Mao: The Best-Seller

Following the short-lived resurgence of interest in Cultural Revolution culture and history during the mid-1980s, a new phase of (relative) publishing freedom in the late 1980s led to a boom in the Mao industry. Many popular works related to Mao's life and the more controversial aspects of Communist Party history were produced. The tabloid press had proved to be extremely popular as soon as it was allowed to develop in 1984-85. Now, cashing in on popular interest in scandal and muckraking, and spurred on by the imperatives of economic rationalism, publishing houses throughout the country vied with one another to exploit the nascent Mao Cult. The ideologically correct, like the author of this article that was published in a straitlaced publishing trade paper, were disturbed by the lawlessness of the industry. In the stilted prose of an official out of touch with everyday reality, the writer calls for clear guidelines and policies in the hope that the publishing anarchy could be quelled. Although some conte...