5. The East Is Red...

“The East is red, the sun rises, China gives birth to Mao Zedong.”

In 1958, China embarked on The Great Leap Forward, a modernization campaign that was ill-managed as much as it was ill-conceived. Misallocation of resources compounded by gross negligence and utter incompetence resulted in a country-wide famine that would kill an estimated 18-42 million Chinese within three years, making it the worst human disaster in the history of the world. Only a few years later, in 1966, the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution began its 10-year rampage which resulted in at least 400,000 deaths. Its long-term damage to the cultural heritage of China would go far beyond its human toll.

Chairman Mao Zedong was the mastermind behind both catastrophes. I was more than a little surprised to find him on the roster of Heaven residents. Hitler and Stalin didn`t even pass the preliminary assessment. I had all my questions ready.

“Chairman Mao, I have many questions for you. I hope you would excuse me if I am blunt.”

“Fire away, Mr. Choi.”

“A great number of people died as a result of your policies while you were in power. How did you manage to get into Heaven?”

“Mr. Choi, I asked myself that same question many times. It`s true many people died when I was ruling China, most of them died needlessly. Nevertheless, the new China that I help created has improved the lots of an overwhelming majority of Chinese. I believe on balance, I did as much good as I did evil. Like you, I was a borderline case. And when it came to a public vote, I barely made it.”

“What do you consider as your proudest accomplishment, and what do consider as your worst mistake?”

“Driving Chiang Kai-shek off the mainland got to be the proudest moment of my life. I felt I was on top of the world... invincible. My worst mistake... well, it was thinking that I was actually invincible and rolled out The Great Leap Forward against the advice of many of my close comrades. China was not ready for the changes I envisioned and we were ill-prepared for the challenges ahead. By the time I realized, it was all a bit too late. Instead of advancing China`s industrial base, The Great Leap Forward actually pushed us backward, even farther behind the rest of the world.”

“I must say I detected a feeling of remorse as you now spoke about the Great Leap, but Chairman Mao, at that time you didn`t seem to take a lesson from your blunder, because only a few years later you instigated The Cultural Revolution as a way to regain power. Swarms of young Red Guards roaming the country, destroying everything that we held dear. China was again in peril because of you. What was your rationale? I believe you owe us an explanation, Chairman Mao!”

“Okay, Mr. Choi, calm down, please! I am not proud of The Cultural Revolution either. In fact, I would consider it my second worst mistake...”

“Your SECOND worst mistake! I am sorry, Chairman Mao, I thought being the leader of our country, you were supposed to exercise sound judgment knowing well that the lives of millions were literally held in your hands. But it would appear that starting from the moment you seized control of China, you were making one monumental mistake after another. I found that rather disgusting. What would be your THIRD worst mistake, huh? I wonder... was it the womanizing that you got into later in life?”

“Mr. Choi, there is no need to get all roused up. I can explain...”

“No, Mr. Chairman, I am not interested to hear your explanations. I am fed up. Besides, my time is up. I would excuse myself if you don`t mind.”

My chat with the Chairman didn`t end exactly the way I had in mind, but I got something off my chest and that`s good enough for me. When you live to be an old man as I did, you earn the right to be grouchy once in a while.

- To be continued -