Mao Now- some inexpert thoughts

I visited China in 2003 with some friends and went to Beijing and during my period of stay there was very impressed of course with the Chinese capital. One thing though that impressed me in a different way the position of Mao within Chinese popular culture- the fact that taxis often had little portraits of Mao hanging at the front, the fact that you could buy little souvenir Mao portraits and little red books, the fact that in the centre of Tianamen was a monument to Mao. On visiting the Ming tombs, a friend of mine even asked one of the guides there what his impression of Mao was and he parroted out the party line- that Mao was 70% right and 30% wrong. This ambivalence to Mao within modern Chinese culture is something therefore that even a relative newcomer to all things Chinese like myself could appreciate.

However others who know much more about China also appreciate its significance. Jeremiah who runs the excellent Granite Studio Blog recently posted an article at the Peking Duck on Mao's position in chinese society today. He is in part responding to this fascinating article by Ross Terrill at the Wilson Centre. Terrill basically argues that the Chinese attitude to Mao which is semi religious reflects the deep dichotomy in Chinese society between authoritarian political institutions and capitalist economic institutions- between the rejection of Western democracy and the embrace of Western economics. Jeremiah raises two questions- one is about Chinese attitudes to freedom and the other about Chinese attitudes to the state.

Both Jeremiah and Ross have interesting points to make and know far more about the Chinese context to this embalming of Mao than I do. But it does for me some up some of the peculiar characteristics of China as a place that Mao has this ambiguous role within its history. Partly I would suggest he has a place as a national refounder- it was fascinating to hear the same guide I cited above describe everything before 1949 in China as ancient and everything after it as modern China. I wonder I visited China in 2003 with some friends and went to Beijing and during my period of stay there was very impressed of course with the Chinese capital. One thing though that impressed me in a different way the position of Mao within Chinese popular culture- the fact that taxis often had little portraits of Mao hanging at the front, the fact that you could buy little souvenir Mao portraits and little red books, the fact that in the centre of Tianamen was a monument to Mao. On visiting the Ming tombs, a friend of mine even asked one of the guides there what his impression of Mao was and he parroted out the party line- that Mao was 70% right and 30% wrong. This ambivalence to Mao within modern Chinese culture is something therefore that even a relative newcomer to all things Chinese like myself could appreciate.

However others who know much more about China also appreciate its significance. Jeremiah who runs the excellent Granite Studio Blog recently posted an article at the Peking Duck on Mao's position in chinese society today. He is in part responding to this fascinating article by Ross Terrill at the Wilson Centre. Terrill basically argues that the Chinese attitude to Mao which is semi religious reflects the deep dichotomy in Chinese society between authoritarian political institutions and capitalist economic institutions- between the rejection of Western democracy and the embrace of Western economics. Jeremiah raises two questions- one is about Chinese attitudes to freedom and the other about Chinese attitudes to the state.

Both Jeremiah and Ross have interesting points to make and know far more about the Chinese context to this embalming of Mao than I do. But it does for me some up some of the peculiar characteristics of China as a place that Mao has this ambiguous role within its history. Partly I would suggest he has a place as a national refounder- it was fascinating to hear the same guide I cited above describe everything before 1949 in China as ancient and everything after it as modern China. I wonder whether especially given the instability of China in the twenties and thirties, the occupation by the Japanese and the second world war and the way that is a huge school textbook issue, Mao gets the credit for unifying the country. But is there something deeper also going on here- one of the most interesting trends in the modern era has been towards decentralised small states which are governed popularly and pool varying amounts of sovereignty in greater entities- the EU even the United States. China though remains an empire and remains a system with strong authoritarian tendencies- Mao of course dealt with the problem of decentralisation in a vicious way and was heavily influential in repressing democracy.

These are just ideas without any evidence I'm tossing out there to see if anyone picks them up- I don't stand by them at all and am willing to have them denied. But do read both Jeremiah's article and Ross Terrill's discussion, both to the amateur like myself are interesting to read especially as the myth of Mao holds so strongly in such an important nation. But there might be something deeper going on here- one of the most interesting trends in the modern era has been towards decentralised small states which are governed popularly and pool varying amounts of sovereignty in greater entities- the EU even the United States. China though remains an empire and remains a system with strong authoritarian tendencies- Mao of course dealt with the problem of decentralisation in a vicious way and was heavily influential in repressing democracy.

These are just ideas without any evidence I'm tossing out there to see if anyone picks them up- I don't stand by them at all and am willing to have them denied. You have an open invitation to do so and contribute some thoughts. But do read both Jeremiah's article and Ross Terrill's discussion, both to the amateur like myself are interesting to read especially as the myth of Mao holds so strongly in such an important nation.