Professor Wu was transferred to the Institute of Foreign Relations.

"Everybody was elated, even the leftists, people who had been very active in denouncing me," Professor Wu said.

"I didn't consider myself a rightist," Professor Wu said.

Some weeks later, Professor Wu was handed a train ticket and taken to the station on a donkey cart.

Professor Wu noted, though, that the muted reaction to the American decision was somewhat misleading.

Professor Wu said much the same - that the date is "sort of a collective property," beyond any individual claim.

By the time the war ended Professor Wu said only 30 percent of the Miao were left.

The issues raised by the new subpoena, while substantial, are fairly technical, according to Professor Wu.

"If you emphasized the artist, then it would be a work of art," Professor Wu said.

"It's a very complex image," said Professor Wu, who grew up near Beijing.