Shades of Mao: The Posthumous Cult of the Great Leader (50 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 161
a glorious organization. They have all read some of Mao's works and have been moved by Mao's prose. Although they lack the solid theoretical base of the pro-Maoists found among the theoretical-analytical type, they are devoted to the Party and its leader, enthusiastically stating that they will always maintain unity with the Party. Of all the people involved in the MaoCraze they appear the most stable.
The Irreverent Performance-Art Type.
Some time ago there was a shooting incident at an art exhibition in Beijing which left a deep impression on this type of student. That exhibition featured many strange forms of "performance art," one included a couple who fired a gun at their own art work resulting in their detention by the police. They claimed that by shooting at their installation they had completed a work of "performance art."
4
The irreverent types of Mao fan will bedeck themselves with Mao badges pinned at odd angles, enjoy reworking "The East Is Red," a traditional paean for Mao, with frenetic rock music while singing it as though it were a dirge. Or they will sing the moving and sentimental [Yan'an period revolutionary song] "Nanniwan" in a stentorian fashion. They express their rejection of society and its values in various romantic ways. . . . They are particularly active participants in the fad, but their enthusiasm will wane as suddenly as it waxed. . . .
From the above it is evident that, in the first place, the MaoCraze of the late 1980s was an indication that China's university students were gradually leaving behind the "crisis of belief" that had been evident before. Secondly, people were moving out of the crisis in different ways and going in different directions. Thirdly, the new belief systems that are being established are mutually unrelated.
Notes
1. The sources given in the text are:
Mao Zedong yiwenlu,
pp. 37-43 and 57-60, originally published in
Zhongyang dangshi shijian renwu lu,
Shanghai: Shanghai renmin chubanshe, and
Mingren zhuanji
magazine, 1987: 5.
2. Li Ao (b. 1935) moved to Taiwan with his family in 1948. A student of the historian Hu Shi, Li has been the most acerbic and prolific critic of Taiwan political life since the 1960s. Some of his works were published on the Mainland from 1989.
3. Presumably, the author's sense of political decorum led him to expunge the words "Communist Party" here.
4. The "shooting incident" occurred in February 1989 at the "Modern Chinese Art" exhibition held at the China Art Gallery. Tang Song and Xiao Lu, both students of the Zhejiang Art Academy, shot two rounds of ammunition at their own work, a sculpture entitled "Dialogue," which featured a pair of telephone booths. The artists were detained for a short time by the police and the exhibition was closed down. See Barmé and Jaivin,
New Ghosts, Old Dreams,
pp. 279-83.

 

Page 162
The Sun Never Sets
Su Ya and Jia Lusheng
Better known for works of reportage that border on the controversiallike
White Cat Black CatAn Insight into the State of the Reforms,
1
Su Ya and Jia Lusheng authored one of the most sycophantic contributions to the MaoCraze.
The Sun Never Sets
is a volume of reportage devoted to Mao published in early 1992. In it the writers plumb depths of tastelessness rarely fathomed even by official propagandists. While less hysterical than Cultural Revolution paeans to Mao, the authors' adulation for the Leader would be familiar to the formulators of the
Führerprinzip
in Nazi Germany or the Kim Il-song/Kim Jong-il cults in North Korea.
Much of the book is worth quoting, however, due to limitations of space, only a number of short selections have been made for the reader's delectation.
A Corpse that's Like a Constellation
Isn't China just like an ancient architect?
The Great Wall, the Epang Palace,
2
the Forbidden City, the Ming Tombs, the Temple of Confucius, the Dunhuang Caves. Centuries of work and artistic endeavour have resulted in a uniquely Chinese building style, an insignia of our own.
Opposite Tiananmen, the Gate of Heavenly Peace, stands a grave and powerful structure
The Chairman Mao Memorial Hall!
The materials used in its construction are nothing out of the ordinary:
There is marble and granitethe skeletons of our mountain ranges;
Pine and dragon sprucethe limbs of our forests;
And the warmth of our own furnacessteel and concrete. . . .
Add to that the talent, workmanship, sweat, faith, respect, longing and

 

Page 163
concern of a massive nation, combine them all into a seamless whole and then this stellar structure shines brilliantly.
The most important thing is its location: Tiananmen Square, the bosom of the People.
This is the final resting place for the wisest and strongest soul that China has seen in her recent history; an abode for the body of a Great Man who saved his nation from disasters unknown anywhere else or at any other time in history.
The People have built this tomb in their heart, in Tiananmen, for this is the place where they entrust their hopes and aspirations, where they go for comfort and consolation.
No one will ever forget that terrible day: 9 September 1976.
On that night a massive star fell from the heavens of the East.
It was the greatest funeral in the 5,000 years of Chinese history.
Everyone, from babes in swaddling clothes to old people with walking sticks, judges and convicts, thinkers and illiterates, wore black armbands as a sign of mourning.
Dark clouds shrouded the land.
In the silence that enveloped the nation all that could be heard was crying and funeral music, an expression of collective grief for the life that had left that Great Body.
Amidst the dirges that issued from hoarse throats the whole nation bowed thrice solemnly and the coffin was closed tight.
But the People's hearts have not thereby been sealed.
Fifteen years have passed and still columns of mourners pass by His coffin every day. In those fifteen years over 67 million people have come to view His remains. It is like a dream. People who never had a chance to see him when he called out "Long Live the People"
3
can find satisfaction in viewing His remains today, even if only for an instant. . . .
He lies preternaturally still, His body covered with the red flag of the Party. The powerful hammer and sharp sickle, insignia of struggle and symbols of belief, are now forever branded on His chest.
No more need He do battle with the tempests of life. The gravid storm clouds and the unpredictable tides have receded now.
History makes Great Leaders the subject for research because they rule over a whole age and their rule shakes the very earth. For History Mao Zedong possesses a charisma that surpasses that of Qin Shihuang, Emperor Wu of the Han, as well as the founders of the Tang, Song, Ming and Yuan dynasties.
4

 

Page 164
Who can deny it?
He started out as a humble student and went on to create a philosophical system. He founded a political party and developed a powerful armed force. After 28 years, He overthrew the old power structure and sent shockwaves through the world by turning the "Sick Man of Asia" into a force to be reckoned with. These are unique achievements in the annals of Chinese history.
Look! History has its gaze fixed firmly on the body of Mao Zedong, this Great Man. History looks out from the eyes of every mourner and the gaze of the People creates the line of vision of History itself.
First and foremost they see the mole that is so perfectly positioned on that broad chin of His. And from it issues a series of mysterious questions: are the extraordinary talents of the Leader the mere product of nature? Why was He the one to establish the Republic? How did a peasant's son from an isolated mountain village become the shimmering Big Dipper in our firmament?
5
Fate decreed Him to be the Generalissimo, the Subduer, the Liberator. How did a young boy who studied at a local school develop such a wise soul? Was He really a genius?
6
When the Age chooses a genius is it inevitable or accidental?
But the Leader is the Leader, it's as simple as that. It is a status that can only be bestowed by Time itself.
Mao Zedong's existence is answer enough to all of these questions.
It is in a state of calm reflection that we must recognize that we have a responsibility to learn from the mysteries of the Leader. It is a responsibility that everyone living in China today shares in common. As we become aware of the material nature of His body, its mystery evaporates. The difference between the earth, mountains, forests, lakes and seas lies entirely in their unique makeup. Perhaps, in the same way, the makeup of the Leader's soul is different from that of normal people.
He had an oriental face inherited from His parents. Everything about it was big: it was broad, the eyebrows bushy, eyes large. His nose was prominent, His lips thick and He had big ear lobes. He had a massive forehead, too, it was like the door to a treasurehouse; it is as though the energies of the whole race were stored in that one skull. Perhaps He needed a powerful body to hold high that massive head.
The stature of that body is equivalent to the significance He had on the scales of social reality.
He maintained the equilibrium of an age. Without the Leader the People would have been incomplete. Without Him the great mansion of socialism would have collapsed.
Although He went through so much, none of His suffering marked His

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