Mao exhibition held to celebrate double anniversaries shows snapshots of Chinese leader’s life

An exhibition about the founder of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Mao Zedong, is being held from now until September 9 at the Handover Gifts Museum, to celebrate the 70th and 20th anniversary of China and the Macau Special Administrative Region respectively.

The exhibition spans across a hall of about 3,000 square feet and is divided into seven sections. The sections are not fully chronologically arranged. The first four are arranged in such a way to reflect the timeline of the Chinese leader.

The last three are more about intangible qualities, namely his love for families, friends and his native town, his pastimes and his model as “the people’s leader”.

Consisting of several hundred photographs and relics connected with the life of Mao, the exhibition revisits the path by which the PRC has come to exist.

A large number of exhibits are presented to help shape a narrative of the Chinese leader’s life.

Several high-ranking officials in the SAR attended an opening ceremony and guided tour of the exhibition on Sunday, including current Chief Executive Chui Sai On and his predecessor Edmund Ho.

The descriptions of items on display and all information panels are only available in Chinese, with no Portuguese or English translation. It was not immediately apparent why no translation was provided.

Snapshots into the life of Mao

The exhibition provides insights into the life of Mao primarily through photographs that serve as snapshots of key events.

In one June 1917 photograph, Mao is shown having been elected a class representative of “ethical and intellectual education”.

Another shows the premises that housed the first Chinese Communist Party Congress in July 1921. The premises was located in Shanghai and built with a western décor on the exterior.

A third skips forward six years to 1927, when the minutes from an emergency meeting of the Congress were recorded. These are on display and note the meeting in which Mao said his famous quote: “Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.”

Novels on revolution

Mao was born in the late 19th century to farmer parents in Hunan Province.

The exhibition notes that when Mao was young, he read “Words of Warning to a Prosperous Age” by Zheng Guanying, who finished writing this book while at the Mandarin’s House in Macau. Mao’s copy of the book, meanwhile, was lent to him by his cousin Wen Yunchang.

Mao was not particularly fond of the traditional Four Books and Five Classics, even though it was part of his education. Instead, he was very much into reading novels about revolution.

As if documenting the early years of the PRC, several historical photographs show the celebratory events from the day of the country’s founding and key milestones from its first decade.

One is a group shot capturing part of the then-People’s Revolutionary Military Commission. The other shows a group of officials, with Mao in the center, toasting with each other to celebrate the signing of the agreement liberating Tibet in 1951.

A panoramic shot comes afterwards, capturing the moment when the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed.

The PRC’s diplomatic history

The exhibition includes a single mention of the Cultural Revolution; a photograph showing crowds gathering in Tiananmen Square, cheering for the commencement of the revolution. The caption notes that the Cultural Revolution was “an internal disorder, wrongly initiated, abused and catastrophic.”

Other major events from the life of Mao are missing from the exhibition, including some of his controversial decisions and policies.

Meanwhile, the third section of the exhibition recaps the diplomatic history between the PRC and other countries. Photographs show Mao meeting Kim Il Sung of North Korea, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy of Pakistan, Sukarno of Indonesia, Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia and Ho Chi Minh of Vietnam.

Moments of Mao meeting with western politicians, such as Richard Nixon, are also represented. A photograph capturing the drafting of the First Chinese-American Joint Communiqué is also on display.

The exhibition will remain open to the public daily from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. until September 9. Admission is free. Anthony Lam