Looking Back, Looking Forward: Commemorating 40 Years of U.S.-China Relations
“What is a road? It is something trampled out of a place where once there was no road; it is made from a place where once there were only brambles and thickets.”
Lu Xun
Officials and citizens in the United States and the People’s Republic of China had no pre-ordained path to follow as they sought to establish diplomatic relations in the 1970s. It was not certain then that we would embark on a relationship highlighted by engagement in the decades that followed. Nonetheless, a pathway was forged through the wilderness that has become wider and more well-trodden than anyone could have ever imagined when formal diplomatic relations were established on January 1, 1979. Indeed, engagement between our countries has gone from something that was carefully managed, high-level, and rare to an occurrence so frequent in business, science, academia, politics, tourism, and everyday life that we often take it for granted. The road created by our predecessors—while not wholly smooth, rarely straight, and at times challenging to travel—has contributed to prosperity for the people of both countries, and the whole world, through exchange of people, ideas, information, culture, and commerce.
Today, the future path of our bilateral relationship is also uncertain. The road we choose to create will be hugely consequential for the people of the United States, the People’s Republic of China, and the world. We owe it to our contemporaries and to those who will come after us to proceed in a way that honors the magnitude of that potential, even while we remain attentive to protecting the ideals and interests of our respective countries.
The images in this exhibition, curated by Meridian International Center with support from the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, exemplify many aspects of engagement between our countries. I hope that visitors to it will not only reflect upon the past, but also ponder what photographs we might display another 40 years from now on the 80th anniversary of our formal diplomatic relations. The possibilities are almost endless. The brambles and thickets await our best efforts.
Dan Murphy
Executive Director
Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies and Harvard China Fund
Harvard University
President Richard Nixon meets with Chairman Mao Zedong, 1972
Beijing
Courtesy of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
继往开来：纪念美中建交40周年
“什么是路？就是从没路的地方践踏出来的，从只有荆棘的地方开辟出来的。”
鲁迅
上世纪70年代，在美国和中华人民共和国寻求建立外交关系之初，两国的官员和公民并无既定道路可循。当时并不确定我们会开启一段因随后几十年的交往而令人瞩目的关系。尽管如此，一条道路已在旷野中开辟出来，这条路愈发宽广，人们纷至沓来，超出了1979年1月1日两国建立正式外交关系时任何人想象力所及。事实上，两国之间的交往已从昔日为数不多、缜密安排的高层交往变为商业、科学、学术、政治、旅游及日常生活中的频繁交往，以至于人们对此习以为常。我们的前辈开创的道路虽非坦途，且时有曲折和挑战，但它已通过人文、思想、信息、文化和商业交流，为两国人民的繁荣乃至全球繁荣作出了贡献。
如今，我们双边关系未来的道路亦尚未可知。我们选择开创的路将对美国、中华人民共和国，以及全世界的人民产生深远影响。即便我们依然专心致力于对我们各自国家的理念和利益的保护，我们仍有责任为了时人后世在前进之时谨记这之中潜力之巨大。
此次展览由默里迪恩国际中心（Meridian International Center）在美国驻华大使馆的支持下策划。展出的图像体现了我们两国间交往的诸多方面。我希望它不仅能让观众回顾过去，还能让人思考四十年后，即两国正式建交八十周年之际我们能展示什么样的照片。可能性近乎无限。前路荆棘，有待我们踔力开拓。
哈佛大学
费正清中国研究中心及哈佛中国基金
执行董事
慕浩然
尼克松总统与毛主席会面，1972年
北京
理查德·尼克松总统图书馆暨博物馆供图