Posted on 09/14/2006 7:56:08 AM PDT by Mobile Vulgus
The L.A.Times published a story on the 13th that treated Chinese dictator, "Chairman" Mao, as a beloved and "iconic" figure but found no room in their story for any mention of the "great leader's" human rights abuses, tortures or the many, murderous pogroms which took the lives of millions of his fellow citizens decade after decade as he ruled with an iron fist.
The story, sporting the title "Mao is Their Canvas", was a puff piece investigating the secretive artists who painted the massive Mao portrait that hung at Tiananmen Square during and after the dictator's lifetime. Certainly the lives of these "people's artists" was somewhat interesting, but the disturbing thing was how gently the tyrant was treated in the story itself.
In fact, the whole article portrays the erstwhile Chairman in so rosy a picture that one would imagine that the portrait in question was that of Santa Clause as opposed to one of the most bloodthirsty despots in world history.
Throughout the story Chairman Mao is called all manner of benign and complimentary names. "Iconic", "worshiped", a "great leader", it is revealed that he had a "robust spirit", and in the opening paragraph his portrait is lovingly described as "he of the Mona Lisa gaze, flushed cheeks and trademark gray suit."
He seems so benign in the story that I found myself wanting one of these wonderful works of art!
Even the forced labor of artists creating the Chairman's images is treated as if the artist's product was created for a thriving market instead of one manufactured by an oppressive government mandating that the image was to be hung in every house and public building.
"At the height of Mao's power, his face was reproduced and hung in homes, schools, factories across the nation. Demand was so great for public murals of Mao, as well as of other socialist icons such as Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin, authorities asked Wang in 1975 to train a group of apprentices.""Demand was so great"? The Times almost seems to be asserting that his "iconic image" was being snapped up by willing customers instead of forcibly displayed by government fiat! There was "demand", all right … at the point of a gun.
This story is also used to extol the virtues of the new and improved China, as well. And it is there that we finally see the word "propaganda" used in the piece. Naturally, it isn't associated with communism, but capitalism!
"By the mid-1980s, China was taking a great leap from communist dogma and entering an era of capitalist-style economic reforms. Demand for Mao portraits went so out of fashion that the apprentices found themselves with nothing to do for months at a time.Interesting that we get paragraph after paragraph describing how the kindly Chairman's portrait is hung all about the country of an admiring citizenry, yet only "advertising" is linked with the term "propaganda" in the Times' account of the image!To survive, they put their skills to use on a different kind of propaganda: advertising. Anything from movie posters to machine parts, stereo equipment to skin moisturizers. In the days before computers or graphic design capabilities, everything had to be drawn by hand. As new as they were to the task, the apprentices were perfect for the job."
The most galling thing about this story of happy artists, selflessly creating portraits of a beloved leader who generously allowed them to make a living with their brushes is that Mao is responsible for the murder of millions of artists (writers, teachers, musicians, and artists) during the so-called Cultural Revolution. Yet, not a word is brought up about all that messy history by the Times.
Mass murder and oppression is such a downer, ya know?
No, the Chairman is treated as a kindly uncle throughout the story, though the Communist Party does come in for a finger wag or two.
Nowhere is Mao called a dictator, no where is his oppression mentioned, no where are the many murders he is directly responsible for brought up. Words like tyrant, despot, torture, or oppression are never used in the piece.
To bad we cannot say the same for most L.A. Times stories written about President Bush!
Waiting for their mash note to Hitler...
Mao is without a doubt the biggest mass murderer in history.
But they never mention Ronald Reagan without bringing up Iran Contra.
I recommend the fairly new book: Mao: The Unknown Story by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday
http://www.amazon.com/Mao-Story-Jung-Chang/dp/0679422714/sr=1-1/qid=1158246437/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-5523686-1205525?ie=UTF8&s=books
Here is a portion of a review:
In the epilogue to her biography of Mao Tse-tung, Jung Chang and her husband and cowriter Jon Halliday lament that, "Today, Mao's portrait and his corpse still dominate Tiananmen Square in the heart of the Chinese capital." For Chang, author of Wild Swans, this fact is an affront, not just to history, but to decency. Mao: The Unknown Story does not contain a formal dedication, but it is clear that Chang is writing to honor the millions of Chinese who fell victim to Mao's drive for absolute power in his 50-plus-year struggle to dominate China and the 20th-century political landscape. From the outset, Chang and Halliday are determined to shatter the "myth" of Mao, and they succeed with the force, not just of moral outrage, but of facts. The result is a book, more indictment than portrait, that paints Mao as a brutal totalitarian, a thug, who unleashed Stalin-like purges of millions with relish and without compunction, all for his personal gain. Through the authors' unrelenting lens even his would-be heroism as the leader of the Long March and father of modern China is exposed as reckless opportunism, subjecting his charges to months of unnecessary hardship in order to maintain the upper hand over his rival, Chang Kuo-tao, an experienced military commander.
Using exhaustive research in archives all over the world, Chang and Halliday recast Mao's ascent to power and subsequent grip on China in the context of global events. Sino-Soviet relations, the strengths and weakness of Chiang Kai-shek, the Japanese invasion of China, World War II, the Korean War, the disastrous Great Leap Forward, the vicious Cultural Revolution, the Vietnam War, Nixon's visit, and the constant, unending purges all, understandably, provide the backdrop for Mao's unscrupulous but invincible political maneuverings and betrayals. No one escaped unharmed. Rivals, families, peasants, city dwellers, soldiers, and lifelong allies such as Chou En-lai were all sacrificed to Mao's ambition and paranoia. Appropriately, the authors' consciences are appalled. Their biggest fear is that Mao will escape the global condemnation and infamy he deserves. Their astonishing book will go a long way to ensure that the pendulum of history will adjust itself accordingly. --Silvana Tropea
In these times, the Left are, as always, unwilling to deal with the PRC's bloody Communist totalitarianism, and meanwhile, many who claim to be on the right are also reluctant to deal with it for an entirely different reason - namely, all the deals we've got going in the PRC. These are sad, sad times.
He had a god complex and liked to pop 12 year old virgins.
I talk with Chinese nationals once in a while, and I've asked about Mao.
Mao is kinda like China's Nixon in many ways.
Nixon, as you'll recall, was elected in a landslide only 2 years before he resigned in disgrace. We can say that, on the day the troops came home, Nixon was a national hero. He was loved, and if someone would've shot him on that day then he'd be on Mount Rushmore (or at least he wouldn't be the national joke). Of course, Nixon is also the guy who had Watergate, Pentagon Papers, Elsburg's psychiatirst, IRS audits, VietNam bungling, horrible domestic economic policies, etc.
Mao was indeed revered as a demi-god by some Chinese, much in the way that Confucius holds a simular status. The pictures have him under a halo, and indeed there was a cult of personality such as we see in North Korea today. In that way, the article is indeed correct.
Of course, there are those little problems with the Great Leap Forward, Cultural Revolution, etc etc etc.......
Mao, going away....
"Now, I have to change all the world democide totals that populate my websites, blogs, and publications. The total for the communist democide before and after Mao took over the mainland is thus 3,446,000 + 35,226,000 + 38,000,000 = 76,692,000, or to round off, 77,000,000 murdered. This is now in line with the 65 million toll estimated for China in the Black Book of Communism, and Chang and Halliday’s estimate of “well over 70 million.”
Hey, Hillary loves those Mao suits.
Must be a coincidence.
Oh well, that's nothing. Don't you know America, conservative Christians, and GWB have done far worse? It must be the truth because Rosie ODonnell tells us so.
I have such hate for these people....
Out of curiosity, which one of those numbers is attributed to the 'great leap forward'?
50 million dead
50 million murdered by Mao
50 million corpses
50 million bodies rotting away as a result of this great iconic figure
and the LA Times loves him
maybe they can't count
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