In so far as from 1936 until his death in 1976 the fortunes of Communism and the fortunes of
In so far as, from 1936 until his death in 1976, the fortunes of Communism and the fortunes of Mao himself were the same, Short delivers a comprehensive political narrative. Fortified by his previous incarnation as BBC Peking correspondent, and unprecedented access, he threads his way through the Byzantine palace intrigues that form the context to such experiments as the Hundred Flowers Campaign and the Great Leap Forward.In each, Mao is revealed as the consummate puppeteer, well able to shift the blame when things went wrong. In Jiang Zemin, too, the governance of China finds itself entrusted to a safe pair of hands. In Deng Xiaoping, the Communist Party and China were fortunate to be led by an individual strong enough to moderate his predecessor’s excesses, and allow the Chinese people once again to express their entrepreneurial flair. It was against a background of murderous disintegration, wrought by generations of governmental misjudgement, Western predation, warlordism and Japanese conquest, that Mao forged a nation state.
However much he based his Communist ideology on the nostrums of an assertive anti-imperialism, Mao conformed to the deep imperial pattern of Chinese history. Since the overthrow of the Shang by the Zhou in the 11th century BC, each successive dynasty depended on the strengths, talents and flexibility of the new strongman.Within the Communist dynasty that has ruled since 1949, we may discern the same process. The demon prince? Philip Short, in this impressive and important biography, seems similarly divided in his opinion. The portrait he projects is of a blood-soaked visionary whose contradictory loyalties were whittled down until only a quasi-mystic idea of what China should become, and his own paramount power, mattered.
In his wake, Mao left more than between 20 and 40 million dead. Yet he also saved China from a national collapse that might have cost even more lives. On the other, the good citizen of Florence would surely be dismayed at the human cost that underpinned Mao’s achievements, and the civic desuetude of his regime.
WHAT, WERE he alive today, would Niccol Machiavelli make of Mao Tse-tung? On the one hand, the sharpest political theorist of them all would be lost in wonder at Mao’s skills as an operator. Mark 14:56-59 explains that the witnesses against Jesus were false and discredited because “their witness agreed not together”.STEVEN CARRBirkenhead, Merseyside. Letter:
Unreliable Gospels
Sir: While Mr Friedlander (letter, 15 November) thinks the variations in the Gospel stories inspire confidence, the Gospels themselves have a far less charitable view of contradictions. Besides, the icon concerned isn’t a waste-paper basket at all, but a galvanised dustbin of kind not seen in British streets for years.ALAN MacCOLLSt Andrews, Fife.
British English is full of words once scorned as Americanisms, including blizzard, graveyard, hindsight, lengthy, notify, telephone, stay put and shut down. Was he anywhere near the Early Music exhibition last month?GEOFFREY LANELondon W5. Letter:
Iconic trash
Sir: Surely my fellow Apple Mac users can find something more important to get worked up about than the use of “Trash” instead of “Wastebasket” (“English is trashed by US computers”, 16 November). He has clearly had the luck to purchase a rare E flat razor in Baroque pitch. Letter:
His razor’s flat
Sir: Anthony Hedges complains (letter, 16 November) that his new electric razor hums in D, and must therefore be inferior to Peter Ryan’s model which hums in E flat It seems to me that Mr Hedges is mistaken. Jesus, readers of the Bible will recall, was himself tempted by the Devil, during his 40 days and 40 nights in the desert, with “all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them”. For many of us, though, it’s more likely to be that extra digestive biscuit (and we say, go on, take it, you only live once).As to power and glory, since this is an age in which people are more likely to pray for their chance to obtain those twin desiderata than to avoid them, it hardly matters how the Synod chooses to render the ancient words of the New Testament..