Chinese museums exhibit candor

In China’s Sichuan province, a complex of new, privately owned museums dedicated to the Cultural Revolution (1969-76), the War of Resistance against the Japanese (1937-45) and 20th century Chinese folk culture reflects increasing openness about the way recent history is viewed in China.

Fan Jianchuan, a Chinese industrialist and Communist Party member, collected 2 million historical artifacts displayed in 25 galleries, including a Gallery of Women’s Tiny Shoes on foot-binding and a kitschy Cultural Revolution Porcelain Art Gallery. Noteworthy are displays on the role America played in the Sino-Japanese War and the Plaza of Handprints of 3,000 Soldiers, a rare recognition that Nationalist soldiers as well as Communists gave their lives in the long struggle to liberate China from the Japanese. The Jianchuan Museum Cluster is about 20 miles west of the city of Chengdu, in the town of Anren; www.jc-museum.cn.