From @UBVM.CC.BUFFALO.EDU:owner-china-nt@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU Wed Dec 22 14:16:45 1993 Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1993 12:58:53 -0500 Reply-To: yaxin wang Sender: China-Net From: yaxin wang Subject: CCF #9330, 12/22/93, "Mao and China" Comments: To: china-nt@uga.cc.uga.edu To: Multiple recipients of list CHINA-NT ==+==+==+== C h i n e s e C o m m u n i t y F o r u m ==+==+==+=== Wednesday, December 22, 1993 (Issue No. 9330) +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= Chinese Community Forum (CCF) is a journal published on China-Net. CCF is dedicated to the discussion and debate on the issues related to the Chinese community. The opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent the views of the Editorial Board of CCF. Contributions to the discussions and suggestions of new topics are very much appreciated. +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= Table of Contents Author | # of Lines ============================================================================ Theme of the issue: Mao Zedong and China 1. Mao: The Legend Goes On..................................... Luo Ning 46 2. Mao and the Korea War.....................................Xiaowen Li 177 3. Mao's Legacy and Our Nation...........................Yang Changqing 148 4. Liang Shuming Angered Mao Zedong.............Translated by Anzhi Lai 195 5. Mao-fed grandson revels in famous pedigree..................Jan Wong 147 ============================================================================ ===========***==========***==========**==========***==========***=========== From The Editor +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ The theme of this issue of Chinese Community Forum is on Mao Zedong and China. This month is hitting Mao's centennial birthday. Chinese government has launched massive propaganda to promote Mao's image in today's China. In this issue of CCF, we publish five articles to provide you different views about Mao and China. +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ ===========***==========***==========**==========***==========***=========== 1. Mao: The Legend Goes On..................................... Luo Ning 46 +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ A man was born a century ago in a small village of Central China. He was the first-born in the family, a family of the kind which neither the revolutionary camp nor its enemy would look up to very much. However, very few other men or women could claim to have changed China and the world more than him. For better or for worse, this son of Chinese peasant, Mao Zedong, was a big part of the 20th century history of China, and a part of each of us, the generations of Chinese who had shared dreams and nightmares associated with his name. Many have been surprised and even angered by the recent resurgence of worshiping Mao in China, especially among the youth who have no direct experience of living under the "Great Helmsman". They feel incomprehensible that what is worth even to recall about that age, when almost all walks of people in China today are much better off economically and more free in terms of social and political environment. Well, maybe it's just the spirit. The spirit of Mao is wandering over China. What happened over the past decade and half in the spiritual world of China under Deng Xiao-Ping was the "destruction" of the ideological fortress built during Mao's time from inside out. People felt liberated when they first broke out from the confinement of the fortress and found new spaces all around. However, as the fortress was disappearing, some people got disoriented because they lost the symbol by which they could identify with each other. Deng's pragmatic approach gives the appearance of de-ideologicalization. It has been quite successful up to now in relieving people's minds from the old bondages. For example, one of the great political achievements of Deng is that the paranoiac xenophobia among Chinese deeply rooted in the past few hundreds of years of Central Kingdom's humiliation, which reached its climax during Cultural Revolution, is largely dismantled almost miraculously over the short period of less than ten years. On the other hand, the "ideological deficiency" of Deng's era has also costed dearly, none better illustrated by the pervasive public discontent in late 1988 which fueled the civil protests of 1989 in Beijing and many large cities of China. Would people eventually be satisfied with material abundance, if that ever comes? I doubt it. People need legends. Mao is already a legend now. The legend will go on, unless some new legend are created to replace the old ones, no matter how rich or poor people are. [Luo Ning, nluo@msvax.mssm.edu, 12/21/93] ===========***==========***==========**==========***==========***=========== 2. Mao and the Korea War.....................................Xiaowen Li 177 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Many think Mao's first major mistake after 1949 was the anti-rightist movement in 1957. Some think it was earlier. An SCC article says: "For example, in the Land Reform Movement (LRM) of 1950-52 only about 20 millions Chinese were murdered for allegedly being "landlords". But, there were other mass murder sessions: the Suppression of Counterrevolutionaries Campaign of 1950, ..." First of all, I doubt this number. Suppression of Counterrevolutionaries Campaign was Oct. 1950 to Oct. 1951, the Land Reform Movement was from June 1950 to 1953. Though they were called two Movements, in fact Suppression of Counterrevolutionaries Campaign was the massive killing part of LRM. So please do not double count. In May 1951, CCP Central issued an order, pointing out that killing had been enough. It said, "Our original plan was to kill 200,000. Now this quota has been exceeded by a large margin, so from now on the approval power should be withdrawn from the rank of county and working-team, any future execution should be approved by the rank of province." Based on the words in this order and the situations of a few families I know which had members killed in that movement, and based on Mao's words about "100 times greater than Qin ShiHuang," I believe total executions would be more than 200,000 but less than one million. Secondly, the Land Reform and Suppression of Counterrevolutionaries more or less can be justified based on the situation of China in early 1950's if a better society was to be built. And if it was done too cruelly or too widely, it was a mistake of the CCP, Mao was not specially responsible. So I won't call this as Mao's major mistake or crime. In my opinion, Mao's first crime after 1949 was his decision to join Korea War in October 1950, while his promise in January 1950 to join was no more than an unfortunate mistake. Chinese government and CCP used a lot words to glorify Mao for joining the Korean War, how can you call it Mao's crime? In fact, our young soldiers, especially those from Sichuan, fought bravely there. But for what? Zhou Enlai made it very clear in his 9 Da speech in 1969, when he briefed history of Sino-US and Sino-USSR relations, and revealed quite a few things people did not know before. Zhou said, Stalin did not trust Mao at all. When Mao went to Moscow at the end of 1949, Stalin refused to give China badly needed financial aid, even refused to meet Mao. Stalin changed his attitude only after Mao agreed to send army to North Korea. Then Stalin met Mao and the Sino-USSR Treaty could be signed. Another SCC netter questioned me: >I doubt your assessment here. Stalin was not supportive to Kim Il Sung's >plan for war at all. He was afraid that it would induce the WWIII. >Some people in CCP was influenced by him (especially Lin Biao). I think >that you can get the evidence from Mao Xuan vol. 5. Stalin simply only >wanted the Soviet. As long as there was a buffer zone between soviet >and the US, it was OK for him. Germany was one. He wanted CCP stop >the war before cross the Yang Tze River and he signed the deal after >WWII to divide the Korea. It was consistent with his behavior before >the WWII (sign a treaty with Hiltler). Hardly I could believe that >Stalin would support Kim's war effort. In fact, he was so afraid >that CCP might try to invade Taiwan and hence have a direct fighting >with the US war machine on the island. He was so afraid of the WWIII. No, this is not the case. Former USSR, especially Stalin, was in offensive position and very aggressive after the WWII. This trend continued till 60's to 70's. Stalin supported NK's attack to SK. This is well documented. You may find it in Khruschov Memoirs. Apparently, Stalin asked Mao to send infantry to Korea when needed, and promised to send USSR airforce. However. facing USA firmness, Stalin cowarded back, refused to send airforce, but offered to train Chinese pilots and Migs as an alternative. In <70 Years> there is only one sentence hinting this fact: page 272, line 1: "USSR previously promised to send their airforce to join the war, but changed their mind at the moment. Without airforce support, on Oct. 19 our volunteer army XiongJiuJiu-QiOngOng-ly crossed the Yalu River...." About a million Chinese young soliders XiongJiuJiu QiOngOng-ly were killed for Stalin's war gambling. What China got from such a heroic war gambling? 20 years isolation, and USSR even later asked China to pay for these Migs and cannons!!! Another SCC netter asked: > The latest issue of "US News and World Report" bears an article titled > "The Secrets of the Korean War". The materials mentioned in this article > indicates that it was not Kim Il Sung but Stalin who started the war. > ..........(deleted) > This contradicts the Khruschov's memoirs in which Khruschov told how Stalin > was indifferent to the war. One example was that Stalin said "Let US and us > be neighbors" when he refused to send troops to help Kim Il Sung. No, time sequence is very important in dealing with history events. Stalin pressed Kim Il Sung to attack the South, in mid 1949. Kim kept bargaining for more guarantee of supporting. [1] Stalin pressed Mao to be involved, when Mao was in Moscow, end of 1949 to January 1950. [3] Kim was called to Moscow soon later. [1] NK attacked the SK in June 25, 1950, almost took over all the south. China set up a newly organized North-East Border Army in July 13. [2] USA army landed on September 15, swept toward north. Stalin cowarded back before strong reaction of USA, and probably ready to accept the fact a NK occupied by USA, and refused to send his airforce as he promised before. This was in early Oct. 1950. [2] So Stalin was ready to be neighbor of USA after his gambling seemed being lost, this does not contradict the fact he planned the gamble earlier. If Stalin cowarded back, then China had no reason to join such a war which had almost nothing to do with China. Note until China joined war, USA did not regard China as enemy yet. In Zhou's speech in 1969, he mentioned that the ex-ambassador of USA to ROC asked Luo LongJi to pass USA's goodwill to new China including financial aid. But Luo took Mao's "Yi Bian Dao" article literally when he arrived in Beijing September 1949, he thought such message no longer useful but harmful to himself, so he did not pass the words to Zhou Enlai, who learned this only after Luo became a rightist in 1957 and was forced to confess his relation with American imperialists. In that speech, Zhou put all blame to Luo and strongly humiliation in Moscow at all, and the history would be very different. At the first, Mao did not want to be involved in possible war to USA. In Dec 22, 1949, Moscow, he was still dreaming of trade with USA, his telegram on that day to CCP Central was published as an evidence of China's good will to USA, 40 years later. [2] But under the pressure of Stalin, he surrendered. This must be a humiliation deeply hidden in his heart. Now, in Oct. 1950, many other CCP leaders suggested: China now had very good excuse not to be involved. (Hinted in [2] and mentioned in many recent books praising Mao and Peng DeHuai). Mao knew clearly that his "heroic" decision contradicts to his original desire -- not join the war and trade with USA. But the desire to play hero in face of Stalin must be too strong -- similar pattern repeated ten years later in Cuba crisis. Fortunately, Khruschov was not Mao, and the world barely escaped a nuclear disaster. Chinese people were not that lucky, his hero-play costs 1 million of young Chinese + 20 years isolation. And more ..., In San Francisco Chronicle, by Edward Epstein, 8/17/93, it is said: "China and South Korea are now buddy-buddy, but they face the potentially disruptive issue of China's role in the 1950-53 Korean War. Seoul wants China to change its school textbooks, which define the war as a "means to defy the United States and support North Korea." The South Korean press has been feasting for months over a series of disclosure from newly opened Soviet archives. The focus is on proof that Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong and North Korea's Kim Il Sung conspired to invade South Korea. "Inter-governmental talks are planned on the textbook issue in November." I think Mao's decision is not just a mistake but a crime, since he knew the consequence, he knew where China's best interests lay, but he sacrificed China's national interests, million of lives, only to satisfy his own ego. Another criminal is of course Luo LongJi, both of them should take the responsibility for this tragedy of China. Zhou's 9-Da speech is an important history document, which indicated a significant change in PRC's diplomatic policy. But probably few could sense it in 1969. [1]: recently publicized Russia documents, [2]: <70 Years of CCP>, Hu Shun. [3]: Zhou Enlai Speech in CCP 9-Da, 1969. (This is #3 of the author's notes on studying two new official books of CCP history, received 12/20/1993) ===========***==========***==========**==========***==========***=========== 3. Mao's Legacy and Our Nation...........................Yang Changqing 148 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mao Zedong has gone to history for close to two decades. Yet, his influence to China, and to the world for that matter, will not diminish for long time to come. As a historic figure, he is controversial. Yet, the only person I think you can compare him with is Napoleon Bonaparte. He greatly changed the course of history, especially of the contemporary history of China. Like or not, no one can deny this. Mao once said that he in his lifetime, only did two things: defeated the KMT, founded the New China and the Cultural revolution. The first part was successful, the second part needed to be evaluated by future generation. For the first part, you may argue whether it made the difference. You may argue whether CCP is better than KMT. But for the people, like me, who happened to believe that an independent, strong, self-dependent China is the good thing for the people, for the nation and is achieved largely because of Mao's leadership, and the hard struggle of the Party, the Army and the people, no way you can convince me that it was part of his evilness. To argue whether it was a good thing to fight KMT and found Red China in 1949, one has to put the argument into historic context. During that time, (in 1930's and 40's) Chinese people were fed up with the turmoil, fed up with the corruption of KMT, fed up with the incapability of KMT to control the inflation, fed up with the warlordism, fed up with the KMT's policy of heavily leaning towards the US and relying on the US, fed up with the semi- colonial and semi-feudalistic society...... CCP, under the leadership of Mao, represented people's will, AT THAT TIME, after hard struggles, achieved people's will, overthrew the corrupted KMT rule. Historically speaking, it was the right thing, and the only right thing to do--to represent people's will, to realize people's will. Just like one in 1996 should not blame the American people in 1992 voted for Bill Clinton, no matter how poorly his performance is going to be. Only after the founding of the People's Republic, there has been a China that stands up from foreign intervention. Only after that, there have been no foreign military bases in Chinese land. Only after that, the government in China has not been dictated by foreigners. These will not only be cherished by the previous generation of Chinese, by also this generation and generations to come. The cultural revolution was a disaster, no one is denying that. No matter what his intention was, Mao should be blamed for the disaster. Frankly speaking, I believe that not only Mao should be blamed for that, Liu Shaoqi was responsible, the whole Party was responsible, the entire nation was responsible. And the most important thing for us is to see what we can do for our nation to avoid the similar tragedy from happening again instead of pointing figures to the dead. Personality cult was the worshiping of millions to one or two person(s), not one or two person(s) worship the millions. Had our nation been mature enough, we might have avoid the disaster. We, the people as a whole, created the God, then we were dictated by the God. We fooled Mao, let him believed that he was the immortal. Then, we were fooled by Mao because we believed that he was the God. Of course, some of us stood up but the nation as a whole chosen to tolerate the tyranny and we should take the blame. In fact, at the peak of CCP's victory, at the beginning of the Red China, Mao was against personality cult. He adamantly opposed the idea of using leaders' names to name cities like what Stalin did. He adamantly opposed the idea of celebrate his birthday, like what Stalin did. He adamantly opposed the idea of using The East is Red as the national anthem. The tragedy was that he did not realize that there were other forms of personality cult. He became arrogant when he was praised by his comrades, by the people around the country. He did not like the others to worship him, yet he did not realize that his temper to opposite opinions, his arrogance to his comrades were promoting personality cult. That was his personal tragedy, which eventually started the national tragedy. Who started personality cult? In the 7th Party Congress, the concept of Mao Zedong Thoughts was first brought out. "Chairman Mao Ten-thousand Years" went to the Party Congress for the first time. That was really the beginning. Liu Shaoqi was the biggest victim of Mao's personality cult. Yet, he was one of the strong proponent of Mao cult. Even at the eve of his downfall, at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, he said: Paris Commune put Marxism to practice. October Revolution made Leninism reality. We shall, via the Great Cultural Revolution, push Mao Zedong Thought to the new summit. When he was in prison, he still tried hard to prove that he raised Mao's banner highly and promoted Mao's thought strongly. What a tragedy! When a peasant sang "Chairman Mao is our great savor", it may simply is an expression of his emotion. Yet, when that was proposed to be national anthem, no doubt that some one is promoting personality cult. We sang that for twenty year, yet we never thought that it contradicted what the Internationale sings. We believed that Mao was always right and Mao's thought was undefeatable. It was our fault. Mao did not let us sing The East Is Red! In fact, after the downfall of Lin Biao clique, Mao said explicitly that The East Is Red should be stopped being sung. "We have sung the Internationale for a half century. We all believe that there was no Great Savor." He instructed that the Internationale and The Three Disciplines and Eight Cautions should be sung at all the level. The tragedy was that it was too late and too little. He still had not realized that massive personality cult existed and caused great damage to the country. Let me explain this at a very personal level: That was some time in the 1970. I was about 8 year old, with my parents in He'nan, one of those 5.7 Gan Xiao (Cadre School). My parents were working in the farmer land every day, as the others were doing in the same camp. One day, they stayed out late for the reason I did not know. I, and my young brother, who was about 5 at that time, were locked at home, alone. We had nowhere to go. When the day got dark, my brother got upset because my parents were still not back. He started crying. As the elder brother, I, at first, was trying to comfort him. Finally, I was annoyed and told him: "Dad and Mom won't be back until Chairman Mao passes away." I have to confess that when I said that, I had nothing against the great leader. I worshiped him greatly. I simply was saying that it would take long long time before Dad and Mom came home, just as long the great leader would live (ten-thousand years!?). However, such an innocent childish saying was overheard by our neighbour, a family named Yao. They reported to the camp authority the same night and they led the "leaders" of the camp to our home that night, told them in front of my parents and me that I "bad mouthed" the great leader. I totally lost my mind and did not know how to explain. My parents kept confessing that they did not teach the children properly. We were repudiated the following days. I was standing on the stage with my parents in front of more than 100 people. I can not remember exactly what they had said. "Little counter-revolutionary", "son of spy with deep hatred to the great leader", etc. You can imagine. I guess that there is nothing wrong if one blame Mao for this kind of nonsense, because he was the one who initially generated the craze of CR. But I would be more hateful to my neighbour than to Mao. I simply can not believe that Mao would worry about an innocent childish saying. The only people who would like to make a big deal of it are the people who have the most ugly desire, or who simply believe that Mao was the God and would not die. Think yourself, how many personal tragedies during the Cultural Revolution were caused by the ordinary people, caused by their hatred to each other, their ignorance to each other, their misunderstanding to each other, or simply caused by their innocence? No matter what you say about Mao, how deeply you hate Mao, you can not deny that CR was the tragedy of our nation, and every one of us who experienced the CR should ask ourselves: what was our responsibility? It is always easy to blame the others. But it would not help by simply blaming the dead! Deeply in my heart, it was our fault, too, not only his fault!!! If it was not us, the dark sides of his personality, the mistakes and errors of one single person would not have generated such a huge scale national tragedy. when Stendhal commented the last part of Napoleon's life, he said: The nation made a mistake, and the great man made the mistake. I believe that only when we can have this kind of attitude toward our nation and our leaders, our nation will have hope for the future. (Commissioned for the Chinese Community Forum on the occasion of Mao's centennial. The author bears all the responsibilities. Dec. 20, 1993) ===========***==========***==========**==========***==========***=========== 4. Liang Shuming Angered Mao Zedong.............Translated by Anzhi Lai 195 +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ [Note from the translator: The following is an excerpt from the book China's Left Horror (Zhao Hua Press, Beijing, 1993). I present it to the readers with the hope for a future free of the horrors as those of the past in China.] -- -- -- * THE MAN WHO "KILLS WITH PEN" (p.180) At the beginning of the PRC, the central government's meetings were often extended to some members of the Political Consultative Committee (Zheng4 Xie2, PCC) and the leaders of some democratic parties in an effort to consolidate ideas on national affairs. Liang Shuming was often invited to those meetings. As a well respected scholar, social activist, he was well known to be always concerned about the country and the people. September 9, 1953, at the extended meeting of the Central People's Government Committee (Zhong1 Yang1 Ren2 Min2 Zheng4 Fu3 Wei3 Yuan2 Hui4), after the report of Zhou Enlai about the party's principle line (Zong3 Lu4 Xian4) for the transition period, he (Liang Shuming) said in a group discussion session: "Since the party line has no problem, it is how we carry it out. To do well, it relies on the participation of all people. Whenever a problem is spotted, it should be reported to those who are in charge to minimize mistakes." He also emphasized, "Only if we advocate democracy from the beginning to the end with the governing party's listening to different opinions, the reconstruction of the country will become voluntary actions of the people, which will double the impact." The meeting participants highly regarded his remarks. In the afternoon, Zhou Enlai invited him to give a (personal) speech to the general session of the meeting the next day. Liang Shuming agreed with pleasure. Because too many people gave speeches, he actually had the chance on the third day. Trouble started from there. Liang Shuming said, "I have dreamed for many years that we would have a great reconstruction movement in China. Forty years ago when I followed the old democratic revolution, I only knew political reform, but not the reconstruction of the country." He had actually initiated the "Rural Area Reconstruction Movement" during the '20, which was well known and exhausted almost all his effort. He regarded that movement as an experiment to realize his ideas. He was specially concerned about the rural people in China, and his topic shifted gradually to the peasants. "Since the past few years, the living standard in cities has been elevated rather rapidly, but the peasants are still living rather poorly. Therefore, they come into the cities, including Beijing. But the cities cannot hold all of them, pushing them back to the countryside. This has been a conflict. Some say that the city people are living in the heaven (Jiu3 Tian1), but the peasants in the hell (Jiu3 Di4) -- a 'heaven-hell' difference. This should draw our attention. If our reconstruction movement ignores the majority of the Chinese people -- the peasants, it is incorrect; especially, the Communist Party relied on them to become the governing party. If they were ignored today, people will blame you of forgetting them, disliking them. I hope the government will pay much attention to this problem." This speech was noticed by Mao Zedong who was also concerned with the problem of China's peasants. Twenty years ago, they two chose this same problem to work on with two very different approaches to build a new society, how about today? The next day, Mao Zedong responded very strongly. "Some people do not agree with our party line. They say the peasants are too poor, demanding special favors for them. I guess you can call this a benevolent policy of Kong-Meng's (Confucius-Mencius) followers. But, we have to know, there are big and small benevolent policies; taking care of the peasants is the small, developing heavy industry, defeating the American imperialist is the big. Having the small but not the big one is helping the American imperialist." "Some people are staging a show (Ban1 Men2 Nong3 Fu3) as if the Communist Party did not understand the peasants after tens of years experience in peasants movement! This is a joke! Our base of power is them; workers and peasants have the same interests. We do not allow any one to split and destroy this base!" Liang Shuming was shocked, he felt being misunderstood; he did not give in. He was writing immediately to Mao trying to defend himself. But the meeting was over before he would finish. He continued at home. His arguments were mainly: Your statement was directed to me. You said I was opposing the party line, destroying the worker-peasant union. I did not have this intention. You were wrong, please take your words back. I want to see if you have this guts. He also hoped that he would have a chance to explain further about his words. This old intellectual's stubbornness showed up again. In his eyes, anything that does not match with facts should be taken back. He gave his letter to Mao the next day. Mao Zedong asked him to have a chat that evening. But they both held one's own ideas, the chat ended unpleasantly. Liang Shuming was very disappointed, starting to seek for the opportunity for a public explanation in the meeting in order to let the public make a judgement. On the 16th, he finally was given a chance. He repeated his speech, and stated again that he warmly supported the party line. No one criticized him at the meeting; however, a leader of the CCP started talking about Liang Shuming's historical activities, trying to prove that he had always been a reactionary. Apparently, this was a well prepared step. During the talk, Mao Zedong frequently cut in. "Although you are not killing people with a knife, you are killing with a pen." "Some say you are a gentleman, but I say you are a faked gentleman (Wei4 Jun1 Zi3)!" "If you were openly opposing the party line, advocating paying attention to agriculture, I could forgive you although your idea is stupid; however, you do not say you oppose, but you actually do, you are evil-hearted." "You talked about 'heaven-hell', is this supporting the party line? No! This is purely a reactionary thought, reactionary suggestion." Liang Shuming was shocked like hell, demanding a immediate response, but was told not to until the next day. September 18, he was on the stage, with his distinctive persistency. "Yesterday, the CCP leader's words were totally out of my imagination. The authority regarded my words as evil-hearted, especially, Chairman Mao strongly thought so; however, this conclusion judging from only this time has no sufficient evidence." He started this way, with words about his relation with the CCP before the Libration. His talk was being interrupted by some people from the very beginning. He was so eager to defend himself that he turned to Chairman Mao for the right of speech. "My only demand today is to give me enough time. I feel that, many people spoke so much yesterday, I should have enough time today to be fair. I hope the Party and the non-Party comrades here give me a test, a chance; in the mean time, I am afraid that I also want to test the Party, I want to see if Chairman Mao has the guts. What guts? That is, after I state the past and the future of the issue (Lai2 Long2 Qu4 Mai4), Chairman Mao will nod his head by saying 'Okay, you were not evil-hearted, it was a misunderstanding'. This is the guts I am demanding from Chairman Mao." Mao Zedong responded at once, "I am afraid I won't have this guts that you are demanding." Liang Shuming continued. "If you do, I'll respect you more; if you do not, I'll lose all my respect to you." "I have this guts: let you continue to be at your position in the PCC." "That is not important." Mao Zedong was angered, "It's not? If you think it's not, it's another matter; if it is, I am prepared to nominate you to the next term PCC, but your thoughts and opinions were absolutely wrong." Liang Shuming responded, "It's another matter to be or not to be a PCC member, we can talk about that later. I meant that I wanted to test the Party, because the Party often tells us that we need self-criticism. I want to see whether this is true or not. If you, Chairman Mao, have this guts, I'll have more respect to you." Mao Zedong said, "There are two kinds of criticisms, one is self-criticism, the other is criticism. What applies to you? Self-criticism? No! It's criticism!" Liang Shuming argued, "I was talking about if you have the guts of self- criticism ..." His words was interrupted by shoutings: "Don't listen to Liang Shuming's nonsense!" "Democratic rights do not apply to reactionaries!" "Step down from the stage!" Liang Shuming insisted being on the stage, seriously defending his rights. Mao Zedong softened a little, "Mr. Liang, don't speak too long today. How about 10 minutes? Tell us your key points." "I have a lot to talk about, how can ten minutes be enough? I hope Chairman give me a fair chance." His words were immediately cut off by the audience, but he was still fighting persistently for his "fair chance". Mao Zedong said at last, "You, as a man, only listen to yourself, but not the others. If I do not let you speak long, you say I do not have guts; but all people here do not want you to speak long either, can you say that they all do not have the guts?" Someone proposed to vote to see if the majority let him speak; most opposed, and Liang Shuming was shouted off the stage --- for more than twenty years. -------------------------- [Note from the translator: This argument evoluted into a nationwide movement --- an open and large scale attack on "Liang Shuming's reactionary thoughts" --- directed by the CCP, which was based on the following. Mao Zedong claimed: "Liang Shuming is very reactional (Fan3 Dong4). He speaks with a stance of landlords and capitalists." "It will be terrible if we do not thoroughly expose and harshly attack his reactionary thoughts." Zhou Enlai said: "From the historical point of view, Liang's line seemed to help the force of the people's democracy to win victories, he had actually a line that always protected Jiang Jieshi's rule and led people to failure at any crucial moment."] (Received 12/18/93) ===========***==========***==========**==========***==========***=========== 5. Mao-fed grandson revels in famous pedigree..................Jan Wong 147 +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Mao Xinyu's earlies memories of Mao Tse-tung are happy ones-but not because the late Great Helmsman every cuddled him. As Chairman Mao's grandson, he basked in the reflected goory at a boarding-school nursers during the Cultural Revolution. "We sang all these songs about how great my grandfather was," recalls Xinyu, now 23, an easygoing student with a lacklustre academic record and a weight problem in a country where many still don't have enought to eat. "All the other kids let me be the emperor. They had to listen to me or be punished." Next month China marks Mao's 100th birthday with movies and statue unveilings. No one will be busier than Mao Xinyu, Mao's only male heir. For now, paramount leader Deng Xiaoping's economic reforms seem solidly on track. But a hard-line coup is not impossible. In Eastern Europe, dissatisfied voters returned Communists to power. In China, anger with corruption, instability when Mr. Deng dies and nostalgia for Maoist egalitarianism could converge with unpredictable results. Xinyu, with his politically correct pedigree and overweening sense of political destiny, would be the perfect accessory for a Maoist revival. He was studying history at People's University in 1989 when dissatisfac- tion peaked over inflation, corruption and the sluggish pace of political reform. After his classmates launched a huger strike at Tiananmen Square, his mother, the only person he truly fears, whisked him home and kept him there until the gunfire died down. A few Tiananmen protesters had pointedly donned Mao badges to register opposition to Mr. Deng. Xinyu, who sees the world through red-coloured glasses, interpreted this as popular support for a Maoist restoration. "If I didn't have the smarts to rush home, people would have used me as a rallying point to oppose the current leaders," he said. That raises a tantalizing question. Would the massacre have happened if Mao had been alive? Xinyu shakes his head. "Chairman Mao was never afraid of students," he said. "He received the Red Guards eight times. Even during the most chaotic days of the Cultural Revolution, he never lost control. Chairman Mao had faith in the masses his entire life." Although Mao had been dead for 17 years, he still evokes powerful emotions. Every year Xinyu receives thousands of letters and gifts - cakes, leather shoes, cash - from all over China. He never eats the cake; some of the letters are hate mail from anti-Maoists. But others are marriage proposals, some seek Xinyu's intervention against a perceived wrong, and still others are heart-felt notes from people who cherish Mao's memory. Some writers beg him to become emperor of China or Communist Party chief. The latter job would be fine with Xinyu. Barring that, he said, he'd like to be a "big-city mayor or a provincial governor." In fact, his teachers say he will probably be appointed a deputy chief of some research institute. Like Pu Yi, China's last emperor, Xinyu is a virtual prisoner in his own country. Perhaps authorities fear he might turn into another Svetlana Stalin, who denounced Soviet authorities after she emigrated to the West. So far, Xinyu has been allowed out only twice, both times on official delegations to North Korea. But the Central Committee has turned down his application for a private vist to the United States. "The state won't let Mao Xinyu out of the country,", he said, referring to himself in the third person. "They are afraid I'll go out and won't return, or my thinking will change." Xinyu has spent his lift ensconced in a Maoist cocoon, oblivious to the changes shaking the world's most-populous nation. Unlike the savvy offspring of other elite who are going into business, he is working on a master's degree in Mao Tsetung thought at the Central Communist Party School. Not that Xinyu had a close relationship with Mao. Although his life revolves around "Grandpa," as he calls him, Xinyu can't recall any instances when he saw Mao other than once on the rostrum at Tiananmen Square during an official function. He doesn't remember going to Mao's Ming Dynasty palace in Zhongnanhai, nor did Mao ever visit him at his parents' Stalinist villa in a suburban army base. As for playing with Mao, who had a god-like status toward the end of his life, Xinyu is at a loss. "I'm sure he was happy to have me. But, play?" he said. "I don't understand. I don't know." Xinyu has done his best to emulate his grandfather, including putting on the Buddha-like bulk of Mao's last years. At 5 feet 9 inches, he is an inch shorter than Mao. His favorite dish, soya-cooked fat pork, is the one Mao liked best and has helped him balloon to 227 pounds. Diagnosed recently with diabetes, he has spent the past six weeks in an elite wing of a heavily guarded military hospital. Security is so tight that even the hills surround the hospital are closed to climbers. He resembles Mao only slightly. While he has the same moon-shaped face, he lacks the elongated Mona Lisa eyes and the inscrutably pursed lips. Still, Xinyu has been offered a movie role acting the young Mao, but hasn't been able to slim down. Like Mao, a crotch-scratcher who once dropped his pants to search for lice during a 1930s interview with the U.S. journalist Edgar Snow, Xinyu is indifferent to bourgeois hygiene. He goes to a special hairdresser every month to clip his brushcut. But during a two-hour interview, his fly was partly unzipped and his feet stuck half out of blue plastic slippers to reveal holes in his socks. His hospital-issue pyjama top, its buttons popping, was pulled over street clothes. He passes his days sprawled in front of the television set in his private room, which smells of unwashed socks. "I don't want to go home. I don't want my mother to tell me what to do. I'm afraid of Mama," he said. His wheelchair-bound father, Mao Anqing, is Mao's only surviving son. Because hs is mentally unstable, the mother became the disciplinarian. "I got hit a lot," Xinyu said of his childhood. "Sometimes she broke sticks on me." Xinyu, who was 6 when Mao died, remembers the day. At lunch, his parents were crying and unable to eat. "Mama came up to me and said, 'Xinyu, you should cry.' So I did," he recalled. Like Mao, who struggled to master English, but failed, Xinyu has tried in vain to learn. "Long live Chairman Mao," is the only phrase he can muster when asked for a sample. And like his grandfather, an insomniac who read himself to sleep on a large bed piled with books, Xinyu sleeps at home on two wooden beds pushed together, with stacks of books on one edge. But the only book on his hospital bedside table is a comic book titled Gold Tangerine Fairy. Like the last emperor, Xinyu has been coddled his whole life. Although he grew up in Maoist austerity - no pets, no flowers, bare floors - his nanny didn't so much raise him as obey his every command. Thirteen servants, including a personal physician, still look after him and his parents and maternal grandmother. When Xinyu arrived at the People's University at 19, he had no idea how to buy a bus ticket. His mother still forbids him a bicycle for fear he might hurt himself. When he ventures out, he rides in a chauffeured Audi or gleaming Red Flag limousine. Mao held life-and-death sway over his grandchild from the moment of his birth. When his daughter-in-law Shao Hua was having a difficult labour, the doctors asked the Great Helmsman whom to say. "Both," he ordered. Mao named him Xinyu, or New Universe. He already had a grandson, and was to have two granddaughters, but these were his daughters' offspring and didn't count as heirs in Chinese feudal custom. Xinyu, the only one surnamed Mao, was fussed over like a princeling. When he didn't gain weight as a toddler, his mother fed him hormones. A doctor in Shanghai concocted an exlixir, presciently called Fat Son Pills. Nicknamed Mao Mao, Xinyu soon acquired a taste for Western style steaks and chops, fried crullers, sausages and fried eggs, and Peking duck. After peaking at 275 pounds, he now works out at the health club of a local five- star hotel. University was his first prolonged contact with ordinary people. The entrance exam was waived, but otherwise he was treated as a regular student. At first, his seven roommates were delighted to meet Mao's grandson. But the glamour faded when he began helping himself to their things, including their lunch. He also snored. His custom of keeping rotting food in his foot locker didn't help. Nor did his nursery- school habit of ordering his classmates around. "If someone made him mad, he'd say, 'When I'm party chief I'll sentence you to 10 years,'" a former teacher said. "If he liked them, he'd promise to make them a minister. He was half- joking, but also sort of serious, and his classmates didn't like that." Xinyu was also the fattest kid on campus, too fat for gym classes and too fat to attend military training for students. He also spent months in hospitals trying to lose weight. At university, Xinyu majored in Chinese history. He was fascinated by the lives of famous Chinese emperors, but his burning interest, of course, was Mao, who was stripped of his infallibility by Mr. Deng. Xinyu squirmed in his chair every time his professors talked about Mao's mistakes. "Chairman Mao was the greatest man in Chinese-ancient or modern," he said. Xinyu, who has never had a girlfriend, said his mother will have the final say over his choice of a wife. "This is important because it concerns the descendants of Chairman Mao," he adds. "She must be wise, virtuous, beautiful and well educated." He pauses. "And she must fervently love Chairman Mao." [From Globe & Mail, Toronto, Saturday, November 20, 1993, forwarded via CND by Ken K.P. Lo (kkplo@electrical.watstar.uwaterloo.ca)] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=++ + Executive Editor: Yaxin Wang Executive Moderator: Yan Bai + +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ + For subscription: mail "SUB CHINA-NT Your-First-Name Your-Last-Name" + + to LISTSERV@UGA (bitnet) or listserv@uga.cc.uga.edu (internet) + + For back issues of CCF: + + anonymous ftp to cnd.org[132.249.229.100]:pub/community/CCF + + For contribution and inquiry: mail to ccf-editor@ifcss.org + +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=++