Read Shades of Mao: The Posthumous Cult of the Great Leader Online

Authors: Geremie Barme

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

Shades of Mao: The Posthumous Cult of the Great Leader (71 page)

BOOK: Shades of Mao: The Posthumous Cult of the Great Leader
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Page 233
Who's Responsible?
Wei Jingsheng
This is reportedly the first article Wei Jingsheng had published in the Hong Kong press following his release from some fourteen years in jail in 1993. Although a powerful indictment of the Chinese government, the awkward style that is so common among China's dissidentsadded to the fact that Wei had not written for publication for some timeweakens the piece considerably. Wei was spirited away once more by the authorities in early 1994 and sentenced to another long jail term in December 1995.
Can anyone have the final word on Mao Zedong? No, because he still has an influence. Put frankly, there are still people around who want to use his name for their own nefarious ends.
I think most people have had a pretty good idea about what type of man Mao really was for quite some time now. He cast virtually the whole of China into a state of violence, duplicity, and poverty. He was indirectly responsible for more than a 100 million people starving to death and for the destitution of a similar number who were forced to abandon their homes and become beggars. Another 100 million were subjected to direct or indirect political persecution and suffered years of spiritual and physical anguish. He was guilty of other heinous crimes that are too numerous to list.
He was an outstanding tyrant who outdid similar figures both in China and overseas. In this sense alone he can be called a "Great Man" or "unique." But to be fair, although he must be held chiefly responsible for the extreme poverty and backwardness the Chinese have had to put up with for some four decades, he is not the only guilty party. All the henchmen who helped him concoct those disastrous plots and plans must also be held culpable. As for the general mass of people who have tolerated their outrageous behavior and have even treated them as superior beings, giving them support and encouragement, they too cannot escape a certain amount of responsibility.
As a youth I too worshipped Mao Zedong. When I finally woke up to

 

Page 234
myself, I was overcome with remorse. Only later did I realize that remorse was not enough. It was necessary to see through him and the louts who assisted him and then fight back, for only then could we save ourselves and others who were experiencing the same suffering.
We cannot hold out any hope for a savior or upright official to deliver us. Nor can we rely too heavily on the help of friends. Only we can help ourselves, for only then will others be willing to help us. No one is going to help people who tolerate abuse without fighting back.
These are basic and pressing lessons that we Chinese cannot afford to forget. If we don't learn from the past the people who like to deploy the unprincipled "Great Men" to support their own actions will abuse us once more, just as Mao toyed with and denigrated us, while he expected people to treat him like a god. To an extent the viciousness of the rulers is the result of the weakness and compliance of the masses. Only when people learn how to defend their own rights will the rulers be forced to make concessions. The Chinese should never forget this lesson for it is a lesson written in blood.
3 November 1993

 

Page 235
Publish and Perish:
Central Department of Propaganda
By the early 1990s, the Mao Cult, in particular in publishing, had spawned an extremely lucrative industry. The tabloid press and local publishers who produced on-off "magazine-books" churned out articles and special editions devoted to Mao and various aspects of his life and career. Although nearly all of this material kept safely within the confines of PC taste as defined by the propaganda authorities the style of the publications attempted to be as sensational as possible. A number of liberal intellectuals in Beijing and Shanghai, however, attempted to produce books that examined Mao and the MaoCraze in a more critical light, but they were prevented from publication by the following Department of Propaganda order. Independent analysis and evaluation of the complex and disturbing legacy of Mao by nonspecialists was, for the time being, thwarted on the Mainland.
Meanwhile, numerous volumes of hagio-trash that made only passing acknowledgement to the po-faced stipulations of the following document were produced for the centenary, many of them published by supposed bastions of ideological rectitude like the Central Party School Publishing House in Beijing.
Central Department of Propaganda and News and Publishing Administration Circular Concerning Publication Work Related to the Commemoration of the Centenary of Comrade Mao Zedong's Birth (24 March 1992)
26 December 1993 is the centenary of the birth of Comrade Mao Zedong. Comrade Mao was a great Marxist, the founder and leader of the Communist Party of China, the People's Liberation Army and the People's Republic of China. The solemn commemoration of Comrade Mao's centenary is of the greatest significance in our pursuit of the Party's basic line of adhering to "one centre and two basic points"
1
and in the task of building socialism with Chinese characteristics. One of the important elements of the

 

Page 236
commemorative activities is the publication of outstanding theoretical works related to the study and propagation of Mao Zedong Thought, as well as the publication of popular and other books. In order to carry out this task efficiently we hereby issue the following circular:
1. The effective publication of works in relation to Comrade Mao's centenary is an important and serious political duty. All propaganda departments and news and publishing organizations must give their full and earnest attention to energetically organizing this work, making careful arrangements, prioritizing tasks, ensuring the quality of publications and guarding against empty formalism;
2. Works to be published as part of the centenary, including the writings of Mao Zedong, selected writings, manuscripts, collections of letters, as well as biographies of Mao Zedong, memoirs, works of reportage, academic studies, reference books and picture albums, are to be strictly reviewed and approved according to the stipulations and guidelines that have been set out;
3. In accordance with the relevant rules, it is forbidden for any publisher without the appropriate authority to produce books of this kind. If plans have been made for such publications they are to be abandoned forthwith and any infraction of this regulation will be investigated and punished severely;
4. The writing and editing of all books in this category is only to be undertaken by specialized personnel. Manuscripts that, according to the regulations, have to be submitted to the relevant organs for review must be sent in. All manuscripts that deal with major historical issues must take as their standard Party Central's [1945] "Resolution on Certain Questions of History" and [the 1981 document] "On Questions of Party HistoryResolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party Since the Founding of the People's Republic of China." As for matters pertaining to major Party secrets, publishers must comply with the relevant rules of Party Central without exception and ensure that no state secrets are disclosed;
5. In producing the above books all publishers must strictly enforce the system of the "three-tier editing" of manuscripts
2
so that the political content of all works can be carefully monitored. If there are any uncertainties advice should immediately be sought according to the relevant regulations. At the same time, it is vital that the quality of manuscripts is insured, as well as the quality of printing and binding; and
6. So as to enthusiastically and responsibly carry out this important work, all titles to be produced for the centenary are to be submitted by local publishers to the relevant provincial departments of propaganda and news and publishing bureaux for examination and approval. Central publishers

 

Page 237
are to report to their relevant superiors.
3
All titles, both from local and central publishers, are to be collated and reported to the Publishing Bureau of the Department of Propaganda and the Book Department of the News and Publishing Administration by 15 April 1992 for filing. These two organizations are to carry out effectively the coordination and direction of the production of these titles.
Notes
1. "One center and two basic points" (
yige zhongxin, liangge jiben dian
) is the official shorthand for the Party's line during the "primary stage of socialism." In full, the line is "to take economic construction as the center, adhere to the Four Basic Principles and pursue Reform and the Open Door."
2. "Three-tier editing" (
sanshen
) refers to the process whereby a manuscript would be reviewed first by an editorial group, then by the head of the relevant editorial department and finally by the editor-in-chief of the magazine, journal or publishing house. See Zhongyang xuanchuanbu bangongting, ed.,
Dangde xuanchuan gongzuo wenxian xuanbian,
p. 197.
3. Central publishers include such national publishers as the People's Publishing House, People's Literature Publishing House, Joint Publishers, Zhonghua Publishers, and so on. They would report directly to the Department of Propaganda and the National News and Publishing Administration.

 

Page 238
The MaoCrazy West
Hai Feng
An employee of the Party School of the Hainan Provincial Party Committee, Hai Feng comments on the origins and significance of the long-term "MaoCraze" among overseas scholars and analysts.
Why did people overseas start doing research on Mao Zedong? Why does the MaoCraze continue? An American scholar gave the following overview: "The reason we do research work on Mao and Mao Thought is so that we can better understand China's past, present, and future." This man has found the key with which to open the door of China. China gave birth to and created Mao Zedong; Mao was born for the sake of China and he created New China. China and Mao Zedong are regarded as being one unit. Only by studying and understanding Mao Zedong can you really know China. This realization is the crucial basis for any work you want to do on China. Therefore, there is a logical connection between the objective need for the outside world to understand China and to study Mao Zedong and his relationship with China. This is why Mao and his Thought have spread so far internationally and there are in-depth studies of him. This is why we are interested in the origins of the Mao fever overseas.
1. The Strategic Position of China Determines International Attention and Demands That People take Mao Zedong into Account.
In the twentieth century China has undergone an enormous historical transformation. It has gone from being a colonial and semi-colonial society to one that has won national independence; it has developed from being a poor and backward nation to becoming a prosperous one. Politically and economically China has had a profound influence on the international scene. Under the leadership of the Communist Party and Mao Zedong and, following the founding of the People's Republic, the Chinese people have been self-reliant and struggled hard and, up to the time of the Cultural
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