#cultural-revolution — Public Fediverse posts

Cosmopolitan Shanghai Is an Uneasy Fit in China’s Narrative of Western Sins

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/03/world/asia/shanghai-dispatch-architecture.html

Cosmopolitan Shanghai Is an Uneasy Fit in China’s Narrative of Western Sins

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/03/world/asia/shanghai-dispatch-architecture.html

Unbelievably, #VirginiaState University - an #HBCU - ‘bent the knee’ to #DonaldTheDeplorable #Trump and his gang of #BananaRepublicans who want to #EliminateTenure in #HigherEducation. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty-issues/tenure/2026/02/25/vsu-terminates-6-professors-without-due-process

#Project2025 is looking more and more like the #CulturalRevolution started by #MaoZedong in #China. 🤔

#Resist. #DoNotComply and #DoNotCollaborate with #authoritarians in #USpol.

Unbelievably, #VirginiaState University - an #HBCU - ‘bent the knee’ to #DonaldTheDeplorable #Trump and his gang of #BananaRepublicans who want to #EliminateTenure in #HigherEducation. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty-issues/tenure/2026/02/25/vsu-terminates-6-professors-without-due-process

#Project2025 is looking more and more like the #CulturalRevolution started by #MaoZedong in #China. 🤔

#Resist. #DoNotComply and #DoNotCollaborate with #authoritarians in #USpol.

As a student, Zhang Jingsheng supported the 1911 #revolution that ended the monarchy in #China. Afterwards, he went to #France to pursue his doctorate in the #philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. He returned to China to promote #European ideals of #beauty and the pseudo-#science of #eugenics. He also published books about #sex with anecdotes collected from the public.

He was mocked as ‘Dr. Sex’ during the #CulturalRevolution and again today on @wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhang_Jingsheng

As a student, Zhang Jingsheng supported the 1911 #revolution that ended the monarchy in #China. Afterwards, he went to #France to pursue his doctorate in the #philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. He returned to China to promote #European ideals of #beauty and the pseudo-#science of #eugenics. He also published books about #sex with anecdotes collected from the public.

He was mocked as ‘Dr. Sex’ during the #CulturalRevolution and again today on @wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhang_Jingsheng

“Mangoes will make you forget anything but mangoes”*…

… Or not. As Christin Bohnke explains, sometimes a mango is more than just a mango…

What happens when ideologies are destroyed? When beliefs that shaped generations dissolve overnight? In the wreckage of old traditions, new symbols are created, and meaning is projected onto what was previously trivial. But not all of these new symbols are coherent or easily legible. Some are outright weird. Few events in history demonstrate the absurdity of political symbolism as clearly as the Mao Mango Mania that swept China during the infancy of the Cultural Revolution.

In 1966, Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Communist Party and China’s supreme leader, set in motion the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, a campaign to realign China with his revolutionary vision. His goal was to transform society, both economically and ideologically, by purging everything deemed traditional or capitalist. Over the next ten years, the Cultural Revolution changed the country in profound and painful ways, leading to more than a million estimated deaths as well as to immense human suffering.

Historian Lü Xiuyuan describes the period between 1966 and 1968 as the most destructive years of the entire movement. Following Mao’s directive to destroy the “Four Olds” (ideas, cultures, customs, and habits), his paramilitary youth groups, the Red Guards, swept the country with violence. They identified, tortured, and killed so-called “counterrevolutionaries,” raided temples and schools, and destroyed priceless artifacts. In 1968, university campuses, middle schools, and other public spaces became the sites of bloody battles, not only between Red Guards and alleged counterrevolutionaries but also between revolutionary factions. The chaos of the “Red Terror” couldn’t continue indefinitely, so Mao determined that Chinese workers would help suppress the Red Guard, restore order, and continue the revolution in a more measured manner. In this endeavor, Mao was helped, improbably, by a box of yellow-fleshed fruit.

In August 1968, a visiting foreign minister from Pakistan, Mian Arshad Hussain, gave Mao a box of mangoes as a gift during a state visit. Presenting mangoes has a long tradition in Pakistan, but in China, the fruit was virtually unknown. Mao passed the box to workers occupying the Tsinghua campus in Beijing, who were attempting to control the Red Guards stationed there. The scholar of Chinese visual culture Alfreda Murck writes that the mangoes carried an implicit message: from now on, the workers, not the Red Guards, would be in charge of education and the transformation of China in Mao’s image.

According to Murck, even Mao could not have anticipated the consequences of his gift. Because the mangoes came from the supreme leader, they were transformed, in the eyes of the workers, from a simple fruit into an object endowed with attributes of the divine. William H. Hinton, the author of Fanshen, compiled eyewitness accounts of workers who reported staying up all night, touching the mangoes, and marveling at their new station as protégés of the Chairman. Using the momentum, the official party cadres concocted a propaganda campaign surrounding the mangoes, workers, and Mao, and in doing so, according to the political scientist Richard Baum, effectively signed “the death warrant of the Red Guards.”

Quickly, the Red Guards were disbanded, many of them sent for reeducation in the countryside where they labored and lived alongside rural peasants. By contrast, the workers who received Mao’s mangoes, a sign of his favor, were energized and became Cultural Revolution leaders. Yet, their promotion was an illusion. True power lay with the People’s Liberation Army. Despite, or because of that, the workers—and the mangoes—played a significant role in official propaganda in the months to come.

When the workers returned to their factories after putting down the Red Guards, Mao had a fresh mango delivered to them. Workers held welcoming ceremonies for the fruit, preserved it in wax, placed it on altars, and bowed to it when walking by. In one factory, the fruit was boiled down into sacred mango water; each devotee drank a spoonful. From there on, the cult of the mango escalated. Wax and even plastic mangoes were quickly produced in Chinese factories and appeared all over the country, often displayed in glass cases. Images of the mango adorned plates, wedding gifts, and cigarette packages. It was stitched onto blankets, and propaganda teams armed with wax replicas were sent into the remotest corners of the country to spread its lore. More than seventy different types of mango badges to stitch onto clothes were given away for free or sold at a low price to those who couldn’t afford more expensive mango-themed items. Alongside the mangoes were mentions of Mao’s selflessness and love for the people (though no reference to the fate of the Red Guards), and many badges bore the slogan “With each mango profound kindness.”…

… During the 1968 National Day parade in Beijing, the mango was front and center. At least three mango-themed floats participated in the parade, decorated with slogans that emphasized the significance of the working class, as well as a colossal white statue of Mao. The parade reinforced the importance of Mao as the supreme leader and the mango as a symbol of his power.

According to development studies scholar Xing Li, Mao viewed ideology as the primary means of mobilizing the masses and driving change, putting special emphasis on themes such as dedication, self-sacrifice, and hard work. The mango was a perfect vessel for Mao’s “love” for the workers. Unlike already established symbols such as the peony, peach, or pomegranate, the mango had no preexisting meaning in China and, importantly, no association with emperors or divinity. Quickly, rumors spread that mango trees only blossom every century—or every thousand years, according to others—and that eating the fruit would bring about a long life, similar to the peaches of immortality that feature prominently in Chinese legends. Mao’s refusal to keep the mangoes for himself was therefore seen as a great sacrifice on behalf of his people.

The veneration of the mango coincided with a high point in Mao’s personality cult. In the 1960s, one billion copies of the “Little Red Book,” a collection of Mao’s quotes, were printed. The book had to be waved and quoted at the beginning of each workday and whenever someone made a political statement. Mao was everywhere. And so were his mangoes. They became inextricably linked, and criticism of one meant criticism of the other. Murck tells of a dentist in Sichuan province, for example, who, after seeing a mango paraded through his town, said that the fruit resembled a sweet potato. He was arrested, tried as a counterrevolutionary, marched through the streets, and executed. His children were sent to the countryside for reeducation. Given the serious consequences of even the slightest criticism, it’s impossible to say how many people genuinely participated in the mango cult and how many complied out of fear.

Political movements need symbols to foster cohesion and emotional connection, but for these to thrive and remain, they must have at least some internal logic, cultural coherence, or tradition. The mango was an artificial symbol, created randomly, and the people’s devotion to the fruit must have been at least partially performative. By 1969, the mango cult had already begun to decline; it was no longer featured in official campaigns, although the sheer volume of mango-themed products ensured that it didn’t disappear entirely until the mid-1970s. After Mao’s death in 1976 and the 1980s reassessment of his personality cult, it became acceptable to discard mango ephemera that some Chinese still kept in their homes, or more prudently, to repurpose the wax mangoes as candles. Because the mango was so closely linked to Mao, it couldn’t remain a meaningful symbol without him.

Still, the mango as a political symbol never entirely faded. US-based Chinese author Ha Jin, who served in the Chinese army at the time of the Cultural Revolution and has been an outspoken critic of the Chinese government, wrote in his 2019 poem “A Sacred Mango:”

The mango was exhibited in the center of the hall.
We lined up to look at it
and to show our gratitude and respect.

But that night some curious child tasted the fruit
and was not caught.
Our mayor, frightened and outraged, said,
“Damn it, if I knew which son of a rabbit bit the mango
I would turn his whole family
into counter-revolutionaries!”

But what could we do?
We substituted a wooden mango for a real one.

For Ha Jin, as for others, the mango remains not a sign of Mao’s power, but a reminder of the Cultural Revolution’s absurdity and the arbitrary labeling of counterrevolutionaries. Despite being a short-lived propaganda tool, the mango’s symbolism endures as a testament to the irrationality of Mao’s extreme personality cult.

Commercial production of the mango in China began around that time, but only really accelerated in the 1980s. Although some people still recall the mango cult and spoke about it in their interviews with Murck, today the meaning of this particular fruit is largely forgotten, and the mango, far from symbolizing Mao’s eternal love and sacrifice for the working class, has transformed once again. This time, into a refreshing summer treat…

A fleeting cult built around a fruit exposes the logic, and illogic, of Mao’s personality cult: “When Mao’s Mango Mania Took Over China,” from @jstordaily.bsky.social.

* Eve Babitz

###

As we pare away the peel, we might send decorative birthday greetings to Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha; she was born on this date in 1909. Better known by her stage name, Carmen Miranda (and her nickname, “the Brazilian Bombshell”), she was a successful singer, dancer, and actress.

As a young woman, Miranda designed clothes and hats in a boutique before making her debut as a singer, recording with composer Josué de Barros in 1929. Miranda’s 1930 recording of “Taí (Pra Você Gostar de Mim),” written by Joubert de Carvalho, catapulted her to stardom in Brazil as the foremost interpreter of samba. In 1939 she was invited to Broadway by producer Lee Shubert, and quickly lured from there to Hollywood, where she made 14 films in as many years.

Miranda did much to popularize Brazilian music and raise American awareness of Latin culture, for which she has been honored (e.g., with a museum) in Brazil. Here, she is largely remebered for her style, in particular for her large “fruit hats.”

source

“Mangoes will make you forget anything but mangoes”*…

… Or not. As Christin Bohnke explains, sometimes a mango is more than just a mango…

What happens when ideologies are destroyed? When beliefs that shaped generations dissolve overnight? In the wreckage of old traditions, new symbols are created, and meaning is projected onto what was previously trivial. But not all of these new symbols are coherent or easily legible. Some are outright weird. Few events in history demonstrate the absurdity of political symbolism as clearly as the Mao Mango Mania that swept China during the infancy of the Cultural Revolution.

In 1966, Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Communist Party and China’s supreme leader, set in motion the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, a campaign to realign China with his revolutionary vision. His goal was to transform society, both economically and ideologically, by purging everything deemed traditional or capitalist. Over the next ten years, the Cultural Revolution changed the country in profound and painful ways, leading to more than a million estimated deaths as well as to immense human suffering.

Historian Lü Xiuyuan describes the period between 1966 and 1968 as the most destructive years of the entire movement. Following Mao’s directive to destroy the “Four Olds” (ideas, cultures, customs, and habits), his paramilitary youth groups, the Red Guards, swept the country with violence. They identified, tortured, and killed so-called “counterrevolutionaries,” raided temples and schools, and destroyed priceless artifacts. In 1968, university campuses, middle schools, and other public spaces became the sites of bloody battles, not only between Red Guards and alleged counterrevolutionaries but also between revolutionary factions. The chaos of the “Red Terror” couldn’t continue indefinitely, so Mao determined that Chinese workers would help suppress the Red Guard, restore order, and continue the revolution in a more measured manner. In this endeavor, Mao was helped, improbably, by a box of yellow-fleshed fruit.

In August 1968, a visiting foreign minister from Pakistan, Mian Arshad Hussain, gave Mao a box of mangoes as a gift during a state visit. Presenting mangoes has a long tradition in Pakistan, but in China, the fruit was virtually unknown. Mao passed the box to workers occupying the Tsinghua campus in Beijing, who were attempting to control the Red Guards stationed there. The scholar of Chinese visual culture Alfreda Murck writes that the mangoes carried an implicit message: from now on, the workers, not the Red Guards, would be in charge of education and the transformation of China in Mao’s image.

According to Murck, even Mao could not have anticipated the consequences of his gift. Because the mangoes came from the supreme leader, they were transformed, in the eyes of the workers, from a simple fruit into an object endowed with attributes of the divine. William H. Hinton, the author of Fanshen, compiled eyewitness accounts of workers who reported staying up all night, touching the mangoes, and marveling at their new station as protégés of the Chairman. Using the momentum, the official party cadres concocted a propaganda campaign surrounding the mangoes, workers, and Mao, and in doing so, according to the political scientist Richard Baum, effectively signed “the death warrant of the Red Guards.”

Quickly, the Red Guards were disbanded, many of them sent for reeducation in the countryside where they labored and lived alongside rural peasants. By contrast, the workers who received Mao’s mangoes, a sign of his favor, were energized and became Cultural Revolution leaders. Yet, their promotion was an illusion. True power lay with the People’s Liberation Army. Despite, or because of that, the workers—and the mangoes—played a significant role in official propaganda in the months to come.

When the workers returned to their factories after putting down the Red Guards, Mao had a fresh mango delivered to them. Workers held welcoming ceremonies for the fruit, preserved it in wax, placed it on altars, and bowed to it when walking by. In one factory, the fruit was boiled down into sacred mango water; each devotee drank a spoonful. From there on, the cult of the mango escalated. Wax and even plastic mangoes were quickly produced in Chinese factories and appeared all over the country, often displayed in glass cases. Images of the mango adorned plates, wedding gifts, and cigarette packages. It was stitched onto blankets, and propaganda teams armed with wax replicas were sent into the remotest corners of the country to spread its lore. More than seventy different types of mango badges to stitch onto clothes were given away for free or sold at a low price to those who couldn’t afford more expensive mango-themed items. Alongside the mangoes were mentions of Mao’s selflessness and love for the people (though no reference to the fate of the Red Guards), and many badges bore the slogan “With each mango profound kindness.”…

… During the 1968 National Day parade in Beijing, the mango was front and center. At least three mango-themed floats participated in the parade, decorated with slogans that emphasized the significance of the working class, as well as a colossal white statue of Mao. The parade reinforced the importance of Mao as the supreme leader and the mango as a symbol of his power.

According to development studies scholar Xing Li, Mao viewed ideology as the primary means of mobilizing the masses and driving change, putting special emphasis on themes such as dedication, self-sacrifice, and hard work. The mango was a perfect vessel for Mao’s “love” for the workers. Unlike already established symbols such as the peony, peach, or pomegranate, the mango had no preexisting meaning in China and, importantly, no association with emperors or divinity. Quickly, rumors spread that mango trees only blossom every century—or every thousand years, according to others—and that eating the fruit would bring about a long life, similar to the peaches of immortality that feature prominently in Chinese legends. Mao’s refusal to keep the mangoes for himself was therefore seen as a great sacrifice on behalf of his people.

The veneration of the mango coincided with a high point in Mao’s personality cult. In the 1960s, one billion copies of the “Little Red Book,” a collection of Mao’s quotes, were printed. The book had to be waved and quoted at the beginning of each workday and whenever someone made a political statement. Mao was everywhere. And so were his mangoes. They became inextricably linked, and criticism of one meant criticism of the other. Murck tells of a dentist in Sichuan province, for example, who, after seeing a mango paraded through his town, said that the fruit resembled a sweet potato. He was arrested, tried as a counterrevolutionary, marched through the streets, and executed. His children were sent to the countryside for reeducation. Given the serious consequences of even the slightest criticism, it’s impossible to say how many people genuinely participated in the mango cult and how many complied out of fear.

Political movements need symbols to foster cohesion and emotional connection, but for these to thrive and remain, they must have at least some internal logic, cultural coherence, or tradition. The mango was an artificial symbol, created randomly, and the people’s devotion to the fruit must have been at least partially performative. By 1969, the mango cult had already begun to decline; it was no longer featured in official campaigns, although the sheer volume of mango-themed products ensured that it didn’t disappear entirely until the mid-1970s. After Mao’s death in 1976 and the 1980s reassessment of his personality cult, it became acceptable to discard mango ephemera that some Chinese still kept in their homes, or more prudently, to repurpose the wax mangoes as candles. Because the mango was so closely linked to Mao, it couldn’t remain a meaningful symbol without him.

Still, the mango as a political symbol never entirely faded. US-based Chinese author Ha Jin, who served in the Chinese army at the time of the Cultural Revolution and has been an outspoken critic of the Chinese government, wrote in his 2019 poem “A Sacred Mango:”

The mango was exhibited in the center of the hall.
We lined up to look at it
and to show our gratitude and respect.

But that night some curious child tasted the fruit
and was not caught.
Our mayor, frightened and outraged, said,
“Damn it, if I knew which son of a rabbit bit the mango
I would turn his whole family
into counter-revolutionaries!”

But what could we do?
We substituted a wooden mango for a real one.

For Ha Jin, as for others, the mango remains not a sign of Mao’s power, but a reminder of the Cultural Revolution’s absurdity and the arbitrary labeling of counterrevolutionaries. Despite being a short-lived propaganda tool, the mango’s symbolism endures as a testament to the irrationality of Mao’s extreme personality cult.

Commercial production of the mango in China began around that time, but only really accelerated in the 1980s. Although some people still recall the mango cult and spoke about it in their interviews with Murck, today the meaning of this particular fruit is largely forgotten, and the mango, far from symbolizing Mao’s eternal love and sacrifice for the working class, has transformed once again. This time, into a refreshing summer treat…

A fleeting cult built around a fruit exposes the logic, and illogic, of Mao’s personality cult: “When Mao’s Mango Mania Took Over China,” from @jstordaily.bsky.social.

* Eve Babitz

###

As we pare away the peel, we might send decorative birthday greetings to Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha; she was born on this date in 1909. Better known by her stage name, Carmen Miranda (and her nickname, “the Brazilian Bombshell”), she was a successful singer, dancer, and actress.

As a young woman, Miranda designed clothes and hats in a boutique before making her debut as a singer, recording with composer Josué de Barros in 1929. Miranda’s 1930 recording of “Taí (Pra Você Gostar de Mim),” written by Joubert de Carvalho, catapulted her to stardom in Brazil as the foremost interpreter of samba. In 1939 she was invited to Broadway by producer Lee Shubert, and quickly lured from there to Hollywood, where she made 14 films in as many years.

Miranda did much to popularize Brazilian music and raise American awareness of Latin culture, for which she has been honored (e.g., with a museum) in Brazil. Here, she is largely remebered for her style, in particular for her large “fruit hats.”

source

“Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power”*…

After skipping last year (presumably to finish his best-seller Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future), Dan Wang is back with his “annual letter.” An excerpt…

… I think the US continues to systematically underrate China’s industrial progress for several reasons.

First, too many western elites retain hope that China’s efforts will run out of fuel by its own accord. Industrial progress will be weighed down by demographic drag, the growing debt load, maybe even a political collapse. I won’t rule these out, but I don’t think they are likely to break China’s humming tech engine. Demographics in particular don’t matter for advanced technology — you don’t need a workforce of many millions to have robust production of semiconductors or EVs. South Korea, for example, has one of the world’s fastest shrinking populations while retaining its success in electronics production. And though China suffers broader economic headwinds, technology firms like Xiaomi continue to develop new products and enjoy rising revenues. Technology breakthroughs can occur even in a suffering society. Especially if the state continues to lavish resources on chips or anything that could represent an American chokepoint. 

Second, western elites keep citing the wrong reasons for China’s success. When members of Congress get around to acknowledging China’s tech advancements, they do not fail to attribute causes to either industrial subsidies (also known as cheating) or IP theft (that is, stealing). These are legitimate claims, but China’s advantages extend far beyond them. That’s the creation of deep infrastructure as well as extensive industrial ecosystems that I describe above.

Probably the most underrated part of the Chinese system is the ferocity of market competition. It’s excusable not to see that, given that the party espouses so much Marxism. I would argue that China embodies both greater capitalist competition and greater capitalist excess than America does today. Part of the reason that China’s stock market trends sideways is that everyone’s profits are competed away. Big Tech might enjoy the monopolistic success smiled upon by Peter Thiel, coming almost to genteel agreements not to tread too hard upon each other’s business lines. Chinese firms have to fight it out in a rough-and-tumble environment, expanding all the time into each other’s core businesses, taking Jeff “your margin is my opportunity” Bezos with seriousness.

Third, western elites keep holding on to a distinction between “innovation,” which is mostly the remit of the west, and “scaling,” which they accept that China can do. I want to dissolve that distinction. Chinese workers innovate every day on the factory floor. By being the site of production, they have a keen sense of how to make technical improvements all the time. American scientists may be world leaders in dreaming up new ideas. But American manufacturers have been poor at building industries around these ideas. The history books point out that Bell Labs invented the first solar cell in 1957; today, the lab no longer exists while the solar industry moved to Germany and then to China. While Chinese universities have grown more capable at producing new ideas, it’s not clear that the American manufacturing base has grown stronger at commercializing new inventions…

Eminently worth reading in full: “2025 letter.”

Pair with “U.S.-China Economic Competition” (from Rand) and “The Outlook for China-US Strategic Competition in 2026” (an interview with Sarah M. Beran in The Diplomat)

* Lao Tzu

###

As we grapple with geoeconomics and geopolitics, we might remind ourselves just how fast China’s rise has been: on this date in 1967, in the midst of the Cultural Revolution, the Shanghai People’s Commune was established following the seizure of power from local city officials by revolutionaries. Shenzen was, at the time, a sleepy backwater, just off what was then the British colony of Hong Kong.

⚠️ The call for papers for the workshop ‘Intellectual Exchanges Between Revolutionary Africa and Latin America, 1950-1990’ will close on 21 November.

ℹ️ https://ihc.fcsh.unl.pt/en/events/intellectual-exchanges-afam/

#Histodons #AntiColonialism #Solidarity #Africa #LatinAmerica #LiberationWars #CulturalHistory #IntelectualHistory #CFP #CulturalRevolution #PoliticalViolence

⚠️ The call for papers for the workshop ‘Intellectual Exchanges Between Revolutionary Africa and Latin America, 1950-1990’ will close on 21 November.

ℹ️ https://ihc.fcsh.unl.pt/en/events/intellectual-exchanges-afam/

#Histodons #AntiColonialism #Solidarity #Africa #LatinAmerica #LiberationWars #CulturalHistory #IntelectualHistory #CFP #CulturalRevolution #PoliticalViolence

🗣 The call for papers for the workshop ‘Intellectual Exchanges Between Revolutionary Africa and Latin America, 1950-1990’, co-organised by the IHC and CHAM, is now open.

📍 It will take place at the National Library of Portugal on 15 December.

ℹ️ https://ihc.fcsh.unl.pt/en/events/intellectual-exchanges-afam/

#Histodons #AntiColonialism #Solidarity #Africa #LatinAmerica #LiberationWars #CulturalHistory #IntelectualHistory #CFP #CulturalRevolution #PoliticalViolence

🗣 The call for papers for the workshop ‘Intellectual Exchanges Between Revolutionary Africa and Latin America, 1950-1990’, co-organised by the IHC and CHAM, is now open.

📍 It will take place at the National Library of Portugal on 15 December.

ℹ️ https://ihc.fcsh.unl.pt/en/events/intellectual-exchanges-afam/

#Histodons #AntiColonialism #Solidarity #Africa #LatinAmerica #LiberationWars #CulturalHistory #IntelectualHistory #CFP #CulturalRevolution #PoliticalViolence

Time to destroy the "Four Olds"!

https://piefed.social/c/tankiejerk/p/1427841/time-to-destroy-the-four-olds

Time to destroy the "Four Olds"!

https://piefed.social/c/historymemes/p/1427838/time-to-destroy-the-four-olds

The USA is headed down in terms of rule of law, democracy, human rights, research, science, education, health.
(And likely the economy, employment.)

The common parallel drawn is Nazi Germany. And I fear there are valuable similarities.

But there have been other recent ways of countries being steered into dysfunctionality.
A sample:
#Brexit - Britain
#CulturalRevolution - China
#Yugoslavia
#Rwanda

It seems unlikely that Trump's destruction of the US will only follow Nazi Germany's.

The USA is headed down in terms of rule of law, democracy, human rights, research, science, education, health.
(And likely the economy, employment.)

The common parallel drawn is Nazi Germany. And I fear there are valuable similarities.

But there have been other recent ways of countries being steered into dysfunctionality.
A sample:
#Brexit - Britain
#CulturalRevolution - China
#Yugoslavia
#Rwanda

It seems unlikely that Trump's destruction of the US will only follow Nazi Germany's.

Anyone here up on #Mao's #CulturalRevolution?

Well enough to compare and contrast it to Trump's MAGA program?

While the history of the Nazi party in Germany does provide a comparison, the Nazis, AIUI, weren't anti-science, weren't anti-bureaucracy, weren't anti-academia.

AIUI they twisted those things to their purpose.

Thoughts?

Anyone here up on #Mao's #CulturalRevolution?

Well enough to compare and contrast it to Trump's MAGA program?

While the history of the Nazi party in Germany does provide a comparison, the Nazis, AIUI, weren't anti-science, weren't anti-bureaucracy, weren't anti-academia.

AIUI they twisted those things to their purpose.

Thoughts?

@Sheril it’s already too late. The #maga #fascists, in their #fearmongering of intellectuals, have relinquished the scientific achievement forefront to #china

China has come full circle since it’s #culturalRevolution 60 years ago, and watch in glee as ours begins.

What happens when democracy is threatened from within? Paul Krugman contrasts the flourishing democracy of post-Carnation Revolution Portugal with the ominous state of American democracy, endangered by Trump's retribution-driven agenda. He warns of dire consequences for institutions and warns that both ideological extremes breed destructive tendencies. Yet, there's hope as some resist this overreach. Discover more about this crucial discussion. [Source](https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/trumps-cultural-revolution) #Democracy #Trump #Krugman #CulturalRevolution

Interesting article comparing what is going on in Trump's America with the Chinese Cultural Revolution
https://archive.ph/fbqte
#WeeGe #WG #CulturalRevolution #Mao #Trump #Musk #ElonMusk #America #China

Interesting article comparing what is going on in Trump's America with the Chinese Cultural Revolution
https://archive.ph/fbqte
#WeeGe #WG #CulturalRevolution #Mao #Trump #Musk #ElonMusk #America #China

#CulturalRevolution

Conversation with Tianxiang Shao on Family and Feelings (2)

Scott Douglas Jacobsen
In-Sight Publishing, Fort Langley, British Columbia, Canada

Correspondence: Scott Douglas Jacobsen (Email: [email protected])

Received: January 12, 2025
Accepted: N/A
Published: January 22, 2025

Abstract

This interview offers an insightful exploration of Tianxiang Shao’s personal and academic journey, conducted by Scott Douglas Jacobsen. The conversation delves into Shao’s family history, including his grandparents’ migration from rural Anhui to the provincial capital, Hefei, amidst challenging socio-political landscapes such as the 1960s famine and Cultural Revolution. Shao discusses his career aspirations in artificial intelligence, his perspectives on success, materialism, and the balance between introversion and social growth. The dialogue also touches on Shao’s childhood creativity, his passion for number theory, and his views on the interplay between human and artificial intelligence. Additionally, Shao shares his philosophical influences, including Albert Camus, and his engagement with Buddhist texts for personal peace. The interview highlights Shao’s multifaceted interests, resilience in personal challenges, and his commitment to balancing academic pursuits with diverse hobbies, providing a comprehensive understanding of his character and intellectual pursuits.

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Buddhist Philosophy, Creativity, Cultural Revolution, Family Migration, Introversion, Materialism, Number Theory, Personal Resilience, Philosophical Influences, Social Growth, Success

Introduction

In this comprehensive interview conducted on January 12, 2025, Scott Douglas Jacobsen engages with Tianxiang Shao, a promising young scholar and aspiring artificial intelligence algorithm engineer. Shao shares his deeply rooted family history, detailing his grandparents’ migration from rural Anhui to Hefei during a tumultuous period marked by famine and the Cultural Revolution. The conversation navigates through Shao’s academic aspirations, his introspective views on success and materialism, and his journey towards personal and social growth. Shao’s childhood creativity and passion for number theory emerge as significant themes, alongside his perspectives on the future of artificial intelligence relative to human intelligence. The interview also delves into Shao’s philosophical inclinations, influenced by Albert Camus, and his practices for achieving personal serenity through Buddhist texts. Additionally, Shao reflects on his hobbies and the importance of maintaining a balanced life amidst academic pursuits. This dialogue provides a nuanced portrait of Shao’s character, highlighting his resilience, intellectual curiosity, and thoughtful approach to both personal and professional development.

Main Text (Interview)

Interviewer: Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Interviewee: Tianxiang Shao

Section 1: Grandparents’ Origins and Migration

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: There are a lot of details to fill in, about your grandparents! Which countryside of Huangshan were they from?

Tianxiang Shao: My paternal grandparents were not from Huangshan. They were born in a village in central Anhui, near the provincial capital, Hefei. My maternal grandparents, however, were from Huangshan, and the area where they lived is now called Tunxi District.

Jacobsen: How did they travel from the countryside to the city, and which city?

Shao: Hefei, the capital city of Anhui Province. The journey was quite challenging in many ways. My grandparents were exceptionally talented and managed to rise above their circumstances through rigorous selection processes during a time when China was extremely poor.

Jacobsen: Were there any outstanding stories from this trip from the countryside to the city?

Shao: Yes, there were. Both of my grandparents came from very poor families. At that time, many rural families had a lot of children. In the 1960s, China experienced a devastating famine, followed by the Cultural Revolution starting in 1966. As a result, my grandparents didn’t receive a complete formal education. Instead, they relied heavily on self-study and the education available through society.

Despite these hardships, they managed to excel. What’s more, my grandmother brought her four siblings from the countryside to the city, and now all of them are leading good lives.

Section 2: Achieving Family Prosperity

Jacobsen: What did they do to make prosperity for their family?

Shao: They relied entirely on their own efforts and achieved prosperity through hard work and dedication.

Section 3: Career Aspirations and Academic Pursuits

Jacobsen: What careers have you aspired to attain achievement in the big city?

Shao: For me, at this stage, my academic pursuits are the most important.

As a child, I wanted to become an astrophysicist. Later, I aspired to be a mathematician. Now, considering my current field of study and where I can achieve success, becoming an artificial intelligence algorithm engineer seems to be the most fitting goal.

Jacobsen: What work have been the actual choices in the big city?

Shao: I’m still a student and don’t have a job yet.

Section 4: Defining Success and Views on Materialism

Jacobsen: How do you define success?

Shao: Doing what you love and staying committed to it for a lifetime—that is success.

Jacobsen: Is there a peculiarity to their materialism, as in something ore specific like a naturalism, or is more standardly defined materialism without religious belief?

Shao: I think it’s probably more of the latter.

Section 5: Dreams, Small Town Charm, and Serenity

Jacobsen: Huangshan makes you sound like a small town family dreamer like me. 

Shao: Is that so? Haha. In fact, when I was a child, I always dreamed of big places. I loved visiting large office buildings, big shopping malls, and crowded areas. I enjoyed the excitement of exploring.

However, I gradually realized that small towns have their own charm. It wasn’t until I had lived in a big city for several years that I truly came to appreciate this.

Jacobsen: Do you feel that you carry some of that serenity with you?

Shao: Sometimes this serenity helps me block out the noise of the outside world, allowing me to think independently and explore the world on my own.

Section 6: Social Behavior and Personal Growth

Jacobsen: Do you feel more social now compared to before?

Shao: Haha, to be honest, I’ve always been a relatively introverted person and rarely participate in social activities unless necessary.

Jacobsen: When you didn’t get along well with peers, was this something to do with fights and misconduct, social awkwardness, or simply not fitting into the social groups?

Shao: That said, social skills are something that improve with experience. I believe my social skills and emotional intelligence are probably better now than they were five years ago.  

Part of the reason was social awkwardness, and another part was my lack of participation in social activities. You know, many people enjoy going to bars, dancing, or making a lot of noise together, but I rarely go to those places because I don’t enjoy that kind of hustle and bustle.

I rarely argue with others or engage in inappropriate behavior. I find arguments to be too draining, and I prefer not to spend my time on unnecessary people or matters.

Section 7: Childhood Creativity and Storytelling

Jacobsen: What were the stories “inspired by a clock”?

Shao: Those are stories from my childhood. I’ve always been someone who loves to daydream. Back then, I was inspired by movies like Inception and Interstellar. Sometimes, I would even jot down those ideas in my notebooks.

I remember imagining stories about traveling to the past by altering a clock, or epic battles between beings from different galaxies through time fissures. These stories might seem absurd now, but at the time, I even created abstract drawings to go along with them and thoroughly enjoyed the process.

Section 8: Mathematics Competitions and Interests

Jacobsen: What kind of mathematics competitions, e.g., olympiads?

Shao: Yes, exactly the Olympiad, but I only participated in regional-level Olympiad competitions and some mathematical modeling contests.

Jacobsen: What area of math do you like the most?

Shao: Number theory. This probably explains why I felt so comfortable when I first started solving numerical reasoning problems. I remember the first time I took a proper high-range IQ test—it was Ivan Ivec’s Numerus. At that time, I had no clear understanding of the underlying logic or techniques, but I quickly submitted it and scored an IQ of 165.

I love numbers; I feel that each number tells a story. Number theory is so harmonious and beautiful. From a young age, I’ve used my knowledge of number theory to solve some problems.

Section 9: Perspectives on IQ Tests and Hobbies

Jacobsen: That’s a nuanced and healthy sense of self-consciousness on the latter personal note and a balanced view of high-range tests. I’m told by those who’ve spent a lot of time—e.g., Rick Rosner—on them that they’re almost a great challenge and stimulating because they are genuinely difficult and take 20, 50, 200 hours or more, sometimes.  Those two factors of a speedy survey of the landscape and a rapid dig of the wells into the ground of a topic are pretty strong signs in youth. Outside of the math, was there anything in particular intriguing to you, apart from the academic work?

Shao: Thank you for the compliment! Let me first share my thoughts on high-range IQ tests. These tests are indeed very challenging, but there’s a mix of quality in the ones available today. So I usually approach them selectively. I treat them as a hobby—something to challenge myself with and enjoy the process rather than focus heavily on the results.

Many people ask me how much time I spend on these tests. I’ve actually calculated that my average time per test is about 6–8 hours. Occasionally, for particularly difficult tests that I enjoy, I spend longer. So far, only one numerical test has taken me over 50 hours: Mahir Wu’s N-World, which I consider the best pure numerical test out there.

As for my other interests, the truth is I have many! For example, I love playing table tennis, singing, and writing lyrics. I enjoy learning English and French, and I find great joy in reading. These are just a few examples.

These hobbies bring me happiness and balance alongside my academic work. I always recommend not letting academic work completely consume your life, as that can become exhausting.

Section 10: Artificial Intelligence vs Human Intelligence

Jacobsen: Do you think computers will become far smarter than even the top geniuses in this or that country?

Shao: I don’t think so. In fact, my field of study is related to artificial intelligence, and my mentor and most of my peers share the same view.

Computers are undeniably intelligent. Since IBM’s Deep Blue defeated the genius chess player Garry Kasparov 28 years ago, stories of computers surpassing humans have become commonplace. In the future, it’s safe to say that for executing specific tasks, humans can be entirely replaced by machines.

However, the two most remarkable traits of humans are emotion and creativity, which are deeply interconnected. No matter how advanced AI becomes—be it OpenAI’s ChatGPT o1-pro, or some of Google’s cutting-edge AI models—it will never truly experience the nuances of human emotions like joy, sorrow, bitterness, and sweetness. Nor will it possess the profound creativity unique to humans.

Lastly, here’s an interesting wordplay: in English, “AI” (artificial intelligence) sounds identical to “爱” in Chinese pinyin, which means “love.” So far, I haven’t seen anyone use this as a theme for a puzzle, but it’s a fascinating coincidence. I often think love is the root of many great creations, and AI will never have the capacity to actively experience or comprehend the broader essence of “love.”

Section 11: Philosophical Influences and Beliefs

Jacobsen: What do you think of Camus?

Shao: Oh, he is a great French philosopher and writer. I’ve read many of his works before, and I highly recommend The Stranger and The Myth of Sisyphus. My worldview has been significantly influenced by his philosophical framework.

Jacobsen: Is there much different between algorithms and artificial intelligence, e.g., the latter as a higher-order kind of the former?

Shao: There is a distinction between algorithms and artificial intelligence, though they are deeply interconnected. Algorithms are the step-by-step instructions or rules designed to perform a specific task or solve a problem. They are the building blocks of all computational processes, including artificial intelligence.

Artificial intelligence, on the other hand, is a broader concept that refers to the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines. It encompasses not just algorithms but also data, training methods, and systems designed to learn, adapt, and make decisions. In a way, AI can be seen as a higher-order application of algorithms, where algorithms work together in complex ways to create learning and decision-making capabilities.

Jacobsen: What Buddhist passages help bring some calm and peace?

Shao: I recommend three texts, all of which are well-known in the Buddhist world: the Diamond Sutra, the Shurangama Sutra, and the most famous one, the Heart Sutra.

The Heart Sutra is not very long—I memorized it completely when I was thirteen. Since then, whenever I feel restless, I recite it to calm myself down.

Jacobsen: Are there any neo-Daoist or Buddhist writers who capture a contemporary appreciation of Classical Chinese philosophy in a novel way? 

Shao: One prominent example is Li Zehou, a contemporary philosopher who integrates Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism with modern thought, presenting a fresh perspective on Classical Chinese philosophy.

Jacobsen: What is the other 20% of your worldview not incorporated primarily by science?

Shao: I have a partially idealistic perspective. I believe in the existence of some transcendent spiritual beings, such as God, Buddhas, or deities mentioned in various religions.

Interestingly, I recently discussed this exact topic with Zolly Darko, a well-known author of high-range IQ tests, and I also used percentages to describe my worldview during that conversation.

Jacobsen: What do you mean by science?

Shao: It’s the conventional understanding of science as we know it.

Jacobsen: Subjectively, of those tests, which one felt the hardest and took the most time?

Shao: I’ve answered this question before—it’s Mahir Wu’s numerical test N-World. I spent nearly 60 hours on it and achieved a score close to full marks.

However, this year I’m planning to spend a similarly long time on one of Paul Cooijmans’ tests, aiming to submit it around my birthday. I won’t reveal more details for now, haha!

Jacobsen: Is the existentialism mentioned in ethical philosophy related to the reference to Albert Camus?

Shao: Yes, exactly.

To add an interesting note, Camus consistently denied being an existentialist philosopher, yet later philosophers widely regard him as one.

Jacobsen: What facets of Marxism make sense of social realities in China? 

Shao: I’m sorry, but I prefer not to answer this question due to some political reasons. I hope you understand.

Section 12: Influences, Interests, and Personal Resilience

Jacobsen: What books have influenced you?

Shao: The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus, Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, Love in the Time of Choleraby Gabriel García Márquez, and Dream of the Red Chamber by the Chinese novelist Cao Xueqin.

Jacobsen: What music generates stronger feelings in you?

Shao: I must highly praise Lana Del Rey’s songs—she’s my favorite Western singer! Almost all of her songs resonate deeply with me.

In terms of musical forms, I love classical music, both Chinese and Western. I practiced violin as a child and later developed a strong appreciation for piano and violin compositions.

One genre I’ve always loved is Chinese traditional music (Guofeng). It brings me a sense of tranquility and is closely tied to China’s 5,000 years of history and culture. It feels almost like having a conversation with the ancients.

Jacobsen: Do we make a mistake in thinking the structured representation of letters on a page truly brings us in touch with the great minds of the past or merely in connection with the low-fidelity representation of what they had in mind?

Shao: I am more inclined to believe that it allows us to truly connect with great minds.

Jacobsen: How do you juxtapose the momentary feeling of the world as one with the realities of geopolitical strife?

Shao: I don’t particularly enjoy discussing too many politically related topics. I advocate for peace and hope that cultures from different countries can engage in equal exchanges and that people can support and help each other.

Jacobsen: Do you think the West’s primary concern among many of its populations with an Abrahamic afterlife is largely a waste of time and a cause of worry? We have large, anxious subpopulations.

Shao: Haha, I’m not very familiar with this topic. But from my perspective, I’ve never hoped for an afterlife—I only strive to live this life to the fullest.

Section 13: Closing Remarks

Jacobsen: How are you feeling since the last breakup?

Shao: Wow, at first, of course, I needed some time to adjust. But soon after, I got back on track because life and studies still needed to move forward.

I want to thank my good friends. I have several Chinese friends who supported me emotionally, including Tai Jing and Mahir Wu. My two friends from the Glia Society (you’re surely familiar with), Matthew Scillitani and Andrei Udriste, also comforted me. I’m grateful for their kindness!

I’m doing great now. I’m not even 21 yet, so there are plenty of opportunities and challenges ahead. I’ve grown to see matters like relationships in a much more mature way.

Lastly, thank you for this interview. I really enjoyed some of your questions, and I hope we meet again next time!

Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Tianxiang.

Discussion

The interview between Scott Douglas Jacobsen and Tianxiang Shao provides a comprehensive insight into Shao’s personal background, academic ambitions, and philosophical perspectives. Shao discusses his family’s migration from rural Anhui to Hefei during the tumultuous 1960s, highlighting his grandparents’ resilience and dedication amidst socio-political challenges like the famine and Cultural Revolution. This history underscores Shao’s determination and commitment to overcoming adversity, traits that have shaped his pursuit of a career in artificial intelligence and his passion for number theory. A significant portion of the discussion focuses on Shao’s introspective views on success and materialism, emphasizing the importance of following one’s passions and maintaining a lifelong commitment to personal and academic goals. His introspective nature and introversion are balanced by his ability to find serenity and engage in independent thought, which contribute to his intellectual growth and creativity. Additionally, Shao shares his perspectives on the unique aspects of human intelligence, such as emotion and creativity, which he believes AI cannot replicate, demonstrating his nuanced understanding of the interplay between technology and human cognition.

Methods

The interview with Tianxiang Shao was conducted on January 12, 2025, utilizing a semi-structured format to allow for a flexible and in-depth dialogue. Scott Douglas Jacobsen prepared a series of open-ended questions that explored various facets of Shao’s life, including his family history, academic interests, philosophical beliefs, and personal resilience. Conducted virtually, the interview facilitated a comfortable environment for Shao to elaborate on topics of personal significance, ensuring a rich and meaningful conversation. This semi-structured approach enabled the exploration of both broad themes and specific details, allowing Shao to provide detailed responses that highlighted his motivations, values, and aspirations. The data gathered from the interview was analyzed thematically, identifying key motifs such as resilience, the balance between personal well-being and academic pursuits, and the influence of philosophical and spiritual practices on his life. This methodological framework ensured that the interview captured the depth and complexity of Shao’s experiences and perspectives, offering a nuanced understanding of his journey and future goals.

Data Availability

No datasets were generated or analyzed during the current article. All interview content remains the intellectual property of the interviewer and interviewee.

References

(No external academic sources were cited for this interview.)

Journal & Article Details

• Publisher: In-Sight Publishing
• Publisher Founding: March 1, 2014
• Web Domain: http://www.in-sightpublishing.com
• Location: Fort Langley, Township of Langley, British Columbia, Canada
• Journal: In-Sight: Interviews
• Journal Founding: August 2, 2012
• Frequency: Four Times Per Year
• Review Status: Non-Peer-Reviewed
• Access: Electronic/Digital & Open Access
• Fees: None (Free)
• Volume Numbering: 13
• Issue Numbering: 2
• Section: A
• Theme Type: Idea
• Theme Premise: “Outliers and Outsiders”
• Theme Part: 33
• Formal Sub-Theme: None
• Individual Publication Date: January 22, 2025
• Issue Publication Date: April 1, 2025
• Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
• Word Count: 2,484
• Image Credits: Photo by William Zhang on Unsplash
• ISSN (International Standard Serial Number): 2369-6885

Acknowledgements

The author thanks Tianxiang Shao for his time and willingness to participate in this interview.

Author Contributions

S.D.J. conceived and conducted the interview, transcribed and edited the conversation, and prepared the manuscript.

Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

License & Copyright

In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
© Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing 2012–Present.

Unauthorized use or duplication of material without express permission from Scott Douglas Jacobsen is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links must use full credit to Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing with direction to the original content.

Supplementary Information

Below are various citation formats for Conversation with Tianxiang Shao on Family and Feelings (2).

1. American Medical Association (AMA 11th Edition)
   Jacobsen S. Conversation with Tianxiang Shao on Family and Feelings (2). January 2025;13(2). http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/shao-2
2. American Psychological Association (APA 7th Edition)
   Jacobsen, S. (2025, January 22). Conversation with Tianxiang Shao on Family and Feelings (2). In-Sight Publishing. 13(2).
3. Brazilian National Standards (ABNT)
   JACOBSEN, S. Conversation with Tianxiang Shao on Family and Feelings (2). In-Sight: Interviews, Fort Langley, v. 13, n. 2, 2025.
4. Chicago/Turabian, Author-Date (17th Edition)
   Jacobsen, Scott. 2025. “Conversation with Tianxiang Shao on Family and Feelings (2).” In-Sight: Interviews 13 (2). http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/shao-2.
5. Chicago/Turabian, Notes & Bibliography (17th Edition)
   Jacobsen, S. “Conversation with Tianxiang Shao on Family and Feelings (2).” In-Sight: Interviews 13, no. 2 (January 2025). http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/shao-2.
6. Harvard
   Jacobsen, S. (2025) ‘Conversation with Tianxiang Shao on Family and Feelings (2)’, In-Sight: Interviews, 13(2). http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/shao-2.
7. Harvard (Australian)
   Jacobsen, S 2025, ‘Conversation with Tianxiang Shao on Family and Feelings (2)’, In-Sight: Interviews, vol. 13, no. 2, http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/shao-2.
8. Modern Language Association (MLA, 9th Edition)
   Jacobsen, Scott. “Conversation with Tianxiang Shao on Family and Feelings (2).” In-Sight: Interviews, vol. 13, no. 2, 2025, http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/shao-2.
9. Vancouver/ICMJE
   Jacobsen S. Conversation with Tianxiang Shao on Family and Feelings (2) [Internet]. 2025 Jan;13(2). Available from: http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/shao-2

Note on Formatting

This layout follows an adapted Nature research-article structure, tailored for an interview format. Instead of Methods, Results, and Discussion, we present Interview transcripts and a concluding Discussion. This design helps maintain scholarly rigor while accommodating narrative content.

#artificialIntelligence #BuddhistPhilosophy #creativity #CulturalRevolution #FamilyMigration #Introversion #materialism #NumberTheory #PersonalResilience #PhilosophicalInfluences #SocialGrowth #Success

@Stinson_108 @QasimRashid think of #China’s #culturalrevolution or #cambodia’s killing fields. Send the academics where they can be silenced.

Fearing #populist movements like the #culturalRevolution in #China or #cambodia’s #killingField’s where the educated population that survived was forcibly relocated to work in ag

Comparing that to #trump / #maga #fascism where the #trueBelievers are mostly uneducated rural: 70% of the nations GDP generated by #biden voters

Their revenge that wishes harm to those who have been successful

Maybe we should prepare this time to win the #classWarfare?

https://www.brookings.edu/articles/biden-voting-counties-equal-70-of-americas-economy-what-does-this-mean-for-the-nations-political-economic-divide/

You can be anti-marxist (against building genocidal regimes) and pro-social justice.

Don't let communist brainwashing turn you into a tool. Let's fght the inequality together, perform direct action: corporations speak the language of money, so vandalism is a perfect hotline.

But let's never fucking create societies where an ambiguously defined group of people, which changes from month to month, is used as an excuse for a yet another, distinct group of people to kill everyone else.

Thanks!

https://www.youtube.com/clip/UgkxlTy3CNms_3WZaMH3YMCCGe5Gh0x3_7k5

#socialism #communism #marxism #terrorism #vandalism #directaction #genocide #stalin #vodka #balalaika #culturalrevolution #redkhmers #kulaki

You can be anti-marxist (against building genocidal regimes) and pro-social justice.

Don't let communist brainwashing turn you into a tool. Let's fght the inequality together, perform direct action: corporations speak the language of money, so vandalism is a perfect hotline.

But let's never fucking create societies where an ambiguously defined group of people, which changes from month to month, is used as an excuse for a yet another, distinct group of people to kill everyone else.

Thanks!

https://www.youtube.com/clip/UgkxlTy3CNms_3WZaMH3YMCCGe5Gh0x3_7k5

#socialism #communism #marxism #terrorism #vandalism #directaction #genocide #stalin #vodka #balalaika #culturalrevolution #redkhmers #kulaki

Artist known for work critiquing #CulturalRevolution arrested in #China - https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/sep/03/gao-zhen-artist-known-for-work-critiquing-cultural-revolution-arrested-in-china "Gao Zhen, who was visiting from US, reportedly accused of slandering China’s heroes and martyrs"

Artist known for work critiquing #CulturalRevolution arrested in #China - https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/sep/03/gao-zhen-artist-known-for-work-critiquing-cultural-revolution-arrested-in-china "Gao Zhen, who was visiting from US, reportedly accused of slandering China’s heroes and martyrs"

#DOTD: Chen Mengjia 陳夢家 (1911–suicide 1966), #Chinese scholar of palaeography and archaeology, an expert on oracle bones #甲骨文 and bronze inscriptions #金文 from the Yin-Shang 殷商 period (16th–11th cent. BCE). #CulturalRevolution #文化大革命 #ModernChina

#DOTD: Fu Lei 傅雷 (1908–1966), translator of #French literature into #Chinese who, together with his wife Zhu Meifu 朱梅馥 (1913–1966), committed suicide in the #CulturalRevolution #文化大革命. Renowned for the letters to their son 傅雷家書, the pianist Fu Cong 傅聰 (1934–2020).

𝗪𝗜𝗞𝗜𝗣𝗘𝗗𝗜𝗔'𝗦 𝗙𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗘𝗗 𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗜𝗖𝗟𝗘

✧ Cross Temple ✧

The Cross Temple is a former place of worship in Fangshan, Beijing. Built as a Buddhist temple, it may have seen Christian use during the Tang dynasty (618–907). The temple was used by Buddhists during the Liao dynasty (916–1125) and by Christians during the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), returned to Buddhist use dur...

#CrossTemple #Beijing #Fangshan #CulturalRevolution #NanjingMuseum #Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_Temple,_Fangshan

𝗪𝗜𝗞𝗜𝗣𝗘𝗗𝗜𝗔'𝗦 𝗙𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗘𝗗 𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗜𝗖𝗟𝗘

✧ Cross Temple ✧

The Cross Temple is a former place of worship in Fangshan, Beijing. Built as a Buddhist temple, it may have seen Christian use during the Tang dynasty (618–907). The temple was used by Buddhists during the Liao dynasty (916–1125) and by Christians during the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), returned to Buddhist use dur...

#CrossTemple #Beijing #Fangshan #CulturalRevolution #NanjingMuseum #Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_Temple,_Fangshan

My favorite indicator of the campaign’s #CulturalRevolution: For years, #social scientists have noted that Starbucks drinkers are more #liberal while Dunkin’ drinkers are more #conservative. But the #Harris campaign started selling T-shirts w/ “#HarrisWalz” in the colors & typeface of #Dunkin’. So much for “#LatteLiberals.”

#democracy #freedom #HumanRights #Ally #joy #Fight4AFuture #WeAreNotGoingBack #HarrisWalz2024

My favorite indicator of the campaign’s #CulturalRevolution: For years, #social scientists have noted that Starbucks drinkers are more #liberal while Dunkin’ drinkers are more #conservative. But the #Harris campaign started selling T-shirts w/ “#HarrisWalz” in the colors & typeface of #Dunkin’. So much for “#LatteLiberals.”

#democracy #freedom #HumanRights #Ally #joy #Fight4AFuture #WeAreNotGoingBack #HarrisWalz2024

#BOTD: Yang Jiang 楊絳 (1911–2016), playwright and translator who produced the first complete #Chinese translation of #DonQuixote #唐吉訶德. Completed in the 1960s, it was confiscated by #RedGuards during the #CulturalRevolution #文化大革命 and only published in 1978. #ModernChina

I was fascinated by this article on the experiences of Swiss diplomats in China during the Cultural Revolution. Their position was privileged compared to that of other diplomats but they still found the experience terrifying, confusing, and extremely stressful.

#CulturalRevolution #China #InternationalRelations

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-chinese-history/article/worse-than-hitler-and-nazi-germany-swiss-diplomats-and-the-cultural-revolution/4F948C2450B02C82885D0161A56BCCDB#

I was fascinated by this article on the experiences of Swiss diplomats in China during the Cultural Revolution. Their position was privileged compared to that of other diplomats but they still found the experience terrifying, confusing, and extremely stressful.

#CulturalRevolution #China #InternationalRelations

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-chinese-history/article/worse-than-hitler-and-nazi-germany-swiss-diplomats-and-the-cultural-revolution/4F948C2450B02C82885D0161A56BCCDB#

Starting to resume some reading, this time reading about the Cultural Revolution in German. It's Ralf Ruckus's translator book review of Wu Yiching's The Cultural Revolution at the Margins. I've been practicing my German lately and super interested to finally dive deeper into this period of history. Unfortunately I couldn't find the German translation of the book🥲
#history #china #culturalrevolution #mao #german

@thejapantimes How globally pervasive is the new #CulturalRevolution in #China ?

It’s so pervasive that former #British Marine #MatthewTrickett , who was charged with spying on #Chinese #democracy #dissidents in the #UK , said that he would take his own life if he was *released* from prison!

@ViXY_DBC

Just for starters:

"China, it did lift 800 million people out of poverty, drives global south development, and invaded nobody in the process."

https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/from-the-archives-1950-china-invades-tibet-20201014-p56560.html

...and how about the up to 8 million #Chinese who were murdered by #Mao's #CulturalRevolution?

https://www.sciencespo.fr/mass-violence-war-massacre-resistance/en/document/chronology-mass-killings-during-chinese-cultural-revolution-1966-1976.html
@jik

It's arguably impossible to understand modern China without understanding the Cultural Revolution and the zhiqing (sent-down youth), and the different ways that popular and official narratives of China's history treat them;
https://omny.fm/shows/the-little-red-podcast/bombard-the-past-exhuming-the-cultural-revolution

#podcasts #LittleRedPodcast #China #CulturalRevolution #zhiqing

#bookstodon #vendredilecture #books #mastolivre #livre "Red Memory: The Afterlives of China's Cultural Revolution" de Tania Branigan. Durant ses années en Chine comme correspondante pour @theguardianrss Tania Branigan a remarqué que la Révolution culturelle demeurait un sujet tabou, comme celui de la répression place Tiananmen. Elle a rencontré des victimes et des bourreaux de cet événement atroce. Elle remarque que le régime communiste s'emploie à effacer la RC des livres d'histoire et des mémoires, essaie d'engendrer une "amnésie" collective. #China #Chine #culturalrevolution #revolutionculturelle #3Bodyproblem #leproblèmeàtroiscorps #TaniaBranigan

What Chinese Outrage Over ‘3 Body Problem’ Says About China

The Netflix series showcases one of the country’s most successful works of culture. Instead of demonstrating pride, social media is condemning it.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/08/business/3-body-problem-china-reaction.html

#ThreeBodyProblem #China #CulturalRevolution #三体 #文革

There are two versions: Netflix and a Chinese one, which is more true to the book. I would suggest watching both.

What Chinese Outrage Over ‘3 Body Problem’ Says About #China

“The first five minutes of the #Netflix series “#3BodyProblem” were hard to watch.

I tried not to shut my eyes at the coldblooded beating of a physics professor at the height of the #CulturalRevolution in 1967. By the end of it, he was dead, with blood and gruesome wounds all over his head and body. His daughter, also a physicist, watched the public execution. She went on to lose hope in humanity.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/08/business/3-body-problem-china-reaction.html