Mao-era songs make comeback in China (orchestrated by princelings and future Pres Xi Jinping)

CHONGQING, China--The sound of voices extolling the virtues of communism in stirring revolutionary songs strike a discordant note in this central Chinese city, where the average citizen is more likely to be a member of the church of Mercedes than a Maoist.

Recently, about 50 middle-aged residents gathered at an outdoor restaurant in the suburbs of Chongqing and belted out a revolutionary song with lyrics redundant but pointed: "The Communist Party is wonderful, the Communist Party is wonderful, the Communist Party is wonderful."

Many view this surprising campaign as nostalgia for the unadulterated communism of Mao Tse-tung, a reaction to the rapid economic growth that has fueled a widening disparity between the haves and the have-nots.

The singers are members of a group of 400 or so people who have signed up to sing revolutionary songs as a hobby. Most are retired or unemployed. The campaign is the brainchild of city officials.

Yin Zhaohua, 55, said: "I recall the days when I was younger. I sing the songs while expressing gratitude to Chairman Mao. We were all equal at that time. But now it has become a time when people are satisfied if only they are leading enjoyable lives."

Yin used to work at a concrete plant in Chongqing, but now lives off a monthly pension of 1,100 yuan (about 13,000 yen or $157). Yin faithfully attends the twice-weekly gatherings of the singing group.

The groups' repertoire includes songs with titles such as "Socialism is good" and "Without the Communist Party, there would be no new China."

During the days of Mao, everyone may have been poorer, but--the communist leadership aside--they were all equally poor. With rapid economic growth and a widening gap in incomes, the songs appear to stir strong emotions in older Chinese, a demographic that has generally fallen by the wayside in China's surge to become the world's second largest economy.

Su Wei, a professor at the Chongqing municipal Communist Party school, explained what city officials had in mind in instituting the campaign.

"With the spread of a market economy, there has also been a corresponding spread of a secularized society, individualism and mammonism," Su said. "We have pushed the campaign to sing revolutionary songs in Chongqing to correct that ethical course. There is realistic significance to the campaign."

China was embroiled in the Cultural Revolution for 10 years from 1966 until Mao's death. In 1981, the Communist Party approved a "history resolution" that admitted the Cultural Revolution was a mistake.

Still, Su said: "The Cultural Revolution was a mistake as a political movement. However, among the specific measures implemented at the time are some from which we can still learn."

Beijing is revising its economic policy from one of development at any cost to one of sustained growth.

Because the singing campaign is in line with that new economic policy, it has also been incorporated into elementary and junior high schools in Chongqing.

Students at the Shanhu experimental elementary school practiced singing revolutionary songs.

A fifth-grader, Chen Chen, 10, said, "I become very moved whenever I sing a revolutionary song because I feel that the happy lives we are able to lead now are due to the sacrifice of the hot blood shed by the warriors who appear in the songs."

It was begun by Bo Xilai, 61, the secretary of the Communist Party's Chongqing Municipal Committee. Bo's father, Bo Yibo, served as vice premier, and Bo himself is an influential politician, having served as commerce minister and head of Liaoning province.

Rumors about political effects from the campaign surfaced in December when Vice President Xi Jinping visited Chongqing.

Xi said in a speech that Bo attended, "The recent achievements in Chongqing are sufficiently acceptable."

Such praise is huge because Xi is widely expected to succeed Hu Jintao as president at the Communist Party national congress in 2012.

One reason the glorification in Chongqing of earlier communist heroes is gaining attention is because it is led by Bo, who is now considered a likely candidate to become a Standing Committee Member of the Politburo.

The focus is sharp because the position given Bo could affect the overall nature of the next leadership corps.

Last August, Li Changchun, the Politburo Standing Committee member in charge of ideology, visited Chongqing and highly praised the singing campaign.

Insiders felt that Bo at one time wanted to succeed Zhou Yongkang, secretary of the Central Commission of Political Science and Law, who oversees public security organs. Bo had previously worked to improve law and order.

However, after Li's visit, it is rumored Bo has his eyes on replacing Li based on the good reviews of the singing campaign.

If Bo does succeed Li and takes over the ideology portfolio, the re-education of the population through revolutionary song could spread around the nation.

A Chinese source said, "There is the possibility that all of China could revert to a more conservative thinking."

At the 2007 congress, rumors had Bo being promoted from commerce minister to vice premier. But his immediate superior, Wu Yi, who then served as vice premier, strongly opposed the move, ending any prospect of a promotion.

A diplomatic source said Bo was considered "competent, but also with a strong personality who always wanted the spotlight."

Bo is said to be on close terms with former President Jiang Zemin. Bo also has a similar network of acquaintances as Xi since both are the sons of influential politicians.

At the same time, Bo's father was one of the harshest critics of Hu Yaobang when he was general secretary, and that led to Hu's downfall.

Because of that past, if Bo is promoted to the leadership corps, he will likely join forces with individuals not affiliated with the Communist Youth League of China that was Hu Jintao's power base.

When things would go south in China, its regime will try to draw inspiration from Mao-era communist root in order to survive. This is the hint of what is to come in China. Princelings such as Xi Jingping and Bo Xilai are the real power who believe the regime is theirs to defend, while Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao are just the hired 'shopkeepers' of the regime, from princelings' viewpoint.

Also look to Russia. They are singing songs to Stalin and Lenin in schools there too. A revival of Maoism in China and Stalinism in the “Former” soviet countries does not bode well for the US.

We have a silly song we sing at home when we end up cooking for lots of people:

“GOT to do it!
GOT to do it!
GOT to feed the masses!”

/remember, I’m a historian and the wife grew up in Cuba. We know a few Maoist songs.

Red China’s nostalgia for Mao Tse-tung, like Putin’s nostalgia for Stalin puts order and control over human values such as individualism and civil rights.

Red China’s princelings led a charmed life and want to continue to live soft while common Chinese work hard and long. It all comes down to the PRC Army, will the generals keep hold or will units be reluctant to fire on the commoners when unrest finally breaks out?

It all comes down to the PRC Army, will the generals keep hold or will units be reluctant to fire on the commoners when unrest finally breaks out?

I think Chinese political calculations are different. Throughout Chinese history, it's generally been a matter of whether generals and other members of the civil service decide to to go into business for themselves. Political entrepreneurs from these ranks have been the basis of most Chinese dynasties. Most of the Communist Party pantheon originated from relatively wealthy families that saw the chance to don the imperial yellow (figuratively-speaking). The odds are that if political change occurs there, it will be in the form of a Middle Eastern-style coup (where Saddam killed the guy before him, and the guy before him killed the guy before him, et al), or a limited or all-against-all civil war. As usual, nobody knows if the existing center (of power) will hold until it either falls apart or suppresses all comers.

From my experience with actual Chinese, the average man-on-the-street reveres the Party, although in the presence of Westerners, the intelligentsia will occasionally make statements critical of the Party, much as Americans traveling abroad will make deprecating statements about the US in order mollify local hosts. Apart from separatist issues, what unrest has broken in China has generally involved individuals who attributed their problems to bad apples in the local officialdom rather than to the Party itself. Bottom line is that I expect the ~~Aristocratic~~ Communist Party to stay in power for at least another decade, if not longer.

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