The Little Red Book

In the school library, there is a little bookstore where you can buy texts to study Chinese. I find a small dictionary that I want and bring it to the cashier at the front.

On the desk where she is sitting are a stack of Chairman Mao's Little Red Book. They're all over China, sold as kitch to tourists. Let's just say I (and plenty of foreigners, and lots of Chinese people, too) don't like Mao all that much. (Dear Chinese censors, please don't deport me. I really like Chinese culture and I have some good friends here who can vouch for me.)

As I give her the dictionary, I point to Mao's book and I tell her I don't want it. She is a little confused as to why I am telling her that I don't want the book, but she realizes what I am trying to say.

"Why don't you like the book?", she asks.

"Because I don't like Mao," I answer. I can see that the air is becoming a little thick, and the air around her coworker, another young Chinese girl, is even thicker.

"Why don't you like Mao?" she asks.

I explain to her that I like Chinese culture and I support the Chinese people, so I feel that if I answer this question honestly, she will think I don't like China. But I tell her my answer, "The Cultural Revolution".

I am surprised to hear someone so young so interested in talking to a foreigner about politics.

She responds by saying that the Chinese people also believe that the Cultural Revolution was a big mistake. But, she says, we don't think it was Mao's fault. He was old, he wasn't really in control of China. The people around him were the ones who orchestrated the Cultural Revolution.

I don't buy her answer. In the West, we tend to not make excuses for leaders who make mistakes. We just say they fucked up.

I expain to her that in Western countries, you are allowed to criticize the country's leaders. As a matter of fact, it's sort of like learning a new language. If the teacher doesn't point out your mistakes, you're never going to get better.

I thank her for telling me her opinion and head out for some more studying.