Mao Zedong

In China in Ten Words, Yu Hua frames Mao (Chairman Mao) as the defining presence of the Cultural Revolution that shaped his childhood. Yu recalls the shock of the great leader stooping to write a big-character poster himself — read by ordinary people as proof that “Chairman Mao is in the same boat as ordinary people like themselves.” He quotes Mao’s memorable definition of revolution, which children of the era could “recite backward”: “A revolution is not a dinner party… it cannot be so refined, so leisurely and gentle… A revolution is an insurrection, an act of violence.” Yu also uses Mao’s binary maxim — “We should support whatever the enemy opposes, and oppose whatever the enemy supports” — to capture the black-and-white moral logic of the Cultural Revolution, contrasting that simplicity with today’s complex, chaotic society.

Context: Mao Zedong (1893–1976) was the founding leader of the People’s Republic of China and chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, who launched the Cultural Revolution in 1966.

Where this appears

• China in Ten Words — central figure of the Cultural Revolution chapters; his big-character poster, his “a revolution is not a dinner party” definition, and his support/oppose maxim anchor Yu Hua’s account of that era.