The monster that is Mao

I'm halfway through with the third novel I brought with me to China. Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang is the story of 3 generation of Chinese women as they live through 3 pivotal periods in Chinese history - the final years of the Qing Dynasty, the Civil War  and the rise of Mao, and the aftermath of the Cultural revolution.

For those who have only known the name but the not the person, I strongly recommend reading up on the man. The first eye opener was when I read Mao: The Unknown Story by Jon Halliday. The book I am reading now only reinforces the notion that this man is as evil as Hitler. At least Hitler did not sacrifice his own people in the millions to achieve power. Its no wonder Pol Pot, a staunch Maoist - turned to genocide in Cambodia.

Ignorance is the name of the game in China. How else can you explain the continued veneration of Mao? For somebody who is staunch anti-capitalist - his face now adorns all the money in China. His mummy lies in a crystal coffin in the middle of Tiananmen Square.

But I wonder how long this farce will last. How long will communism remain compatible with economic prosperity? or for that matter, the widening inequality between the rich and the poor where classes are not supposed to exist?