I don’t find it excessively racist, but it is very funny for its complete ignorance of how “rightists” like Deng actually transfomed China. Everything they did to improve life for ordinary Chinese was undermined by Mao and his obsession with “continual revolution”. I’m just reading Sun Shuyun’s Long March, and it’s interesting to hear the first hand accounts of Mao as he was before the personallity cult took hold: …”extremely devious, sly and selfish, full of megalomania. He rarely holds discussions about Party matters and whenever he expresses a view, everyone must agree, otherwise he uses Party power to clamp down on you or makes up some trumped up charge to make life absolutely dreadful for you …”

That’s Mao in a nutshell.

June 12, 2006 @ 12:37 am | Comment

Plus, Mao counted on “rightists” like Deng (and Zhou Enlai, though he is sort of in his own category) to pick up the pieces after his “revolutionary” swings went too far and destroyed too much. Because he wouldn’t allow those on the left (such as the Gang of 4) to gain permanent power either. Mao did whatever he had to do to make sure that he, and only he, ultimately controlled the balance.

As for the personality cult, check out the Yenan Rectification Campaign for a lovely preview of the CR.

June 12, 2006 @ 10:11 am | Comment

BTW, I just got a book today called THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION IN THE FOREIGN MINISTRY OF CHINA. Just skimmed through it a little but was once again struck by the sheer volume of absurdity during that period. With all the time spent fighting over the June 16th Faction or the Scarlet Brigades at the #9 Tractor Factory, it’s no wonder that China’s economy was destroyed. Beyond the tragic human suffering, the CR was one gigantic time-suck.

June 12, 2006 @ 9:10 pm | Comment