Sanctification of Mangoes: Symbol Creation in the Cult of Mao Zedong

In 1968 during China’s “Great Proletariat Cultural Revolution,” the cult of CommunistParty Chairman Mao Zedong was at a high. A Pakistani foreign minister presented
Mao with a crate of mangoes that he re-gifted to the Mao Zedong Thought Propaganda
Teams who were occupying the Tsinghua University campus. The gift of mangoes
happened to coincide with a shift in the leadership of the Cultural Revolution from
students to the military under the guise of the working class. Alfreda Murck will tell
the story of the improbable transformation of the mango from
then unknown fruit to a symbol of Mao’s love for workers, and
subsequently its consignment to the dustbin of history.

Special Lecture organized by
the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies.
Co-sponsored by the UCSB East Asia Center,
the Department of Art History, and the Department of History.

hm 1/2/15