Mao cult: rhetoric and ritual in China's Cultural Revolution PDF
Preview Mao cult: rhetoric and ritual in China's Cultural Revolution
This page intentionally left blank MaoCult RhetoricandRitualinChina’sCulturalRevolution Mao Zedong’s political and cultural legacy remains potent even in today’sChina.Manybookshaveexploredhisposthumouslegacy,but nonehasscrutinizedthecultofMaoandthemassiveworshipthatwas fostered around him at the height of his powers during the Cultural Revolution. This riveting book is the first to do so. By analyzing pre- viously secret archival documents, obscure objects, and political pam- phlets,DanielLeesetracesthetumultuoushistoryofthecultwithinthe Communist Party and at the grassroots level. The party leadership’s original intention was to develop a prominent brand symbol that would compete with the Nationalists’ elevation of Chiang Kai-shek. They did not, however, anticipate that Mao would use this symbolic powertomobilizeChineseyouthtorebelagainstthepartybureaucracy itself.Theresultwasanarchy,andwhenthearmywascalledin,itrelied onmandatoryritualsofworship,suchasdailyreadingoftheLittleRed Book or performances of the “loyalty dance” to restore order. Such fascinating detail sheds light not only on the personality cult of Mao, butalsoonheroworshipinothertraditions. DanielLeeseisAssistantProfessorattheInstituteofChineseStudiesat Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich. He is the editor of Brill’s EncyclopediaofChina(2009). Mao Cult ’ Rhetoric and Ritual in China s Cultural Revolution DANIEL LEESE Ludwig-Maximilians-University cambridge university press Cambridge,NewYork,Melbourne,Madrid,CapeTown, Singapore,SãoPaulo,Delhi,Tokyo,MexicoCity CambridgeUniversityPress 32AvenueoftheAmericas,NewYork,NY10013-2473,USA www.cambridge.org Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9780521193672 ©DanielLeese2011 Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements, noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress. Firstpublished2011 PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica AcatalogrecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData Leese,Daniel. Maocult:rhetoricandritualinChina’sCulturalRevolution/DanielLeese. p. cm. Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN978-0-521-19367-2(hardback) 1. China–History–CulturalRevolution,1966–1976–Sources. 2. China–Politicsandgovernment–1949–1976–Sources. 3. China–History–20thcentury–Sources. I. Title. DS778.7L44 2011 951.0506–dc22 2010054238 ISBN978-0-521-19367-2Hardback CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceor accuracyofURLsforexternalorthird-partyInternetWebsitesreferredto inthispublicationanddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuch Websitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate. For Lia Cara, Amelie, and Justus Thislandsorichinbeauty Hasmadecountlessheroesbowinhomage Butalas!QinShihuangandHanWudi Werelackinginliterarygrace, AndTangTaizongandSongTaizu Hadlittlepoetryintheirsouls; AndGenghisKhan, ProudSonofHeavenforaday, Knewonlyshootingeagles,bowoutstretched. Allarepastandgone! Fortrulygreatmen Looktothisagealone. “Snow,”MaoZedong Contents ListofIllustrations,Figures,Maps,andTable pageviii Preface ix ChronologyofMajorEvents xiii ListofAbbreviations xvii Introduction 1 part i. coming to terms with the “cult of the individual” 25 1 TheSecretSpeechandItsImpact 27 2 TheDualNatureofCommodities 47 3 RedefiningtheCult 67 part ii. charismatic mobilization 87 4 LivelyStudyandApplication 89 5 TheLittleRedBook 108 6 SpectaclesofWorship 128 part iii. cult and compliance 149 7 AmbiguousSymbols 151 8 TheLanguageofLoyalty 174 9 RitualsandCommodities 195 10 CurbingtheCult 226 Conclusion 253 Bibliography 265 Glossary 285 Index 291 vii Illustrations, Figures, Maps, and Table Illustrations 1 Maowoodcut,LiberationWeekly,1937 page9 2 ZhuDewoodcut,LiberationWeekly,1937 10 3 “Everydaylife”picturesofMao,1958 163 4 ModelSoldierWangGuoxiang,1968 191 5 “AskingforInstructionsintheMorning,”1968 199 6 “ChairmanMaoQuotationGymnastics,”ShanghaiSports Battleline,1967 203 7 PerformingtheLoyaltyDance,1968 206 8 CreatingMaoicons,1968 212 9 ThreeLoyaltiescampaigninHarbin,1968 214 10 ArrivalofthemangoreplicasinHarbin,1968 222 Figures 1 Translationsofthe“cultoftheindividual”inthePeople’s Daily,1949–72 84 2 ReferencestoMaoZedongThoughtinthePeople’sDaily, 1946–81 130 3 Appearancesofthephrase“LoyaltoChairmanMao”inthe People’sDaily,1960–80 186 Maps 1 AdministrativedivisionsofChina xviii 2 “SacredPlaces”oftheChineseRevolution 140 3 GuizhouprovinceandthesiteoftheDafangIncident 167 Table 1 NumberofstudentstravelingtoandfromShanghai,1966 143 viii
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