Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
The Chinese Communist Party knows full well that Mao andMaoism
have little if anything to do withwhat is going on in China today, and he
and his ideology are now largely repudiated. (In fact, China today
pointedly distances itself from Maoist guerilla insurgencies in Nepal
and Peru.) But this repudiation must be kept under wraps and cannot
go too far without undermining the legitimacy of continuing Commu-
nist rule over the country. (Lu Decheng fond this out in 1989 when
he threw dye-filled eggshells at Mao Zedong's gigantic portrait facing
Tiananmen Square in Beijing and was sentenced to over a decade and
a half in prison for the act. Lu, who now lives in Calgary, is the subject
of a recent topic by Denise Chong.) So Mao is now revered at a distance
but disavowed close up. In today's China, Mao is indeed a “dead ances-
tor,” both literally and figuratively. China has outgrown him.
