement.
