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- <text id=91TT0330>
- <title>
- Feb. 18, 1991: World Notes:China
- </title>
- <history>
- TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1991
- Feb. 18, 1991 The War Comes Home
- </history>
- <article>
- <source>Time Magazine</source>
- <hdr>
- WORLD, Page 53
- World Notes
- CHINA
- That Was Then, This Is Mao
- </hdr><body>
- <p> Is China ready for the second coming of Mao Zedong? After
- the death of the Great Helmsman in 1976, his reform-minded
- successors wasted no time discrediting his ideas. But while
- Maoism remains out of style, the Chairman himself is more
- popular today than at any time in the past decade. Once tossed
- aside as shameful relics of the hated Cultural Revolution, Mao
- buttons and portraits are selling fast in some Chinese shops
- and stalls. Last year 900,000 people visited his birthplace in
- Hunan province, a record since the late 1970s. And a forthcoming
- film stresses his human qualities, portraying him as an
- unassuming leader who loved ballroom dancing.
- </p>
- <p> For many modern Chinese who fret about political malaise and
- economic stagnation, Mao symbolizes the promise of the '50s,
- when the leadership appeared to be incorruptible and struggle--political and otherwise--seemed to have a purpose. The new
- Mao cult has even imbued the Chairman with talismanic powers.
- In Guangdong province, truck drivers and shop owners display
- Mao posters, believing the image will ward off ill fortune and
- bring profits to their businesses--an ironic twist for an
- anticapitalist who imposed radical egalitarianism on China.
- </p>
-
- </body></article>
- </text>
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