mao was a nutter, and his faithful servant was chou en-lai. though
mao is celebrated as a national hero who created the people's
republic, he's not a beloved or endearing figure. for many chinese,
their affection is reserved for zhou en-lai. it is said that zhou
survived mao's many madnesses. with great patience and commitment, he
prepared china for reform, openness, and economic growth in the post-
mao yrs. critics of zhou will say the man had no character. he was a
chameleon who said and did anything to survive. he supported mao all
the way and betrayed many loyal friends. he was a coward and so on.
his defenders will say zhou had no choice. he could have chosen honor
and faced persecution/death like all the others OR survive by any
means possible and cautiously prepare china for a better future. after
all, it's because zhou survived the culural revolution that he was
able to sponsor and support the rehabilitation of deng and many
others. had zhou had fallen during the cultural revolution, the
radicals would have had total control over china.
in any case, there is something rather pernicious about the use of
zhou by today's chinese government. though it owes its power and
strategy--political, economic, cultural,.etc--more to zhou than to
mao, the government is propping up zhou as the great model for all
chinese in order to maintain its mao-esque iron grip. the government
is saying, 'look at zhou. though he disagreed with mao on many things,
he was always loyal. by being loyal to mao, he was loyal to national
unity and solidarity. also, in the long run, zhou eventually got
things to go his way. people like deng were rehabilitated. china
opened up to the outside world. the economy grew. china is richer now
than ever before.'
in other words, if you're a chinese dissident today, or have
grievances, or want change, be like zhou. don't make trouble. be
patient, be loyal, be good. eventually, as zhou-ism triumphed, you too
will triumph. so, even as today's government's glorification of zhou-
over-mao seems like an espousal of moderation over radicalism, it is
essentially a means to hold onto absolute power by persuading the
people--especially the educated elite--to follow in the footsteps of
zhou, which means to show total obedience and loyalty to the powers-
that-be.
the government tells the chinese that even though zhou was unhappy
with many of mao's policies, he was a virtuous, noble, and good man
because he was nevertheless a loyal dog to his boss. loyalty and
national unity came before all else.
though mao was a murderous tyrant, he still represented an aggressive
rebellious face of revolution. in that sense, he was a far left
revolutionary though he was a kind of modern feudal emperor. zhou was
always much more traditional as a chinese political figure. he was
always the loyal lapdog that obeyed his master. with zhou as the
greatest political icon in today's china in many ways, it goes to show
how conservative and traditionalist the political philosophy and
system have become.
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