The New York Times reports on the current whereabouts of Mao Zedong’s sole grandson, Mao Xinyu:
He enjoys generous helpings of red braised pork, collects Chinese fans and keeps an unapologetically patriotic blog. Now Mao Xinyu, the 39-year-old grandson and only surviving male heir of Mao Zedong, has become the youngest major-general in the People’s Liberation Army, according to the state media.
Although his elevation has not been officially announced by the military, the news was reported Thursday by the Changjiang Daily and has been among the top news items on Chinese Web portals as the nation prepares to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the revolution that brought Mao and the Communists to power.
A historian trained at the Central Party School and a steadfast guardian of Mao Zedong political thought, the younger Mao is one of the Great Helmsman’s four grandchildren. Although the official media affords him considerable respect, he is the object of some derision among ordinary Chinese, who lampoon what they call his mediocre performance as a student, his unkempt ways and his prodigious girth; in recent years, his weight has exceeded 200 pounds.
Updated:
One of this week’s most popular articles at Southern Weekend is an interview report on Mao Xinyu, entitled “Grandfather Had the Greatest Influence on My Life.” The following is the article’s opening, translated by CDT:
Thirty nine-year-old Mao Xinyu is the son of Mao Anqing and Shao Hua, and is Mao Zedong’s only grandson. He is currently the assistant head of the Academy of Military Science’s War Theory and Strategic Studies division. His People.com blog was judged as one of 2008’s top ten most paid attention to blogs. His winning phrase is “Mao Zedong’s grandson by his first wife, the country’s CPPCC representative, supports using blogs to spread Mao Zedong thought, and has received the approval of netizens.”
At the age of 5, he had already begun memorizing Mao Zedong’s poems. His son, Mao Dongdong, at the age of 3 was taught to sing “The East is Red” by his grandmother Shao Hua. Mao Xinyu said, “He’s smarter than me; at that time, he could already memorize three of my grandfather’s poems.”
In the evening of September 7, Mao Xinyu and I met at Fragrant Hills’ Jianxin Zhai. He carried a fan with him; there were two more in his car. Collecting fans is one of his hobbies; his goal is to collect between 10000 to 20000 fans.
Aside from this hobby, he said that he also enjoys hiking, swimming, reading. “These are the same as my grandfather. Of course, there’s one more that’s even more important, and that’s eating red braised pork!”
He spoke candidly and frankly, and opened up about “embarrassing incidents” of his youth without adding restrictions. His praise for his grandfather’s authoritative works was definite. As we walked down the hill, the sky was dark. A tourist who didn’t recognize Mao came up to him, tapped him on the shoulder, and asked him where the main gate was. He pointed with his fan, “Straight ahead! Won’t be long till you’re there.”
The following are the top “hot responses” to the story (热门评论). Most criticize Southern Weekend for its story selection that seemed more “akin to a Party newspaper” than its normal reporting. Also translated by CDT:
cgh540708:
The one-child policy didn’t restrict great individuals’ later generations all along. His son, Mao Dongdong, was born 12/26/2003, the same day as Mao Zedong. His daughter, Mao Tianyi, was born 8/28/2008.
原来计划生育是不约束伟人的后代的!毛新宇与妻子刘滨育有一子一女。儿子毛东东出生于2003年12月26日，与毛泽东同一天生日，女儿毛甜懿，出生于2008年8月28日。
joeroot:
Southern Weekend makes people disappointed
南方周末让人失望
xsx2008:
It’s been said that I say a lot of sensitive words. I feel like I’ve returned to old society, shit.
老说我发敏感词汇，感觉回到旧社会，shi特
dawdler:
No wonder he’s so fat; it’s because he eats red-braised pork.
难道这么肥，原来是吃红烧肉。
tcj1989:
Southern Weekend! I despise you! Straighten your spine, all right?!
南末！俺鄙视你！挺起你的脊梁行不！
liu100071:
Military affairs expert, Marxist thought scholar, calligrapher General Mao Xinyu
军事家、马克思主义思想家、书法家毛新宇将军
shexiandhb:
Everyone should understand how this happened [presumably, Mao Xinyu’s background]
大家都应该明白怎么回事
hmchuang:
How is it that the more I live, the further back I go? Should I promptly go and bring out the imperial chair, sit atop it and receive worship?
I’m disappointed at Southern Weekend. At first, this topic [seemed] to be worthy of discussion, but the article is written in such a way [that it] resembles a Party newspaper.
怎么越活越旧了，要不要干脆把龙椅搬回来，坐上去接受膜拜。
对南方周末很失望。本来这题目是很值得讨论的，却写成这样，像党报。
freenight1984:
Starting from this week, I’m not going to buy Southern Weekend anymore; this article made me want to puke. The best pick of a lame bunch; I overestimated Southern Weekend’s professional integrity.
本周开始不再买 南周，这篇文章让我想吐。矮子里面拔将军，我高估南周的职业操守了~
Danwei has a translated interview of Mao Xinyu from a March 2008 issue of Xinkuaibao, as well as translated coverage of his slated deanship of the Mao Zedong school of thought at Songtian College.
According to the Global Times, Mao Xinyu has not been promoted to military general, as was reported in a number of other newspapers. See this CDT post for more.
Update: Some pictures of Mao Xinyu and his calligraphy, from Hexun.com:
