Quotations From Chairman Mao - Role and Social Impact

Role and Social Impact

Today, the book is a symbol of Mao Zedong Thought. Admirers of Mao Zedong can frequently be found holding “The Little Red Book” gripped with their right hand waving it over their heads to show joy, or cries of condemnation. The tradition of the ritual chanting of slogans originated with Lin Biao who Mao Zedong met in the Red Guard. Among the best known is: "Saying Wansui (long live) in their mouths, holding the Quotations (from Chairman Mao) in their hands!" (万岁不离口，语录不离手！) which became a cliché of dogmatism or formalist irony.

In certain situations, the Quotations is given as a gift, for example, when public funds are involved, or when personal events arise, such as congratulating newlyweds, and so on. It is said that for some people, keeping the Quotations at home is a psychological burden, because they cannot dispose of it, and if it is inadvertently stained or soiled, it likely will cause considerable offense.

Foreign press reports in the West called the work "The Little Red Book" reflecting its common small size and bright cover, not without irony. After the Cultural Revolution ended, some Chinese people also adopted the nickname (back-translated into Chinese as "The Treasured Red Book") simplified Chinese: 红宝书; traditional Chinese: 紅寶書; pinyin: hóng bǎoshū.

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 whether smiling or looking determined, was always seen with a copy of the book in his or 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.

Today, Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung is mostly a piece of nostalgia. Various editions are popular with some collectors, and rare and unusual printings command extremely high prices. It may be purchased at shops in Beijing, Shanghai, other major cities, as well as at some tourist attractions.

It has about thirty colour photographs at the front. There are then another 378 pages with Chinese on the left and English on the right. The English has many spelling mistakes as well as other typographical errors on almost every page. Only the first 22 chapters are in this edition compared with 33 in the first Chinese and English editions. There is no Lin Biao page.