Little Ching, Hu Tzu, Guard Cornfield
I’m off to China for the next fortnight so Ubiwar will most likely lie dormant until my return. Yesterday, I came across this 1974 copy of Little Ching and Hu Tzu Guard the Cornfield, a late period Mao children’s book just dripping with proletarian goodness.
Charged with looking after the corn, Little Ching and her friend Hun Tzu have problems with some scavenging geese. Hun Tzu, being a naughty little boy, dreams up a solution, but watch out for Auntie Chang! She helps them see the error of their ways, looking to the Great Leader for inspiration. I’ve scanned it in as a PDF, and there are a couple of copies on Amazon if anyone has a spare $40 for some revolutionary kitsch.
Have a great couple of weeks everyone. See you on the other side!
Looking forward to reading about your experiences in China upon your return, Tim. Have a good trip.
If they had known that their “great leader” had a penchant for young tight p!@@#$@…
Have fun in China, Tim. You’ll have to bargain hard for good Revolutionary kitsch there though. I had to haggle like crazy to get a rather cool porcelain statuette of Mao and Lin Biao riding in style together in an open top Chinese limo. Actually, I’m not sure statuette is right. It’s quite big. In good condition because after Lin Biao was purged the owner put it away in a closet and forgot about it, I guess.
I think most of the good stuff must have been hidden under an enormous pile of Olympic tat. Managed to pick up some repro barrel-of-a-gun Mao posters but there was no way I was going to shell out for some fake lapel badges, etc. What I really wanted was a ‘nodding Mao’ for the back shelf of the car, but strangely couldn’t find one anywhere …
How long did it take Britain to turn Churchill into a nodding dog? Forty years after his death? Given China’s accelerated development something similar can’t be that far off. Did you visit any of the Cultural Revolution themed restaurants while you were there? Now there’s a high celebration of kitsch mixed with the macabre. I had a very memorable meal at this one:
http://english.cri.cn/3100/2008/04/06/1301@342467.htm
The Cultural Revolution musical floor show and sing-along was most interesting. Looking around the room you could see all manner of reactions on display. Some people were really stirred up by all the patriotic nostalgia–middle aged, well-dressed, successful entrepreneurial Chinese suddenly remembering the marching songs of their youth and getting really into it. The more elderly either up and left, sat in what looked like stunned silence, or stewed in apparent rage (I think because they saw it as a piss-take on Mao; the fact that the place was all decked out in Revolutionary regalia with banners and tractorsr everywhere above which hung a banner in English saying ’sponsored by Microsoft’ must have seemed especially piquant). It struck me then that this is a country of 1.2 billion people with a large number of, ummm, unresolved and undiscussed ‘issues’. You know who’s going to make a mint in China? Psychoanalysts. Biggest market of crazies in the world.
Love the look of that restaurant! Why didn’t I get to go there? The psychological confusion of which you speak is evident from that article too. And how would Microsoft benefit from sponsorship of such a thing.
I agree with your nodding Mao forecast. If I return in 18 months I reckon the wheel will have turned far enough for some entrepreneur to have cornered that particular market. Next time: the entire Central Committee is coming home in my suitcase.