Taboo Topics and Honest Admissions

A quick anecdote from the other day for your reading pleasure. As per usual, Gareth, River, and Richard were having some interesting and in-depth conversations during lunch a few days back. We regularly talk about "sensitive" (a.k.a. "banned") topics, such as the Tiananmen Massacre ("Not that many people died. And it wasn't the students that were killed, it was the criminals."), the Great Leap Forward (in which millions of Chinese starved to death), and less-often discussed Hundred Flowers Campaign. The last of the three might be my "favorite" because it encouraged people to come forward to the government and file complaints, but was promptly followed by the Anti-Rightest Movement, which persecuted political dissidents. Whether or not intentional, the Hundred Flowers Campaign certainly did a great job of letting the government know just who had complaints. How convenient!

Another gem: "When did people in China realize that Mao wasn't very good at administering the government?" "I think people realize this now." Perhaps the funniest thing about these conversations is that we have them, generally in English, while our principal and other local teachers are eating lunch with us. I'm not sure if they understand what we're talking about, but even when we speak some Chinese, they don't partake in the conversation.

A few days ago, Deng Xiaoping came up in conversation. He's widely seen as the person responsible for China's movement toward a more capitalist "market economy with Chinese characteristics." Obviously an important figure in Chinese history. He passed away in 1997.

Anyway, Richard went on to tell us how his school "forced the students to cry." His comment reminded me of the below video in which North Koreans mourn the loss of Kim Il-sung. River, without missing a beat, says, "In fact, I was happy that day because it means I got a day off of school!" What else needs to be said? Classic.