New debate
June 9, 2011
Tiananmen Square is the best place to experience Mao’s legacy. That is where the Mao Mausoleum is, in front of which long queues form every morning. The visitors pass solemnly by his embalmed body. On the northern side of the square, there is a larger-than-life portrait of Mao right near the entrance to the Forbidden City. Mao’s face can be seen on Chinese money - there is simply no escaping him and yet, he is dividing a nation.
Mao Yushi, an 82-year-old liberal economist, who happens to have the same last name as the dictator, remembers what happened. He describes the "Great Chairman" as "a horrific dictator who showed no mercy. His legacy is the great famine at the end of the 50s and the Cultural Revolution in the 60s and 70s. 50 million people died during that time. It was a one of the great crimes of history."
Rethinking Mao
For the West, such criticism is nothing new. But in China, saying such things can be precarious in the current political climate. Mao Yushi published an essay on the internet about a reevaluation of Mao’s politics. Though Mao’s ideology might not have great meaning in everyday life today, the essay caused a storm of outrage. The critics are demanding Mao Yushi be tried in court for slander. Mao Yushi is not taking them seriously and doubts that any court would take the case. "If a court were really to take such a lawsuit seriously, there would be never ending debates about what Mao actually said and did. Then they would find out the truth. That would never happen in China," says Mao Yushi.
Nonetheless, his critics have already collected 10,000 signatures and his essay has been taken off the internet. Now that the Party is turning 90, the government cannot welcome criticism of the man who brought the Communists to power. Mao and his mistakes are too intertwined with the identity of the Party. That is why small groups of Neo-Maoists are permitted to meet. They gather in basements of restaurants and listen to speeches on famous cadres, like Deng Xiaoping.
Young and frustrated
Most of the Neo-Maoists are young. They are frustrated with the current system and its corruption. One of the young men says, "Society is chaotic at this day and age. There is too much corruption and too many problems. Mao led the people in the right direction. Of course it is controversial but there is only one truth – that Mao took us in the right direction."
Many young Chinese glorify or idealize Mao. That is due in part to years of successful party propaganda and also because the events of 50s through to the 70s have been kept hushed. The young man says there is no proof that millions of people died of hunger at the end of the 1950s. The violence, persecution and destruction that happened during the Cultural Revolution is not common knowledge in China. Not only that, but some Party members, such as current party leader Bo Xilai, glorify Mao’s legacy, which adds to his cult-like stardom.
Repeating history
Mao Yushi is worried about such trends. He says, "At the age of 82, I won’t live much longer, but where is China going? The coming generations should learn from the pain of our generation. We paid a high price, but for what? If the new generations don’t know their history, they are bound to make the same mistakes."
China's leaders do not seem willing to discuss these mistakes. Not long ago, a book about the history of the Party from 1949 to 1978. It took 16 years and over 60 party member approvals before the book could be published. It describes the positive things Mao did but not the negative things. That is because, as one of the authors put it, "you can’t attack Mao without attacking the Party."
Author: Ruth Kirchner / sbEditor: Manasi Gopalakrishnan