Mao and His Mango

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In 1968, an act of diplomacy between the Government of Pakistan and China’s Chairman Mao set off a series of actions that would create a cult around the mango fruit. Chairman Mao did not taste this fruit. Instead, he passed it on to workers as a symbol of his gratitude for their allegiance to him. What followed was a stunning spread of the mango throughout China. Set against the backdrop of famine and the “Four Pests,” the worship of this single fruit created complexity and controversy in 20th century China.

Podcaster: Lesley

Further Reading

Paul Clark, The Chinese Cultural Revolution: A History, Cambridge University Press, (2008).

Daniel Leese, Mao Cult: Rhetoric and Ritual in China's Cultural Revolution, Cambridge University Press, (2011).

Alfreda Murck, Mao's Golden Mangoes and the Cultural Revolution, Scheidegger and Spiess, (2013).

Music: "Evening Melodrama" by Kevin Macleod (www.incompetech.com)