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“equally glorified and demonized throughout the world” |
CLAIRE.
130 kilometres and one agonizingly painful train trip from Changsha lies Shaoshan (or 'little mountain' literally translated), the blink-and-you'll-miss-it hometown of the man who would grow up to be Chairman Mao. A fantastically persistent trade of determined women and minibuses act as shuttles between the handful of Mao tribute sites scattered around the old section of town. Reportedly 3 million people a year make the pilgramege to the Former Residence and nearby childhood School of Mao, situated beneath a monumental bronze statue of the man gazing serenly and wisely into the distance. Whilst there is no English in the school, the former residence has detailed descriptions in both Chinese and English of the various sections of house such as the kitchen table where Mao 'encouraged nationalist thought' and the rooms of his brothers Mao Zemin and Mao Zetan, who both died 'glorious' deaths fighting for their beliefs. This experience is absolutely humbling, removing any doubt that Mao was a flesh and blood human being and heavily toning down the glorified, quasi-celestial being that has transcended into being. This seems to run adjacent to the current administrations line that declares that Mao was 'human like the rest of us' and humans make mistakes, in Mao's case this being a legacy of '30% wrong and 70% right'. However on exiting the residence the god-like Mao returns in the form of stall after stall pimping Mao pens, Mao DVD's, Mao little red book ciggarette lighters, Mao statues and a whole other assortment of Mao crap.
Nearby Shao Park comprizes a maze of little rooms acting as mini Mao museums, all hidden throughout a beautiful walk up and around an intricately decorated and designed hill. Former offices, another residence, the literally breath-taking Yan'an Pagoda, countless life history images and, bizarrely, a flying fox, make for an indepth meander through Mao's career. Images of Mao meeting an assortment of foreign leaders and going about his various duties creates both a sense of recent history, and an understanding into the complex hype and legacy left behind at Mao's death on September 9, 1976. Consistent throughout most of the Mao tribute locations, photos are not allowed for most of the areas with anything worth capturing. However for 10Y you can have your photo taken with the highly realistic wax Mao that sits happily enjoying a ciggarette at the peak of the park, provided you don't attempt to touch him. An intense yet thorough tour through Mao's life, Shaoshan can be enjoyed as a day trip with both a train and buses arriving in the morning and departing in the late afternoon.
Though brief in its two-day time span, 'The Chairman Mao Tribute Tour, 2006' proved to be an intensive crash course into the life and times of the complex man, equally glorified and demonized throughout the world. The strongest aspect of the trip was that rather than provide the usual political analysis or account of the governmental decisions and policies of Mao's administration, it instead revealed a rare glimpse into the private life and beginnings of Mao. In a land where the man of a thousand commercial faces is still held up as a figure of national pride and virtue, a more intimate, humanizing understanding is gathered of a man who lost his wife and brothers and later a son to the pursuit of his ideals and beliefs. Largely a visual tour as most signage is in Chinese only, this allows for a more personalized opinion to be developed rather than dictated by the frequently overzealous captions. Simultaneously stripping the glorification to reveal the man whilst illustrating and emphasizing the hype he has obtained, the knowledge I gained combined with that I already held, brought me to the concluding question- with all he has done and all he has become, is it comforting or not to realize that he was after all just a man?
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