Shades of Mao: The Posthumous Cult of the Great Leader (10 page)

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Authors: Geremie Barme

Tags: #History, #Asia, #China, #Literary Criticism, #Asian, #Chinese, #Political Science, #Political Ideologies, #Communism; Post-Communism & Socialism, #World, #General, #test

BOOK: Shades of Mao: The Posthumous Cult of the Great Leader
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Page 34
at the Xianyou Temple in Zhouzhi County, Shaanxi Province, the place where the poem was composed. The 4-meter-high, 5.28-meter-long stela was placed in a traditional pavilion structure roofed with mock-imperial glazed
liuli
tiles. For reasons not given, Mao reproduced only 224 of the 840 characters of the original poem. Unsigned and not inscribed in any way, this calligraphic jotting was, nonetheless, deemed worthy of reproduction and insinuated into the ancient site of Bo Juyi's composition
152
(see Figure 12).
Although Mao's highly individualistic style of calligraphy continues to be emulated, the quality of the original works is questionable. One of the most perceptive comments on Mao's hand comes from the art historian Pierre Ryckmans, writing as Simon Leys:
His [Mao's] calligraphy . . . is strikingly original, betraying a flamboyant egotism, to the point of arrogance, if not extravagance; at the same time it shows a total disregard for the formal discipline of the brush, and this contempt for technical requirements condemns his work, however powerful, to remain essentially inarticulate. His poetry, so aptly described by Arthur Waley as "not as bad as Hitler's painting, but not as good as Churchill's," was rather pedantic and pedestrian, managing to combine obscurity with vulgarity; and yet, within the framework of an obsolete form, it remains, in its very awkwardness, remarkably unfettered by conventions.
153
As the Mao Cult was reaching its height in late 1991, the Shandong artist Zhou Pengfei (b. 1970) put on a major exhibition of his Mao-style (
Maoti
) calligraphy in Beijing, issuing invitations in imitation Mao handwriting.
154
Zhao Yihong, the manager of the Yihong Book Workshop in Chengdu, Sichuan, specialized in book covers using Mao calligraphy, showing particular preference for the word "struggle" (
dou
) as penned by the Chairman in his designs. For imitators and students of Mao's calligraphy by then there were also a number of useful reference books; the most impressive was
The Great Compendium of Mao Zedong's Calligraphy,
which contained 2,362 characters in Mao's hand culled from numerous sources as well as a 16-page selection of Mao's signatures.
155
Imitation, however, is not necessarily the most sincere form of flattery. In late 1994, the well-known
guohua
(Chinese painting) artist Wu Guanzhong took the major Shanghai art company Duoyunxuan and the Hong Kong Yongcheng Antique Auctioners to court for auctioning a Cultural Revolution-period painting reputedly by him bearing the inscription "Bombard the Headquartersmy big character poster" (
Paoda silingbuwode yizhang dazibao
) in Mao-style calligraphy.
156
Wu denied that he had done the work, which fetched H.K.$528,000 when sold to a Taiwanese collector in 1993, and was outraged by accusations that he was attempting to profit out of the Mao centenary in such an unscrupulous fashion.
157

 

Page 35
Other, more commercial imitations of Mao include advertisements such as the massive billboard visible near Shanghai Station in December 1991 for wallpaper and interior decorating products that featured the line
"Yu gong yi shan"
the title of Mao's famous homily "The Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains"followed by words to the effect that if you used their product you, too, could move beautiful mountain scenery into your own living room. In 1992 the Changsha Advertising Company in Hunan maintained a massive billboard featuring Mao's calligraphic inscription "Learn from Comrade Lei Feng" to promote itself (see Figure 13), and for years the Beijing tourist authorities have used a line from Mao's poetry
budao Changcheng fei haohan
(If you don't make it to the Great Wall you're not a real man)to sell tours to the Great Wall. But the exploitation of Mao's image in advertising was officially banned with the promulgation of China's advertising law in October 1994.
158
Mao's poetry, also the subject of controversy, inspired such imitators as Chen Mingyuan, a man jailed after 4 June as a dissident. In the 1960s Chen authored numerous poems in the classical style, and in the early years of the Cultural Revolution a collection of these were produced in book form in the belief that they were actually by Mao. Chen's attempts to clear up this misunderstanding in both the 1960s and 1980s led to seemingly endless political persecution.
159
Reprisals and marketing of Mao have been particularly successful in the free port of Hong Kong. David Tang, founder of the China Club, an up-market retreat for the well heeled, has played with Cultural Revolution fashion and Mao kitsch in the décor of the club and the uniforms of its workers. In early 1995 he opened Shanghai Tang, a department store on Pedder Street in Central District that specialized in stylish and pricey nostalgia goods inspired by Old Shanghai and the formerly revolutionary China.
160
From the mid 1960s, local authorities made many attempts to evoke the cachet of Mao. But, as we have noted, by the early 1980s Mao had become both a political and an economic burden. Internal documents and circulars similar to those referred to in "Pulping Mao" above were also issued to organizations outside the publishing industry that were still promoting the defunct Mao Cult.
In 1979 an internal
Guangming Daily
report published in the limited-circulation publication
Propaganda Trends
commented on attempts to commemorate an inspection tour Mao had made of Wuhu in Anhui Province in 1958. During the tour Mao had spent the night in Building No. 2 of the Tieshan Guesthouse. In the Cultural Revolution, Mao's rooms in the guesthouse were closed to the public and converted into a museum. By the time

 

Page 36
this tardy consecration took place, however, none of the original bedding, books, or other everyday trivia that Mao had used during his visit could be found, so simulacra were provided.
Being withdrawn from public use at a time of increased local and international tourism, and hardly a site worthy of revolutionary adulation, in 1979 the two hotel rooms represented nothing more than lost revenue: More than 5,000
yuan
were forfeited annually to maintain the suite's cult status. As the report observed: "Comrade Mao Zedong was always in favor of frugality. Since there is a Chairman Mao Memorial Hall in Beijing and museums in places where Chairman Mao spent considerable periods of time like Shaoshan, Jinggangshan, Zunyi, and Yan'an, surely such minor commemorative rooms are not really necessary."
161
The first boom in "Mao tourism" during the 1960s had seen the conversion of numerous other places Mao had been, the rooms in which he had worked or slept, and even the paths on which he had walked, turned into commemorative spots with plaques or cenotaphs recording details of the historic visitation.
162
Although revolutionary fervor was dying down in the late 1970s and official attempts were being made to bring an end to Mao worship, organizations throughout the country were gradually realizing the commercial potential of the revolutionary sites that came under their jurisdiction. Some places were already charging foreign travelers exorbitant rates for rooms they claimed had been built for or lived in by Mao. A Department of Propaganda notice was circulated in 1979 warning that the exploitation of Mao's name was not only improper but it also gave foreigners entirely the wrong impression.
163
Despite such official interdictions, however, the "Chairman Mao slept here" ploy was often used to attract visitors and became an excuse to charge high prices. From the late 1980s, the largest Mao tourist trap in China was his hometown in Hunan.
Shaoshanchong (now Shaoshan City), Mao Zedong's birthplace, or "the place where the Red Sun rose," as the Cultural Revolution hosanna put it, was a small town of some 1,500 inhabitants. At the height of the Mao revival in the early 1990s it became a major profit center.
Shaoshan had originally been a district in Xiangtan County, Hunan. During the Cultural Revolution it was promoted to the status of Special District and put directly under provincial control, in recognition of its unimpeachable revolutionary pedigree. In 1980, as Mao's status fell, so did that of his birthplace, and Shaoshan was reduced once more to being a district in Xiangtan. The bloated bureaucracy of the township was also cut back and, in what became a major scandal, a local budget surplus of 1.4 million
yuan
was covertly distributed among these employees in lieu of severance pay. The scandal was duly reported in the
People's Daily,
164
and an odium clung

 

Page 37
to the township throughout the decade.
165
With the Chairman's revival in the 1990s, however, such economic freewheeling seemed to be more prescient than reprehensible.
"May you make a fortune out of Chairman Mao!" (
fa Mao zhuxide cai!
), according to one report, became the usual greeting in Shaoshan as the new Mao Cult attracted tourists in numbers not seen for nearly a quarter of a century.
166
In the early 1990s some 3,000 visitors arrived daily, and in 1992 alone more than 1.2 million people trekked to Shaoshan to see the Mao family home and the many sites associated with Mao's childhood.
167
This came after a low in the mid 1980s, when only 50,000 to 60,000 visitors were visiting the town annually.
168
While the numbers of tourists in the 1990s could hardly compare with the mass of pilgrims who inundated Shaoshan in the mid 1960s60,000 a day, most of whom traveled by footnonetheless, the new influx caused a major economic shift in the district, and many locals abandoned traditional agricultural production in favor of the hospitality industry. Of the population of 1,500, more than 780, or 52 percent, were soon engaged in the catering business or selling Mao trinkets at stalls lining the approaches to Mao's house
169
(see Figure 14).
With Shaoshan awash in tourist dollars, sex workers also saw a dramatic increase in their takings. Many of these prostitutes were reportedly Hunan women who, having failed to make the grade in the highly competitive environment of Guangdong (in particular the Special Economic Zones of Shenzhen and Zhuhai), returned home to ply their trade. When I visited Shaoshan in mid 1992 after an absence of some seventeen years, I was accosted by young girls whose general come-on line was as simple as it was direct: "Wanna screw?" (
dadong bu?
literally, "wanna poke the hole?"), they asked.
Hotels and restaurants throughout the township sported names that exulted in the Mao surname. Dozens of local houses were converted into eateries and pensions. The earliest and most famous of them was the Mao Family Restaurant (see Figure 15).
Situated on a hillock overlooking the Mao homestead, the Mao Family Restaurant (
Maojia fandian
) was run by Tang Ruiren, a distant relative of Mao Zedong himself. Before opening her restaurant in 1984, "Granny Tang's" main claim to fame was that she had been photographed with Mao and a number of other local peasants in 1959.
170
Customers would be greeted and have a Mao badge pinned on the clothing. Tang would then encourage them to order the most expensive items on the menu: spicy and greasy dishes she claimed were "Chairman Mao's favorites"
171
(see Figure 16). Along with the bill at the end of the meal, diners would be presented with autographed copies of the photograph in which Tang, in the flush of youth, appears stand-

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