Shades of Mao: The Posthumous Cult of the Great Leader (49 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 156
A Fan from Way Back
He Xin
The conservative yet generally perspicacious writer He Xin, a Beijing-based critic and sometime adviser to the Chinese government, writes and speaks with the diction of updated Maoism. He is the Jeremiah of the Reform period, a man whose opinions annoy people regardless of their position on the political spectrum.
1
Given the political sensitivity of the subject, it is not surprising that the following comments made in 1991 are not typical of He Xin's usually muscular style of exposition. Although expressed in the overblown, self-important diction characteristic of Beijing's intellectual strategists (
zhishi zonghengjia
), his comments do not stray from the Party line. He Xin's pro-Mao sentiments are shared by a range of intellectuals and writers who cannot be simply classified as "Maoists" or "conservatives." Perhaps "proto-nationalist" would be a more accurate tag.
Question: How do you see the MaoCraze and the Mao Zedong Thought Craze of recent years? (Tass Agency)
Answer: Let me say right at the start that Mao Zedong is one of the people I've most admired throughout my life.
In my opinion, three people have determined the fate of China in the twentieth century. The first was Sun Yat-sen, the second Mao, and the third Deng Xiaoping. Mao Zedong initiated a new era. He was a man who not only inherited from the past, he also bequeathed a legacy to the future.
In my view, Mao's greatness lies not only in the fact that he was a politician but that he was also a strategist and a thinker. He is undoubtedly an Historical Hero for the following three reasons: In the first place, he was a Revolutionary Hero born into a lowly family who brought about a political miracle. Second, he was a Patriotic Hero who led the Chinese people to wipe clean the slate of national humiliations suffered over a century. Third, he was a World-class Hero in the league of Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill and, like them, he changed the international political and economic balance of power and had a massive influence on world history in the second half of the twentieth century.

 

Page 157
I believe there are three main aspects to Mao Zedong Thought. The first is its clarity. Mao was never a person to indulge in flowery rhetoric. His language was forthright, direct, concise, and to the point. He never acted the sophist or played word games. Second, Mao Thought was uniquely Chinese. Mao saw the world and analyzed problems on the basis of the practical realities of China. He was never divorced from Chinese realities. Third, Mao Thought is practicable. In his view, if a theory, no matter how high-and-mighty sounding, had no practical validity, then it was meaningless.
In my personal opinion, Mao Zedong's errors were primarily in the economic sphere. A second error occurred because he often attempted to deal with problems that were not, given China's immediate historical context, ripe for resolution. His economic theories were rudimentary and it would appear that he lacked a relatively in-depth understanding of the way an economy functions. In terms of his economic aims, he was often impatient and ignored reality, preferring instead to pursue his own ideals. Nonetheless, if you make a study of Mao's economic thinking today you will often be startled by his extraordinary historical perspicacity and his strong intuition. He was outstanding, a man who was ahead of his time, and far superior to the general mass of humanity. (Take, for example, the two volumes of notes he made on the basis of his reading in economic theory.)
During the Mao era, especially during the Cultural Revolution, I was struggled and jailed. But even then my belief in him never wavered. I still respect him.
I believe that all future, meaningful Chinese moves toward modernization will have to start off from the historical base provided by Mao Zedong. You cannot overthrow that basis. If the legacy of Mao Zedong was obliterated, then China too would be finished.
As for the spontaneous MaoCraze that has appeared in China over recent years, allow me to make two points:
In the first place, today the Chinese are rediscovering patriotism. Mao Zedong is the symbolic figure who led China to achieve international recognition and historical respect in the twentieth century; second, having experienced many new social phenomena in the 1980s the Chinese people have come to appreciate the prescience of Mao Zedong's historical predictions. They have thereby discovered the relevance and significance of some of his theories.
Note
1. For more on He Xin, see his "A Word of Advice to the Politburo" and "A Letter from Beijing."

 

Page 158
A Typology of the MaoCraze
Zhang Weihong
This excerpt is from a restricted-circulation "sociology" publication produced in Shanghai. It offers a relatively objective and, presumably for the authorities, sobering overview of the Mao Cult among university students in the early 1990s.
Following the Beijing storm of 1989, all books related to Mao Zedong suddenly disappeared from the libraries at Beijing and Qinghua universities [having been borrowed by students]. Now, on the bookshelves of some university students, one can find a recent addition of
Selected Works of Mao Zedong,
which sits alongside the usual array of works by Sartre, Freud, and Nietzsche.
A considerable number of students began searching out biographies of Mao like
Mao Zedong Quits the Altar, Mao Zedong Approaches Divinity, The Tears of the Leader, A Biography of Mao Zedong, Inside and Outside the Palace Walls, History in the Palm of His Hand, The Latter Half of Mao Zedong's Life, His Guards Discuss Mao Zedong, Mao Zedong and His Secretary Tian Jiaying.
These and many other biographies are best-selling books, and students have been among their most enthusiastic readers.
On 26 December 1989, on the ninety-sixth anniversary of Mao Zedong's birth, some students at Beijing, Qinghua, Chinese People's, and Beijing Normal universities spontaneously organized a trip to the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall to commemorate this historical giant. A MaoCraze born at the university campuses of Beijing quickly spread to schools throughout the nation. At Nankai University and other tertiary institutions in Tianjin, students organized their own Mao Zedong Study Groups. University and middle school students in the Northeast led the way in reviving the wearing of Mao badges, which had not been seen for years. In Guangdong, Mao badges were soon selling for as much as 20
yuan
each. . . .
Although the MaoCraze has been particularly evident at tertiary institu-

 

Page 159
tions throughout China, it has never completely surplanted the "TDK Craze" (or TOEFL, Dance, and Kiss Craze) among young people who want to "go overseas, dance, and make love."
The MaoCraze of the 1980s and 1990s is no simple rehearsal of the Movement to Study Mao's Works that we saw in the 1950s and 1960s. The most obvious difference being that, in the past, Mao enthusiasts saw Mao as a god; in the present craze, Mao is regarded as a human being. The Mao enthusiasts of the past were basically of the "protect and respect" type. . . . In the 1980s and 1990s the typology of Mao enthusiasts is far more complex. . . .
Based on my own investigations, observation, and analysis, I would say that university students involved in the present MaoCraze can be divided into two groups: the theoretical-analytical type and the performance-art type. The former have engaged in a relatively systematic and in-depth study of Mao's life and writings, the latter browse through Mao books and enjoy raving on about Mao and thereby reveal a range of political sentiments. The theoretical-analytical group can be further broken down into those who support Mao, those who oppose him, and the pragmatists. The performance-art type can be subdivided into those who respect Mao and those who ridicule him.
The Theoretical-Analytical pro-Mao Type.
After achieving an in-depth understanding of Mao, these individuals come to appreciate Mao's character and personality. "He was neither an affected and self-important `god', nor was he one of those political mediocrities who knew what he should do but could never muster enough courage to act." Second, they affirm his place in history. Third, they recognize the theoretical value of Mao Zedong Thought. In particular, they admire Mao's line that "everything should be done first and foremost for the People." These students are working hard at becoming the young bloods who will invigorate the Communist Party that Mao Zedong created. They want to struggle for the rest of their lives for the cause of socialism in China. This group forms the core of all Mao Study Groups.
The Theoretical-Analytical Oppositionists.
These individuals are particularly interested in studying the errors Mao made during peacetime and the erroneous statements he made in his later years. Of course, they do not ignore what he said and did in his younger years either. They are the opposite of the group described above since, first and foremost, they want to negate the personal worth of Mao. They also have a frightening capacity for unearthing historical material. For example, by delving into official publications they have discovered that although Yang Kaihui [Mao's much-praised first wife] was arrested on 24 October 1930 and executed on 14 November of that year, Mao married He Zizhen some two years earlier, in September 1928.
1

 

Page 160
Most oppositionists have availed themselves of the famous contemporary Taiwan writer Li Ao's works, which can be found in the humanities collections at major university libraries.
2
Li Ao has published more than a hundred books, many of which have been banned by the Taiwanese authorities. His work on Sun Yat-sen, Chiang Kai-shek, and Nationalist [KMT] history is meticulous, his ultimate aim being to undermine the KMT itself. In his
Researches into Sun Yat-sen,
Li Ao declared: "Everyone on both sides of the Taiwan Straits snaps to attention in the presence of Sun. Well I, Li Ao, am issuing the order for everyone to stand at ease." Oppositionist students find that they share a lot in common with Li Ao's style and, like him, study the minutiæ of Party history, Mao, and Mao's writings. Their ultimate aim is, when the time is right, to produce a "thoroughgoing theory" that will overturn Mao Zedong Thought and destroy communism. They despise and oppose the Party's Leadership, the Socialist Path, and the Proletarian Dictatorship as first formulated by Mao Zedong. Although the pro-Mao group and oppositionists are completely different, their energy and devotion to their research is strikingly similar.
The Theoretical-Analytical Pragmatists.
The aim of these individuals is, in their own words, to study Mao Zedong so they "can cut through the excess flab and get to the meat of the subject." A typical example of their attitude was evident in July 1989, after the PLA tanks occupied Tiananmen Square. They started studying Mao Zedong's essay "On Protracted Warfare" and declared that "we must embrace the spirit of the Anti-Japanese War and utilize the strategy and tactics of the Eighth Route Army, the Guerrillas, and the People in their struggle against the Jap devils to oppose the. . . ."
3
As the deputy secretary of the Beijing Municipal Communist Youth League commented: "The `Craze to Find Mao Zedong' does, on one level, reflect a kind of nostalgia, an attraction to the rebelliousness of the past, and a fascination with power politics.''
The pragmatists are particularly interested in Maoist strategies like how the weak can take advantage of the strong and defeat them and the confident manner with which he formulated military maneuvers. The pragmatists invariably think they are experienced and world-wise. Since they are regarded by their elders as immature and malleable, they are even more determined to get a hold on Mao Zedong. Some of them are quite hubristic and declare: "Just as Marx overthrew Hegel, so too will we discard Mao Zedong Thought."
The Reverential Performance-Art Type.
They are involved in the Craze but are too busy with their studies to spend time researching Mao Thought. They rely instead on the indoctrination they have received over the years and believe that Mao Thought is a shining achievement and that the Party is

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