Stolen Mao Zedong calligraphy said to be worth billions torn in half by unwitting Hong Kong buyer

South China Morning Post ^ | 7 Oct 2020 | Clifford Lo and Fiona Sun

[dfwgator]

The thing about Hitler's paintings is that they're just not very interesting. Watercolor landscapes like a million others. There's a reason he didn't get accepted to the Vienna art school.

But he could paint an entire apartment in one afternoon....TWO COATS!

[DUMBGRUNT]

“But he could paint an entire apartment in one afternoon....TWO COATS!”

“Let me tell you this! And you’re getting it straight from the horse. Hitler was better looking than Churchill, he was a better dresser than Churchill, he had more hair and he told funnier jokes and he could dance the pants off of Churhill!”

another quote from the well known Hiter expert, Franz Liebkind.

[hanamizu]

I still like the old spelling. Mao tse Tung

---

That’s because the ‘old spelling’ (Wade-Giles) was made for Europeans/English speakers and Pinyin (the newer spelling) was made for the Chinese. Since Chinese uses somewhat different sounds than English things get strange. The pronunciation of China’s capital city has not changed, just the way it is rendered into Roman letters. Same is true for Mao’s name.

And since Pinyin was designed for the Chinese, it uses some Roman letters in ways we never would like the letter Q standing for a ch sound. Chungking becomes Chongqing.

As for your initial thought, I tend to agree. Mao, a great monster of the 20th century.

[BiteYourSelf]

I thought it was mouse see dung.😁

[BiteYourSelf]

I hear there's a gal I think In France who my be able to help you out 😉

[BiteYourSelf]

Ah I was wrong it was Spain.🤔

[Red Badger]

Well, I’ve never been to Spain........................

[BiteYourSelf]

The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain.😏

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

Exactly. But I would not expect some calligraphy by Mao to be so much more interesting…

Probably for the same reason some crap photo by Dmitry Medvedev sold for $1.75 million. It's worth what a wealthy person is willing to pay to buy favor with the rulers. No one's buying favor with Hitler.

[glorgau]

Everything is gonna be alright.

[catnipman]

“Stolen Mao Zedong calligraphy said to be worth billions torn in half by unwitting Hong Kong buyer”

isn’t that what Scotch Tape is for?

[Red Badger]

I see you’ve never been to Spain, too!:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabernas_Desert

[cartan]

Hehe, good point!

[W.]

Good memory! That oddball was always popping up, the paranoid pest...

[SuperLuminal]

"Well, now there are TWO!"

And each is worth $500,000,000, I guess...
NBD...

[Red Badger]

HK$ = 13 cents US................

[SuperLuminal]

"HK$ = 13 cents US"

Dang!
There are lots of things I could do with 500-million but (according to both of my K+E slide rules) 65-million would not cover most of the things I want to buy...
Life sucks, sometimes...
Snicker...

[Red Badger]

K+E slide rule.................... I had one of those once....................

[grey_whiskers]

...or, if your cat is a Chicom, Mousey-Tongue.