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China is Recruiting 20,000 People To Write Its Own Wikipedia (vice.com)

The Chinese government is recruiting 20,000 people to create an online encyclopedia that will be the country's own, China-centric version of Wikipedia, or as one official put it, like "a Great Wall of culture." From a report: Known as the "Chinese Encyclopedia," the country's national encyclopedia will go online for the first time in 2018, and the government has employed tens of thousands of scholars from universities and research institutes who will contribute articles in more than 100 disciplines. The end result will be a knowledge base with more than 300,000 entries, each of which will be about 1,000 words long. "The Chinese Encyclopaedia is not a book, but a Great Wall of culture," Yang Muzhi, the editor-in-chief of the project and the chairman of the Book and Periodicals Distribution Association of China, said. He added that China was under pressure from the international community to produce an encyclopedia that will "guide and lead the public and society."

88 comments

  1. 50 cent army by kwoff · · Score: 2

    costs $10000

    1. Re:50 cent army by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think we all know where this is going: an exact copy of wikipedia with all references to china, communism and witchcraft redirecting to harmony.

    2. Re:50 cent army by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why can't they just use the original Wikipedia then?

    3. Re:50 cent army by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Does Wikipedia redirect all references to china, communism, and witchcraft to harmony?

    4. Re:50 cent army by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Give me a few minutes and it will...

    5. Re:50 cent army by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1
  2. Encarta by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I have a copy of Encarta 97 if that would give them a head start...

  3. Lol by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Here's the twist: they plagiarize directly from Wikipedia.

    1. Re:Lol by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Except for the parts about China. They have to copy those parts from the Chinese Communist Party stuff.

  4. International community my ass by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    China believes it is the only legitimate country on Earth and behaves accordingly.

  5. Great way to start an encyclopedia... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Start with fake news: China was under pressure from the international community to produce an encyclopedia that will "guide and lead the public and society."

    1. Re:Great way to start an encyclopedia... by PatientZero · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I for one am very excited to read their pages on Tibet and Falun Gong.

      --
      Freedom to fear. Freedom from thought. Freedom to kill.
      I guess the War on Terror really is about freedom!
    2. Re:Great way to start an encyclopedia... by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 1

      I for one am very excited to read their pages on Tibet and Falun Gong.

      There won't be any. Because those things don't exist. That's what the Memory Hole is for.

    3. Re:Great way to start an encyclopedia... by jma05 · · Score: 1

      On Falun Gong, it will say it is a cult.... because it is. Excuse China for having a low tolerance for cults.

      The last time they let a cult go out of control (when a dude claimed he was Jesus reincarnate), it resulted in more deaths than any war in human history until that point (around the time of US civil war, only 20-30 times the deaths). If US had a cult based civil war of this magnitude, it would have shaped its world view as well.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      Cults are to China as Fascism is to the West. It polices cults as the West monitors neo-nazi groups to keep them in check. If Europe can police antisemitic groups, China can police cults. They both have their historical wounds and different standards for reactions.

    4. Re:Great way to start an encyclopedia... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If wikipedia is to be trusted in either instance, it does appear the state dropped the hammer first. Being the first to commit actual violence generally is the catalyst for a "guilty" conviction of a party.

      Now, I hate cults as much as the next guy. I actually can't stand ANY religion. But the thing I abhor more than the concepts of cults and religion is clear hypocrisy from authority, and that's what China shows here.

      FFS the persecution of Falun Gong AFTER they extended the olive branch to be formally recognized by the state.

      To compare these two things - religious practice and fascism - is a great deal of false equivalence. Fascism actually is a dangerous thing as it is a guaranteed regulated movement towards violence and loss of civil rights. Cults are a dangerous thing only in so much as they may promote violence and should be treated accordingly. It's just an expression of speech, unless that speech encourages actual sedition.

    5. Re:Great way to start an encyclopedia... by jma05 · · Score: 2

      I am not defending any "hypocrisy from authority" from a semi-totalitarian state nor am I suggesting perfect equivalence between anything - analogies, after all, can only go so far.

      From what I recall from several decades ago, persecution started when Falun Gong did a large scale demonstration in the public spaces. This was seen as a flexing of muscle and the one-party establishment immediately recognized their potential for political organization and was alarmed, especially when it was jittery in the wake of the Tiananmen Square protests. Such level of organization was probably seen as a precursor to an incredibly chaotic time.... for them, in light of the Taiping Rebellion, this is probably a precursor to a very bloody act of sedition (obviously, mere precursors are not acceptable standards in our societies, nor is repression of any kind, but this isn't our society and their historical experiences are not ours). So in that sense, it was Falun Gong which issued the first challenge.

      Is CCP free speech oriented? Obviously not. Neither is Falun Gong (all cults talk free speech only when it suits them - I think you would agree with me on that. No one can criticize even one or two actions of a cult leader and still expect to stay in it without being cowered to submission). Their flexing of muscle was in part to muzzle a physicist who just wrote an article in a university magazine on the superstitious nature of Falun Gong.

    6. Re:Great way to start an encyclopedia... by stephanruby · · Score: 2

      What are you talking about? Tibet exists. It's a region of China. It has always been this way since the time of Confucius.

    7. Re:Great way to start an encyclopedia... by MoaDweeb · · Score: 2

      And the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.

      --
      New Zealanders are well balanced with a chip on each shoulder. One represents Australia, the other the rest of the world
    8. Re:Great way to start an encyclopedia... by TheSync · · Score: 2

      Besides the Taiping Rebellion, there was the cult of Mao and the Great Leap Forward famine which also killed about 20 million people...

  6. MS Encarta.cn? by kiviQr · · Score: 1

    They should hire Encarta team ... and watch Dan Pink ted talk (https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation).

  7. Serious question by grasshoppa · · Score: 2, Funny

    Will it have hookers and blackjack?

    --
    Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
    1. Re:Serious question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

      No, but it has hookers and brackjack

    2. Re:Serious question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In China it will be Mahjong

  8. Re:What about Trump's shitty ties? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    He's trying to camouflage his enormous penis. Thanks for making me realize that, like I didn't have enough to worry about already.

  9. Newspeak Dictionary... I mean, Encyclopedia by Aereus · · Score: 0

    The Chinese government feeling they need to create their own new encyclopedia to "guide the people" immediately reminds me of them making the new edition of the Newspeak Dictionary from 1984...

    1. Re:Newspeak Dictionary... I mean, Encyclopedia by Alsn · · Score: 1

      I'd say an even more apt 1984 comparison would be an Eastasian Ministry of Truth.

    2. Re:Newspeak Dictionary... I mean, Encyclopedia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Chinese government feeling they need to create their own new encyclopedia to "guide the people" immediately reminds me of them making the new edition of the Newspeak Dictionary from 1984...

      People may have forgotten, but the Chinese use to have a "little red book". I suspect they may use those ideas as a starting point...

    3. Re:Newspeak Dictionary... I mean, Encyclopedia by plopez · · Score: 1

      No. Mao was counter-revolutionary.

      --
      putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
    4. Re: Newspeak Dictionary... I mean, Encyclopedia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You know... I know some Chinese history but, perhaps, not enough. I have heard him referred to as being counterrevolutionary before. What confuses me, at this moment in time, is how is that term even remotely realistic? If nothing else, I'd think he'd qualify as revolutionary. Misguided? Sure, but still revolutionary. For better or worse, he revolutioned the shit out of China. True, not very well, he didn't. But, he sure as hell tried to.

      Hmm... This requires pondering or research. I have even heard the term used for Che and, now that I think of it, that's exactly the opposite of what he was. Again, for better or worse, he was also revolutionary, as was Castro. I mean, that was kinda their thing, Mao included. Mao didn't really revolt against the government, but he was, sure as fuck, revolutionary. Okay, he was also morally revolting but let's not digress that far, for the sake of brevity.

      Shit, isn't one of the terms used, to describe a specific plan whose name I can't remember, containing the word revolution? I think they called it a cultural revolution, and he told people to make really bad steel in their backyards. There were a few such plans, as I recall, but this is absolutely not my domain.

      I'm still pretty sure the faggot was revolutionary. I'm also pretty sure one of his plans was even specifically called a revolution. Hell, some might even suggest that his government, and him by extension, helped with a number of other revolutions, with varied degrees of success and violence.

      Imma AC but I'll check back, for this post. This one now has me curious but not curious enough to Google. I'd log in but, alas, I am not sure what my password is. I am also too lazy to go find it and reset it. I am KGIII, if you're curious. I assume you are not but I'll tell you anyhow. I am home again, which is also, presumably, unimportant to you. I still feel compelled to share, because I can.

  10. And it will be a monumental work of fiction by Maxo-Texas · · Score: 1, Troll

    I do look forward to the time when China can grow up and face it's real history.

    You get U.S. history, warts and all as a freshman in college.

    It's kinda painful how ignorant of U.S. history people with a high school degree can be at times.

    Then picture a billion chinese with a similar depth of knowledge about their countries history (even recent stuff).

    --
    She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
    1. Re:And it will be a monumental work of fiction by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      But these blue pills are sugar coated! Yum yum, a false reality, yum yum.

    2. Re:And it will be a monumental work of fiction by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You get U.S. history, warts and all as a freshman in college.

      Sure you do.

    3. Re:And it will be a monumental work of fiction by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I do look forward to the time when China can grow up and face it's real history.

      You get U.S. history, warts and all as a freshman in college.

      Funny how you can't even use an apostrophe correctly yet you presume to be informed about the world in general.

      It's time to STFU and learn English, you faggot.

    4. Re: And it will be a monumental work of fiction by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Quite likely an autocorrect error. And you kind of proved you're pretty bad at argument if you need personal attacks.

      You'll do well in life comrade. The Peoples' Republic thanks you for your dedication.

    5. Re:And it will be a monumental work of fiction by Maxo-Texas · · Score: 1

      I appreciate the moderation war going on over this comment posted above:

      I do look forward to the time when China can grow up and face it's real history.

      You get U.S. history, warts and all as a freshman in college.

      It's kinda painful how ignorant of U.S. history people with a high school degree can be at times.

      Then picture a billion chinese with a similar depth of knowledge about their countries history (even recent stuff).

      ---

      I mean, it's likely that china has rooms full of people who's job it is to manage world opinion on various forums around the world and slashdot is a significant one.

      It's currently at 2,Troll (up from 1,Troll). I managed a 4,Troll once before. Wondering if I'll make the fabled "5,Troll"!

      --
      She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
    6. Re:And it will be a monumental work of fiction by quenda · · Score: 1

      You get U.S. history, warts and all as a freshman in college.

      Let me know when they teach that the aggressors of the war of independence or the civil war were not necessarily the good guys.
      When they compare Lincoln's treatment of the Confederacy (half a million dead) to Mikhail Gorbachev's allowing the Baltic states to secede.
      Or the annexation of Hawaii to the annexation of Crimea?

    7. Re:And it will be a monumental work of fiction by Maxo-Texas · · Score: 1

      Uh. Dude. They do.

      They also talk about how we violated the white flag of peaceful parley in the phillipines and the various problems our founding fathers had. And how we experimented on black men- denying them treatment for syphilis.

      And yup- also go into how we had federal troops help with the annexation of Hawaii.

      Now- as to Crimea- if we were still in the 18th century, there would be no problem. But the world passed a set of laws prohibiting taking territory that way since then. And in a world with nuclear weapons, the knock on implications of such actions are much more dangerous than they were when we were literally sailing around in wooden ships using flintlocks.

      We can't judge nations actions pre world war I (and really pre-world war 2) by today's standards.

      --
      She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
  11. zh.wikipedia.org by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    ....it already exists, and they are free to write/edit it themselves

    1. Re:zh.wikipedia.org by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

      ....it already exists, and they are free to write/edit it themselves

      Wikipedia is hosted outside China, and they are NOT free to edit it because many controversial topics are locked or the "alternative truth" is quickly reverted.

      They can use zh.wikipedia.org as a starting point, but if they want a PC encyclopedia, they will have to write their own.

    2. Re:zh.wikipedia.org by aberglas · · Score: 3, Interesting

      NO. They will not have to write their own.

      Most articles are not controversial at all, and they will just sync them with Wikipedia. They can even do a real time sync, so that when Chinese editors update their version the updates go straight to Wikipedia.

      The controversial articles will be home grown. But that is only a small fraction of the total.

      That is the Archillies heal of Wikipedia. It can be selectively and repeatably forked. I see Russian and Turkish versions very soon.

      He who controls the past controls the future...

    3. Re:zh.wikipedia.org by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "They can even do a real time sync, so that when Chinese editors update their version the updates go straight to Wikipedia."

      No, they can't do that. That would require cooperation from Wikipedia. You think Wikipedia is going to collaborate with a propaganda site specifically created to undermine Wikipedia?

      They can do a sync but it would only be a one-way sync of Wikipedia->Propogandapedia. In turn if they do that they would have to block people from editing the Propogandapedia because that make it differ from Wikipedia and create merge errors. Then you'd get a situation where regular Chinese folks wanting to edit the Propogandapedia article on carrots or shih tzus or whatever would do it by going on a VPN and editing the actual Wikipedia, to get the update to sync over to Propogandapedia!

      The authorities won't want that so probably what they'll do is fork Wikipedia one time and then let the two diverge, with their paid staff copying over Wikipedia updates manually to some extent. However once the government blocks Wikipedia the Chinese version of Wikipedia will probably see a crash in the number of updates anyway, because most of its current editors probably live in the PRC.

    4. Re:zh.wikipedia.org by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Stupid Lao Wai. zh.wikipedia.org can't be opened form the mainland without a proxy server. Once again, your ignorance is front and center.

    5. Re: zh.wikipedia.org by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sorry, but this sounds like a joke. There already is a collaborative Chinese encyclopedia in existence, and it is censored by the Government of China already. This sounds like a senseless, top down, duplication of effort, wasting the people's yuan on a bloated government project.

  12. Only 20,000, that's efficient by davidwr · · Score: 1
    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
    1. Re:Only 20,000, that's efficient by es330td · · Score: 1

      I think you meant 30 million, not 30,000.

  13. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    they need the encycropedia to protect themselves from those GOD DAMN MONGORIANS

  14. All Glory to the Hypnotoad! by jfdavis668 · · Score: 1

    How do you translate "All Glory to the Hypnotoad!" into Chinese? It won't be complete without it.

    1. Re: All Glory to the Hypnotoad! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They should do an Chinese version of Encyclopedia Dramatica. ED, once you slog through the bile, can be remarkably entertaining and informative. Their South Ossetia article may well just be the best encyclopedic entry about the violence betwixt Russia and them. It is even, kind of, factual. Kind of...

  15. they are getting prepared by ozduo · · Score: 1

    as history is always written by the victors

    --
    I got to the chocolate box before you, that's why the hard ones have teeth marks.
  16. Sad by Tailhook · · Score: 1

    What else is there to say?

    Maybe Maduro can get some of his better fed Chavistas to make a Bolivarian wikipedia and spare us all our misguided views about the fabulous success of the revolution.

    --
    Maw! Fire up the karma burner!
  17. Revisionism: Chinese Ultimate Edition by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 0

    You thought Wikipedia vandalism was bad? Just wait until you see this when the Communist Chinese government gets done vandalizing reality.

    1. Re:Revisionism: Chinese Ultimate Edition by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      You thought Wikipedia vandalism was bad? Just wait until...Chinese government gets done vandalizing reality.

      Nothing we haven't seen before.

      "We built the biggest and best wall, everybody knows it. We know walls, we've been doing them for thousands of years. Our wall is so yuuuge you can see it from space, and it works because, let me tell you, WE are still here and the looosers wiped out. Bing bam boom, Gone!"

    2. Re:Revisionism: Chinese Ultimate Edition by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It's all good unless they start insisting still that the Chinese race is a direct descendant from the Chinese Homo Erectus. You know, to feel special and different from the rest and clearly a "superior" race. Hopefully they at least inspect the results before publishing the work to prevent the writers from pushing their own agendas and superstitions.

    3. Re:Revisionism: Chinese Ultimate Edition by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm not worried about the rest of the world. I'm worried about entire generations of Chinese kids being raised with a view of history that is a complete and total fabrication.

    4. Re: Revisionism: Chinese Ultimate Edition by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Like every generation before it?

      That and, well, it's not like the youth are actually spending time at the existent educational sites, unless otherwise forced to do so.

      Either way, the Chinese haven't really known the liberties you, or I, take for granted - in a very long time. As in, pretty much for some of the longest written accounts of humans, they've been shit on by their government and had few rights. For generation after generation, they have been lied to and fed false information, including historical information.

      It was not that many years ago that tourists needed a minder, for example. I am kinda surprised that they get any internet access, at all. Historically speaking, this is the least repressed they've ever been, for pretty much all of the written record. That record, by the way, goes back a very long ways and is colored by the biases of the authors.

      In other words, they'll probably be alright.

  18. What license ? by Alain+Williams · · Score: 1

    and who will be able to update pages ?

  19. Sure. by Areyoukiddingme · · Score: 1

    And then they'll have to retract half of it...

  20. Re: Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Who keep building them shitty walls.

  21. Wikipedia by SpaghettiPattern · · Score: 2

    Would Chinese Wikipedia then be losing 1/6 of its user base? Analogous to the Turkish version.

    --

    I hadn't the slightest objection to his spending his time planning massacres for the bourgeoisie... (P.G. Wodehouse)
  22. Re:they are getting prepared FTFY by zlives · · Score: 1

    as history is continually rewritten by the victors

  23. Re: Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't think that's accurate.

  24. Yeah right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If they're using the wikipedia model, I expect their volunteer contributors will dwindle once the government starts imprisoning authors of edits they don't like.

    1. Re:Yeah right by plopez · · Score: 2

      If they're using the wikipedia model, I expect their volunteer contributors will dwindle once the government starts imprisoning authors of edits they don't like.

      Volunteers will be selected and they will all be working willingly even if they aren't

      --
      putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
  25. I found the prototype! by CaptainDork · · Score: 1

    Navigate to http://permission/ Denied].cn

    --
    It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
  26. Culture by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Will it include all of the culture that China tried to purge and destroy with its Great Leap Forward?

    1. Re:Culture by plopez · · Score: 1

      Don't be silly. That's just Western revisionism. There was no Great Leap forward and no one ever starved.

      --
      putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
    2. Re:Culture by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Only if the Taiwanese are allowed to edit it...

  27. Re:they are getting prepared FTFY by Zanadou · · Score: 1

    Drama is always played by the actors.

  28. You Thought Wikipedia Was Fake Bullshit Now?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just wait until you get a look at the Chinese version.

    Entire episodes of Chinese history will be washed away.

  29. a competition by Max_W · · Score: 1

    I think it is a good idea. As Chinese proverb puts it: "Let a hundred flowers blossom".

  30. Alternate Facts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The second country to invest in alternate facts, apart from the USA. :)

  31. Re:WIKIPEDIA is every bit as biased inaccurate and by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No shit, sherlock.

    Wikipedia has enough editors who do remove junk edits very quickly.

  32. Old is new by djupedal · · Score: 2, Informative

    Back in the 1400s, when China sent large groups of ships around the globe, they distributed copies of their 'encyclopedias' as gifts to leaders of other countries they visited. Many inventions credited to Leonardo da Vinci came from such reference materials. It's nice to see that original spirit live on today.

    1. Re:Old is new by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Please provide links to support this. From what I've read there was no such fleet (may just be my ignorance though) and I've never heard of these encyclopaedias being distributed, and I'd be damn disappointed if LdV got so much from China without credit being fairly attributed. Links pls.

    2. Re:Old is new by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      An article documenting this will appear in China's upcoming Wikipedia.

    3. Re:Old is new by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They probably teach that shite in Chinese schools. Pictures or it didn't happen. And no, Chinese textbooks are not an authoritative source.

    4. Re:Old is new by Anonymous+Cow+Ward · · Score: 1

      I would also like to see a citation that any materials the Chinese passed out contained things that Leonardo eventually got credit for. I'm well aware that they sent fleets out (not around the globe, but certainly at least to parts of Africa and the Middle East), but I doubt they included reference materials of that nature. Feel free to prove me wrong though, that would be interesting.

      --
      Examine even your most deeply held beliefs. Nobody is always right.
  33. Marxapedia by epyT-R · · Score: 2

    So now we'll have marxapedia to contrast with conservapedia..

    A fitting addition to the age of Fake News and Alternative Facts.

    1. Re:Marxapedia by Max_W · · Score: 1

      But, please, note that Marx wrote: "I am not a Marxist". He explained that he discovered just some general long-term tendencies in development of the society, but he never meant that the history is a predefined march towards this or that.

    2. Re:Marxapedia by Drethon · · Score: 1

      So now we'll have marxapedia to contrast with conservapedia..

      A fitting addition to the age of Fake News and Alternative Facts.

      History is written by the winner, or something.

    3. Re:Marxapedia by Carewolf · · Score: 1

      So now we'll have marxapedia to contrast with conservapedia..

      A fitting addition to the age of Fake News and Alternative Facts.

      More likely to be a chinese translation of conservapedia rather than a communist counter-point. What they will be denying due to conservative double-think is just different things, like the existence of Taiwan, that China has ever been split into multiple warring parts, that Tibet has ever been independent, etc.

  34. 2 Versions of Wikipedia? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So now we'll have 2 versions - one for Chinese propaganda and one for Israeli propaganda - both filled with inaccuracies and disinformation.

  35. Reinvented Nupedia by T.E.D. · · Score: 1

    That isn't how Wikipedia works; that's how Nupedia worked.

    Unlike Wikipedia, Nupedia was not a wiki; it was instead characterized by an extensive peer-review process, designed to make its articles of a quality comparable to that of professional encyclopedias. Nupedia wanted scholars (ideally with PhDs) to volunteer content. Before it ceased operating, Nupedia produced 25 approved articles that had completed its review process (three articles also existed in two versions of different lengths), and 74 more articles were in progress

    If they want their own Wikipedia, they can't be restricting the pool of authors and trying to exercise top-down control on the content. OTOH, if they want Nupedia, they are on the right track.

    Nupedia was designed by committee, with experts to predefine the rules, and it approved only 21 articles in its first year, compared to Wikipedia posting 200 articles in the first month, and 18,000 in the first year

    Good luck with that, China.