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Quotations From Chairman Mao Tse-Tung Wikipedia

Disambiguation note: Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung is also the title of a play by Edward Albee.

image:little_red_book.png|right|frame|Cover of Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung with Chinese words "Supreme Directives"

Quotations From Mao Zedong|Chairman Mao Tse-Tung (毛主席语录 Pinyin: M??o Zhǔx?? Yǔl??), better known in the West as The Little Red Book, has been published by the Government of the People's Republic of China since 1966. As its title implies, it is a collection of quotations excerpted from Mao Zedong|Mao's past speeches and publications. The book's alternative title The Little Red Book was coined by the West for its pocket-sized edition, which was specifically printed and sold to facilitate easy carrying. The closest equivalent in Chinese is ?????????, literally "The Red Treasured Book", which was a term popular during the Cultural Revolution.

Image:Quotations From Chairman Mao Tse-Tung on wall.JPG|thumb|
The estimated number of copies in print well exceeds one billion, certainly a record in mainland China (although, worldwide, its publication is a distant second to the Bible, or third if all publications and printings of the annual Ikea catalog http://www.martinrothonline.com/MRCC23.htm http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/homes/articles/1261423 are counted as a book). The book's phenomenal popularity, however, is due to the fact that it was essentially an unofficial requirement for every Chinese citizen to own, to read, and to carry it at all times under the latter half of Mao's rule, especially during the Cultural Revolution|Great Cultural Revolution. At the height of the period, for people out of favor with the Communist party, the punishment for failing to produce the book upon being asked would range from being beaten on the spot by Red Guards (China)|Red Guards to being given years of hard-labor imprisonment. However, this was an accusation added to more serious political or criminal violations.

During the Cultural Revolution, studying the book was not only required in schools but was also a standard practice in the workplace as well. All units, in the industrial, commercial, agricultural, civil service, and military sectors, organized group sessions for the entire workforce to study the book during working hours. Quotes from Mao were either bold-faced or highlighted in red, and almost all writing (including scientific essays) had to quote Mao.

Image:Mao_book.jpg|thumb|220px|Chinese poster saying: "Chairman Mao is the Red sun of our hearts."
To defend against the theory that it would be counter-productive, it was argued that understanding Mao's quotes could definitely bring about enlightenment to the work unit, resulting in production improvement to offset the time lost. Even so, the Cultural Revolution was considered a period of great political turmoil.

During the 1960s, the book was the single most visible icon in mainland China, even more visible than the image of the Chairman himself. In posters and pictures created by CPC's propaganda artists, nearly every painted character (except Mao himself), either smiling or looking determined, was always seen with a copy of the book in his/her hand.

After the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976 and the rise of Deng Xiaoping in 1978, the importance of the book waned considerably, and the glorification of Mao's quotations was considered to be left deviationism and a cult of personality. In fact, the book is often seen as only a piece of memorabilia today.

Mao's quotations are categorized into 33 chapters in the book. Its topics mainly deal with Mao's ideology (known as Maoism).

Last Modified:   2005-11-04