{"id":179188,"date":"2016-01-05T14:00:08","date_gmt":"2016-01-05T14:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=179188"},"modified":"2016-01-05T14:00:08","modified_gmt":"2016-01-05T14:00:08","slug":"chinese-villagers-build-giant-golden-statue-of-chairman-mao","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=179188","title":{"rendered":"Chinese villagers build giant golden statue of Chairman Mao"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Nearly 40 years after the death of China\u2019s \u201cGreat Helmsman\u201d a gigantic golden statue of Chairman Mao has been erected in rural China by admiring business people and villagers.<\/p>\n<p>The 36 metre tall mega-Mao, which reportedly cost 3m yuan (about \u00a3312,000), towers over Tongxu county near the city of Kaifeng in Henan province.<\/p>\n<p>Chinese media reports say the statue is built from steel and concrete and decorated in gold-coloured paint.<\/p>\n<p>Mao Zedong, who ruled China until his death in September 1976, has been blamed for the deaths of tens of millions of Chinese citizens when his \u201cGreat Leap Forward\u201d push for breakneck industrialisation caused a calamitous famine.<\/p>\n<p>Henan province, still one of China\u2019s poorest regions, was one of the areas worst hit by the famine, which some believe claimed up to 45 million lives.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"element element-rich-link element--thumbnail element-rich-link--upgraded\" data-component=\"rich-link\" data-link-name=\"rich-link-1 | 1\">\n<div class=\"rich-link tone-feature--item \"><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Entrepreneurs and villagers in Henan\u2019s Tongxu county reportedly began construction on their Mao tribute in March last year and completed the statue in mid-December. Photographs of China\u2019s colossal chairman spread rapidly on the Chinese internet this week after being published by a Henan-based news website.<\/p>\n<p>Liu Jianwu, the dean of China\u2019s Mao Zedong research centre, said the statue appeared to have been designed to \u201ccommemorate a leader\u201d.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"img-2\" class=\"element element-image img--landscape  fig--narrow-caption fig--has-shares \" data-component=\"image\" data-media-id=\"b5b1dd4a3cb6d4f89cfc5619252941b131530744\">\n<div class=\"u-responsive-ratio\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/b5b1dd4a3cb6d4f89cfc5619252941b131530744\/0_130_3648_2188\/master\/3648.jpg?w=620&amp;q=85&amp;auto=format&amp;sharp=10&amp;s=162165d8f285f435cf06ae62cb3cdbf4 620w\" media=\"(min-width: 660px)\" sizes=\"620px\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/b5b1dd4a3cb6d4f89cfc5619252941b131530744\/0_130_3648_2188\/master\/3648.jpg?w=605&amp;q=85&amp;auto=format&amp;sharp=10&amp;s=89debc1f283fdc0d14063e4c075d6ccb 605w\" media=\"(min-width: 480px)\" sizes=\"605px\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/b5b1dd4a3cb6d4f89cfc5619252941b131530744\/0_130_3648_2188\/master\/3648.jpg?w=445&amp;q=85&amp;auto=format&amp;sharp=10&amp;s=a1791e73917f7a345423115a57ea8efc 445w\" media=\"(min-width: 0px)\" sizes=\"445px\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"gu-image\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/b5b1dd4a3cb6d4f89cfc5619252941b131530744\/0_130_3648_2188\/master\/3648.jpg?w=300&amp;q=85&amp;auto=format&amp;sharp=10&amp;s=98f625f2b70553017042952f61a4ad27\" alt=\"The statue under construction.\" \/><\/picture><\/div>\n<div class=\"block-share block-share--article hide-on-mobile\" data-link-name=\"block share\"><span class=\"u-h\">Facebook<\/span><span class=\"u-h\">Twitter<\/span><span class=\"u-h\">Pinterest<\/span><\/div><figcaption class=\"caption caption--img caption caption--img\"> The statue under construction. Photograph: Imaginechina\/Rex\/Shutterstock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cIn contemporary China, Mao Zedong represents the embodiment of fairness and justice,\u201d Liu claimed. \u201cIn the hearts of ordinary people, Mao represents fairness and justice. So people hold these kinds of emotions towards him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, the golden effigy drew online criticism. \u201cHow about using the money for poverty alleviation first?\u201d one user of Weibo, China\u2019s micro-blogging site, wrote, according to the Hong Kong Free Press website.<\/p>\n<p>Mao, whose portrait still stares out over Beijing\u2019s Tiananmen Square and appears on banknotes, has enjoyed something of a revival under Xi Jinping, who became president three years ago.<\/p>\n<p>Mao\u2019s favourite revolutionary opera was recently remade for stage and screen while a professor at one of China\u2019s top universities has started offering an online course on \u201cMao Zedong Thought\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>In 2013, Xi marked the 120th anniversary of the chairman\u2019s birth by promising to \u201chold high the banner of Mao Zedong Thought forever\u201d.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"img-3\" class=\"element element-image img--landscape element--showcase  fig--narrow-caption fig--has-shares \" data-component=\"image\" data-media-id=\"5c0e1c8acd2ae7057042e0b8e71a9adaef3f9da4\">\n<div class=\"u-responsive-ratio\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/5c0e1c8acd2ae7057042e0b8e71a9adaef3f9da4\/0_63_3648_2188\/master\/3648.jpg?w=860&amp;q=85&amp;auto=format&amp;sharp=10&amp;s=53f11a841affcb3d66b76c1defdc5ecf 860w\" media=\"(min-width: 1300px)\" sizes=\"860px\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/5c0e1c8acd2ae7057042e0b8e71a9adaef3f9da4\/0_63_3648_2188\/master\/3648.jpg?w=780&amp;q=85&amp;auto=format&amp;sharp=10&amp;s=86f5e02e01bba2d061dca3dbdf7d9f94 780w\" media=\"(min-width: 1140px)\" sizes=\"780px\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/5c0e1c8acd2ae7057042e0b8e71a9adaef3f9da4\/0_63_3648_2188\/master\/3648.jpg?w=620&amp;q=85&amp;auto=format&amp;sharp=10&amp;s=ff56b3bb8f5a5cfa92193045f97014f3 620w\" media=\"(min-width: 660px)\" sizes=\"620px\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/5c0e1c8acd2ae7057042e0b8e71a9adaef3f9da4\/0_63_3648_2188\/master\/3648.jpg?w=605&amp;q=85&amp;auto=format&amp;sharp=10&amp;s=4acb5a4f0c6dc123b6a63e50e44c3b91 605w\" media=\"(min-width: 480px)\" sizes=\"605px\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/5c0e1c8acd2ae7057042e0b8e71a9adaef3f9da4\/0_63_3648_2188\/master\/3648.jpg?w=445&amp;q=85&amp;auto=format&amp;sharp=10&amp;s=249d2630ac1ddbee379c77ff2e10cb35 445w\" media=\"(min-width: 0px)\" sizes=\"445px\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"gu-image\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/5c0e1c8acd2ae7057042e0b8e71a9adaef3f9da4\/0_63_3648_2188\/master\/3648.jpg?w=300&amp;q=85&amp;auto=format&amp;sharp=10&amp;s=5d76342f8ef90b7aa425415ebb9dd5c3\" alt=\"A visitor shows the scale of the huge statue.\" \/><\/picture><\/div>\n<div class=\"block-share block-share--article hide-on-mobile\" data-link-name=\"block share\"><span class=\"u-h\">Facebook<\/span><span class=\"u-h\">Twitter<\/span><span class=\"u-h\">Pinterest<\/span><\/div><figcaption class=\"caption caption--img caption caption--img\"> A visitor shows the scale of the huge statue. Photograph: Imaginechina\/Rex\/Shutterstock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cMao is a great figure who changed the face of the nation and led the Chinese people to a new destiny,\u201d Xi said.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the nascent Maoist renaissance, Liu denied there was any political significance to Henan\u2019s decision to honour the Great Helmsman with a glittering statue. \u201cThis doesn\u2019t exist,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The academic cautioned against such super-sized tributes to China\u2019s founding father. \u201cThere is no need to build such a big statue and I do not suggest people imitate this either,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;<\/p>\n<p>Source: The Guardian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nearly 40 years after the death of China\u2019s \u201cGreat Helmsman\u201d a gigantic golden statue of Chairman Mao has been erected in rural China by admiring business people and villagers. The 36 metre tall mega-Mao, which reportedly cost 3m yuan (about \u00a3312,000), towers over Tongxu county near the city of Kaifeng in Henan province. Chinese media [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[117],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-179188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-odd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=179188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179188\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=179188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=179188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=179188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}