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Tuesday 17 March 2009
Mao makes a comeback in little red book shop
For an illustration of the rise of communist nostalgia in today’s China, you need only cast your eyes at the growing popularity of a small and seemingly innocuous book shop in Beijing’s university district.
For an illustration of the rise of communist nostalgia in today’s China, you need only cast your eyes at the growing popularity of a small and seemingly innocuous book shop in Beijing’s university district.
In the six years since Utopia, a book store and discussion venue dedicated to socialism, opened in Beijing’s university district, the small outlet has grown steadily. The shop has expanded from 120 square metres to more than 400, its weekly salons are filled with eager young and old participants, and its website www.wyzxsx.com is a magnet for die-hard fans of former chairman Mao Zedong and ardent leftists to post articles bashing liberals.
“When we started the book shop we wanted to provide a platform for non-mainstream books. One thing is for sure - its social impact has greatly increased,” shop manager Fan Jinggang said.
Mr. Fan, 32, who used to do administrative work at Beijing’s Beihang University said: “It has become a front against liberals.”
And the shop’s following has only grown stronger since China started to feel the burn of the world financial crisis, with business growing faster since September last year, according to Mr. Fan.
“[The income from] our online book shop was at a steady 4,000 to 5,000 yuan [a month], but since last September, sales have suddenly jumped to 20,000 yuan,” he said. “The hottest demand is for books about the global financial crisis.”
He says sales of the shop’s staple, works on Mao, also jumped to 200 a month within two months of the crisis.
The shop dedicates shelves to Mao’s works, biographies of party elders, tomes on communist ideology and studies of the people and history of former socialist countries such as Russia. On a central stand holding “popular books”, the biographies of Saddam Hussein and Hugo Chavez stand out. The World is Flat sits next to Fast Boat to China: Corporate Flight and the Consequences of Free Trade. A book by an editor of a financial newspaper on how China could survive the global financial crisis has a shop recommendation.
There is little decoration apart from several photographs of Mao. Asked whether the pictures represent the personal idol of Utopia’s owner or are simply a business strategy, part-time shop assistant Yang Lu, a final year student at China Agricultural University, said: “Everybody here worships him.
“I spent so much money on college tuition but I am not even sure I will be able to get a job when I graduate in June. How can I not miss the time under Mao where all students, not to mention college students, were guaranteed jobs?” the 22-year-old said.
“When today’s wealth gap is widening you can’t help but miss the income equality of the Mao era; when today’s officials and wealthy are a privileged class you can’t help but miss the social equality of Mao’s time.”
Mr. Yang is from a farming family in Guizhou, and started to read Mao’s works and become a fan of leftist ideology in his second year at university.
Asked about Mao’s role in the Cultural Revolution and the political movements of the 1950s when intellectuals were punished for criticising the party, Mr. Yang said: “You should think about who benefited and who were suppressed. It’s exactly the reverse of today.”
1 comment:
Mao makes a comeback in little red book shop
Zhuang Pinghui
17 March 2009
For an illustration of the rise of communist nostalgia in today’s China, you need only cast your eyes at the growing popularity of a small and seemingly innocuous book shop in Beijing’s university district.
In the six years since Utopia, a book store and discussion venue dedicated to socialism, opened in Beijing’s university district, the small outlet has grown steadily. The shop has expanded from 120 square metres to more than 400, its weekly salons are filled with eager young and old participants, and its website www.wyzxsx.com is a magnet for die-hard fans of former chairman Mao Zedong and ardent leftists to post articles bashing liberals.
“When we started the book shop we wanted to provide a platform for non-mainstream books. One thing is for sure - its social impact has greatly increased,” shop manager Fan Jinggang said.
Mr. Fan, 32, who used to do administrative work at Beijing’s Beihang University said: “It has become a front against liberals.”
And the shop’s following has only grown stronger since China started to feel the burn of the world financial crisis, with business growing faster since September last year, according to Mr. Fan.
“[The income from] our online book shop was at a steady 4,000 to 5,000 yuan [a month], but since last September, sales have suddenly jumped to 20,000 yuan,” he said. “The hottest demand is for books about the global financial crisis.”
He says sales of the shop’s staple, works on Mao, also jumped to 200 a month within two months of the crisis.
The shop dedicates shelves to Mao’s works, biographies of party elders, tomes on communist ideology and studies of the people and history of former socialist countries such as Russia. On a central stand holding “popular books”, the biographies of Saddam Hussein and Hugo Chavez stand out. The World is Flat sits next to Fast Boat to China: Corporate Flight and the Consequences of Free Trade. A book by an editor of a financial newspaper on how China could survive the global financial crisis has a shop recommendation.
There is little decoration apart from several photographs of Mao. Asked whether the pictures represent the personal idol of Utopia’s owner or are simply a business strategy, part-time shop assistant Yang Lu, a final year student at China Agricultural University, said: “Everybody here worships him.
“I spent so much money on college tuition but I am not even sure I will be able to get a job when I graduate in June. How can I not miss the time under Mao where all students, not to mention college students, were guaranteed jobs?” the 22-year-old said.
“When today’s wealth gap is widening you can’t help but miss the income equality of the Mao era; when today’s officials and wealthy are a privileged class you can’t help but miss the social equality of Mao’s time.”
Mr. Yang is from a farming family in Guizhou, and started to read Mao’s works and become a fan of leftist ideology in his second year at university.
Asked about Mao’s role in the Cultural Revolution and the political movements of the 1950s when intellectuals were punished for criticising the party, Mr. Yang said: “You should think about who benefited and who were suppressed. It’s exactly the reverse of today.”
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