At 119, Mao’s still provocative
Thousands of people Wednesday gathered at Shaoshan county, Hunan Province, the birthplace of China's Great Helmsman Mao Zedong, to celebrate the 119th anniversary of his birth.
Undeterred by the winter weather, they waited through Tuesday evening, then at the stroke of midnight at the Mao Zedong Bronze Statue Square in the county, they fired multiple gun salutes, rang bells and bowed to Mao's likeness.
"People from different parts of the world came to this ceremony to honor our leader Chairman Mao," Qian Jiming, a Hunan-born choreographer who attended the memorial ceremony on Wednesday, told the Global Times.
"It was raining and cold, but people's spirits were very high. Many bought firecrackers to celebrate the anniversary. Others sang the song The East is Red at the square. People took turns to bow to Chairman Mao's statue and to show their respect to him," Qian said.
Local authorities estimated that more than 12,000 people attended the ceremony.
Still a god for some
"Ever since the government improved the local infrastructure in 2008, more and more people have been attending the ceremony every year," Peng Chang, director of the management bureau of Shaoshan, told the Global Times.
Volunteers from villages in the county prepared free "happy long life noodles" for the visitors. More than half a ton of pork, beef and lamb were provided, courtesy of sponsorship by local companies. Around 50 restaurants offered free food and beverages on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning for visitors who wore Mao badges.
Even after all these years, many local residents still feel strongly attached to the Great Helmsman. "Chairman Mao is the savior of China," a villager surnamed Liu told the Global Times, adding that he hangs Mao's portrait side by side with an image of the Buddha. "His spirit will bless us and bless the country."
Liu's emotion was echoed by thousands of visitors who bought portraits, badges, small busts, silver coins and many other Mao-themed souvenirs from local vendors.
"No matter how busy I am, I will make myself to come to Chairman Mao's anniversary every year," local news portal txssw.com quoted a business man surnamed Chen from Guangdong Province as saying. Many people said they believe that eating "happy long life noodles" at the birthplace of Chairman Mao on his birthday will give them good luck for the following year.
Also on Wednesday, a convention was held in Beijing in memory of Mao's 119th birthday by the leftist group Utopia. Sima Nan, a renowned Maoist scholar, hosted the convention which included the attendance of former government officials, army generals and other Maoist scholars, the Hong Kong-based newspaper Ming Pao reported on Wednesday.
A divisive figure
"In celebrating Chairman Mao's birthday, people are pursuing the ideal of social justice Mao represented," Sima told the Global Times Thursday.
"Our celebration showed our disapproval with the polarization within current society and our dissatisfaction caused by corruption," Sima added.
Sima believes that Mao is China's national hero and it was Mao who reshaped the Chinese spirit when the country was both poor and defeated. His mistakes do not change the fact that he helped lay down the groundwork for China's reform and opening up, Sima wrote in one of his essays.
Despite the high spirits of the pilgrims at Shaoshan and lots of people at the grass-roots level, the ceremonies are not held in esteem by many intellectuals who believe Mao was responsible for tragedies such as the Great Leap Forward (1958-60) and the Cultural Revolution (1966-76).
Mao Yushi, an 83-year-old economist who lived through the Cultural Revolution, wrote on his Weibo that despite the fact Mao established the People's Republic of China, he failed to provide people with decent lives.
"Maoists believe in putting the nation before its people, thus Mao's accomplishment of establishing a country was extraordinary. But I say we should put people before the nation. The purpose of the existence of a nation is nothing more than providing a public service for its people," the economist wrote.
Mao Yushi also called for the Great Helmsman to be viewed as just a man rather than an idol, and for official recognition of Mao's mistakes.
"People make mistakes and so it is with Chairman Mao," said Sima, who quoted a poem on his Weibo as saying that "even if Qomolangma contracts by three inches, it is still the highest mountain in the world." Qomolangma is known in the West as Mount Everest.
Supporters of Sima Nan and Mao Yushi vehemently debate Mao's legacy online.
Other scholars who attended the memorial convention included Han Deqiang, a professor who was photographed at an anti-Japanese rally in Beijing slapping a senior citizen who attacked Mao's policies.
Han's behavior has triggered heated debate and drawn severe criticism on Sina Weibo.
The website of Utopia, the leftist group that organized the convention, has been shut down for several months since Bo Xilai, the former Party chief of Chongqing, was removed from his post.
Bo was known for initiating the "red song" campaign in the Southwest China's municipality which many saw as a symbol of the Cultural Revolution initiated by Mao.