Beijing (AsiaNews) – Mao Zedong's embalmed corpse might be sent back to the deceased dictator's place of birth, thus freeing Tiananmen Square from his body where it now rests. This, at least, is what some Chinese intellectuals have proposed.  

Yu Jie, age 30, and 5 other intellectuals drafted such a proposal and published it on the internet as well as in the Hong Kong daily, Kai Fang. In their proposal they asked Chinese authorities to remove the macabre display of Mao's corpse before the Olympics get underway in 2008.

According to the group of intellectuals his body should be moved and buried in the village where he was born, in Shaoshan (Hunan). 

Yu Jie justifies the group's proposal based on fidelity to Chinese culture. He says the fact the a body returns to the ground and becomes dust "is a part of Chinese tradition".

"The time has come for this absurd devotion to finish", the intellectuals write in order to make "Beijing represent civilized city, one worthy of hosting the Olympic Games."

The writers claim their proposal was not inspired by feelings of vengeance, even if for them Mao's era was a bloody one. They write that "to worship a corpse" of a ruler is a sign of a "slave-based society".    

In Yu Jie's opinion the communist government, founded in 1949, slowly came to represent "Mao Zedong's personal dictatorship." Once he reached the country's highest office he used his power badly, while "failing in economic rebuilding" and "waging political campaigns of large scale suppression both from within and outside the party," in the end launching the Cultural Revolution which came to be known as "10 years of total chaos".

According to the proposal's authors the "bitterness and hatred generated during Mao's reign require a reconciliation process." The first step is distancing Mao's robust corpse from the gates of Tiananmen Square facing the Imperial Palace and then ship his body to Shaoshan.

It must be said that Mao wished to be cremated and upon the night of his death the communist party had to decide quickly what to do. Inspired by the success found in Russia and Vietnam (with Lenin and Ho Chi Minh's preserved bodies), the party decided to embalm Mao's corpse with formaldehyde. Immediately afterward a mausoleum was built in the deceased dictator's honor –similar to that of Lenin and Ho Chi Minh –on the central-west side of Tiananmen Square.

In many people's opinion the mausoleum's construction destroyed the square's feng shui, that is, its balance and harmony. The square is considered the "the ideal axis point on which both China and the whole earth revolve."  Yet until today no one has ever has asked that the building and the corpse it houses be removed from the square.

On the contrary. Last December on Mao's birthday, the Chinese government organized several events in honor of the occasion. It is also true that now Mao Zedong is preferred to be remembered not as a mere political leader but more so as the "father of the Chinese homeland", toward whom Confucian filial piety is due. It seems ironic when one recalls that Mao encouraged members of the Red Guard to betray and rebel against their very own parents.     

Deng Xiaoping, who has passed into law various economic and market reforms, said "Mao was only 30% wrong" but he never did anything to hide from historians the beginnings of the People's Republic of China and the communist party's internal power struggles. Even today it is a known fact that the Great Leap Forward cost the lives of 43 million people, yet citizens still prefer to praise the one who "got China on its feet".

Lately, the huge gap created between the rich and poor has inspired poverty-struck citizens to regard Mao as a god who punished Chinese society built on consumerism. His images are venerated and worn like good-luck charms –hung in cars to protect drivers and passengers from deadly road accidents. 

Following the proposal to remove Mao from Tiananmen Square Yu Jie was sent several violent and critical email messages. Yet authorities have done nothing.  Commenting on the matter Yu Jie said: "I am only a writer, a critic; I am not a political activist."

Meanwhile the challenge has now been passed on to the internet. Recently a Chinese web site was opened, dedicated to a "virtual tour of Mao's Mausoleum" with 6 million visitors in just a few days. Hong Kong's South China Morning Post, on the other hand, launched a survey asking whether its readers felt: "Mao's body should remain on display in Tiananmen Square".     

The results published on Feb. 18 read: YES (22.3%); NO (76.3%); I DON"T KNOW (1.4%).

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