A tribute to Mao Zedong on his 120th Birth Anniversary!

When friends ask me what are the places you regret not visiting during your stay in China, its always the same place which comes into my mind for which I have most regret of not visiting. This place is neither a beautiful ancient town of China nor it is one of those sacred and mysterious five mountains of China (wuyue), far apart this place is just a small county in a province in Central-South of China. But this small county probably has biggest significance in China, because it is  birth place of  the most important individual in the in the modern world history: Mao Zedong.

 

Shaoshan, Mao's birthplace, now a major tourist destination within China.

Mao Zedong was a man who can not be introduced by mentioning the posts he hold (First Chairman of the Communist part of China) or just the titles he earned(Founding father of PRC) in his lieftime. His stature was much much more bigger than the titles or posts he held during his time. Mao was nothing less than a God in the world's most populous country. He also impacted the lives of more people than the lives impacted during the leadership of Hitler, Stalin and Lincoln combined.

Today (26th Dec 2013) is the day when Mao would have turned 120 if he would have been alive.

                              People's pay respect to Mao Gold statue in his hometown on his 120th anniversary.

Although the younger generation of China feign ignorance when being asked about Mao but how could anyone not know Mao in China when it is everywhere, his king size statue has been put in city squares all across china, his portait hanged in every 2nd house in China, and people in villages still wears "Mao's Suits" and "Mao's Cap".

                                 People's riding to work while we can see Mao's status in background, Sichuan province.

                                                      Mao's Statue in Liaoning province in China

                                           People in villages still wears suits and caps inspired from Mao


While during his lifetime, Mao was admired unequivocally by everyone in China,  but after his death over the years,  either through official pronouncements, or via books and western media accounts, Mao's human frailties and mistakes have been pointed out, casting aside the nurtured belief of his infallibility and god like nature.

Where as many people (both old and young) still admired him for his vision to see the future and gaining freedom for China and his determination to continue going after his goal – to overthrow the Nationalist government – despite being told it was an impossible dream. But, there are many in the young generation who considers him an "Evil" citing his initiative like "Great Leap Forward" and "Cultural Revolution" which caused the deaths of millions of innocent people and pushed China economy many years behind.

  

                                             People starved to death during Mao's Great leap forward

                                         Execution and Torture of innocent people during Mao's cultural revolution

Despite Mao shortcomings and failures in his later life, attempts to ignore Mao would be considered a "foolish wishful thinking," as Chinese people even today still live under the great impact of Mao.
Otherwise how could you justify that while Deng Xiaoping is the individual mostly responsible for China’s astounding economic growth, Mao Zedong is the one whose preserved body is on display in the middle of Tiananmen Square, Beijing.
Any attempt to remove the status or portait of Mao from anywhere would probably caused the world war 3 in China ... While for some people remembers Mao for his contribution in the unification of China, there are others who are clinging to Mao's memories only because it is a lucrative business in current China.
According to China leading English Daily- South China Morning Post, even today Mao's legacy is a multi-billion Yuan business in China.
(Source: Businesses feed off growing nostalgia for Mao Zedong)

Although I don't fall in either of the categories ,  I rememeber reading somewhere that during Cultural Revolution many people used to chant - "Mao Zhuxi wansui, wansui, wan wansui!" , me and thousand others can feel glad that those wishes didn't came true.....