From Letters from China:
“Chairman Mao is like Jesus to us,” a Chinese student told the Manawatu Standard in response to a spoof on Mao Zedong in a student magazine. Another student linked the spoof to the Muhammad cartoons.
I will not be astonished if temples dedicated to Mao Zedong built in the multi-deity China. Unsuccessful-politicians-turn-Gods is not unprecedented : Confucius (Spring and Autumn Period) failed to convince the feudal lords to buy his political ideas; General Guan Yu (Eastern Han / Three Kingdoms Period) was defeated and beheaded by enemy – but they are worshipped by generations of Chinese people – Mao’s insanity does not therefore automatically disqualify him from joining the “deity class”. [Full Text]
